Spec Ops: The Line. Your thoughts?

[Elurindel]

Personally I found this to be a glowing deconstruction of the current trend to set shooters in some part of the middle east. The emphasis is placed on the character being responsible for their actions, and the plot itself is clever enough that you'll want to go back and play it again and again just to see if you did it all right.
I'm sure you've all heard Yahtzee's review of the single player, so I also wanted to praise the Multiplayer. The game modes are thoughtful, if not all terribly original, and they make intelligent use of the game's cover system, as well as the sandstorms to create a tense atmosphere of taut-nerve combat excitement. I especially enjoy how the more you level up, the more Modern the guns get, allowing you to pursue your Warfare properly. For instance, the best shotgun is not, as the more braind-dead may imagine, a pair of lever-action shotguns traditionally used in the old west, but the pinnacle of military shotgun engineering, the AA12. The best assault rifles too get more and more high-tech as the game goes on, rather than making the winning tactic running with a knife, a flintlock and no falling damage.
So I would heartily reccomend Spec Ops, single and multiplayer, to any who have played other, less interesting shooter sequels recently. In fact, to anybody who enjoys games as art as well.

 

[Shpongled]

The gameplay was just standard affair cover-based FPS, nothing new or interesting there. But the storyline was fantastic, you'd have to be completely dead inside to not be affected by it. It's what Apocalype Now would be if it were a game, not necessarily just in the storyline, but also in the way it just slowly wears you down over the course of the story, you start off all fine and dandy and by the end of it you're feeling ashamed to even be a human being.

It's deep, man.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

Story is very good.
Gameplay was actually pretty good too. Most people say its very standard and boring. Portnow even went as far as saying its dull and monotonous waves of enemies is part of the story cos that's how your character feels or something, but I found it to be a bit better than most shooters. The scenery and level design was much more interesting the same old stuff you get in other shooters.

 

[dnazeri]

Fantastic story and attention to detail. That bit with the tree that dies when you walk past it gave me chills.

 

[Elurindel]

Glad to see people like it here. If anybody wants to add me on Steam, my usernane is the same as here. The only problem I have with the multiplayer is that there's hardly anybody on!

 

[Erttheking]

I think the experience for me was affected by spoilers, I think it would have been better if I never knew that Walker was going to do something bad because I was jamming the button in the motor scene, in the half a second between me pressing the button and the shell hit the trench filled with people, my mind put two and two together. I still felt a hollow feeling in my stomach, even as I was just walking across the field of dying soldiers. I felt so bad for them that I actually mercy killed the ones that were still alive. I also enjoyed how the plot was a massive but intentional train wreck. Walker comes in, makes things worse and proceeds to continue making things worse through the entire game.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Story is very good.
Gameplay was actually pretty good too. Most people say its very standard and boring. Portnow even went as far as saying its dull and monotonous waves of enemies is part of the story cos that's how your character feels or something, but I found it to be a bit better than most shooters. The scenery and level design was much more interesting the same old stuff you get in other shooters.

I thought this too, that the repeating waves of enemies and some of the really "dragged out" late-game fights were all there to drive home the point that Walker is getting fatigued from all the fighting. In the early game the fights are short, but they get progressively longer as Walker gets farther and farther in. It doesn't really excuse a cover mechanic that could have used some more polish though.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Given the bog-standard combat, I can't justify buying it at full price, even if the story is impressive.
Maybe I'll Youtube it at some point, but right now I have other things to think about.

 

[GundamSentinel]

As everybody knows by now, the story was great, the combat was nothing new but very decent. The story made the obligatory setpiece battles memorable, because they had impact and, even if they were, didn't make them seem as just action for action's sake. It was a game that made me think and was just plain fun to play at the same time. Haven't played the multiplayer yet, I've got just too many games to play after the Steam Sale. *first world problems*

 

[VladG]

Everyone agrees, gameplay functional, story great.

