Review #514: Spec Ops - The Line

 Will you cross the line? That line. Yes, that one.

Meet the hero of his story, Martin Walker.

 By now you've heard of Spec Ops - The Line, that game that tries its hardest to look like just another military shooter, but is anything but. It's an interesting game, one that was a bit neglected by gamers back in the day of its release, and has received the attention it deserves only years later.

 The game pits you as Martin Walker, a military captain who is joined by two soldiers under his direct command, Adams and Lugo. The three of them infiltrate a disaster-stricken Dubai in order to search for survivors. But the journey through a land covered in sand will test their mettle and their psyche. In case you haven't heard about it, hidden beneath its generic military shooter exterior lies a deconstruction of all the tropes associated with the genre. Overall? The story is pretty good, although it takes a bit of time before it gets really good-- but ya gotta respect the hustle, they had to sell you the lie so that they could begin twisting everything that felt so familiar. I'd also like to  mention just how good the scenery is, the game employs a lot of browns and oranges, befitting of a country sunk under sand, and it looks brilliant. The game has some fantastic environments for you to explore and shoot in, and you'll be looking forwards to whatever comes next.

The game has some beautiful scenery.

 As far as gameplay is concerned, well, it plays like any other modern third person shooter: You can stick in-and-out of cover, which is a must since you'll find yourself pinned out by enemy units quite often, and Walker has regenerating health too. You can only carry two weapons at a time, there're three different kinds of grenades and you can punch your enemy with the circle button. Enemies grovelling on the floor can be executed with the circle button, which rewards you with ammo for both of your equipped weapons. The game's only original mechanic is the R2 button, you can use it to direct your allies to shoot down that particular enemy, and at times you'll be prompted to press R2 so that they can throw a flash grenade, it usually happens when you're pinned down by multiple enemies. All in all, it's pretty much what you'd expect out of any other game in the genre, everything works well enough.

 The game can get pretty challenging at times. At times it's almost sadistic how little ammo and how many enemies there're to contend with. And this is when executions come into play, since you'll often find yourself tempted to break out of your cover to execute an enemy and get some ammo. Needless to say, you'll probably die quite a few times, which is extremely punishing because loading times are brutal. Yeah, the worst part about the game are the loading times, you'll try your hardest not to die because you don't want to suffer through them.

Shootout can get pretty intense, remember to direct your allies and keep your head down!

 No, Spec Ops - The Line won't make you question yourself about all those silly war games you've played, but the plot gives a very interesting look at these games. And even if you fail to understand what's implied you're left with a relatively unique tale, at least as far as military third person shooters are concerned. It's very easy to recommend Spec Ops - The Line, and even in the off chance that you hate the genre, the game is relatively short and offers multiple difficulty settings, so if you're interested in it you can be done with it in a short while.
 8.0 out of 10