The Finals has frenetic gameplay full of destruction | hands-on preview

Posted byby Dean Takahashi
March 6, 2023
Updated June 18, 2025
6 min

The first-person shooter action in Embark Studios’ The Finals moves pretty fast. And if you’re a bit slow like me to catch on to what is happening, it can pass you by.

I’ve been curious about it because I’ve followed Stockholm, Sweden-based Embark Studios’ — a division of Nexon — for some time. This title is a free-to-play team shooter that I tried out at a press event last week in preparation for the launch of the game’s two-week closed beta test, which runs from March 7 to March 21.

Unlock premium content and VIP community perks with GB M A X! Join now to enjoy our free and premium perks.

Join now →

Sign in to your account.

Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.