Spec Ops: The Line - This Changes Everything

[Britisheagle]

It annoyed me that the game recieved mixed reviews. Story can carry gameplay and this game proved it.

I find it hard picking up "realisitc" war shooters now as the grim tale of Spec Ops proved how good and deep a war story actually can be. I loved it and I made one of my friends play it and he text me at 2 in the morning saying "I feel like shit" after the white phosphorus scene.

Couple days later he finished it and said it was the most compelling story he had ever played in a war fighting game. My thoughts exactly.

 

[Hazy]

The loading screens that taunt the player are my favorite part.

 

[[The]Rock]

I've been wanting to play this game ever since Yahtzee had nothing funny to say about it. I like my games to have more story than anything else, so this game seems to be right about what I'm looking for.

 

[m19]

This is one of a few games (Amnesia being another) that made me stop play-sessions because I've had enough on the emotional level for the day. Making me play in smaller increments I usually would.

 

[Karma168]

I'll admit I did the clichéd 'hand over mouth in shock' when I saw the WP aftermath cutscene and when Lugo was in trouble I was actually desperate to get to him, normally I don't give a shit about my team mate NPCs but I think I actually got caught up in the game and really started to care what happened to them.

The loading screens definitely didn't help, it was almost like prodding you with a stick, making you more angry/sad, ramping up your emotions and pulling you deeper in, making you feel like Walker.

Seeing the twist and how that affected what we saw before was really confusing and just the way it played out meant you felt the same confusion as Walker, you struggled to work out what was real and what wasn't.

And there's a brilliant scene near the end; when you're on the chopper gun (a repeat of the usual flashforward to the action then '2 days earlier' beginning section at the start) Walker says something like "This isn't right, we've done this before" which was a great little bit for showing his mind's starting to go.

 

[Balkan]

The reason why Spec Ops is so disturbing , is because you are the monster , not Makarov or Konrad . Personal terrors are always more effecting than the ones that are shown to you .

 

[LetalisK]

It annoyed me that the game recieved mixed reviews. Story can carry gameplay and this game proved it.

I find it hard picking up "realisitc" war shooters now as the grim tale of Spec Ops proved how good and deep a war story actually can be. I loved it and I made one of my friends play it and he text me at 2 in the morning saying "I feel like shit" after the white phosphorus scene.

Couple days later he finished it and said it was the most compelling story he had ever played in a war fighting game. My thoughts exactly.

The funny thing is that it still had pretty good gameplay. It's just that the gameplay was the same as ever other shooter. I know that's why it got criticized, but it works on so many levels.

Spec Ops The Line is not only my GOTY, which shouldn't be surprising considering FPSes are my favorite genre, but it's my favorite game ever. Ironically dethroning my previous favorite game ever, CoD4.

 

[Occams_Razor]

Was one of the first AAA games to really 'get to me', the choices it made me make, the fact that you continually grow to distrust the character you're forced to play, as his squad has the same feelings. Its crazy, crazy stuff.

The loading screen reading: Do you feel like a hero yet?.

No. A giant, resounding no. And that's what I love about it, its one of the first games I've seen that wasn't afraid to turn your expectations of being the crusading hero on its head.

 

[chikusho]

Spec Ops: The Line might very well be my game of the year.
They did something with narrative in games that is unprecedented, and will hopefully have evolved the genre to something more than "kill everyone, get reward".
There's so much attention to detail, so much fuckery with emotions about what you're doing, and the complete mind-fuck that the story presents has given me genuine hope that games will elevate as the primary medium for exploring the human condition.
This is a shining example of pure poetry in games. You go through the motions and expect the customary results, but this game turns the camera around in order to focus on your own lack of humanity.
To close off, this game has underlined that interactive media is the future. There are no lessons taught through movies or books that can reach off the page or screen anf can fundamentally change your perception of a subject by making you actually commig horrendus acts and then condemning you for it.

 

[Kargathia]

I want to play this game, but I had it spoiled for me early on and as a result I'm not sure it'll work for me. It seems a large amount of the impact it has relies on the player not expecting the game to do what it does.

Even spoiled it is well worth the playing. The game's strength not only lies in its high (or, more accurately: low) points, but in its relentless build-up towards them.

It annoyed me that the game recieved mixed reviews. Story can carry gameplay and this game proved it.

To be fair, it deserved mixed reviews. Its gameplay was only slightly above average, and while the story certainly carried it - and then some - that might not be the thing for everyone. People looking for the straight-up shooters the advertising promised would've come away disappointed.
Right now this is one of these games that are sadly still stuck in the Proof of Concept limbo - it does one thing incredibly well, but the entirety doesn't fully click yet, and as of such probably will not be remembered in ten years as being hugely influential on gaming and our perception of it.

