Spectre Divide Preview: Not Just A Clone, But You Might Be…

I know what you’re thinking: another tactical shooter? In this economy? Even the pickiest FPS fan is spoiled for choice these days, and there’s seemingly no drought on the horizon. Now, I don’t completely subscribe to the idea that we’re tired of shooters, in general — the resurgence of the competitive scene speaks to that. Rather, we’re tired of unpolished and confused shooters. Ones that are trying to be too much at once, or that aren’t bringing anything new to the table. So I completely understand any skepticism that brews when looking at Mountaintop Studio’s Spectre Divide. 

At first glance, it has all the trademarks of Counter-Strike and Valorant; a two-site bomb defusal mode, buy stages, and tactical abilities. Hell, you even run faster with your knife out. So where exactly do we see Spectre Divide fitting into a world where both Counter-Strike and Valorant are already thriving?

Interestingly, right in the middle. It’s the unexpected love child between these two brawling rivals. It takes the purity of Counter-Strike’s gun-first combat and pairs it with the strategic advantages of Valorant’s Agent abilities, though here they’ve been condensed down to the equipment you carry rather than locked to specific characters. Matches are played in the classic attackers vs defenders format. The sides change halfway through, with victory conditions being the first to 8 points. Teams consist of a 3v3 makeup, which seems small for a tactical shooter, but with good reason. Neither team is technically playing with just three characters. 

Two’s Company, Three’s a Team

Amidst the obvious similarities to both Valve’s and Riot Games’ showpieces, Spectre Divide houses a very unique hook, and it's in the name. Each player has in their arsenal a “Spectre” as part of the Duality mechanic. One mind. Two bodies. This is essentially a clone that you can swap to and control at any time with a push of a button. You can place and reposition your Spectre at will, and switching to it gives you full control just as it would your ‘main’ body. So this 3v3 fight is actually closer to a 6v6 — you just have to be a little savvier with it. 

There are a surprising amount of ways you can use the Spectre mechanic to your team’s advantage. Say you place your Spectre on ‘A Site’ while you focus on ‘B Site’. If one of your teammates has done the opposite, you then have eyes on both bomb sites and, with some basic comms, can alert your team to whichever site the enemy is pushing on. Then, it’s simply a matter of switching to the body best placed to take them on, while the spare is left where it is, or moved to a more tactical position. 

The Spectre also acts as a second life, of sorts. If one of your bodies is taken down, you’ll switch control to the other, meaning you can stay in the fight that little bit longer. I quickly learned that losing one body certainly didn’t mean it was all over. More often than not it provided me with key information: I’d know whereabouts the enemy was, the angles they were shooting from, and whether or not I’d be able to flank them in revenge. I might have even had my Spectre close-by, hidden just out of sight. If the enemy took down one body, I could just immediately pop back up to trade off the kill. It felt like there were so many ways a round could play out, and each one would surprise me. 

Admittedly, I was initially hesitant to get onboard with this mechanic. It sounded like additional management. I figured I would already struggle to keep one body alive, let alone two. But, after just a few rounds, I realized that it was surprisingly intuitive. Every aspect of Spectre Divide’s four maps has been designed with the Duality mechanic in mind. Vantage points, nooks, and corridors; everything encourages you to think two steps ahead with your Spectre placement, and it feels incredibly satisfying when it pays off. I obscured my Spectre in a corner, baiting an opponent out into the open with my main body and used that information to switch and flank with my clone. With a sharp, evil shot to the back of their head, I experienced a joy that I haven’t felt from shooters in years.

I am a little skeptical of where some of my Spectre Divide enjoyment came from, however. Perhaps it was because I had a team of friendly devs and newbies to learn alongside, rather than a smattering of angry randoms cussing me out for placing bottom frag (listen, it’s got to be someone). Perhaps it was also because I felt somewhat competent, which I owe to the game’s more CS-style mechanics. I was always terrible at using Agent abilities in Valorant, and while some semblance of that is present in Spectre Divide, the particular ‘Sponsor’ I stuck with during the preview - Pinnacle International - was more my speed. They supplied ‘Splinter Grenades’ with a 75 second cooldown as my free item, and a healing kit and flash grenades as items to buy. It was pitched to me as being the most CS-like of the bunch, which I thought would be my safest option. 

There’s Nothing Quite Like Corporate-Funded Violence

Sponsors are what determines your ‘Class’ in Spectre Divide. These fictional companies that inhabit the game’s city of Breakwater are looking to sponsor champions in this “Santai” competition you find yourself in, as the story goes. In lieu of distinct Agents or Operators, in Spectre Divide you essentially create your own character and customize them with Sponsors and cosmetics. The idea is that you build your own character’s legacy through combat and prowess, and your matches can feel more unique to you. Cosmetics follow the standard free-to-play microtransaction route, which is no surprise, but new Sponsors are only unlocked through natural progression. There’s no pay-to-win advantage here, which is nice.

So far Spectre Divide features eight Sponsors, each one offering a different set of equipment to use on the field. These will be your ‘free’ items that you’ll always have available, and items you can ‘Buy’ during the buy phase at the start of each round — if you have the funds. Items include, but are not limited to, smoke grenades courtesy of Morrgen United, a healing drone from Muu Robotics, and an environmental scanner from Umbra Reconnaissance. Granted these aren’t exactly novel ideas, but they were enough to keep matches interesting.

Some of these items even have secondary effects for your Spectre. Let’s take the “Adrena-Link'' healing item from Pinnacle Interactive, for example. While this heals you for 80 health points over 10 seconds, you can switch over to your Spectre to gain enhanced movespeed and vision, allowing you to get a better sense of nearby dangers. There’s no such thing as downtime here. 

I didn’t get hands-on with each Sponsor this time around, but that was out of choice. I figured I was better off learning just the one for now and seeing how far that took me.

Sponsor mechanics aside, Spectre Divide has a focus on gunplay and aim-down-sights (ADS) gameplay. The latter is another area where the game leans more into Valorant territory, though it encourages you to ignore the golden rule of standing still. Here, you can actually shoot and move while ADS-ing without sacrificing much in terms of accuracy, and it feels effective. You can absolutely still shoot from the hip if that’s your flow, but you’re given enough movement and accuracy from ADS that it’s definitely worth trying. 

Less Divide, More Conquer

Spectre Divide is a tactical shooter that acknowledges the current landscape. It recognises the strengths of its established counterparts, while shaking things up just enough to keep things interesting. It’s no surprise, really, considering Mountaintop has a development team made from industry veterans and fans. It’s received support from the likes of ItzTimmy, Tarik, and CohhCarnage to name a few, and, in addition to being an investor, streamer and former pro Shroud has also taken on a gameplay consultant role. The game seems to have emerged from very strong foundations. Personally, I like my shooters stripped back to where I’m not drowning in mechanics, but with enough of a kick that means I can still get a bit creative with tactics. Spectre Divide strikes that balance for me. Satisfying gunplay with intuitive gimmicks that add far more than they take away. 

A definitive release date for Spectre Divide hasn’t been locked in just yet, but Mountaintop are already planning a new batch of playtest sessions. If, like me, you’re excited to see how this shooter evolves, I would highly recommend keeping an eye out for these upcoming tests and grabbing a slice of the action for yourself. There’s a lot of potential here, and that’s certainly refreshing.