| Spectre Divide | |||
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| Gameplay & Story | Release Date | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
A brand-new indie FPS tac-shooter made by Mountaintop Studios has just landed, and its name is Spectre Divide. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.
Spectre Divide Review Overview
What is Spectre Divide?
Spectre Divide is a new indie competitive first-person tactical shooter that looks to shake up the competitive FPS scene with its unique mechanic, Duality. The game is primarily 3v3, but its Duality mechanic allows players to have two lives each. It features classic tactical FPS gameplay similar to Counter-Strike and Valorant, where maps have two bomb sites with an Attacker and Defender side. The game has a shorter format where matches are first-to-8 rounds and only have overtime (win by 2 rounds) in ranked matches.
It also has 8 unique loadouts to choose from, and these determine the equipment and utility that you will be able to use throughout a match. Additionally, the game also features a modern way of shooting using aim-down-sights (ADS) as compared to the aforementioned tactical-FPS games that use hip-fire primarily. Lastly, the game also features personal and weapon cosmetics to show off your personal style.
Spectre Divide features:
⚫︎ 3v3 Attack and Defend Bomb Site With 2 Lives Each
⚫︎ Aim-Down-Sights (ADS) as Primary Way to Aim and Shoot
⚫︎ 8 Different Sponsors or Loadouts to Choose From
⚫︎ In-Game Guild System
⚫︎ Microtransactions for Cosmetics
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Spectre Divide’s gameplay and story.
 Spectre Divide |
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 Steam |
Spectre Divide Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Duality is a Game Changer Shorter Game Format ADS is a Different Experience |
Cosmetics Are Expensive Maps Are a Little Too Big Audiovisual Issues In-Game Economy is Unclear |
Spectre Divide Overall - 72/100
Spectre Divide has big potential. It offers something new and fresh to the tactical first-person shooter (FPS) scene that’s been dominated by the same games for the past few years. Duality is a great way to change up the genre, but a multitude of issues are definitely holding the game back. It has a steep and uphill climb just to get noticed in the competitive scene, but the developers seem willing to support this game in the long run. This game definitely flew under the radar for most FPS fans, and I’m interested to see if they can catch a wave soon or even a few months down the road.
Spectre Divide Story - 5/10
As a competitive FPS game, there is no story behind the matches being played. The little bit of narrative there is that all the players are competitors in "Santai" which is sort of like a game show with a ranking system. The goal of each player is to be the very best, like no one ever was, but there’s really nothing else to it.
Spectre Divide Gameplay - 9/10
The gameplay of Spectre Divide could easily be described as a tactical shooter that takes elements from several other shooting games. With its unique mechanic of Duality, it offers a completely fresh and new tactical experience with how everything is weaved into its several other elements. Additionally, using aim-down-sights (ADS) also offers a different experience for players for a potentially lower barrier of entry.
However, it has its problems. Personally, I found the maps a little too big for their own good, which means that rotating and moving around them is a little too slow. Lastly, the game’s in-game economy needs either its own tutorial or needs to be tuned differently.
Spectre Divide Visuals - 7/10
The visuals of the game are similar to something like Borderlands with its comic-inspired cel-shaded designs. The cosmetics of the game are definitely eye-catching, as you can personalize your own characters to show off your style. However, it may be fair to say that some designs are a miss, specifically with some of the gun skins and base designs. It’s also arguable that the game needs a little bit of a contrast touch-up, as it seems pretty washed out. This lack of contrast leads to a problem in visibility, as even the enemy outlines become very hard to see in certain situations.
Spectre Divide Audio - 6/10
The game’s audio design is decent. Not much is out of the ordinary, but the game does have a big flaw, especially when it comes to the audible footsteps. Personally, the footsteps made by allies should either be lessened or muted. When things get hectic or intense, these could definitely bother the player.
Spectre Divide Value for Money - 9/10
The game is completely free, but it does have some issues with its monetization. It follows a similar way of unlocking other loadouts and buying cosmetics as Valorant. It might take you a considerable amount of time and matches to play just to unlock a new sponsor, which may influence you to go buy their currency to buy the other loadouts instead.
As for the cosmetics, it’s a tad too expensive at the moment. The developers have already addressed the cost of the cash shop items and have already said that they will be judging the monetization and will be making reductions to the current prices soon.
