The Finals

Another recent game for a change, because a friend invited me to play it - it's The Finals, a 3-player-team-based first-person shooter with destructible terrain.
I suppose the reason I agreed to play was because it is free to play, and the low barrier to entry is always nice, but I quickly got bored of it because it really doesn't stand out that much.

There are a couple different game modes, but they're all about collecting, then depositing money, basically like a capture the flag game mode with a slightly modified ruleset. You have a choice of three classes from light to heavy, with heavier classes generally having more health, slower movement speed, and weapons / abilities that are, well, heavier. A light class can, for example, go invisible, use a grappling hook, and use a sniper rifle or submachine gun. A medium class can heal or deploy a jump pad, and has an assault rifle. A heavy class can ram through walls or deploy a barricade, and use a rocket launcher. This is not the full list, as each class has 3 abilities, a couple unique deployables or grenades, as well as the default pool of grenades, and several unique weapons.
Still, having some variety is the baseline minimum I feel a game could do, and with just three classes with abilities that don't majorly define their playstyle and differentiate the gameplay experience, it really just felt like a bland and small round-based shooter. The destructible environment is a cool gimmick, but I don't feel it created many unique or memorable scenarios.

Overall, while The Finals doesn't have any outstanding flaws, it also doesn't have any outstanding qualities. I'm neither for or against FPS-style gameplay, but I don't enjoy most round-based games. So that's the main reason I couldn't recommend The Finals, but even if you were to compare it to any other round-based FPS like Counter-Strike, Overwatch, or Valorant, I don't feel it is in any way better than them, nor different enough to provide a feeling of freshness.