The Final Exam

About

The Final Exam is a single player simulation game. It was developed by Webcore Games and was released on November 1, 2024. It received negative reviews from players.

The Final Exam is a choice-driven survival game that places players in an American high school during a mass shooting scenario, focusing on realistic decisions students face. Players navigate tense environments like classrooms and gyms using non-violent tactics such as barricading and hiding to survive. The game emphasizes awareness and promotes dialogue around gun control through its immersive, emotionally charged experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

37%

Audience ScoreBased on 232 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

gameplay11 negative mentions

The game effectively raises awareness about the serious issue of school shootings and promotes discussions around gun control legislation.
The graphics and sound design create an immersive atmosphere that enhances the emotional impact of the experience.
Despite its flaws, the game is free and provides a brief yet intense experience that can provoke thought and reflection on a critical societal issue.

The gameplay is primarily composed of quick-time events, which many players found to be repetitive and lacking in depth, detracting from the overall experience.
The game has been criticized for its political messaging, with some players feeling it presents a biased view on gun control without adequately addressing opposing perspectives.
Technical issues, such as poor optimization and AI-generated content, have led to a lack of polish, making the game feel rushed and unprofessional.

gameplay
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
39%
48%
The gameplay has been widely criticized for being overly simplistic and repetitive, primarily consisting of quick-time events and linear walking segments, which detracts from the overall experience. Many reviewers noted the lack of challenge and engagement, describing it as a poorly executed interactive film rather than a compelling game. While the game's message is acknowledged as important, the execution of gameplay mechanics and overall design has left players feeling disappointed and frustrated.
- “Gameplay is a bit janky but graphics look real good.”
- “Great concept and gameplay.”
- “It is a powerful and emotionally driven experience that transforms gameplay into a reflection on one of the most urgent issues in modern society.”
- “The actual gameplay loop consists of short walking segments and equally short and repetitive quick-time events.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly linear and is littered with cutscenes where the player has no control.”
- “The gameplay, though, is very lackluster and does a disservice to the message that the developers are trying to communicate.”
story
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
74%
13%
The game's story revolves around an average school day in America, tackling the sensitive theme of school shootings but failing to deliver a compelling narrative. Critics note a lack of character development, backstory, and environmental storytelling, which diminishes emotional engagement and immersion. While some appreciate the game's attempt to address a serious issue, many feel it falls short due to its ham-fisted messaging and minimal player choice, resulting in a disjointed experience that feels more like a political statement than a cohesive story.
- “It offers a brief yet emotionally charged story, an immersive experience set in a high school under threat, and high-quality visuals that pull players into a situation that is tragically familiar in the United States.”
- “Whether you are a gamer, teacher, student, or parent, this is a story that deserves to be played, heard, and shared.”
- “I think if you go once you will see just the simple flat school shooting, but going back a couple of times, there's so much behind this story.”
- “Top it off with quicktime events for no reason, fade to red game over screens, and a lack of environmental storytelling, and you've got yourself a great example of a game that fails to push even the basics of its message!”
- “The characters need a backstory, relationships, and family.”
- “It takes a story where politics would be the very last thing on the character's mind, and randomly inserts political stances which break the sense of immersion and cause it to feel less like an experience that puts the players into the character's shoes, and more like a political advertisement.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
55%
15%
Overall, the graphics of the game receive positive feedback, with many users praising their realism and quality, especially for a free title. However, some critiques highlight poor optimization and janky gameplay that detracts from the visual experience. Despite mixed opinions on other aspects, the graphics are consistently noted as a strong point, contributing to an immersive atmosphere.
- “Graphics are well done for a free game.”
- “The graphics and sound put you in these students' shoes.”
- “Interesting approach, great graphics and powerful message.”
- “When talking about it as a video game, it's very poorly optimized, even though the graphics look like something straight out of a Roblox game.”
- “The quality is horrible; animations, graphics, mechanics, storytelling, etc. There's no blood, no dead bodies. When we die, our screen just turns red and shows us some fact no one really cares about, like 'the same happened to [blank] of children in [blank] shooting.'”
- “Tldr: a super short anti-gun propaganda game set during a school shooting with middling visuals, iffy UI, decent sound design, and a good sense of tension.”