Spectre Divide Review: The Rookie With Potential
Spectre Divide could be summed up in one word: interesting. From the get-go, you can already see the influence of other games in the genre while having a little something of its own. It’s a game with huge potential with its core mechanic and fusion of all other shooters into one cohesive game. But one can only do so much with potential, as it has to blossom to actually call itself a full-fledged competitor in the already dominated competitive FPS genre.
Visually, the game looks pretty good. You can see the neo-futuristic designs and aesthetic that they’re going for with the maps and cosmetics. However, the big problem is the game’s contrast. The colorization of the game could be described as washed out, and this leads to complications in gameplay really quick. We’ll get to that later.
As for the game’s audio design, it’s ok. Most of the sound effects are decent, but there are a few glaring issues that I would like to point out. The sounds made by planting and defusing the Zeus (bomb) are soft. It’s not super soft, but it’s soft enough that you could miss it if you’re not paying full attention. Another is the allied footstep noises, as these are a little bit too loud. There were cases where I was fooled by my own teammate for running on my flank in clutch situations. They might need to consider having a setting to have some sound effects louder or softer, just so players have options.
Let’s get to the gameplay, which is what Spectre Divide really offers. The game is definitely a hybrid of popular shooters over the years. You could equate the game’s core design to Counter Strike (CS) while having Halo gunplay. The way you use utilities, go around the map, and even some map designs feel familiar to those who’ve played CS before, even when you’re playing Spectre Divide for the first time. Let’s go over the unique mechanic that separates it from its competitors: Duality.
Duality is the game’s way of making smaller team formats while keeping the tactical FPS game mode. It introduces players to having a second life, which allows for different plays and adds a layer of uncertainty as opposed to having a normal 3v3 setup. To put it simply, it’s a second body that you’ll need to move and transfer to, which allows for more interesting gameplay. You could use it in a variety of different ways in offense and defense, and these open up to new possibilities in-game.
Personally, I found Duality interesting mostly because, to my knowledge, it hasn’t been done before in this format. It’s an interesting way to make things spicier while introducing a deep mechanic that you can strategize around. It’s also even more interesting when you learn how Duality is weaved into the game’s mechanics, like its economy, abilities, and even map design.
However, it’s not perfect.
For a small-form tactical FPS, the game has pretty large maps, and this actually slows the pace of the game by a lot. If this is what the developers intended, then I respect the design choice, but some rounds go down to the wire simply because players were still trying to traverse across the map.
Another problem is its economy and how to educate players on how to play around it. In terms of in-game economy, it’s helpful that the game tells you how much you’ll be getting next round at a minimum. However, there might be a need to reduce the price of a full-buy to get more meaningful rounds out of comeback victories.
One example is when your team is trying to mount a comeback with a full buy, but most of your team dies in that round that you won. The outcome is that the other players cannot afford going for a full buy while the enemy can still afford it due to a surplus of funds. They might need to tweak a kind of comeback bonus or a higher award when it comes to kills just so they can balance out the team economy.
All in all, Spectre Divide is a game with huge potential to make a splash in the scene. It has its own thing to make it stand out from the rest, but the developers will need to fully invest in the game with time and effort to tweak and polish the mechanics to perfection.
It’s an uphill battle trying to make a name for themselves against games like Valorant and CS that are already considered the best games offered in the market, but I’m fully convinced that the game can make it, and I’m excited to see where it goes.
Pros of Spectre Divide
| Things Spectre Divide Got Right |
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Duality is a Game Changer Shorter Game Format ADS is a Different Experience |
Duality is a Game Changer
Duality is a new, fresh, and pretty innovative way of making smaller team games into a better experience. It allows players to play in different ways, especially with the possibilities that are open to you when you have a second life. More to this, Duality influences most of the game’s design, as seen in its map designs, in-game economy, and abilities. In gameplay, you could use your second life to hold cross angles, make self-trades, and even make flanks while your original body anchors on a site. There’s a ton of things you can do with Duality, and it’s definitely a great way of spicing up the game.
Shorter Game Format
The game is only first to 8 rounds, and normal matches only have a max round count of 14. While rounds themselves tend to take a while to finish, games as a whole only last around 30-40 minutes. There’s an exception when it comes to overtime, but that’s a completely different case. Spectre Divide offers an alternative of having to spend less time in a single game as opposed to getting stuck in one lobby for an hour.
