Spec Ops: The Line is the best (military) shooter ever

[Sexy Devil]

Great game. I dislike that people, reviewers specifically, give it crap for having very standard shooter gameplay. It was specifically designed that way to create cognitive dissonance between gameplay and the story/characters. I mean I understand that it isn't very fun but video games are the only art form where we demand they be fun. Christopher Nolan movies are very rarely in the same ballpark as fun but they're still great. A Song of Ice and Fire is downright aggravating at times but it's still great.

Bought it back when the sale started. Finished it pretty quickly but the game still kept me up that night, man.

It's not a game. It's an examination of military shooter games, and the player's role in a narrative.

Yeah there really does need to be a new name for this kind of stuff because when you say "game" people just don't take it seriously. I'd a called em chazzwazzers!

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Well that depends on what you want out of it. Call of Duty and battlefield are fun, and if you're looking to kill a lot of time on multiplayer, better than Spec Ops.

Spec Ops is built around something that most games aren't: a statement. It has a lot to say about the military shooter as a genre and you as a player. On top of that it uses both visual symbolism as well as symbolism in mechanics that couldn't have been done in any other medium. (If you pay attention to how the game uses slow motion you'll see what I'm talking about.)

Another thing I think is amazing about the execution that couldn't have been done in any other medium, is that it's simultaneously open to interpretation while also giving absolute closure. A film or a book can only be open to interpretation by being ambiguous. The way spec ops handles choice is less "red pil blue pill" and more a point where the game asks, "what kind of person is Walker?" and by proxy, "what kind of person are you?" and depending on how you respond using in game actions, gives you a direct result that stems from that interpretation.

Spec Ops really has more characteristics of art than of entertainment, and that's something that makes it extremely unique in gaming.

 

[Catfood220]

And the AI.. Oh blimey the AI! The enemies didn't bother me as much, but those morons Lugo and Adams just seem to have some sort of wall allergy that rears it's ugly head every 3 minutes or so. Sometimes they both would just stand there looking dopey, while rogue soldiers were busy unloading their every clip on them. Or I'd command them to take out a target and they just disregard any common sense and run right into the open

Oh God yeah, the least amount of fun I have ever had on a game ever is the turret section of the shopping mall where you have to cover them so that they can rejoin you on the FUBAR setting. You would of thought the obvious option would of been that when over run, get them to keep their heads down and let me take out the enemy as they aren't paying attention to me. But no, they have to be heroes and just keep charging into the oncoming fire of the heavy trooper coming the other way. After a while of doing this I was so frustrated that I almost took the game from the console and put it through the shredder.

Platinuming that game was so very very satisfying.

Overall, even though the gameplay is pretty much your standard run and gun shooter, I really enjoyed the story about Walkers descent into madness was a thrilling joyride and at the same time, on one of the loading screens toward the end of the game the message "Do you feel like a hero yet?" came up and I just kinda thought "no, not really." One thing that did bug me though was the fact that it would force you into doing things, such as the white phosphorus moment and then going "LOOK!!! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!! YOU MONSTER!!!!!"

Errrrr, you made me do that game, this is all on you, stop trying to make me feel bad about something you made me do.

 

[Catfood220]

That's it, my interest has been piqued! I must pick up this game!

Is it co-op? If it is, me an my cousin could play it together!

Yes, but you need to download the co-op option from the PS store, Xbox live arcade or whatever it is you use.

 

[4RM3D]

Correction, for most people that will be true. I don't keep a list like that since I consider it be far too narrow minded, making art into a list of quality as opposed to more holistic web of quality. It still bugs me that people need to label things as the best though. This requires further research into psychology! AWAY!

It's not that I keep a list for everything.

Generally speaking people just rate media (e.g. games) on a scale from 1 to 10 (or something similar). And once the media has been reduced to numbers it can be ordered by rating and compared to other games. So you have a racing game scoring an 8 and a RPG game scoring a 9. Thus the RPG game is better. And if the game score below a 7, it must be pretty bad.

No no, I don't score media. I just look at the experience as a whole and compare that to the other experiences I have had. Military shooters is quite a specific genre. Seeing as most (recent) games in that genre are crap and Spec Ops stands miles above them, it was an easy choice to make.

Now if you were talking about the best RPG then things get tricky. Planescape: Torment was awesome but Final Fantasy VII was impressive for completely different reasons. Heck, even if you divide RPG into sub-genres (which you should, based on the scope), then I would still have trouble naming a list.

