Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line is quite possibly the most mature and definitely my favorite game of all time, never has a game hit me and blew me away as strong as this. I even knew about the 'expectation' side of the game. Imagine if I didn't now about it's true identity! (By the way this review is going to be a bit short, due to its 'surprise'. I feel like the game should be experienced with the right expectation. But since I have already mentioned it, you can guess what the surprise is! Is it trippy? Does it have good gameplay? Is it so bad it's good by intention? Is it Funny? Is it so original that people love it? Is it as polished as the great salt lakes? You decide, Either way it's pretty emotional. The ending can also leave people satisfied, because it's ambiguity is intentional!

By this point of the review, you might be wondering 'What aboot the gameplay?!' It's nothing special. But that's intentional! You know what everything in this game is intentional. That was all I needed to say to avoid your suspicion. Anyway this game is so damn fantastic. When you beat it, if you buy this game PLEASE play it in FUBAR! It is way more metaphorical in it's message. So that's it, tenoutaten.

This game is /intentionally/ marketed as a generic arcade shooter, but will in fact take you through an emotional and psychological horror experience.

DO NOT play this game like you play any other arcade shooter, pay attention to the characters' mental state, the details in the environment around them, the dialogue, all that. This game will deliver a different message to everyone, depending on one's personal philosophy, what details one picks up and how one perceives the game's story.

Gameplay-wise, cover system is clunky and gunplay is too arcadey for my taste but it isn't worse enough to affect how you experience the game.

Very, very, very underrated. Hope there would be more similar games in the future.

While most war games out there tend to glorify the violence, this game (it's hard to call it a game when it isn't exactly fun and it's so narrative-focused) shows the player the reality of war in all of its horror. In fact, it may even be safe to say that this could be considered a horror game by definition. After going through the campaign on this game, I found myself more appreciative of what our men and women on the frontlines go through every day, because this game, as I said, shows you the reality of war and not its glorified state like in so many others such as Call of Duty and Battlefield. How? It removes the "hero" aspect. This time you're not killing Nazis, Al-Qaeda, or aliens; you're going into the beautiful Middle-Eastern city of Dubai to help evacuate its refugees from the worst sandstorm in recorded history. I won't spoil who the enemy turns out to be. While that does sound well-intentioned, the way the plot unfolds takes Captain Walker and crew into an extremely brutal fight for survival. Unique to video games, there's also non-linear storytelling in the game as well when the player is forced to make some remarkably unpleasant decisions. One may even argue that some of these said decisions are things that real soldiers must make from time to time, just to be called war criminals for doing what they HAD TO DO. There needs to be more (not games) interactive experiences like this.

There are typically different people making different parts of a game, so if one part seems to outclass the rest, it should not seem to be a mystery. The writer of this title did a damn good job, creating an interesting tug-of-war that we rarely see in games. The narrative will have you questioning the choices you've made; wondering if you should have picked differently. Like I've heard elsewhere, Bioshock may have been the last game I've played that has these types of interesting thematic elements.

So the story side is great; graphically and gameplay-wise is it also great? Mostly.

While you won't be blown away by the uniqueness of the gameplay, you will find that the graphics are a beauty. There are times when I just pause to look at the scenery. The gameplay I'd say is comfortable. Much like playing BF3, Gears of War, or COD feels familiar every time you play it, in that "comfortable" way. Similarly Spec Ops is pleasant, you can dive right into the narrative without fumbling with controls for the first couple of hours.

The music and score throughout the game are pretty nice as well, however the sound effects feel lackluster. Bullets and weapons just don't have the audio impact that they should. Having been in the army, I can tell you that when you fire a weapon, it's a powerful thing, but in Spec Ops (as with many games), these sounds are glaring because of their lack of impact.

Overall though, this is a fun to play, harsh to consume game. And its great.

8/10

Speaking freely, this is the only game that has ever made me feel truly uncomfortable while playing it. I've played hundreds of games and have laughed, cried, felt guilty or even despressed while playing but with this... I felt like throwing up. I felt like crap. I felt like a monster - I even felt a bit like blowing my brains out (but in a good way).

Bottom line, the jokingly dubbed "PTSD" Simulator lived up to what everyone said it would, surprisingly.

9/10. Only misses the 10 due to weak gameplay mechanics and laggy controls.

My only regret is not playing this sooner.