Spectre Divide is a fascinating Valorant-like shooter where you control two bodies

I americium getting perfectly stomped successful Spectre Divide, nan just-revealed 3-on-3 online shooter from a caller crippled workplace staffed by talent from Oculus VR, Valorant, Apex Legends, Halo Infinite, and more. I americium not bully astatine this free-to-play PC game. But I can’t extremity reasoning astir really I mightiness get bully — by intelligently swapping betwixt 2 bodies to outmaneuver my enemies. 

If only I’d placed my doppelganger here alternatively of there, I could’ve had my ain back. What if I had teleported my clone down force lines to flank them while I drew their attraction elsewhere? Maybe if I’d planted nan explosive pinch 1 assemblage while camping that doorway pinch nan other, I’d person caught them unawares? 

I’ve ne'er played a shooter for illustration this earlier — moreover if, astatine first, it looks and feels an atrocious batch for illustration Valorant. 

It’s been 4 years since Mountaintop Studios started building its 70-person afloat distant team, raising $60 cardinal and attracting a number of celebrated streamers on nan way. (Twitch prima Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek became nan company’s lead gameplay advisor for nan past twelvemonth aliases so, though Mountaintop won’t opportunity if he’s besides committed to streaming it.)

After that wait, I was initially disappointed to spot it mightiness conscionable beryllium different leader shooter pinch anime-inspired graphics for illustration Valorant and Overwatch. But not for long, because Mountaintop’s first crippled doesn’t really person immoderate heroes aliases Valorant’s “I ne'er knew what deed maine and now I’m sitting retired nan round” Ultimates. Instead, Spectre Divide gives you 2 bodies, so, astatine a minimum, you get a 2nd chance aft your first gets wiped out.

“One large point we’ve solved successful tac shooters is sitting and watching,” says head Lee Horn.

Intriguingly, there’s an in-universe mentation for nan copy bodies: cipher is dying successful this game. You’re competing successful Santai, a relatively bloodless bloodsport wherever a erstwhile subject exertion called Duality lets players inhabit a brace of quiet spectre avatars — “one mind, 2 bodies,” Mountaintop likes to say.

The crippled is group successful a metropolis called Breakwater, wherever nan athletics is celebrated capable that firm sponsors person gotten involved, contributing cogwheel (grenades, echolocation pings, imagination blockers, traps, and more) that return nan spot of nan abilities you’d person successful a leader shooter. Here’s a speedy assemblage of nan options connected time one:

Each round, you prime your sponsor, determine really overmuch rate to walk connected weapons, armor, and abilities, and either onslaught aliases take sides successful nan explosive defusal mode that Counter-Strike popularized astir 25 years ago. Only now, you’ve sewage 2 bodies per person.

Frankly, it’s a batch for a newbie to support way of. You’re ever temporarily leaving 1 of your 2 bodies behind, and it’s not ever easy to show what’s happening backmost there. You do get a “Spectre Warning” Spidey-sense if your distant aforesaid hears force footsteps, but it tin beryllium a immense consequence to spell check. When I quickly teleported backmost to thief my second self, it meant leaving my first aforesaid retired successful nan unfastened to get destroyed. When I spent clip safely squirreling distant my first self, I was often excessively precocious to prevention my second. 

But erstwhile you get it right, and decently coordinate pinch your quality teammates and their ain different selves, nan plays consciousness great. You tin person your full squad screen explosive tract A and explosive tract B simultaneously by splitting your forces, teleporting to whichever group of bodies is nether attack. You tin clone an onslaught astatine 1 explosive site, past move to nan different without moving crossed nan full representation — conscionable warp into your different body, past propulsion nan “puck” that gradually teleports your first assemblage on for nan ride.  

You tin unreserved pinch each six spectres, reinforcing yourselves by teleporting your spectre guardant arsenic you property nan attack. (My favourite portion of cogwheel truthful acold is nan Dual Amp, which lets maine unreserved down foes by teleporting my clone to my location and improving its complaint of occurrence simultaneously.) But if foes cognize you’re coming, they tin reenforce themselves nan aforesaid way. This is simply a crippled wherever a subordinate tin campy and actively onslaught you astatine nan aforesaid time, truthful beryllium prepared for that. 

You’ll besides request to hole for foes who tin head-shot you instantly without skipping a hit aliases pump astir each azygous slug they occurrence into you should their headshot miss. One of nan biggest ways this crippled is not for illustration Valorant is that aimed shots are ever accurate. If you click a rodent while nan targeting reticle is connected a head, that’s wherever nan changeable will land. 

While hep occurrence is not meticulous beyond adjacent range, nan shape that bullets will spray erstwhile you’re aiming down nan sights is almost ever nan same, making it captious to memorize nan spray shape of your limb and move your rodent accordingly if you want to triumph face-to-face firefights.

While this mightiness sound awesome to competitory gamers, I don’t person clip to support that skill; moreover arsenic a young adult, nan time I personally stopped playing Counter-Strike was nan time I tired of getting instantly head-shot by nan damn AK. 

That said, Spectre’s dual bodies and gadgets mean I don’t ever person to conflict head-to-head. I tin flank, supply covering fire, heal, shield, distract, and snipe pinch my ain spectre to screen me. There’s worth successful not rushing in, peculiarly erstwhile a information is already lost: saved weapons and armor transportation guardant to nan adjacent information if you don’t die. A squad that buys decent weapons each information won’t beryllium capable to spend devastating ones later if they support getting gunned down (or bombed) successful nan process.

Spectre Divide doesn’t person a merchandise day yet, but nan UE4 crippled already feels reasonably polished. The crippled ran incredibly smoothly connected my midrange PC (with RTX 3060 Ti graphics), and my workfellow Tom Warren said it hardly deed his GPU astatine all. It presently uses BattlEye anticheat tech, though nan institution says that’s conscionable nan starting point.

It’s only presently planned for PC, pinch nary controller aliases console plans yet — and Mountaintop won’t needfully let Steam Deck to join. “Steam Deck is simply a interest arsenic a cheating vector, and I deliberation our anti-cheat systems whitethorn artifact it correct now,” Mountaintop CEO and cofounder Nate Mitchell tells me.

The crippled will motorboat pinch 4 maps, pinch further ones coming successful seasonal updates, and only nan azygous explosive defusal crippled mode to start. There besides aren’t contiguous plans to adhd much weapons since Mountaintop wants to “let nan meta settle” and do a equilibrium walk first. 

Mountaintop will beryllium publishing nan crippled itself connected Steam, and it’ll beryllium free to play, funded by nan cosmetic limb skins and characteristic customization parts you tin buy, positive caller packages of “sponsor” instrumentality you tin besides get by grinding. The institution says they’ll beryllium priced likewise to different games. Weapons will beryllium free: “We’re committed to nan truth that Spectre Divide won’t beryllium pay-to-win,” nan institution writes.

Mountaintop says Spectre Divide will beryllium disposable for nan nationalist to play successful closed beta soon.