ADS is a Different Experience
Aim-down-sights (ADS) helps players understand where their shots are going way easier than the game’s contemporaries. Not everyone will be a fan of this design, but I, for one, am a fan that the game uses this instead of the traditional barebones hip-firing. The game has a more modern feel to it since this is how you’d traditionally use a firearm anyway. Not only that, but this mechanic also helps newer players in the genre to have more accurate shots as opposed to relying solely on crosshair placement.
Cons of Spectre Divide
| Things That Spectre Divide Can Improve |
|---|
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Cosmetics Are Expensive Maps Are a Little Too Big Audiovisual Issues In-Game Economy is Unclear |
Cosmetics Are Expensive
One of the big issues that the game has is its microtransactions. Simply put, they’re very expensive. It’s similar to Valorant’s pricing, but the complaint lies in its timing. The game just came out a week ago but is already charging top dollar for cosmetics. The designs aren’t really bad; it’s that the game doesn’t really have much going on yet for it to charge such high prices.
The developers have already stated that there will be price reductions for the current and future cash shop items, but they’ll most likely have to look at the bigger picture more for the most part. The game will still have battle passes, exclusive character skins, weapon cosmetics, and more, which will most likely take them time to assess the cost of everything.
Maps Are a Little Too Big
The game’s maps, while there are only a few choices, are pretty big. Even with Duality, the maps are still a little too big. This makes rounds take a long time to resolve. This may be a skill issue on my part, but it may take a while to get used to knowing the fastest routes and more efficient ways to cross the map.
Audiovisual Issues
As of the moment, the game’s visuals are decent. But there are a few problems when it comes to visibility. The color contrast in the game look washed out, and while this may be intended, this causes problems in certain situations where you only have small gaps to hold. I’d actually advise players to change the enemy highlight color to something more visible, as the default yellow caused some issues on my part.
Similarly, certain sound effects in the game are too soft. These in particular are the Zeus planting sound effect and the defusing sound effect. Two of these are very important sound cues when it comes to clutch situations, so they’ll probably need to turn that up or make a different noise to make it more obvious to players.
Another complaint is the noise that allied footsteps make, as there is no reason for them to be as loud as they currently are. There were cases where I mistakenly looked at the wrong angle because I heard a noise, only to find out that it was my teammate walking on my flank. Call it a skill issue, but it would be appreciated if you could lessen the allied footstep noises to make it easier for players to dial in on the enemy footsteps instead.
In-Game Economy is Unclear
There are times in the game when I’m unsure of whether or not to commit to full-buying or not. The economy in the game isn’t exactly super obvious, where winning rounds with a full-buy round would actually cause problems with the rest of the team’s economy.
Yes, you could go with buying guns for the team instead. However, the game’s gains and losses are still something that needs to be taught to newer players. Hopefully, the game will have a tutorial or primer when it comes to the game’s money system, just so every player’s educated about when to go all-in or not.
Is Spectre Divide Worth It?
It’s Free-to-Play, So Why Not?
Spectre Divide is a pretty good alternative to the 2 other choices that you have for a tactical FPS game experience. It’s a fresh and innovative take on the genre, while having unique mechanics to make it stand out from the rest. You may have a problem with regards to unlocking new Sponsors due to how much experience you’ll need to get a new one, but the default Sponsors are already plenty strong to play around with.
With the microtransactions, the developers have already promised an upcoming price reduction for current and future content, so that might be a little bit better in the near future. Seeing as these are all cosmetic, it shouldn’t really affect you in terms of gameplay. It’s a game with potential to be big, but the developers will have to take their time to polish and make things interesting if they want to win the uphill battle.
| Digital Storefronts | |||||
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| Steam |
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| Price | Free-to-play | ||||
Spectre Divide FAQ
What are the Ranks in Spectre Divide?
The game has two separate ranks for solo players and teams. For solo, there will be a total of eight (8) different ranks, seven (7) of which have four (4) divisions per rank. For teams on the other hand, there will be a total of nine (9) different ranks, eight (8) of which will have four (4) divisions per rank.
Is Spectre Divide Free-to-Play?
Yes. Players will have access to all game modes upon downloading the game.
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Spectre Divide Product Information
| |
| Title | SPECTRE DIVIDE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | September 3, 2024 |
| Developer | Mountaintop Studios |
| Publisher | Mountaintop Studios |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam) |
| Genre | Action, Shooter, Strategic |
| Number of Players | Online Co-op and PvP (3v3) |
| Rating | ESRB T |
| Official Website | Spectre Divide Official Website |
