After years of quietly working on the next big thing, Mountaintop Studios, made up of game development veterans from Respawn, Riot Games, Bungie, and other AAA studios, has officially launched its first project to the world.
Specter Divide is the team’s attempt to shake up the competitive, tactical shooter genre. This free-to-play 3v3 game may borrow elements from Valorant and Counter-Strike, but it takes a completely unique approach to action that’s familiar to many of us.
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The main mechanic of Specter Divide is duality, which is the ability of each player to control two bodies at the same time. You can switch between them at any time, opening up a range of tactical and practical options for you to experiment with.
It also functions as a second chance mechanic, giving each player two lives to play with in each match. You can place a corpse (ghost) to cover your back or a dangerous cross, or just use it to watch two locations at once.
Duality is particularly useful given Specter Divide’s core attack/defense bomb defusal game mode, as you can reach two bomb sites at the same time. From a shooter perspective, Ghost Split’s mechanics are built on the familiar weapon spray pattern, except you’re also encouraged to aim your weapon sights and fire on the move.
In the game’s fictional three-way competition, you don’t pick from pre-created heroes; you choose characters. You can create your own. In addition to appearance, there are also a range of abilities available for you to choose from to complement any playstyle you desire. There are no ultimate abilities here, but players of Valorant and Counter-Strike will certainly be familiar with the pre-turn purchase phase.
Specter Divide is designed to be a competitive shooter, and the involvement of streamer Michael ‘Shroud’ Grzesiek makes that clear. There’s a heavy focus on ranked play, with weekly competitions between your friends – but you can also queue solo or create custom games.
Although the game is free to play, you won’t find any loot boxes here. You will be able to purchase character and weapon skins directly. Sponsors, which are essentially faction/manufacturer versions of the game, are also available for purchase, or you can unlock them by playing the game.
Specter Divide doesn’t have a release date yet, but it will launch on PC this year. Now that it’s been officially announced, you can sign up for a future beta test if you’re interested in experiencing the wild side of the genre for yourself.
