With bombastic action, constantly changing environments, and a slick aesthetic, The Finals is coming out of the gate as a major contender on the FPS scene. Embark Studios, comprised of former Battlefield franchise talent, refines the game’s combat following a well received beta period, but not every change is sticking the landing. Now, as PS5 and Xbox players dive back in, The Finals movement nerf is splitting players down the middle.
Even back in the beta, the notion that The Finals could be one of the best FPS games of the year was strong, and now Embark Studios has a solid chance to take the crown. With considerable pace and agility present in the beta, some players think that Embark Studios is scaling back movement speed with a nerf upon launch on PS5 and Xbox. Yet, the studio confirms nothing has been changed.
“We have been investigating your feedback on the feel of the movement from open beta to now. It’s been hard to pinpoint because there was no change in the movement system or the movement speed between the two tests,” explains community lead Dusty Gustafsson on the game’s Discord server. The game applies different movement speeds to each type of build, so Light builds can move faster, while Heavy builds withstand more damage at the loss of movement speed. Nevertheless, Gustafsson believes that other factors could be attributing to this perceived nerf.
Gustafsson explains that “in the past month, we have made small adjustments to animations, sounds, and settings that, in combination, may be giving the feeling of slower movement – especially in light and medium archetypes. Settings were reset as well, so FOV is defaulted to 71, which can have a huge impact on how the game feels.” Furthermore, players can expect “rebalancing some of the changes” as the game navigates its launch period.
The Finals is already proving itself to be a hit, with some players like ‘LaxTy23‘ completely abandoning Call of Duty for it already: “I’m never playing COD again, this game is so much more fun and non-toxic.” Others believe it fills a void in the FPS, as ‘Techishard‘ comments “finally after over a decade of shitty COD games and not a good Battlefield we get a game that gives me the gunplay and destruction of Battlefield while being this wild arena crazy fun shooter.”
In our experience with the game, we can attest that the game’s gunplay feels tighter than it did in the beta, while movement still retains a satisfying alternative to other shooters like Modern Warfare 3. Pair that with great map design and a plenty of ways to change up The Finals classes, it is easy to have a blast with all The Finals weapons from the get-go.