It’s Nineteen Seventies. The disco is glowing, the group is roaring, and probably the most spectacular televised competitors on the planet is about to start.
Welcome to Final Flaga zany shooter sport from Night time Avenue Video games, an indie sport studio cofounded by Mac and Dan Reynolds (the brothers behind the music band Think about Dragons — Dan is the lead singer and Mac is the supervisor). It’s a sport the place fame, fortune, and your flag are all up for grabs. And, sure, there shall be Think about Dragons music.
Two groups. Two hidden flags. One shot at immortality. I performed the sport and I appreciated the considering that went into the choices the workforce made in regards to the design. The sport has been within the works for a few years, and it’s clearly a labor of affection. It’s not simply a few music artists attempting their arms at gaming. It is a lot extra formidable than that.
Dan (left) and Mac Reynolds of Think about Dragons fame. Now they’re making a sport.
Within the sport, you have got 5 human gamers preventing towards 5 opposing people. You must stash your flag on the map. You then exit and discover the enemy’s flag. You run it again to your base after which need to defend your base for a hard and fast period of time. If you happen to outlast the defenders as they attempt to cease you, you then win the match.
“It originated from Dan and I being within the Boy Scouts and enjoying seize the flag within the woods at evening, and having that form of quintessential childhood expertise, and eager about all of the form of CTF sport modes over time,” mentioned Mac Reynolds, CEO of Night time Avenue Video games, in an interview with GamesBeat. “We realized there was a core lacking part. In these video games, which was hiding and discovering the flag. And so we needed to make a pure Seize the Flag the place you have got that flexibility and freedom to make each sport totally different by hiding a flag wherever you need ,” Mac Reynolds mentioned. “It’s possible you’ll wish to conceal it in a spot that’s dangerous however maybe simpler to defend. It modifications the playfield each time you play.”
As the sport’s description goes, it sounds lots just like the humor of The Finals. The outline says, “The world is watching, so don’t overlook to do it with type. This isn’t battle. That is showbiz.”
This isn’t battle. It’s showbiz.
I’ve talked to Mac Reynolds, founding father of the studio and supervisor of Think about Dragons, in regards to the sport for months. I additionally performed the sport and loved it in its pre-alpha mode. Final Flag is a 5v5 workforce shooter constructed to deliver seize the flag (CTF) to middle stage. It’s quick, it’s enjoyable, and delivers 20 minutes or much less of continuous chaos, clutch comebacks, and buzzer-beating performs, Mac Reynolds mentioned.
It’s not a quiet and stealthy sport like a number of capture-the-flag video games are. As I famous, that is zany.
“You don’t get eradicated. You get vacuum-tubed off the set and reappear within the inexperienced room, able to FWOOMP your self again to a radar tower you management—or straight to your base, the sport description says.
I performed on an Xbox controller, however a number of the capabilities weren’t completed but. The console controls will debut after they’re prepared, mentioned Mac Reynolds.
“After I was in third grade, my ‘what do you wish to be while you develop up’ reply was ‘run a online game studio.’ Oddly particular, however I assume I actually meant it,” mentioned Mac Reynolds. “Dan and I grew up enjoying seize the flag within the woods at evening with flashlights, pals, and many adrenaline. Final Flag is our try to honor the purity and magic of that conceal and search expertise—delivered to life by the unimaginable workforce of builders we’re fortunate sufficient to face beside.”
Set in a funk-blasted Nineteen Seventies-inspired universe, Final Flag transforms gamers into Contestants on the world’s most-watched sport present—hosted by the mysterious media mogul Victor Fex.
When the cameras begin rolling, gamers leap into an out of doors enviornment to cover their workforce’s flag, then scramble to disclose the enemy’s location by controlling radar towers and scouring the map’s multitude of hidden nooks and crannies.
Seize the Flag is the principle occasion
A soldier working with the flag.
Seize the flag. Haul it residence. Defend it for one minute to win it. Whether or not you’re celebrating your victory or vibing to the sleek sounds of defeat, you’ll be able to at all times select to run it again.
Constructed from the bottom up for Seize the Flag. Each mechanic—from sneaky flag placement to radar tower intel—is designed to create strategic rigidity, dramatic reversals, and last-second heroics.
There are 10 contestants and 10 huge personalities that remind me of a number of the characters of Apex Legends. From Masako, the heavy metallic archer who screams as loud as she strikes, to Parker, the speedy scout and his trusty cybernetic falcon, each contestant brings a definite vibe, playstyle, and dramatic aptitude.
Whether or not you’re stealing flags as Soo-Jin, the stealthy grasp thief, or locking enemies down with Julius Reeves’ Jail Cell—you’ll be able to dig it—this crew was constructed to steal the present.