You go into the fight expecting to become a hero, instead you leave soaked in so much blood that will never be washed away...

Aye. My first coherent thought after that whole WP debacle was: "if that man even gets out of here with a shred of sanity intact, he's going to wake up screaming for the rest of his life".

 

[Blackpapa]

The refreshing part is that you get to kill Americans. Way too few games have US marines as the main bad guys. It was somewhat satisfying and a welcome change of stale enemies.

Storyline-wise the game is solid though I couldn't shake off the impression my character's a wuss. I won't spoil the specifics but halfway through he turns into the developer's idea of a reflection of a player, not a special forces soldier.

The biggest problem in this game is that it's not FUN. The mechanics are garbage. Clunky, arcade-y, not satisfying at all.

 

[chikusho]

To be fair, it deserved mixed reviews. Its gameplay was only slightly above average, and while the story certainly carried it - and then some - that might not be the thing for everyone. People looking for the straight-up shooters the advertising promised would've come away disappointed.
Right now this is one of these games that are sadly still stuck in the Proof of Concept limbo - it does one thing incredibly well, but the entirety doesn't fully click yet, and as of such probably will not be remembered in ten years as being hugely influential on gaming and our perception of it.

I actually think the mediocre gameplay server the purpose of the campaign exceedingly well.
By having the gameplay being mediocre and being more or less "going through through the motions of a war game", underlines the point the creators were trying to make.

The refreshing part is that you get to kill Americans. Way too few games have US marines as the main bad guys. It was somewhat satisfying and a welcome change of stale enemies.

Storyline-wise the game is solid though I couldn't shake off the impression my character's a wuss. I won't spoil the specifics but halfway through he turns into the developer's idea of a reflection of a player, not a special forces soldier.

The biggest problem in this game is that it's not FUN. The mechanics are garbage. Clunky, arcade-y, not satisfying at all.

The point is that it's not supposed to be fun.
It's about the experience, and the perspective the player experiences around the horrors of war, and all the damage you create just by going through those motions.

 

[Dfskelleton]

Yeah, Spec Ops is one of my favorite types of games for several reasons; one, because it's a total mind-screw, and two, because you always notice something new every playthrough... and each one is more disturbing than the last.
For example, I played it a second time, and noticed something really strange; almost the entire game is spent descending. Walker and his squad will frequently utilize ziplines, rappel down walls, go down a long staircase, and every once and a while, fall out of a high place in a plot-important scenario. Despite the fact that they're trying to reach the tallest building in the city (and in reality, the tallest man-made structure in the world), but they keep going deeper and deeper down, until it seems like they shouldn't be able to go down any further.
It was a brilliant game, definitely my GOTY.

 

[chikusho]

Yeah, Spec Ops is one of my favorite types of games for several reasons; one, because it's a total mind-screw, and two, because you always notice something new every playthrough... and each one is more disturbing than the last.
For example, I played it a second time, and noticed something really strange; almost the entire game is spent descending. Walker and his squad will frequently utilize ziplines, rappel down walls, go down a long staircase, and every once and a while, fall out of a high place in a plot-important scenario. Despite the fact that they're trying to reach the tallest building in the city (and in reality, the tallest man-made structure in the world), but they keep going deeper and deeper down, until it seems like they shouldn't be able to go down any further.
It was a brilliant game, definitely my GOTY.

Also, every time you see a mural or billboard where people have their eyes crossed out, they are facing something horrible.

 

[Kargathia]

Spoiler

To be fair, it deserved mixed reviews. Its gameplay was only slightly above average, and while the story certainly carried it - and then some - that might not be the thing for everyone. People looking for the straight-up shooters the advertising promised would've come away disappointed.
Right now this is one of these games that are sadly still stuck in the Proof of Concept limbo - it does one thing incredibly well, but the entirety doesn't fully click yet, and as of such probably will not be remembered in ten years as being hugely influential on gaming and our perception of it.

I actually think the mediocre gameplay server the purpose of the campaign exceedingly well.
By having the gameplay being mediocre and being more or less "going through through the motions of a war game", underlines the point the creators were trying to make.

The refreshing part is that you get to kill Americans. Way too few games have US marines as the main bad guys. It was somewhat satisfying and a welcome change of stale enemies.

Storyline-wise the game is solid though I couldn't shake off the impression my character's a wuss. I won't spoil the specifics but halfway through he turns into the developer's idea of a reflection of a player, not a special forces soldier.

