Everything New Season 2 Of The Finals
Season 2 early access
Recon is gone. Yes, you heard that the right lights can now teleport their team through walls. C4 took a hard Nerf defib, got reworked, and tons of other massive changes Embark reached out and invited me to a private Access season 2 preview. This was the most fun I've had.
New map
In the finals of the new map, CIS Horizon is by far the best map aesthetically and brings all sorts of new chaos.
The entire map is vibrant, with different sections having their own color themes. There are tons of areas to explore, like a library, museum, campus workspace, and more. The map has flank routes everywhere, as well as new gadgets and specializations. Open up an unlimited number of flank routes.
Light's new gadget
The new gadgets were all super fun to mess around with, especially Light's new Gadget Gateway, which allows you to open up a portal that teleports you or your teammates to the next portal you place. This can be used to hop through walls and also has a very long range. This makes Light Class feel a lot stronger and more united with their team.
Heavy's new gadget
Heavy's new anti-gravity cube is also a ton of fun. You can lift objects, players, and even cash out into the air. Enemies or teammates caught in this have to slowly wiggle their way out, but this can make players extremely vulnerable. This makes climbing buildings incredibly easy; the effect even goes through floors and walls. This is the mobility Heavies has been asking for.
Medium's new gadget
Medium's data reshaper allows them to convert any object into another. This works on Sentry turrets, landmines, and even other deployables. You can also change multiple objects at once. While in the play test, I managed to actually figure out a cool mechanic with the reshaper.
Every time you reshape a canister, it transforms into the same canister. The cycle goes as follows: Red canisters change into smoke. Smoke changes into goo, goo changes into orange, orange ones change into green ones, and then the cycle repeats.
New specialization - dematerializer
Medium didn't just get a brand new gadget; it also got a completely new specialization to replace Recon senses.
Yes, Recon is gone from the game dematerializer. It allows mediums to break holes and fill them at will; they can do this to walls, roofs, floors, and even staircases. What's super cool about this is that you can fill the holes back in instantly when you choose. There were plenty of times I was chasing somebody, and they escaped by using this. It's also incredibly useful to drop the cash out without allowing players above to follow.
New loadouts
Those are the brand new gadgets and specializations, but every class has new gadget selections now, like a class that now has sonar grenades and the tracking dart, but it has lost the motion sensor. Medium's gadgets are the same except for the tracking dart and sonar grenades no longer being available, but at least the data reshaper should fill that gap.
Heavy acquired the motion sensor and anti-gravity cube, but everything else is the same.
Defib rework
Finally, after months of people begging for it, the medium's definition has been completely reworked. Reviving a teammate no longer makes them absorb bullets initially. When you're dead, your body is rebuilt, and you can't continue playing until the animation is complete.
In the rebuild animation, you can't be damaged, but you also don't block bullets either. It's a little weird to adjust to, but overall, I think this is a good change. This makes it so defib allows you to revive quickly but not bring a teammate instantly back into the fight; it also gives the revived player a chance to fight back but can easily be countered by prepared enemies.
C4 nerfs
The next big change came to the C4. Most players during the play test didn't bother bringing the C4s because of the new anti-gravity cube. I brought it into my loadout and quickly realized the C4s now only have one charge, which means no more double C4 nukes. It also just increases the downtime between uses, thus decreasing its overall utility and strength.
Rps nerfs
Another couple of Nerfs hit the RPG. I'll show a side-by-side comparison of the new ads. Advertising in season 2 is a lot slower, and the RPG also seems less accurate in season 2, but we'll have to wait for patch notes to verify this.
Overall, the RPG still felt good to me, but definitely less consistent and clunkier.
All new weapons
Three new weapons were available during our play test. We got the 93 R burst fire machine pistol, a three-round burst pistol that plays similar to the V9s. Shout out to Oppo for this fragment. Medium got the Famas, a three-round burst assault rifle that really has no comparison in the game but definitely felt good when I was using it.
I think both of these weapons are going to come down to preference, as both light and medium classes have great competitors for choice of weapon. The heavy class got the new KS23 Slug shotgun. It doesn't deal as much damage as you're used to in close-range combat as a heavy, but it definitely packs a punch at mid- to far-range.
New 5v5 gamemode!
I also got to play the new exciting 5v5 game mode. Powers shift This game mode features a giant payload that both teams must fight in for an extended tug-of-war. The team that escorts the payload the furthest by the end of the time wins. There is an overtime mechanic if the objective is contested when the time runs out, but unfortunately, we didn't trigger any of our matches, but you can still win before the time runs out by escorting the payload all the way to the finish line.
The more players you have inside the payload, the faster it moves in your team's direction. The maximum speed caps at three players. This is the first game mode where you can change your entire class and load out in between deaths. You can go from using the sniper in light class to using a shotgun in heavy I'm not sure how this will feel balance-wise, but regardless, it's a cool new feature.
The payload casually goes through buildings and destroys the entire map in its normal course; it creates some of the most intense exchanges I've ever seen in an FPS game. This honestly feels like a completely different game than the finals, but I had an absolute blast playing the new game mode with the developers.
New battle pass & store
Of course, there will be a new shop and battle pass tomorrow with the full launch of season 2. I was able to get a look at all the new cosmetics and unlocks coming with the initial launch of season 2.
Some of these are just so sick of the overall theme. This seems to be retro gaming, and I just love it. You can always count on Embark to release some absolutely fire cosmetics. My wallet cannot handle how good these skins look. I don't know how some of you guys resist. There will also be a season 2 starter pack, which, just like the season 1 starter pack, will refund you all of your gold back for purchasing.
