Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter, developed by YAGER and is one of most interesting games I've played from the 2010s, considering how controversial and polarizing this game was back in 2012. I played this when I was younger, but never understood the themes and the message this game was trying to send out... Until now.

• The Story. Easily the biggest draw of Spec Ops: The Line, as it's usually the topic of discussion in most YouTube videos and media. You play as Martin Walker, Delta Force operator and captain, who gets issued a rescue mission by command of the US Army to investigate the disappearance of Colonel John Konrad and the Damned 33rd Battalion, who seemingly went missing after a big rescue mission in Dubai, destroyed by a cataclysmic sandstorm. Together with squad members Lugo and Adams, they discover so much more, with a civil war, factions fighting each other for scraps and are forced to make decisions that will test their morality. Without going into too many spoilers, the story is brutal, terrifying and in my opinion, is the best depiction of war I've seen in a video game, with gruesome and insane moments that all correlate to one question - "Do you feel like a hero yet?"
  
  
• Choice - Spec Ops: The Line offers numerous choices throughout the game, each altering the cutscenes and scenarios that follow after it. If Spec Ops: The Line has taught me anything, it's that there are no positive or good choices, no matter which one you decide that makes it seem like it's right, and that's what the developers want you to think: No matter what decision you make in life, there's always going to be a consequence. It also adds a good amount of depth and character development into the entire Delta Squad team, as their personalities change throughout the game, going from happy, American soldiers to angry, stone cold killers.
  
  
• Gameplay - I was thinking of putting this into the negatives, but I think the gameplay is enough to call it generic. You know, the good kind of generic. Plays exactly like any other third-person shooter, most notably Gears of War, which is sprinkled throughout this thing with the way you move, shoot and throw grenades. Good variety of weapons and different attachments that are used by a button press and a simple squad system that lets you issue commands, such as attacking and stunning a group of enemies
  
  
• Level Design - I like the level design of Spec Ops: The Line. Although most of it is just shooting enemies and moving through a linear path, YAGER does a good job of changing things up, such as helicopter sections, the never-ending sandstorms (a highlight for me, as your accuracy gets reduced and you can't issue commands while you're in it), escorting water trucks and sniper sections just to name a few
  
  
• Atmosphere - Man. The world of Dubai that the developers portray here is fantastic: A brutal, dying city, with people fighting for resources, living in refugee camps, skyscrapers and tall buildings being left with debris, hiding underground like it's Metro 2033 and walls filled with the names of people who passed away from this catastrophe. What happens in Dubai stays in Dubai, and it shows. Heck, even the radioman who's an absolute nuisance really adds to the world in terms of its craziness. You can learn a lot more about Dubai by picking up the intel that drops in most chapters
  
  
• Enemy variety is decent, with a good mix of fodder, juggernauts from Call of Duty, commando soldiers with knives, snipers and Zulu soldiers, the Damned 33rd's best, with cool looking armor and P90s. Since the campaign is short, they each never overstayed their welcome
  
  
• Game runs like an absolute dream, so you shouldn't have any issues running it out of the box, though if you do want to change things with the game, best to head over to PCGamingWiki's link of this game and change what you want there. I changed some mouse settings and my field of view to better enjoy my experience.

• Game can be ridiculously hard - I managed to 100% the game, with one of the achievements being to complete the game on the hardest difficulty, and my god, what a trip that was. Enemies can laser you, giving you no chance to react, health regeneration is slow and enemies become spongier, especially juggernauts, requiring you to slow down and slowly peel them away. There's also a section where you literally can't complete it without capping your frames to 60 (if you know, you know) and some parts that feel like YAGER didn't bother to QA test it at all. It's doable on any difficulty, but wanted to note this for anyone who decides to attempt it on the third difficulty, since the hardest is only unlocked after you finish the game once
  
  
• Game's a bit short - Bit of a nitpick, but you can finish the game realistically in about 3-4 hours. Feels like MW2019's campaign. Definitely would've been good to squeeze out an additional hour or two, but I think given the circumstances and the choices you can make, this more than makes up for it

It's a shame that Spec Ops: The Line got delisted thanks to the music license expiring, because this is one of those games that I think everybody should play: A real depiction of war and not a fabrication like how CoD or Battlefield does it. It's short, it's compelling, the gameplay and level design is good and I feel that even though you could have it all figured out on a first playthrough, it takes a second or third to really take note of all the small details and story bits of this great, great game. Not too much to hate here given the intentions YAGER had and they nailed it. Hoping 2K can get this game back up soon, somehow, someway. Do you even remember why you're here?