optimization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
30%
40%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users describing it as "very unoptimized" and "horribly unoptimized," particularly for a first-person shooter. Despite some players not experiencing performance issues, many noted the presence of unresponsive mechanics and poor quality visuals reminiscent of lower-quality games. Overall, the consensus is that the game's technical execution detracts significantly from the experience.
- “The game is made in Unreal Engine, and while I didn't have any performance issues, motion blur is a setting you can't toggle off.”
- “It's pretty unoptimized; the quick-time arrows don't work half the time, and there seems to be almost no consequences to hitting the wrong ones.”
- “Horribly unoptimized, AI-generated content, no introduction or resolution, typos, and inconsistent statements.”
- “This game is the most illogical unoptimized trash I've ever played. I haven't paid to play it, but if I could get back my 6 minutes of playtime, I would really appreciate it.”
- “Terrible optimization for an FPS game.”
- “When talking about it as a video game, it's very poorly optimized, even though the graphics look like something straight out of a Roblox game.”
emotional
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is described as both powerful and heavy, tackling serious themes like mental health and gun violence through an immersive and educational survival simulation. Players find the experience to be deeply affecting, with a brief yet impactful narrative that prompts reflection on urgent societal issues, despite some technical flaws. Overall, it aims to evoke strong emotional responses and encourage players to think critically about its themes.
- “Very, very touching.”
- “It’s an educational, emotionally heavy survival simulation.”
- “It is a powerful and emotionally driven experience that transforms gameplay into a reflection on one of the most urgent issues in modern society.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game features decent title screen tracks that effectively set the mood, but the short looping of sound effects and music may go unnoticed during gameplay. However, some players find the portrayal of certain themes in the music to be insensitive, particularly in relation to the character's negative thoughts about the songs. Overall, while the music has its merits, it raises concerns regarding its thematic implications.
- “Booting the game, I'm met with some pretty decent title screen music that sets the mood.”
- “The sound effects and music all have short - about one minute - loops, which create an engaging atmosphere.”
- “That combined with the distasteful thoughts it portrays the student character having about 'never hearing this song again' and other similar thoughts just feel insensitive to real victims.”
- “I'm sure bum-rushing the game you would barely notice, but the sound effects and music all have short - about one minute - loops.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game's atmosphere is described as tense and suspenseful, primarily achieved through effective audio design rather than graphic imagery. While it successfully creates a vivid environment, some players feel it could be enhanced with higher intensity elements, such as distant gunshots or subtle signs of violence, to further immerse them in the experience.
- “Don't think this review is all negative; except for the frequent breather breaks you get thanks to the gun bill screens, this game has an amazingly tense atmosphere.”
- “Instead of relying on violence or graphic imagery, the game creates a vivid and suspenseful atmosphere through its audio design.”
- “The game is pretty atmospheric, but I feel it would benefit from some much higher intensity (i.e. hearing gunshots from somewhere else in the building, but not knowing where, hearing screams from other students, and maybe not even models of injured casualties, but possibly just streaks of blood or some evidence that an act of violence has occurred where you are passing through.)”
- “The game fails to create a compelling atmosphere, leaving players feeling disconnected from the world.”
- “Despite its potential, the atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth needed to immerse players.”
- “The overall ambiance is dull and lifeless, making it hard to stay engaged with the game.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is criticized for being janky and buggy, significantly detracting from the overall enjoyment. Users report frequent camera glitches occurring before and after events, further highlighting the instability issues.
- “It's janky and buggy and just isn't really fun overall.”
- “The camera glitches before and after each event.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is derived from its poor optimization and low-quality design, leading some players to find the experience unintentionally amusing. The combination of frustrating gameplay elements and a seemingly earnest message creates a contrast that users find laughable, making it "so bad it's funny."
- “It's so bad it's funny.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features a non-replayable credits sequence, indicating limited replayability, as players cannot revisit certain key moments or outcomes after completing the game.
- “The only five bills can save them. That's what I can remember from the non-replayable credits sequence at the end of the game.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for disrupting immersion by inserting political stances that feel more like a political advertisement than a natural part of the story, detracting from the player's experience.