What I usually do is just name a few games that stand out above the rest. These games cannot be ordered from good to best. No, these games are grouped together into a different category; a category I like to call "Hall of Remembrance". Games that stay with me. Not some generic something game that I forgot about the second the game has ended.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

I mean I understand that it isn't very fun but video games are the only art form where we demand they be fun.

Art that isn't entertaining to a fair degree isn't typically well regarded.
A painting that looks like mud will probably be shunned no matter what great symbolism and insight it apparently features. A film which isn't entertaining and isn't enjoyable to watch won't go down well with most audiences. Music that sounds bad will be turned off by most people before the singer begins whatever special message they're trying to say.

Initially I was on the fence about this one. A new military shooter pulling a deep and meaningful, where have I heard that before. But after the praise which seems, considered the games content, potentially quite justified, and reading up on it the fact that unlike a fuckton of other games the actions the characters make actually seem to make sense, I feel I really need to check this one out.

 

[Karoshi]

Spec Ops left me stunned and disturbed. Credits roll by and I try to sort my thoughts, distance myself from this mess... and then comes the epilogue. Damn, no, stop.

If there are any flaws within this game, then I can't find them. It really got under my skin. While I don't feel particularly guilty, I feel sorry for Walker and his companions, even if they brought it upon themselves.

I loved the quotes on the loading screens in the last chapters. "Feeling like a hero yet?" - "You're still a good person." Best case of sarcasm ever used.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

COD 4 is much better...... as for gamepaly its just another generic POS. Its narrative is akin to paint on rust.

 

[aguspal]

When Spec Ops: The Line was released I barely gave it any attention. I thought to myself: oh gee another generic military shooter, no thanks. But then Zero Punctuation and Extra Credits started talking highly of the game. So it got on my radar. Yesterday in a Steam sale I finally bought the game. And I can say this:

Spec Ops: The Line is the best (military) shooter ever

Yes, it owns all Battlefields and Call of Duties added together (well, minus Modern Warfare 1).

I have never played a military shooter before that made as much as an impact as Spec Ops did. This game really truly shows the ugly side of war. This is the first time a game like this really made me think about what I was doing. And then there is the ending, which I won't spoil. It was amazing.

Besides the story, the game also has solid gameplay. And some of the level design is pretty cool with the sandstorms and all.

It basically comes down to this: if you are a fan of military shooters, then you have to give this game a try.

I do want to point out two things specifically. First, as you might have guessed, I was talking about the single player only. And second, the game is in third person, which might be an issue for some people.



The game is still on sale for 2 more days: http://store.steampowered.com/app/50300/

If you say so.

I thougt it was okay... nothing groundbreaking or anything like that. A bit... pretentious. But its good for some people, so let it stay I guess.

I guess I can say, I have played worse games than this one. Thats all that I am giving to it.


As for my opinion without any kind of bias, I rather play COD series, thanks. Games that try to have some kind of emotional impact or nice/heavy story (SO LONG AS THEY DONT HAVE GOOD GAMEPLAY) just dont mesh well with me and usually end up begin brutally criticed by me.

Just ask Bastion! Or Dragon age. Or... some other games that I cant even remember right now

 

[wulf3n]

Spec-Ops isn't a "game"

I mean I understand that it isn't very fun but video games are the only art form where we demand they be fun.

Art that isn't entertaining to a fair degree isn't typically well regarded.
A painting that looks like mud will probably be shunned no matter what great symbolism and insight it apparently features. A film which isn't entertaining and isn't enjoyable to watch won't go down well with most audiences. Music that sounds bad will be turned off by most people before the singer begins whatever special message they're trying to say.

I'd say engaging rather than "fun" or "entertaining".

I have a problem with the word "game".

"A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool" - wikipedia.

Spec-ops is not a game, it may be interactive but you're not "playing" and it certainly isn't fun, but it is engaging.

 

[Shpongled]

I mean I understand that it isn't very fun but video games are the only art form where we demand they be fun.

Art that isn't entertaining to a fair degree isn't typically well regarded.
A painting that looks like mud will probably be shunned no matter what great symbolism and insight it apparently features. A film which isn't entertaining and isn't enjoyable to watch won't go down well with most audiences. Music that sounds bad will be turned off by most people before the singer begins whatever special message they're trying to say.