One issue I have with it is the fact that they force some of the "decisions" on you in a less than subtle manner (like shooting the guy stuck under the truck) while others are done really well in gameplay (the white phosphorus scene). It's a shame they didn't use actual gameplay to bring about more of those "what the fuck did I just do" moments, because those that the game forces you to do lose a lot of their impact.

I also think the guy goes nuts a bit too early in the game and it's a little contrived, like shooting the 2 hanging prisoners delusion. That was still fairly early in the game, before his dehumanization goes too far (it's supposed to be a breaking point for the character, but the ending shows us that he'd already lost it by then, without good reason for it, the worst of his actions are still to come)

On a side note, how many people have played this game because of Yahtzee's review?

When I saw the game pop up I dismissed it out of hand as another samey, boring, modern warfare shooter and couldn't have cared less about it. But man, was I wrong...

 

[GAunderrated]

Everyone agrees, gameplay functional, story great.

One issue I have with it is the fact that they force some of the "decisions" on you in a less than subtle manner (like shooting the guy stuck under the truck) while others are done really well in gameplay (the white phosphorus scene). It's a shame they didn't use actual gameplay to bring about more of those "what the fuck did I just do" moments, because those that the game forces you to do lose a lot of their impact.

I also think the guy goes nuts a bit too early in the game and it's a little contrived, like shooting the 2 hanging prisoners delusion. That was still fairly early in the game, before his dehumanization goes too far (it's supposed to be a breaking point for the character, but the ending shows us that he'd already lost it by then, without good reason for it, the worst of his actions are still to come)

I agree with mostly everything that you say except one point. I don't think they should have made more "what the f did I just do" moments because it would have lost its staying power. Cod4 had one spectacular moment and while MW2 tried to top it by killing more player characters, that one strong scene had more impact than several scenes.

 

[VladG]

Everyone agrees, gameplay functional, story great.

One issue I have with it is the fact that they force some of the "decisions" on you in a less than subtle manner (like shooting the guy stuck under the truck) while others are done really well in gameplay (the white phosphorus scene). It's a shame they didn't use actual gameplay to bring about more of those "what the fuck did I just do" moments, because those that the game forces you to do lose a lot of their impact.

I also think the guy goes nuts a bit too early in the game and it's a little contrived, like shooting the 2 hanging prisoners delusion. That was still fairly early in the game, before his dehumanization goes too far (it's supposed to be a breaking point for the character, but the ending shows us that he'd already lost it by then, without good reason for it, the worst of his actions are still to come)

I agree with mostly everything that you say except one point. I don't think they should have made more "what the f did I just do" moments because it would have lost its staying power. Cod4 had one spectacular moment and while MW2 tried to top it by killing more player characters, that one strong scene had more impact than several scenes.

No, not more of them, just have more of the ones that are already in the game be made in gameplay instead of "press x to perform horrible and dehumanizing act to continue"

 

[Unsilenced]

The "OMG YOU DID HORRIBLE THINGS!" are too easy to see coming, making it hard to feel guilty.

It's less like kicking a puppy you thought was a wolf and more like watching someone else kick a puppy, then listening to someone chastise you for hours about the actions of this other party. ***** it wasn't my idea to

Spoiler: Bad stuff

use phosphorus or destroy the water supply. I knew both those things were terrible ideas. You can't just have the characters do them anyways and then expect me to feel bad. And how were millions of people or whatever supposed to survive off of 4 tankers of water anyways? I mean seriously. That's enough maybe for a small army camp for a few days, not a fucking city. You expect me to feel bad about some other fucking character destroying them and you forcing my character to be too dumb to figure it out? I don't feel like a jackass when you force me to be one, game. "OH NOES! A PUPPY GOT KICKED! HOW DARE YOU WATCH THAT CUTSCENE OVER WHICH YOU HAD NO CONTROL!" Oh fuck off.

