Update: The Finals open beta test is now live on PS5, so if you wish to take part, you should be able to find it via search on the PS Store. It requires just under 8GB of free SSD space. The open beta runs from now through to 5th November.
Original Story: The Finals is another live service competitor, but one that looks like it might have teeth. An open beta begins today, 26th October, and will run until 5th November; plenty of time to dive in and see what all the fuss is about.
Citing The Hunger Games and Gladiator as influences, The Finals seems like an Apex Legends analogue, in which contestants compete for blood and glory for a televised audience. The base game mode, Cashout, tasks trios with cracking vaults and transporting the loot to specific extraction points, which must be controlled in a capture-the-flag-like fashion to function. This adds tension and ample opportunity for opposing players to turn the tides, and destructible environments add endless opportunities for emergent shenanigans.
Characters correspond to a light, medium, and heavy scale, determining their role on the battlefield and access to unique gear. Light builds will be faster and can employ submachine guns and expanded stealth options. Medium gain access to a healing beam (like Mercy in Overwatch), as well as assault rifles and shotguns. Heavy characters, meanwhile, can unleash light machine guns and explosive artillery, as well as abilities to shield their team from incoming fire.
You can read just exactly what the beta entails, as described by developer Embark Studios, below:
- Skyway Stadium (New) – Experience the ever-changing Skyway Stadium, where players can test their limits in this treacherous playground.
- Monaco – Play through the cobblestone streets of Monaco, making it a perfect map for destruction and closed-quartered combat.
- Seoul – Fight atop towering skyscrapers in downtown Seoul with fast-paced, vertical gameplay. Be careful to watch where you step so you don’t fall.
- New and Updated Game Modes
- Bank-It (New) – Four teams of three battle it out for coins in this casual-friendly, combat-focused mode. The team that reaches the max limit first, or the team with the most cash banked at the end of the round, wins.
- Unranked Tournament – A Cashout mode where four teams of three compete to find cashboxes and deposit them in vaults in an unranked tournament format with three rounds and 24 players.
- Ranked Tournament – A Cashout mode with four teams of three in a ranked tournament format with four rounds and 48 players.
- Quick Cash is a casual-friendly variant of Cashout in a three-versus-three-versus-three format. This mode has longer matches, faster respawn timers, faster extraction times and only one vault at a time.
- Practice Range – A place for contestants to test weapons, gadgets, movement, and destruction.
- Contestant Progression
- The free Open Beta BattlePass will include 16 exclusive rewards that, if unlocked, will be transferred to the full game at launch.
- Item progression will include five Mastery Levels per weapon.
- League Progression – Five Leagues (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond) will include permanent rewards for each tier and an exclusive Legendary Diamond Weapon Skin reward for contestants who reach the Diamond tier.
- Even More Content – The open beta will feature 20 Weapons, 26 Gadgets and nine abilities for contestants to choose from, as well as improvements to performance, movement, team play, and more.