Spec Ops: The Line

Well, Ive been off for a week (I think), and that was because I was in Canberra, and didn't really have the time or patience to be bothered with uploading a review in that time frame. So this time, I wanted to post about a game that really surprised me; Spec Ops: The Line. At first glance, this is your standard 3rd person cover based military shooter. Pretty standard, right? But things get crazy quite quickly, as I'll explain soon.

STORY
As the game begins, we learn of a disaster that has brought the city of Dubai to the edge of annihilation; gargantuan sandstorms that cut through metal and block Dubai off from any outside support. Colonel John Konrad volunteers himself and the 33rd Battalion for whatever relief effort can be given (which would be little, considering the extreme conditions in Dubai). Not long after volunteering, Konrad and the 33rd desert the US Army, when they are ordered to abandon Dubai.

You play as Delta Operator Walker who, along with teammates Adams and Lugo, are sent to investigate the state of Konrad and any Survivors, and radio for extraction. But what they find sends them further down the rabbit-hole.

The game's story starts as normal as any other military shooter, you and your squad (complete with wise-cracks and military lingo) go in to find what they're after and have every intention of leaving when they're done. But as they further disobey orders, things get strange and stranger (for a military shooter, I mean). There's an influx of misleading information fed to the player, along with a lot of correct information, making it difficult to decipher who the bad guys are here. And as the game goes forward, the tension and hostility within your squad might just have you convinced that your men aren't so great themselves.

I'm not going to spoil too much, as this is a story you really have to experience for yourselves. Just know that I've never had an issue with putting down an enemy in a game before. This game made me pause for quite a while. Just saying.

PRESENTATION
Spec Ops: The Line isn't the best looking game. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad about it, it just doesn't stand up (graphically speaking) with other games (I.E. Mass Effect 3). However, there's a surprising amount of variety in the colour that you'll see during your adventure in Dubai. And everything is so bright! Yes, it's set in the desert-like city of Ruined Dubai, but it never looks boring.

The voice acting is also pretty good, with Nolan North contributing the emotion fuelled orders of Walker (the Player character), and the rest of the cast deliever equally emotional performances (with Tron providing his voice for Colonel Konrad. No really. Tron).
The 80's american rock track's heard throughout the game give the game a similar tone to Apocalypse Now, which the game lightly borrows from (as well as Heart of Darkness). Otherwise, the game's music is somewhat forgettable.

GAMEPLAY
In a word, I'd describe Spec Ops' gameplay as Average. It all works quite well, with some slight variations on the standard cover-based shooter, as well as some issues that are still easy to ignore.
The shooting is all very solid, and the guns feel like there's a decent weight behind them. Sticking to cover can get a bit annoying when you have to leave it in a hurry, but it's not a huge glaring issue. For the most part, cover still works quite well.
Among the things that work quite well is the usage of turrets. While this happens in a lot of games, this is the first instance I can remember of being able to duck whilst firing from one.

On top of that, there's a neat little gimmick involving sand. While in a gunfight, you're sometimes able to shoot out skylights that dump tonnes of sand on your enemies. This is cool, but it's not used often enough to make it anything more than a gimmick. There's also the occasional sandstorm, adding some more challenge to the standard shootout.

One last thing that doesn't quite sit ell with me, are the melee attacks. They don't feel particularly strong, and there's not a whole lot of use for them. That said, however, the occasional execution is pretty cool (though I doubt you'll feel like doing them as the story progresses).

The enemy types are varied enough to keep things interesting, and the majority of the gameplay is fun enough to play (if only because it doesn't stray too far from the cover based shooter path).

REPLAYABILITY
Now there is a multiplayer aspect of Spec Ops, but I haven't found the time to play it. However, as far as the Single-Player goes, there are branching paths to pick different situations as well as intel items that give players more info on the situation at hand. That said, even without that stuff, I'd feel inclined to play this over and over again, for the fantastic story.

OVERVIEW
So Spec Ops: The Line is a really interesting thing: a game that takes the standard conventions of a military shooter (the violent setting, the cliched squadmates) and turns them on thier head (by dealing with the affects battle has on the surrounding population, but more importantly how the horrors of combat affect the minds of the ones perpetrating them).
The gameplay is quite good, despite some minor issues, and the voice acting lends some highly suitable emotion to the unique story. This game is one that could pass under the radar, but it's also the sort of thing that I know gamers like myself truly HUNGER FOR. So if you enjoy a fantastic narrative that could only be told through the medium of video game, I think you need to at least try this game. Hell, I recommend a purchase.

Next week, it's Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes. See you next time!