 

[ScaryAlmond]

While for me the game play was boring the story was well worth it.
The game actually made me feel like a terrible person for killing others it's pretty refreshing compared the the Gung ho shooters out now.
Playing Cod you instinctively do these things and don't care but then seeing the consequences is just eye opening.
Personally I think every soldier who operates a predator drone should play this because like you saw in the collateral murder video they are as detached as normal gamers are.

Also that ending seriously didn't expect that.
My Guy couldn't handle the horrors he did and ended it what did everyone else do at the end.

 

[Crazy Zaul]

I thought this too, that the repeating waves of enemies and some of the really "dragged out" late-game fights were all there to drive home the point that Walker is getting fatigued from all the fighting. In the early game the fights are short, but they get progressively longer as Walker gets farther and farther in. It doesn't really excuse a cover mechanic that could have used some more polish though.

Yeh towards the end it was like "OMG I've been putting bullets in this same guy for about 10 mins now and there's still 9 other guys after this. Looks like I'm gonna have to bonk some of them cos I'm out of ammo. Chaaarge, oh I'm dead".

 

[TheScottishFella]

Yeah it was pretty good, the problem was the key point it was supposed to draw me in, it didn't draw me in.

Now for the sake of not revealing anything, though I feel most people will already know what it is, I won't say what happens or what you do, only that it involves civillians.

The big scene that is supposed to make you feel guilty, I never felt guilty over. It FORCES me to do it. When I have no decision over the choice of my character, I'm not going to feel guilty, it's only going to distance me from my character and remind me that I'm playing a video game.

 

[CruisingForBiddies]

To be honest the only think that I would suggest that hasn't been said here is I wish it had a different name. Sure, it makes little to no difference but I feel as if it could have been a bit less 'oh, this looks shit but it turned out to be great' and more like, "wowee! that sure looks like something that is different from the slew of sub-par modern warfare FPSs"... Maybe its just me.

 

[Shpongled]

Yeah it was pretty good, the problem was the key point it was supposed to draw me in, it didn't draw me in.

Now for the sake of not revealing anything, though I feel most people will already know what it is, I won't say what happens or what you do, only that it involves civillians.

The big scene that is supposed to make you feel guilty, I never felt guilty over. It FORCES me to do it. When I have no decision over the choice of my character, I'm not going to feel guilty, it's only going to distance me from my character and remind me that I'm playing a video game.

Well i don't know about you but the reason i felt guilty about it was because...

Spoiler

i didn't actually know - or even take the time to think - that all those anonymous white blobs were innocents. All my thought process was that if i don't kill these people shooting at me, they'll kill me, i need to use this white phosperous because i can't fight all of them, oh look more white blobs, possible threat, bomb them.

Only slightly after the event when walking through the trench did it really hit me, not just guilt about doing the thing, but guilt about the fact that i didn't even consider the implications of doing the thing, i just did it, no doubts, straight away.

And i think that's why the story works well, it's not just that it's forcing you to do shitty things and then telling you you're a bad person for doing the things. It's positively highlighting the fact you gladly did those things without even a second thought.

Like you know, all those enemies were American, (i'm english but for sake for argument i'm american right now) not once did i consider the fact that i might have known some of those guys back home or lived in the same town or gone to the same school or whatever. Whether they were the same colour as me, same nationaility, same language, doesn't matter for shit, if you put them in front of me with a gun in their hand then i'll happily mow them all down. That's what the game showed me, and I don't know about you but that speaks to me.

Playing through it again i doubt it'll have quite the same impact, but even if you know what you're doing i think the message it puts across can remain pertinent. It just really makes you think about what an FPS game really is, you could argue that we do all this evil shit as standard in Vietnam games and middle eastern games etc, yet why don't we ever feel anything at all even vaguely resembling guilt playing them?

For me, it's up these with things like Apocalypse Now, 1984, Brave New World, that sort of thing. The questions it raised for me will last, long after i've forgotten the specifics of the storyline. And that means the game has really done something good.

