Kinda to this party and I'm sure many of you did notice this but I really have to point it out.

How many of you have notice that in the beginning credits, right before the game lets you take control of Captain Walker when he first comes in with his men to Dubai, that the game will take your Gamertag/PSN ID/ Steam ID name, and insert into the opening credits as a Special Guest. What a really fucked up surprise. I didn't really notice it on my first playthrough because really...Who really ever pays attention to credits.

Aside from the MGS series and Eternal Darkness has a game ever acknowledge the player in such a direct way?

Frankly I had no intentions of replaying the game as I just finished it last night but after listening to the podcast they had with the writer on Gamespot I just had to go back and check all those hints that they have in the game.

While the gameplay is nothing to write home about I did enjoy the story and how it unfolds.

I noticed that...I thought it was pretty lame and really served no purpose. As far as the game goes, I would have liked it a lot more if it was only two or three hours long...the second half just dragged on and on forever. I could't wait for it to end. I feel like they kept writing in extra missions to stretch the campaign out to the "minimum" 5-6 hour mark.

@mordukai I think most people noticed that, but not the meaning. I think it means that you are along for the ride. The game is acknowledging you as a spectator rather than in most games where you ARE the character like in RPGs. I think it's foreshadowing for more 4th wall breaking that will happen later on. That there will be a cognitive disconnect with the player versus the character, as Walker tends to descend to the dark side.

There's the whole purgatory interpretation where you're dead after the chopper crashes, so you're being invited to Walker's mind as he remembers the past?

I don't know!

An indie game that also acknowledges the player/game relationship really well, is Alexander Ocias' Loved. One of my favorite games.

Oh and cute Kermode icon :3

I haven't notice it at all.

I saw it when I watched a playthrough on Youtube, I think it's kinda neat.

Yeah I noticed it, guess it depends on how you take it. Can understand some folks thinking it was pretty lame but after listening to the Gamespot Podcast Jeff and Kevin did with the writer for Spec Ops it sort of makes sense, the player is an important part of the story and the writer wanted the player to get an emotional response from the story.

@MB said:

I noticed that...I thought it was pretty lame and really served no purpose. As far as the game goes, I would have liked it a lot more if it was only two or three hours long...the second half just dragged on and on forever. I could't wait for it to end. I feel like they kept writing in extra missions to stretch the campaign out to the "minimum" 5-6 hour mark.

A agree that the latter quarter of the game seems needlessly dragged out from a gameplay perspective and probably resulted in a non-trivial part of the audience coming away with an overall negative opinion of Spec Ops: The Line. Every time I read a negative opinion like this, I want to cry, "But you're wrong, it really is a great game!" However, at the same time, I feel like walking away from the game in frustration/disgust/boredom actually works as a canon ending to Walker's story. It just sucks that, for the sake of (meta)narrative, Spec Ops: The Line didn't let you enjoy its gameplay.

@AssInAss said:

I think most people noticed that, but not the meaning. I think it means that you are along for the ride. The game is acknowledging you as a spectator rather than in most games where you ARE the character like in RPGs. I think it's foreshadowing for more 4th wall breaking that will happen later on. That there will be a cognitive disconnect with the player versus the character, as Walker tends to descend to the dark side.

In the Gamespot interview, the lead writer said that the game used third-person perspective as another tool to separate the player from Walker. Based on that, I think you're spot on with your observation.

There's the whole purgatory interpretation where you're dead after the chopper crashes, so you're being invited to Walker's mind as he remembers the past?

I love this interpretation. The second time I played through the game, I did it with that frame of mind. Killing the soldiers who come to rescue Walker at the end really fit nicely with the purgatory concept. Especially after Walker finds Konrad and finally realizes for himself that he's in Purgatory.

A second interpretation that I really enjoy is that none of the events Walker experiences are real, Adams and Lugo never existed, and an already insane Walker is wandering through a thoroughly empty Dubai form the beginning.

An indie game that also acknowledges the player/game relationship really well, is Alexander Ocias' Loved. One of my favorite games.

Thanks for sharing that! I played Loved a long time ago and had forgotten about it. Reading this thread first put me in the frame of mind to really enjoy how the game interacts with the player.

Saw that and thought it was a very cool idea. Sort of a portent of the game's content and what you will be a 'witness' to.

I actually jumped when I noticed it out of the corner of my eye. Then I grinned at my own foolishness. Clever trick =)

I originally noticed it and thought 'pfft thats lame', but after finishing the game it has a totally new meaning

Didn't even notice.