The biggest problem in this game is that it's not FUN. The mechanics are garbage. Clunky, arcade-y, not satisfying at all.

The point is that it's not supposed to be fun.
It's about the experience, and the perspective the player experiences around the horrors of war, and all the damage you create just by going through those motions.

While it certainly can be construed as making a point, it didn't pay enough attention to that in the end it's a game. Entertainment. If we don't enjoy it in any way whatsoever, we won't play it.

It went above and beyond when it comes to story, but it missed out on the proper balance between gameplay and story. In the end, what matters is the sum of all parts - and that got decidedly dragged down by the bad gameplay.
Personally I dialed it down to easy in the last chapter, just because I didn't want the mediocre gameplay distracting me from what made it great. That's not a good thing.

 

[vasiD]

It sure did. I hope that all the gun-wank-support-our-troops MMSes tank this year because of this game.

I mean it had such a powerful story, how could you ever go back to "Blow up those brown people!!! FOR FREEDOM!!!"?

That said, some other awesome game that either went on sale or was released distracted me while I was playing it and I still haven't beat it... I really should.

However I did get to THAT moment... So. Fucking. Good. I could have lit a cigarette off of a still burning corpse and just laid back I was so satisfied.

 

[thatonedude11]

To be fair, it deserved mixed reviews. Its gameplay was only slightly above average, and while the story certainly carried it - and then some - that might not be the thing for everyone. People looking for the straight-up shooters the advertising promised would've come away disappointed.
Right now this is one of these games that are sadly still stuck in the Proof of Concept limbo - it does one thing incredibly well, but the entirety doesn't fully click yet, and as of such probably will not be remembered in ten years as being hugely influential on gaming and our perception of it.

I actually think the mediocre gameplay server the purpose of the campaign exceedingly well.
By having the gameplay being mediocre and being more or less "going through through the motions of a war game", underlines the point the creators were trying to make.

While many people have said that the mediocre gameplay was intentional, and I too believe it is, it is still mediocre gameplay. Weather or not the whole "that's the point" excuse is good enough is really a matter of opinion. Just because something is justified doesn't automatically make it good.

 

[ODWX9K]

I enjoyed it the whole way through, which is often rare - I find the typical shooter to be boring. I really liked what it tried to do, which is to make one think. Not even about how killing someone is the bad thing itself, but that survival is still important.

I may be a libertarian, I follow the NAP, but I'm no pacifist; I don't trust government or the military, but when the main character unloaded the WP on all the "civilians", I did not stop to feel remorse about the symbology when I passed through: instead, I felt that "better them than me... so long as I'm alive, I can change the future. But if I die, nothing changes."

At the end, I felt it was a good game because it tried to not politicize war without demonizing survival, and that's what I think is the important balance: so long as you're fighting, you're in a war for survival; regardless of whatever reasons the brass have sent you, and regardless of what you do, survive. Just survive, move forward and take whatever opportunities to subdue the enemy without using yourself to fight.

Edit: when asked if I feel like a hero, I just reply in my head: "I don't want to be a hero. Period. I'm just doing what I do."

 

[Winterbird]

I played it a second time, and noticed something really strange; almost the entire game is spent descending. Walker and his squad will frequently utilize ziplines, rappel down walls, go down a long staircase, and every once and a while, fall out of a high place in a plot-important scenario. Despite the fact that they're trying to reach the tallest building in the city (and in reality, the tallest man-made structure in the world), but they keep going deeper and deeper down, until it seems like they shouldn't be able to go down any further.

Descending into madness
Awesome how they did this metaphor through gameplay.

 

[Valanthe]

The loading screens that taunt the player are my favorite part.

Ah, I remember that one, the worst was definitely the "Do you feel like a hero yet?" I had to stop and mull that one over for a while, it's the entire game distilled into a single sentence.

On topic, excellent article, really brought up some points that I noticed during my second playthrough, especially how the brutality of the executions ramp up as you get more desperate, and how the commands devolve from standard military orders to just simple, basic statements to pair nicely with the metaphor of Walker's uniform being slowly stripped away by the harsh realities he faces in Dubai. You begin as a Delta Force Operative, all crisp and neat, ready to ride in like the cavalry and save the day, and by the end, your ideals are torn and shredded, left to bleed and die in the Hell you thought you could tame, you are indistinguishable from the masses you held yourself above.

Ahem, I could really go on about this all day, but I'll stop there, this game is definitely in my top 5 for the year, it totally took my expectations of it and curb-stomped them with a rifle butt.