Spec Ops: The Line

So I'll be honest, I downloaded this game because I wanted something to play while I was waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2 to download. However, I had heard that the game is a little more unique than it seems and was actually a sleeper cult classic when it was released in 2012. What followed was a game that has made me think a lot more than I originally thought I would, and one that warrants a written review, something I rarely do for video games.

In case you haven't read my previous video game reviews, you'll know that I focus a lot more on the plot and story of the video games rather than the actual gameplay. I will mention the experience that I had, but I am not one to say the game play was great or horrible because the reality is, like movies, video games are subjective and some people may dig this gameplay more than they would playing tetris while others would say they had a lot more fun playing tetris than this game. I also don't really speak to graphics. This is a game that came out in 2012, we've had 6 years for graphics to improve so yeah, they're going to look like crap in comparison. So I'm only speaking to what I enjoyed or didn't enjoy and more about the narrative this game presents.

Spec Ops: The Line puts you in the shoes of Captain Martin Walker (voiced by Nolan North), a very, VERY generic military hero who is the leader of a small Delta Force Team. Their mission is to venture into a post-apocalyptic-like version of Dubai that has been ravaged by a sandstorm and has fallen in disarray.

Their mission is to look for the 33rd Infantry Battalion, led by Colonel John Konrad (voiced by Bruce Boxleitner) and discover the mystery of why they fell out of contact after the sandstorm hit.

What follows is an over the top shoot em up where you take your seemingly invincible  team through ruined Dubai and up against wave upon wave of enemy. You shoot your way through them to discover the truth, and find John Konrad.

Off the bat, I'll say the gameplay for this game is fun, but repetitive and generic. You travel on a linear line through the story, picking up random weapons to fight hoards of bad guys with little variation.

Now it was a little refreshing playing a linear narrative game. Every game seems to be open world and open ended. As much as I love that sandbox feel, I do think the incredible amount of those games has saturated the desire for it and it was refreshing to have a game that felt more like a movie rather than a session with action figures in a sandbox.

The team command system is pretty clunky as well as the cover and firing system. I've seen it done better and smoothly since. But it was fine. There are games out there that have much richer narratives than this one, but the gameplay is just garbage, making it almost impossible for me to progress. But Spec Ops was simple, stupid, and lent more to the progression of the cinematic experience rather than provide a unique gameplay experience.

One thing I found really interesting was the fine line this game walked in regards to its genre. On one hand, it seems like its going to be a pretty generic military shoot em up. But its also set in this post apocalyptic version of Dubai, creating for an over the top environment. And furthermore, the game becomes more cerebral and almost supernatural at times that makes it feel like its trying to be something different or deeper in its story than it initially lets on.

When you first start this game, it feels like it's going to be a straight up shooter. But then some events in the story happen and the game switches up a little bit. It's not a long game and I finished it in about two long sessions. But those two sessions couldn't have been any more different.

The first half of the game is similar to a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game. There are a lot of military battle sequences. But there is a turning point in the game that the narrative becomes more cerebral and far more interesting. At this point I was much more engaged and any issues I had with the repetitive gameplay were overshadowed by the fact that I wanted to get to the end of the narrative.

The other part that makes this game more interesting is the choice system. It's very subtle and not nearly as impactful as you may think it is, but it does add a sense of responsibility to your actions that other video games don't.

Now I won't give the game too much credit as you still gun down a TON of people like any other military video game, but there are some narrative elements that give a horrors of war theme while making it a psychological struggle for the characters as well. Again, it's an interesting line. While the game takes on some serious subject matter of the ends justify the means and dealing with trauma, it's also a pretty generic shoot em up, and often times comes off as more self aware than I think it thinks it is.

The truth is, it's just about the most linear story you'll run across and while there are small decisions you can make, they really don't have any impact on the final outcome.

And then there's the main character.

Like I said, Captain Walker is pretty much the most generic white military man you'll ever see in a video game. He looks like the default character you see in every character creation menu before you start a game.

There is nothing really new, or interesting in Walker's backstory and is probably more of a neutral mask that the player can just jump into and experience the same way we jump into generic heroes from action movies (i.e. any Keanu Reeves action movie).

Something that was an interesting development throughout the game is how worn your character looks by the end of the game. It doesn't mean anything but you go from the pristine action hero you see above to a ragged John McClane at the end of Die Hard looking guy.

The problem with the character is that the events of this game are pretty traumatic. Unfortunately, because he is that neutral mask, it's hard to really get invested in the struggles and experiences of the character because he's so generic.

So as I'm finishing this review, I have had a little bit of time to digest this game and the truth is, this game doesn't have a whole lot going for it. The gameplay is pretty generic and somewhat redundant, the story is bland, restrictively linear, and a little bit incoherent at times in order to create a gameplay experience where you shoot through a bunch of nameless enemies.

However, the one thing that stuck with me is the ending. I've played through games with better endings so I'm not gonna pretend that it is groundbreaking, but it did leave a really interesting after effect that at least for a short time, made me forget about all the other short comings of the game. Unfortunately, given some time I don't know if I think the ending is so great I'd play through it again. So this recommendation is hard. Luckily the game isn't very long and its perfect for a short experience an amateur gamer could get through in a couple of days.

Given some time, I do kind of regret the fact that there isn't going to be a sequel or any kind of follow up to this game because I'd be more interested in seeing this as a lifting off point for some really unique, off kilter action games. However, as it stands, its fine. Don't spend a whole lot of money downloading this one but you'll at the very least enjoy the ending and the unique version of a military shooter game.

But what did you think? Its been a while so if you want to talk spoilers feel free to head over to my Twitter @MovieSymposium and we'll discuss that ending. Otherwise share your thoughts and comment before, or send me a request for another game, show, or movie I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!