Spectre Divide, the most promising tactical FPS since Valorant, is out next week

After Morgan tried out the beta for Spectre Divide, a free-to-play shooter with an unusual two-characters-per-player setup, he said it was so fun that he couldn't stop thinking about it.

That's admittedly no guarantee of success—I liked Concord when I previewed it, and its launch has been brutal—but Morgan's enthusiasm is certainly a good sign for the competitive FPS, which we've just learned is releasing next week.

Spectre Divide's teams of three are smaller than the usual five you see in shooters like Counter-Strike and Valorant, which it definitely takes after, but it's not precisely a 3v3 game, because everyone's got two bodies. As Morgan explained it: "You spawn in your first body and can switch to your second body at any time, wherever they are on the map."

It's weird, but Morgan says it works, and he also liked Spectre Divide's shooting, which is more Rainbow Six Siege than Counter-Strike in that you can move and shoot without tanking your accuracy. I can appreciate the appeal of CS2's stop-and-go gunplay—it's its own skill—but I've always preferred run-and-gun games. There's too much Quake 2 in my past to change my habits now.

"We're super excited about true-to-crosshair ADS unlocking tac shooters for a whole group of people for whom [Counter-Strike's] shooting model is not the right thing for them," game director Lee Horn told us. "Hopefully we've given them that."

Spectre Divide is out Tuesday, September 3 at 9 am Pacific. You can find more details on the official site, the Steam page, and in Morgan's recent preview.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.