Killing for yourself is murder. Killing for your government is heroic. Killing for entertainment is harmless.
It's no secret nowadays that the US Government actively sponsors media that paint it and its military in a good light. Every new war and every fresh "international threat" is conveniently accompanied by a myriad of movies where American soldiers heroically save the day from whatever the political big bad is at that time.
That sponsorship also extends to videogames, and while its exact influence in this industry can never be measured, if we're talking about an excess of military shooters, the PS360 generation is the one that stands out the most. Call of Duty was at its peak, and military shooters trying to capitalize on that success were a dime a dozen. Not only were those games of, uh, varying quality, but many went so ham on the war propaganda military power fantasy, some made CoD look deeply nuanced in comparison.
(there's an argument to be made that even CoD degraded as that generation went on, but that's a story for other people to tell)
Which is why it's so shocking that this is the context in which Spec Ops: The Line came out. Spec Ops was a dead IP by then, a forgotten tactical shooter franchise that never saw much relevance, and it's said that 2K Games, looking for some way to make use of that property, basically gave carte blanche to Yager to just make whatever game they wanted under the Spec Ops name, provided it was a military shooter.
The folks in Yager, in turn, decided they didn't want to follow in the footsteps of the market leader, instead opting to make a game with a twisted storyline and an unreliable narrator, a game that was undoubtedly critical of its subject matter and its own industry. That is how Delta Squad, composed by Captain Walker and his squadmates Lugo and Adams, came to be.
Delta Squad enters Dubai with the mission of finding and rescuing survivors, and Walker takes it upon himself to find his old friend, Colonel Konrad, who became trapped in the city with his men during a previous rescue effort. As the trio moves through the ravaged Dubai, they are faced with threats they did not expect, and begin to question the purpose of their own mission.
Far from the average military shooter, which paints their protagonists as patriotic heroes, Spec Ops: The Line presents us with a very negative view of war, american interventionism, and even of its own game genre, and Walker's journey takes him to some extremely dark places. There are plenty of good dives into the game online, such as this one. From its visual design, to its themes, to its influences, there's a fascinating amount of stuff to discuss about the game, and that cemented its cult following.
The thing about being a cult classic, though, is that those mostly range from niche products to commercial bombs, and Spec Ops: The Line was unfortunately in the latter group. Despite its message, it looks and plays much like any other cover shooter out there, which made it a really hard sell to the average player, who either did play shooters but had bigger names to choose from, or didn't, and would only be interested if you spoiled the game a bit.
Regardless of its sales numbers, though, Spec Ops is, to me, an unforgettable experience. Its writing and imagery have stuck with me over the years, and, as unlikely as that is to happen, I really wish the game was remastered to have a fresh chance at being seen by more people. Pretty please, 2K Games?
It's no secret nowadays that the US Government actively sponsors media that paint it and its military in a good light. Every new war and every fresh "international threat" is conveniently accompanied by a myriad of movies where American soldiers heroically save the day from whatever the political big bad is at that time.
That sponsorship also extends to videogames, and while its exact influence in this industry can never be measured, if we're talking about an excess of military shooters, the PS360 generation is the one that stands out the most. Call of Duty was at its peak, and military shooters trying to capitalize on that success were a dime a dozen. Not only were those games of, uh, varying quality, but many went so ham on the war propaganda military power fantasy, some made CoD look deeply nuanced in comparison.
(there's an argument to be made that even CoD degraded as that generation went on, but that's a story for other people to tell)
Which is why it's so shocking that this is the context in which Spec Ops: The Line came out. Spec Ops was a dead IP by then, a forgotten tactical shooter franchise that never saw much relevance, and it's said that 2K Games, looking for some way to make use of that property, basically gave carte blanche to Yager to just make whatever game they wanted under the Spec Ops name, provided it was a military shooter.
The folks in Yager, in turn, decided they didn't want to follow in the footsteps of the market leader, instead opting to make a game with a twisted storyline and an unreliable narrator, a game that was undoubtedly critical of its subject matter and its own industry. That is how Delta Squad, composed by Captain Walker and his squadmates Lugo and Adams, came to be.
Delta Squad enters Dubai with the mission of finding and rescuing survivors, and Walker takes it upon himself to find his old friend, Colonel Konrad, who became trapped in the city with his men during a previous rescue effort. As the trio moves through the ravaged Dubai, they are faced with threats they did not expect, and begin to question the purpose of their own mission.
Far from the average military shooter, which paints their protagonists as patriotic heroes, Spec Ops: The Line presents us with a very negative view of war, american interventionism, and even of its own game genre, and Walker's journey takes him to some extremely dark places. There are plenty of good dives into the game online, such as this one. From its visual design, to its themes, to its influences, there's a fascinating amount of stuff to discuss about the game, and that cemented its cult following.
The thing about being a cult classic, though, is that those mostly range from niche products to commercial bombs, and Spec Ops: The Line was unfortunately in the latter group. Despite its message, it looks and plays much like any other cover shooter out there, which made it a really hard sell to the average player, who either did play shooters but had bigger names to choose from, or didn't, and would only be interested if you spoiled the game a bit.
Regardless of its sales numbers, though, Spec Ops is, to me, an unforgettable experience. Its writing and imagery have stuck with me over the years, and, as unlikely as that is to happen, I really wish the game was remastered to have a fresh chance at being seen by more people. Pretty please, 2K Games?