Most likely one of the most overlooked games ever. I was very surprised to see the amount of hate on here about this game. While I do have my own complaints about the game, I find Spec Ops: The Line to be a fantastic depiction of war, delusion, PTSD, denial, and the horrors associated with all of these themes.
Obviously, the highlight here is the narrative. Inspired by "Heart Of Darkness", Spec Ops: The Line tells the story of Capt. Martin Walker and his two companions Lt. Alphonso Adams and SSgt. John Lugo as they attempt to conduct a rescue mission in the destroyed city of Dubai. What ensues involves a decent into madness, as the horrors of war begin to engulf Walker and affect everything around him. The twists and turns this game's story takes is phenomenal. Being an older game, it may be difficult to go into this completely blind, but I highly encourage you to go into this as blind as possible.
The game doesn't hold any punches when depicting the downright horrific acts of violence. The game constantly pushes you and puts you in situations where you have to make difficult, moral decisions that depict Walker's state of mind. The game is always showing you how horrible this situation is, as well as how your actions, on purpose or not, lead you to descend further into madness.
Now onto the gameplay. Its serviceable. It's nothing revolutionary, as its really a basic cover-shooter. You got a two-weapon limit, 3 different grenade types, and lots of places to duck for cover. You also are able to command your squad-mates you take on certain enemies, throw flashbangs, and heal each other if need be. It's what I'd call gaming comfort food: nothing special, but fills you up and makes you feel good playing it. The shooting feels good, as does aiming and commanding your squad. I did find issues with the cover system though, as sometimes it didn't feel very responsive or felt clunky when sprinting to cover. This didn't lead to my death too much though, and didn't bother me much in the grand scheme of things.
There's also collectibles, called intel, that help provide more background to Dubai, the war, and characters. They're honestly pretty easy to find, but I still enjoyed the VOs of their descriptions instead of having to read it all myself. They really help flesh out the world and history of this game.
The environments range from mostly desert locations to some very pretty looking interiors. I loved how a big mechanic in this game was to break down windows to let huge waves of sand come through. It was always visually impressive (in a 2012 game at least) and very fun to pull off. Having all these environmental things you could interact with sold me more on the realism of this world.
Now I haven't played the multiplayer (I'm not even sure if its still online and operational) but I heard it wasn't very good. But I don't really care about that, to be honest. The single player is a short experience, only taking around 5-6 hours to beat. But in that 5-6 hours, I got an extremely interesting and compelling narrative with memorable characters and moments. I think a lot of people miss the message of this game, or view it as something similar to The Last Of Us 2 with its over-the-head "violence bad" message. While I can see how these people can view Spec Ops: The Line in this way, I find it to be an incredibly well done game with one of the most compelling narratives I've seen in awhile. The gameplay could've been spruced up a little and it could have had a better multiplayer (from what I've heard), but this short-yet-sweet experience has become a new favorite for me in terms of story and characters.
Obviously, the highlight here is the narrative. Inspired by "Heart Of Darkness", Spec Ops: The Line tells the story of Capt. Martin Walker and his two companions Lt. Alphonso Adams and SSgt. John Lugo as they attempt to conduct a rescue mission in the destroyed city of Dubai. What ensues involves a decent into madness, as the horrors of war begin to engulf Walker and affect everything around him. The twists and turns this game's story takes is phenomenal. Being an older game, it may be difficult to go into this completely blind, but I highly encourage you to go into this as blind as possible.
The game doesn't hold any punches when depicting the downright horrific acts of violence. The game constantly pushes you and puts you in situations where you have to make difficult, moral decisions that depict Walker's state of mind. The game is always showing you how horrible this situation is, as well as how your actions, on purpose or not, lead you to descend further into madness.
Now onto the gameplay. Its serviceable. It's nothing revolutionary, as its really a basic cover-shooter. You got a two-weapon limit, 3 different grenade types, and lots of places to duck for cover. You also are able to command your squad-mates you take on certain enemies, throw flashbangs, and heal each other if need be. It's what I'd call gaming comfort food: nothing special, but fills you up and makes you feel good playing it. The shooting feels good, as does aiming and commanding your squad. I did find issues with the cover system though, as sometimes it didn't feel very responsive or felt clunky when sprinting to cover. This didn't lead to my death too much though, and didn't bother me much in the grand scheme of things.
There's also collectibles, called intel, that help provide more background to Dubai, the war, and characters. They're honestly pretty easy to find, but I still enjoyed the VOs of their descriptions instead of having to read it all myself. They really help flesh out the world and history of this game.
The environments range from mostly desert locations to some very pretty looking interiors. I loved how a big mechanic in this game was to break down windows to let huge waves of sand come through. It was always visually impressive (in a 2012 game at least) and very fun to pull off. Having all these environmental things you could interact with sold me more on the realism of this world.
Now I haven't played the multiplayer (I'm not even sure if its still online and operational) but I heard it wasn't very good. But I don't really care about that, to be honest. The single player is a short experience, only taking around 5-6 hours to beat. But in that 5-6 hours, I got an extremely interesting and compelling narrative with memorable characters and moments. I think a lot of people miss the message of this game, or view it as something similar to The Last Of Us 2 with its over-the-head "violence bad" message. While I can see how these people can view Spec Ops: The Line in this way, I find it to be an incredibly well done game with one of the most compelling narratives I've seen in awhile. The gameplay could've been spruced up a little and it could have had a better multiplayer (from what I've heard), but this short-yet-sweet experience has become a new favorite for me in terms of story and characters.