The Finals is a very impressive FPS title, but that being said, it is still a very new live-service FPS, and there are still a lot of creases that need to be ironed out.
However, one thing that can be said is that generally speaking, pretty much every map on offer in The Finals achieves the goal of offering a completely destructible playground where any build can be effective.
Light Builds can get around with ease, whereas Medium Builds can bounce from Rooftop to Rooftop with trusty Jump Pads, and Heavy Builds can blow to kingdom come.
It’s always a good sign when you have a pool of maps on offer where none pop up on screen and get met by a series of groans. But, even if all the maps are pretty cool, we all have our favorites.
So, we want to go with that notion and rank the existing maps that are available to play in The Finals as of Season One. So, without further delay, here is our list of the Finals Best Maps Ranked From Worst to Best.
Selection Criteria
As we mentioned, most of these maps are great and fit for purpose when it comes to offering a balanced and fair space to play out a team-based FPS match-up. But, we need to rank them somehow, so here are the criteria that affected our ranking:
- How cool does the map look both aesthetically, and in terms of overall design
- Notable points of interest on each map will help them rank higher
- How good/bad the map is for implementing certain strategies will affect the rank
- Annoying design aspects like choke points or Floating Platforms may affect ranking
Okay, enough admin, let’s rank these arenas from worst to best!
The Finals Best Maps Ranked
#4 – Seoul
I think I speak for pretty much everyone within The Finals Community when I say that Seoul is by far the weakest of the four maps on offer at this moment, and it’s not even close. I don’t think this hate comes from Seoul being a bad map per se. I think it’s more a case of the other maps being so much more vibrant, dynamic, and fun to play.
The key omission in Seoul that makes it less of a desired map than others is that it doesn’t have quite as many points of interest when compared to other maps on the roster, and the ones that do exist tend to be problematic.
For example, The Skyscraper in the middle of the map tends to block off pathways across the map, making you feel more boxed in. Then you have the notorious sky bridge that acts as a horrendous choking point, which rarely offers any sort of advantage to any team. Unless, you blow it up, which can be quite satisfying.
Aside from this, there are a lot of windows that lead to death drops, breaking the player’s flow state; the spawns tend to be pretty poorly optimized, often placing you miles away from the action, and generally speaking, it just doesn’t feel quite as chaotic and free-flowing as the other maps on offer, making Seoul our certified worst existing map in The Finals.
#3 – Las Vegas 2032
In at number three to take the bronze medal, we have the most recent addition to the lineup, which was added to the game upon its official launch. Vegas is quite easily the most vibrant and lavishly designed of all the maps in question, which, I suppose, is pretty appropriate for a map depicting a futuristic Vegas.
To focus first on what this map does well. As mentioned, it is a very pretty map with probably the most interesting and fun to play interior areas across the board. Most other maps offer pretty plain industrial indoor environments, but Vegas provides some lush and memorable indoor haunts for players to blow to smithereens.
This makes it a map where you can play in more of a traditional FPS manner, using cover, breaching rooms, and the like. Pretty much all the positives are found in The Casinos, but when you step outside, you see the flaws immediately.
The map is incredibly flat when compared to other options, and while there are some means of high-flying through Jump Pads and rappels to high rises, this tends to be a little pointless as the action is all happening indoors anyway. Plus, does anyone else which that big circle right in the middle of the strip was a Jump Pad? Yeah, me too.
In short, it’s a small map that forces you to play in a way that is at odds with what has made The Finals such a runaway success. It’s not without merit, and the smaller size does allow you to get into the action again quicker, which is appreciated, but overall, it’s all a little too cramped.
But the one caveat we will add is the Sandstorm variant of this map is a much better experience, so keep your fingers crossed you get that one when Vegas flashes up on the screen.
#2 – Monaco
Our runner-up is Monaco, a map that is filled with tight cobblestone streets, an abundance of buildings to hide in, and rooftops to jump between, and of course, you have that big ol’ Cathedral in the middle, which acts as the central point of interest tying the whole map together.
What makes Monaco great is that it essentially allows for all playstyles due to the open nature of the map. The line of sight is excellent, the means of traversal are varied and satisfying, there are so many destructible assets you can mess around with, and it’s bloody massive, too.
However, it isn’t without its flaws. This map is essentially a lot of repeated assets stuck together, with each house essentially offering the same layout.
Then you have the park/forest section, which feels like an afterthought unless there is an objective over there. Then you also have the fact that the Crane is not destructible, which can pose an issue in terms of map balance if a team uses that to their advantage.
Overall, though, it’s a very fun map that allows pretty much any type of player to thrive if they have the skills to pay the bills. I would love to see more map varients for Monaco, as it’s a little lacking on that front, but otherwise it’s a very strong number two.
#1 – Skyway Stadium
Then, in the top spot, we have the fan favorite, the OG, the best map in The Finals, Skyway Stadium. Why is it the best? Well, in my eyes, it’s because of the level of variety that the map offers.
This one comes with the most map variants, allowing for floating platforms, construction, Suspended cashouts, High Rises, and more. It’s a map that offers verticality, has ziplines and jump pads in all the areas you would want them, and a map that has enough points of interest to keep you engaged throughout the match.
Skyway Stadium is effectively a perfect blend of all the maps listed above. It has the High Rises of Seoul, the cramped interiors of Vegas, and the veritable side streets, park areas, and cranes present in Monaco.
It’s what I call the great equalizer, as it doesn’t play to anyone’s strength for too long and effectively splits these areas into islands on the map. One objective might be geared toward you, but you can be sure the next one probably won’t be.
It can sometimes feel a little bit repetitive for the same reasons as Monaco, especially when you have to keep entering identical attics of random houses to bank cash, and the large map size can sometimes mean you are miles away from the action when you respawn, but all in all, we feel that Embark Studios clearly poured more time into this maps design than the others, and it really shows.
It allows you to play in a fast, free-flowing, and frenetic way that The Finals is known for, and really, that’s all you need to fall in love with a map like Skyway Stadium.
Which Arena Is Your Favorite?
So there you have it, guys; this is our rankings for the current maps available in The Finals for Season One. We have no doubt that Embark is working on a few new and exciting locales for us to visit and turn into rubble, but for now, we feel that this showcases the order of appeal for each map on offer right now.
We hope that this has helped you make sense of which map is best for you, and as always, thanks for reading Indie Game Culture!
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