Spectre Divide review – a unique two-body concept falls flat

Spectre Divide reviewDeveloper: Mountaintop StudiosPublisher: Mountaintop StudiosPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam)

For a new game studio, there are few genres as difficult to break into as that of the tactical shooter. With the space dominated by behemoths Valorant and Counter-Strike, newcomers are up against established games with deep tactical gameplay, distinctive world designs, and dedicated communities. Newbies face a demanding set of player expectations, with a checklist that includes immaculate gunplay, perfect pacing and ultra-clear level design as the bare minimum. And only when you get beyond that do things get really interesting. What have you got that’s fresh, and can encourage new forms of tactical thinking? Can you provide enough of a hook that players will want to stick around to master the mechanics? Is your game simply enough to stand out?

Given all this, you can’t help but respect anyone attempting to crack the market – particularly when said contender is an indie studio. And Spectre Divide is bringing an idea to the party that’s nothing if not unique. Underpinning the gameplay is the concept of duality: you control two separate bodies, and can switch between them during a match to blindside your enemies. This also means you get two lives per round, effectively giving you a second crack at the whip should you get headshot from out of nowhere. It’s an intriguing idea on paper, and immediately opens up a realm of new tactical possibilities. Yet in practice, the implementation of this two-body concept feels rather surface level. Rather than doubling down on its hook, Spectre Divide often plays it safe, and avoids taking the sort of additional creative risks that would separate it further from other tactical shooters. On its own, the duality gimmick just isn’t strong enough to keep you repeatedly coming back for more. It’s a game that feels almost fun, but not quite.

When it comes to first impressions, Spectre Divide doesn’t get off to the strongest of starts. On booting the game up for the first time, a short animation introduces you to its world: a cyberpunk future where, much like Apex Legends, the population is obsessed with an underground bloodsport. That’s about as deep as the lore gets, however, and I’d be hard-pressed to give you any further details about the backstory. This lack of exposition partly stems from the game’s decision to forgo a roster of in-universe characters in favour of custom player avatars. One of the first screens you’re presented with is the option to customise your main character and spectre – and boy do all of these options look bland. In the year 2100, it seems the Spring/Summer fashion season is all about dusty bulletproof vests and desaturated combat leggings. The future is truly looking bleak. If you want your character to look a degree more interesting than a generic cannon-fodder soldier, you’ll have to visit Spectre Divide’s store and spend £13.50 on a skin. Given that it’s a free-to-play game, it’s understandable that Spectre Divide has to make its money through microtransactions. But it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth when the basic character customisation options are so boring, and the only cosmetic items you can earn through gameplay are obvious filler like sprays and banners. Call me old-fashioned, but 43 quid for a gun skin pack just seems a bit much.

Diving into a match reveals that Spectre Divide looks pretty similar to other tactical shooters: it’s attack and defence, with one team aiming to plant a bomb and the other trying to defuse it. The main differences are the two-body mechanic, and that players must select a ‘sponsor’ at the start of each match. (Famously, players will quickly become attached to soulless corporate brands. I love Pinnacle International! Who needs characters or personalities?) Each sponsor gives you access to three different abilities: Bloom Technologies, for instance, gives you a barrier, healing ability and ‘swarm’ grenade that blocks vision and damages players. You initially pick between four different sponsors, and there are four other sponsors that can be unlocked through gameplay and winning matches. (Or spending money to unlock them instantly, of course.) It’s a system that encourages players to keep grinding through the ranks, although the amount of XP required to unlock a new sponsor is excessive; it takes days of completing challenges to unlock a single one. For a game that needs to quickly grab and maintain the interest of new players, it’s an odd decision to make progression feel so slow.