![]() ![]() This textbook play is the absolute opposite of the story Spec Ops: The Line is trying to tell, and it's a real shame-if not for how tiresome it is to get through the relatively brief campaign, I'd say that everyone interested in exploring confrontational storytelling and soul-staining material should spend time with it.Īs the soldiers sent in after the soldiers who were sent in, the player's squad finds one of the Middle East's most opulent cities reduced to a warren of rotting husks and broken wreckage half-buried under oceans of sand. Spec Ops will satisfy those looking for boilerplate gunning, but it's so mechanical and predictable that there's little to be gleaned from the gameplay. It's not that the game is a grueling simulation of wartime survival, it's just a lot of rote shooting gallery action. I could only take so much bullet fire, explosions, and repeated voice samples announcing the presence of a shotgunner on the field before I needed to turn it off. On the other hand, there's no surprise or variety in the play, and the shooty comes at such a steady pace that it's exhausting. Spec Ops controls smoothly and most players will be able to jump in with little (if any) learning curve. In an effort to ensure that all of the genre's boxes are ticked, there are plenty of gun turrets to be commandeered, as well. Once those have been dealt with, dozens more come from back rooms, adjacent hallways, or wherever it is that generic cannon fodder comes from. The tightly controlled, linear levels funnel the player towards handfuls of enemies who generally take potshots from behind low barriers and crates. Of course, nothing goes as planned…Īt heart, it's a third-person cover-based shooter that has the player running, ducking, and popping up to eliminate enemy soldiers at a relentless pace. ![]() After that failure, the current mission is to re-enter the city with a small, three-man squad, see what's what, and then report back. A battalion was sent in to evacuate the populace, but they haven't been heard from in six months. One of the worst sandstorms in history has buried the city and trapped the residents. I admire what the developers were trying to do here, but I can't fully embrace the result.Ĭreated by Yager, Spec Ops: The Line puts the player in the role of a soldier sent into Dubai for recon. Spec Ops: The Line is one that makes the attempt, but while the dark, difficult story is must-see material, the tedious gameplay fails to support its challenging conceptual side. If there's one thing I want readers to come away from this review with, it's that I have respect for games that buck convention and explore new territory. WTF This many soldiers were abandoned for six months?!? Get real. ![]()
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