 

[Elurindel]

Yeah it was pretty good, the problem was the key point it was supposed to draw me in, it didn't draw me in.

Now for the sake of not revealing anything, though I feel most people will already know what it is, I won't say what happens or what you do, only that it involves civillians.

The big scene that is supposed to make you feel guilty, I never felt guilty over. It FORCES me to do it. When I have no decision over the choice of my character, I'm not going to feel guilty, it's only going to distance me from my character and remind me that I'm playing a video game.

Well i don't know about you but the reason i felt guilty about it was because...

Spoiler

i didn't actually know - or even take the time to think - that all those anonymous white blobs were innocents. All my thought process was that if i don't kill these people shooting at me, they'll kill me, i need to use this white phosperous because i can't fight all of them, oh look more white blobs, possible threat, bomb them.

Only slightly after the event when walking through the trench did it really hit me, not just guilt about doing the thing, but guilt about the fact that i didn't even consider the implications of doing the thing, i just did it, no doubts, straight away.

And i think that's why the story works well, it's not just that it's forcing you to do shitty things and then telling you you're a bad person for doing the things. It's positively highlighting the fact you gladly did those things without even a second thought.

Like you know, all those enemies were American, (i'm english but for sake for argument i'm american right now) not once did i consider the fact that i might have known some of those guys back home or lived in the same town or gone to the same school or whatever. Whether they were the same colour as me, same nationaility, same language, doesn't matter for shit, if you put them in front of me with a gun in their hand then i'll happily mow them all down. That's what the game showed me, and I don't know about you but that speaks to me.

Playing through it again i doubt it'll have quite the same impact, but even if you know what you're doing i think the message it puts across can remain pertinent. It just really makes you think about what an FPS game really is, you could argue that we do all this evil shit as standard in Vietnam games and middle eastern games etc, yet why don't we ever feel anything at all even vaguely resembling guilt playing them?

For me, it's up these with things like Apocalypse Now, 1984, Brave New World, that sort of thing. The questions it raised for me will last, long after i've forgotten the specifics of the storyline. And that means the game has really done something good.

This for me is what did it for me. The story takes those moments like the AC130 moment from CoD4 and injects emotion into it and forces you to look at your actions. I sincerely hope that everybody who plays Call of Black Ops Battlefield Modern Duty Warfare 3 takes a look at this game.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Also that ending seriously didn't expect that.
My Guy couldn't handle the horrors he did and ended it what did everyone else do at the end.

While the ending was unfolding.... I was speechless. I really didn't expect it either.

As for what I did, I just wanted Walker to go home.

Spoiler

When you see Walker one last time, sitting there as the american evac team approaches. It really did look like he lost it, and his descent to madness was complete. He was wearing Konrad's jacket ffs!

And that shell shocked thousand-yard stare in his eyes, unresponsiveness. It was clear that he has endured far too much. And even then, you can choose to fight the american troops sent to save you, either wiping them all out and restarting the nightmare that Konrad started, or going out in one last firefight.

But does a man like him deserve any pity? Making all those terrible decisions, horrifically killing dozens of innocent Dubai citizens, on top of hundreds of american soldiers, including his own team...

It's tough to say when you look at the big picture. It's not like he wanted all of these awful things to happen. In fact, during his final conversation with Konrad, Walker says:

"I never meant to hurt anybody." Konrad replies
"No one ever does, Walker."

After everything he did, I just didn't want him to kill himself. I'm not sure what a man like him deserves, but I think he needed to go home.

While he's riding with the Americans, one asks "What was it like? How did you survive all this?"
Walker replies "Who said I did?"

....You mean all that wa-That Walker actuall-All that happene-This entire missio-......FFFFUUUUUUU

This game will end up being on my top games of 2012, and is actually right behind Max Payne 3 as my personal GOTY. So many things the game conveyed can be taken away and applied to real life. And how it deconstructs the puke stream of modern-military-shooters, and how the story is told, was a much-needed breath of fresh air.