A glimpse of what stories for shooters should be like.
It has been a long time coming for Spec Ops: The Line though through all the possible internal struggles that occurred Yager was still able to release the game and it is a game that people who wish shooters had better stories should play.
The Good
Spec Ops: The Line is a look at the darker sides of war. Where other shooters put their focus on giant set pieces that are a spectacle to watch, Spec Ops delves deep into the mind of Walker, Adams andLugo to show the difficult choices that come when peoples lives are involved. The game does a very good job of constantly reminding you after each firefight of the reprecussions of your actions. Scenes where the characters and walking through fields of dead bodies and the sounds of dying soldiers do not make your time in Dubai very pleasant. It makes you want to get to the end of the game and see the result, whether good or bad. The characters are great and throughout the game you start to see that not only are Lugo and Adams the only people that you have left but they also become the left and right sides of Walkers brain. Lugo being the guy who seems to have more compassion for protecting the civilians while disobeying mission orders while Adams is contstantly resassuring Walker that every action he takes is for the good of the mission. The eventual fates of all these characters and their descent into madness is gruesome and effective to the player. The antagonist in Spec Ops was good in the sense that he added to this mind game that the game was setting up right from the beginning. Constantly questioning your moves and making you second guess the actions you take. I always find people who singuring times of war unsettling and they do a good job with that. Story is the stand out star of Spec Ops: The Line and it is refereshing to play a shooter where I actually care about the characters and follow the story.
The Bad
With a heavy focus on story, developer Yager clearly had gameplay as a way to justify this as a game. It feels like a very typical cover based third person shooter with some mechanics (The sand stuff was cool to see when they happen) to try to differentiate from other shooters but in the end the combat feels bland and standard. Cover didn't work as well as it should have and I died many times because the character wouldn't stick to the cover I wanted him to. The sand plays a lot less of a role then Yager seemed to make of it in previews of the game before its release. It acts as an alternative but not a neccesity in battle. I would have liked the idea of using sand as more of a way to conserve your ammo like in a style like I Am Alive where the characters supplies were scarce and ammo needed to be conserved. I never found myself in a position where I needed to use the sand and in the end found that the mechanic was wasted. The gameplay was average and that is really the best thing I can say about it.
Final Verdict
What Spec Ops: The Line lacks in gameplay innovation is makes up for it in its story, atmosphere and presentation. There were a lot points where I wish I could just sit and watch all the events unfold. In the end this game is a must play for those who are looking for a game that has a strong story with great characters but people should steer clear if they are looking for a fun game to play.
