2K Games, Yager Development
Spec Ops: The Line
Rating:
5 Stars
Between 1998 and 2002, eight games in the “Spec Ops” series launched across the PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Windows PCs, almost all to relatively abysmal reviews. So why would anyone want to revive a dead series, a full decade later? Who knows, but 2K Games apparently had a good reason to. Together with Yager Development, they take you on a journey to Dubai with an elite Delta Force team, headed up by Captain John Walker. They’re doing reconnaissance after a wave of horrible sandstorms left the city in ruins and the 33rd Battalion of the United States Army stranded within. The 33rd, led by Colonel John Konrad, were running an evac operation when things went south. After invoking martial law, the 33rd was publicly disavowed for treason and the city was declared a “no-man’s land” by the United Arab Emirates. Captain Walker finds evidence that the 33rd staged a coup d’état against Konrad, and suddenly the reconnaissance mission turns into a rescue mission.
The Fun Stuff:
“Spec Ops: The Line” is absolutely gorgeous, in a beat-up and run-down kind of way. It all starts with the start menu which is a panorama of Dubai. As it turns out, it’s also the launching pad for the game in more ways than one. As soon as you start the campaign, you’re immediately in the action. Without even cutting, the camera pans and suddenly you’re in a helicopter firing a mini gun. Even under such dire consequences, the city of Dubai is breathtaking. Throughout the game you’ll weave in and out of, walk up to the edge of, fall through, and zip-line between many of the towering buildings around you. You’ll be traversing the buildings and interacting with them in some incredibly unique ways.
This is all thanks to the star of the game. No, I don’t mean Captain Walker – I’m talking about the sand. In an article for Official Xbox Magazine, the developers stated that they intended to “do for sand what ‘Bioshock’ did for water.” Because of this, you’ll find yourself interacting with sand constantly throughout the game. Unfortunately, the majority of it is scripted, but it’s still a thrill to use. Often, you’ll be able to shoot out a wall or window, causing a towering bank of sand to come pouring in, smothering enemies or entire areas, allowing you to now access places you previously could not. Although the game throws it in your face a few times, there are still plenty of opportunities where the ability to do so is left for your discovery. Explosions will also cause clouds of sand to puff into the air, temporarily blinding nearby enemies, which is another nice touch.
It’s a darn good thing that happens too, because you’ll need to stretch every grenade as far as you possibly can. The same can be said about ammo. If you thought ammunition was scarce in “Dead Space”, wait until you play “Spec Ops: The Line”. On the hardest difficulties, headshots are a must, and you’ll often have to rely on giving your squad mates attack commands to help conserve ammo. The greatest thing about “Spec Ops: The Line” is that it almost feels more like a survival horror game than a third person military shooter.
Despite the incredibly drab and generic title, “Spec Ops: The Line” has a phenomenal story. As Colonel Konrad’s name alludes to, it draws heavily from Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness”, or for you movie fans, “Apocalypse Now”, a Vietnam War era adaptation of the book. Without giving away too much of the story, it’s safe to say the game presents you with multiple difficult moral decisions and will pull you deep into the universe of “Spec Ops: The Line”. The story is so spectacular; you’ll want to play through it immediately again afterwards.
The game demands a second play through, both because of the story and the achievements. Thankfully, there are no multiplayer achievements, and none of the achievements are too ridiculous or difficult to get. In fact, it’s possible to 100% the game with just two play throughs.
The Frustrating Stuff:
There’s more to the game than just the single-player story, though, much to Yager’s dismay. 2K Games required a multiplayer component to the game, which its developers weren’t too happy about. According to Cody Davis, lead designer at Yager,
"It sheds a negative light on all of the meaningful things we did in the single-player experience. The multiplayer game's tone is entirely different, the game mechanics were raped to make it happen, and it was a waste of money. No-one is playing it, and I don't even feel like it’s part of the overall package - it's another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth, threatening to destroy the best things about the experience that the team at Yager put their heart and souls into creating."
Truth be told, the multiplayer isn’t horrible, but it’s nothing exhilarating or ground breaking either. There’s not much reward for playing through it, and those who have already spent a lot of time in it have a significant advantage over those just starting out, thanks to the XP-based unlock system. It’s also nearly vacant of players and a victim to proximity mine spamming.
Its sad time had to be wasted on the development of multiplayer, because it likely prevented what could have otherwise been a nearly flawless game. Despite the gorgeous presentation and awesome soundtrack, the enemies do suffer from repetitive character models. The voice acting in the game is stellar, with the exception that the script manages to drop more f-bombs than the movie “Inside Man”. There was also the occasional glitch, although they were typically just amusing and certainly never game-breaking.
Bottom Line:
“Spec Ops: The Line” is probably one of the most underrated games of 2012. Despite the generic title, it sports an outstanding story and a very refined game. There’s one thing that’s for sure, Yager knew exactly what they wanted and they did a fantastic job of crafting it. If you appreciate a story-driven single player experience, this is the game for you. Don’t expect much replay value out of the multiplayer, though. If you’re looking for rinse and repeat military shooting, go elsewhere, because “Spec Ops: The Line” made sure it stood out from the bunch.
Spec Ops: The Line was developed by Yager Developement and was published by 2K Games. It was released in North America on June 26, 2012 with an ‘M’ rating from the ESRB and an MSRP of $59.99. This review was based on a copy of the game purchased after the release date.
Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com. He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you