Themed Maps Set the Stage for Epic Motion
Weapons Engineer vs Lumberjack.
Every colourful out of doors map was constructed to encourage exploration, thrilling workforce fights, and provides loads of out-of-the-way hiding spots for concealing the flag. However it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in Final Flag . . . there could also be greater than meets the attention.
The sport has an unique soundtrack by Dan Reynolds and Associates. It has fuzzy guitars, analog synths, and legit Nineteen Seventies studio magic, crafted with actual classic gear by Dan, Grammy-nominated producer/author JT Daly (Benson Boone, Ok.Flay, Bully), and Night time Avenue Video games’ personal soundsmith Dave Lowmiller (Name of Responsibility: Trendy Warfare, Battlefield, Lifeless Area).
The sport is casually aggressive. No strain. This isn’t a sweaty tactical shooter. It’s tight, quick, and enjoyable gameplay that’s straightforward to leap into and onerous to place down. Every little thing is included at launch, with one inexpensive worth. All of the enjoyable. Zero pay-to-win.
Final Flag is launching in 2026 on Home windows PC by way of Steam and the Epic Video games Retailer. Console platforms are within the works. Enroll now at LastFlag.com for a shot at turning into the subsequent contestant within the alpha playtest launching later this yr.
Night time Avenue Video games is an impartial sport studio co-founded by Mac Reynolds (supervisor of Think about Dragons) and his brother Dan (the lead singer), targeted on constructing multiplayer video games crafted with coronary heart. Night time Avenue’s gifted crew of builders from around the globe are working collectively on Final Flag—a fun-first third-person shooter that goals to ship the last word seize the flag expertise.
The fundamentals
The Grasp Thief in Final Flag.
I downloaded the sport from Steam and fired it up. I joined the devs and playtesters in a Seize the Flag map. The massive image is, discover the enemy flag, deliver it to your private home base, and defend it to win.
Within the preliminary a part of the sport, each groups take time to cover their flags. When the sport begins, you can begin taking on radar towers on the map. If you achieve this, it eliminates an space the place the flag is perhaps and helps you zero in on the placement. Preventing for these radar towers jogged my memory of Domination mode in Name of Responsibility, the place groups get in pitched battles over the placement takeovers.
“There’s a number of methods you’ll be able to contribute to your workforce,” Mac Reynolds mentioned. “You may conceal the flag. You may defend it. You will be on the lookout for the enemy flag, assaulting the bottom. There’s a payload escort, the place you assist take the flag again to your private home base.
You may maintain the F1 key while you’re enjoying at any cut-off date, if you wish to get a peek at what your talents are and what the upgrades do. Selecting your character is vital. You may play with an assault rifle, a protracted scout rifle, or long-range archer bow-and-arrow. A teleport gun can transport an enemy to a different a part of the map.
You may swap characters should you like, even throughout a match. There are humorous characters or weapons like proximity mines and electrified bullets.
The weapons engineer additionally has this capacity the place you’ll be able to teleport any individual or factor. If you happen to see an enemy working round you’ll be able to mark it on your sniper to shoot. The matches final round quarter-hour. The workforce has been playtesting for some time, and it needs gamers to join alpha testing.
The Bounty Hunter in Las Flag.
Mac Reynolds guarantees that music shall be a part of the Final Flag expertise, the place music helps you are feeling immersed.
“We try to take that philosophy from the music into all the opposite sounds. We actually need each sound you hear to be a possibility for a second of pleasure, a second of happiness,” Mac Reynolds mentioned.
So far as time to kill, an assault rifle does a number of harm, however the time to kill is longer in comparison with one thing like Name of Responsibility. The fights can last more and it is very important hunt in packs. You also needs to use ultimates and different particular weapons to show the tide in a firefight. As soon as somebody grabs the flag, the strain goes proper up and gamers scramble to cease the flag from getting again to the enemy’s base.
“We attempt to make it so totally different heroes thrive somewhere else. So should you study to make use of the weapon in the proper conditions, you’ll thrive ,” Mac Reynolds mentioned. “So if I’m the bounty hunter, I’ve acquired to get in shut quarters.”
Whilst you wish to get to know the contestants, Mac Reynolds mentioned, “We’re very cautious to not add too many mechanics, too many issues that may make the sport just a little bit overwhelming or make it onerous to, come again.”
He added, “This sport has much more fight, plenty of capturing, respawning, coming again, all that Name of Responsibility angle. However then anyone takes the flag, and now there’s an enormous rigidity spike as you’re attempting to chase the individual with the flag, attempting to get them down. Oh, you downed them. You’ve returned the flag. And now form of the strain form of resets.”