Initially I was on the fence about this one. A new military shooter pulling a deep and meaningful, where have I heard that before. But after the praise which seems, considered the games content, potentially quite justified, and reading up on it the fact that unlike a fuckton of other games the actions the characters make actually seem to make sense, I feel I really need to check this one out.

Firsty "fun" and "entertaining" are not the same thing. Stephen Kings The Shining was entertaining, but it was not fun by any means. Don't make that equivalency.

Secondly you've equated "not entertaining" with "badly made". The irony being in your statement that there are far more mundane artworks out there than a painting that looks like mud that are nevertheless widely successful. Hell, visit your local Art Gallery and you'll probably see at least a few works that basically look like paintings of mud. Traditional artwork is rarely "entertaining" or "fun" in any meaningful sense of the words, but many people still put worth in it.

So his point still stands, why are we still demanding that all video games must be "fun", i mean we've had horror games for years? Even "entertaining", if the right video game can pull it off - that is, be a worthwhile experience without being overly "entertaining" - then i don't see why it should be criticized harshly just because it can't keep the attention of an uninterested 12 year old for more than 10 minutes. It's the worth of the experience that art (including video games) should be judged on imo, not buzzwords like "entertaining" or "fun", those are just a few of the many routes available in creating a worthwhile piece of work.

Personally, i wouldn't say Spec Ops is overly fun, partly because of the average gameplay and partly because of the nature of the narrative itself, but it is entertaining in an Apocalypse Now or Platoon sort of way. It's not laugh's a minute fun, but it had plenty of substance to keep me entertained throughout.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

I just completed my second playthrough, and I almost forgot about the delightful way in which the game taunts you in the loading screens near the end. "You are still a good person." & "Do you even remember why you came here?"

And the fact that it asks you if you would like the change the difficulty setting if you die multiple times in the same area, haha. How infuriating! I love it!

One question remains though:

Spoiler

At the very end, when Walker is talking to Conrad, you see several flashbacks that reveal the fact that some of the situations Walker found himself in, was actually his mind playing tricks on him. Like that moment where they had to 'choose'. My question is, why do Lugo and Adams keep following Walker when it's pretty obvious to them that he's lost his mind? Is following orders more important than common sense?

"A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool" - wikipedia.

Spec-ops is not a game, it may be interactive but you're not "playing" and it certainly isn't fun, but it is engaging.

I disagree. It certainly is a game, it's constantly challenging you to shoot everything that moves in order to progress in the storyline and find out what the fuck's going on. Seems like 'fun' to me, and I bet a lot of others agree. As far as educational goes, it sure teaches us a thing or two about the horrors of war. It's also very structured, so the conclusion is that this certainly is a game. Not your typical game, but a game none the less.

 

[Xanadu84]

Best sure, but that's also comparing apples and oranges. I enjoy a good military shooter now and again, in moderation. And counting Spec Ops as a military shooter, it is the most emotionally affecting, thought provoking work of art in the genre. But thats kind of like comparing Die Hard to Clockwork Orange. Spec Ops is masterfully subverting expectations to create a powerful gut reaction in the player. Other military shooters are there to kill a few hours blowing guys up, and I will not call that an invalid approach. Spec Ops may do amazing things within the Genre, but thats in part because those other military shooters have a very different goal. Spec Ops deserves the accolades, but I don't accept the veiled assumption that it invalidates other military shooters.

 

[wulf3n]

Not your typical game, but a game none the less.

I'm not trying to say it's not a game as a bad thing, or like how dear esther isn't a game. I just think the word "game" has too many connotations surrounding it, and that some games are moving beyond the basic idea of a game.

You pointed out yourself that Spec-ops is not your typical game, which shows that you recognise it doesn't fit completely within the term game.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Unfortunately, it took spoilers for me to realize that I should be getting this game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlBrenhzMZI
Before I had even finished watching that video, I shot the game up from somewhere in the hundreds on my Steam wishlist to #5, just beneath Super Meat Boy, The Basement Collection, Portal 2, and Serious Sam 3: BFE.

To those saying this should have been a film; NO. If it was a film, the effect would have been greatly watered down. The fact that this story was used for a videogame is simply genius!

 

[Bat Vader]

I need to play Spec Ops: The Line. I heard the story is pretty good and I do love a good story. I think the Arma series is pry the best military shooter since it is a simulation of real warfare.