The Finals, the newest competitive FPS on the block, has gotten lots of praise for its gunplay and movement, but its carousel of physics objects and dynamic destruction is what truly sets it apart from the pack. Under its sweaty game modes and leaderboard chasing is the spirit and toolset of an immersive sim, and nowhere is that more evident than the recent rise of the Goo Gun.
The Goo Gun is a primary gadget in The Finals only available to the Heavy class. The Goo Gun fires sticky globs of goo that harden on impact, allowing players to craft impromptu bridges, walls, or floors. It wasn't very popular during The Finals beta or at launch for several reasons: the other Heavy gadgets that take up the same slot, like the Mesh Shield and Charge abilities, are arguably more useful. Plus, if you need a quick bridge or wall, goo canisters placed all over the map can get the job done too.
Recently, though, players have been experimenting with the dedicated goo launcher to find its hidden strengths, and boy does it have some neat tricks.
Goo Gun = Heavy's Stun Gun 😂 from r/thefinals
As demonstrated by Reddit user RaconBang and others, the Goo Gun is basically the Heavy's version of the stun gun. Shooting an enemy with a glob will momentarily freeze them in their tracks no matter what they're doing. You have to get a direct hit, which isn't always easy, but once you've stickied an enemy to a goo glob, you can keep gooing them up faster than they can break it, effectively trapping them. The tactic looks infuriating for the enemies caught on the business end, but it's funny to watch players lose their mind in real time as they realize they're helpless to the stopping power of goo.
Some players are leveraging the Goo Gun's stun-ability to enhance their Sledgehammer play. Goo 'em up, close the distance, and curbstomp them with a single heavy strike. If you're in the right place at exactly the right time, you can even goo up squads in mid air, halt their momentum, and watch them fall to their deaths.
GooGun FTW from r/thefinals
It's also fun to witness when goo goes wrong. One player witnessed a goo spire spin down a rooftop until it whipped itself into a goo-nado capable of destruction. Another squad accidentally made a flying goo bridge that phased through buildings during the beta, and it's even possible to goo up a small space so tightly that the game freaks out and lets you phase through walls.
Though its annoying stun effect on enemies may be unintentional on the part of Embark Studios, the Goo Gun is a shining example of how players can find unexpected brilliance in even the most mundane tools. That's doubly true when you drop those tools into a reactive, physics-based world like The Finals. The simple Mesh Shield is probably still the better ability the majority of the time, but the Goo Gun is undeniably more fun.
