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Please...just..stop.... Spec Ops: The Line is NOT good game! :(

T

TheFightingFish

Member
LakeEarth said:
I completely agree that the game itself isn't special at all, and has some frustrating parts. Most noteably, the part where you have to blow open doors for your partners with a gattling gun, but the doors just don't want to open.

Still a game you should play though. It's only 5-6 hours long.
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Yeah, generally I'm a "gameplay over all else" type of guy. But to me Spec Ops was the right combination of an interesting enough presentation combined with a short enough length that I enjoyed playing through it, even though the gameplay was just ok at best.
 
E

Einbroch

Banned
Yep, an incredibly mediocre game. "Amazing" plot twist doesn't work when you don't give two shits about any of the characters or the story.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
-tetsuo- said:
Bad gameplay and a super try hard story. It is also like 4 hours long. Mediocre game at its very best.
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Plagiarism too. When I saw the Colonel Kurtz ripoff I mean homage show up in all black, I just had to start laugh at how blatant it was being. 'Inspired by Heart of Darkness' and flat-out taking the visual moments from Apocalypse Now because coming up with your own ideas hurts.
 
B

BadHand

Member
It's only an obvious ending, I suppose, if you are LTTP and have heard about the "amazing twist" at the end of the game and it's deeper meaning. I can imagine if I started up the game knowing there would be a twist I would be seeking one out and might make an ball park guess.

As someone who went into the game blind, I was really taken aback by the ending.
 
D

Deleted member 126221

Unconfirmed Member
I really enjoyed it personally, but I played it not really knowing what to expect. Maybe your expectations were too high because of all the praises you read? Or maybe it's simply not a game for you.

I completely disagree that it's a bad game, however.
 
Adry9

Adry9

Member
Raptor said:
This game is a really good game with decent gameplay that doesn't rely on bulletsponge enemies to keep you entertained, headshots has this little slow motion to make them punchy and feels great, character arc in this is another thing I really appreciated, by the end you character was fucking insane and enjoying killing everything, the story is really good while generic but ho wis told and how it all ended make you revaluate how we see videogames, especially this kinds of games, I already knew Im not a psychopath because I enjoy killing and lots ofgore in my games and this game makes sure you know that there is nothing wrong with that is just a videogame.

There is choice in some events of this game and while they may seem non consequental they do offer various ways of playing it and experience it, even your companions notice and say things about how you behave and what you are doing in the game.

Sure you could say is a generic shooter with generic characters and generic story and I could agree with you if and this is a really important "if", IF I haven't played it myself and experienced it.

This game IMO is really great so I completly disagree with your thread premise.
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For real? What about those heavy guys that won't die even if you shoot them in the forehead with a sniper rifle?
 
Sakura

Sakura

Member
Ah, yea, it wasn't the greatest game. It gets praised for the story but there were parts I just found downright dumb (like the napalm part). But it was still a pretty fun ride and didn't drag on too long. I prefer it to the likes of something like Gears.
 
A

AkuMifune

Banned
Spec Ops was the last game in a while that actually has something to say.

I jest at Bleszinski's expense, but where Far Cry 3 FAILED at its joke of meta commentary, at least Spec Ops pulled it off. Harder to do than you think.
 
B

BiggNife

Member
maxcriden said:
I'm really tired of this meme. I feel like it amounts to thread whining at this point. Not calling you out specifically, though, I just don't care for this image. People are entitled to their opinions without feeling like expressing them needs to be justified against the underlying idea in this image.
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Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but the problem with most of these threads is that it almost always feels like the argument is "I HAVE AN OPINION THAT DIFFERS WITH THE POPULAR OPINION AND I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT IT" which honestly gets annoying when a dozen of these threads pop up about various games literally every day. I'm not really sure what the OP is trying to achieve here, because these threads always turn into either the poster realizing that his opinion is not actually that uncommon or fans of the game pouring in to tell the poster he is bad and should feel bad.

It's cool that you have your own opinion on a game! But you don't need to make a thread about it.
 
M

Mattamus-Prime

Member
maxcriden said:
I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think it's intended to be baiting per se. I think OP is frustrated that he feels like the only person who does not care for this game and wants to know (a) who agrees, and (b) what people are seeing in the game that he's not. He seems reasonable to me, and open to opposing viewpoints. No different than me starting a thread saying Yoshi's New Island was great, why did people hate on it? (And I would gladly start that thread, and be interested in debating both sides.)
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No he's not. His thread title combined with the first post is just stating why he didn't like the game. But nowhere is he opening a dialogue and asking what other think. In fact, the title alone is actively telling people to stop saying it's a good game.
 
S

spindoctor

Member
I remember reading someone's opinion saying that the developers deliberately made the gameplay mediocre as some sort of meta commentary on the state of modern video gaming.

Yea, this game is overrated as hell.
 
A

antitrop

Member
FriedConsole said:
I enjoyed it for a grade "B" shooter. There are a lot of hipster gamers that need a game to say something important to enjoy a shooter lest they be mistaken for a "bro". Call of Duty games have been making the same points that Spec Ops did for years (albeit with mixed messages of being "pro" military too) but the cool kid gamers can't play COD despite it actually being a much better shooter game play wise.
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I've always advocated and respected the way the original Infinity Ward Call of Duties approached the subject of war. A far cry from where that franchise is today.

Of course, Spec Ops is in many ways, a direct critique of Call of Duty 4, specifically. But there's even a stark contrast between the CoD1/2 and MW1/2. Especially Modern Warfare 2, that's where that series really started to go off the rails in regard to theming, for me.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
StuBurns said:
It's trash, and the story is terrible.

The music was great though, having it in the environment, very cool.
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I dug the licensed music at points, even though it just came off as try-hard.and they didnt have the budget to get some more recognizable ones.
The constant buttrock for 3/4s of the way thru though was super grating and cringe worthy. Would rather have had no music at all.
 
F

Fjordson

Member
Yeah, thought it was very average. The story did some interesting things for sure, but not enough to carry the rest of the game for me.

Though I will admit that the setting was pretty cool.
 
G

GillianSeed79

Member
I loved the story and the commentary on video games/military worship. I try to tell myself the actual boring, repetitive gameplay was also just a really clever commentary on the blandness and repetitiveness of military shooters but I don't think they were that clever.
 
R

Ralemont

not me
You touched on my biggest problem with what is otherwise a very interesting story:

It's not subtle at all. Its commentary seems crafted in a heavy-handed way specifically aimed to get through the thick skull of some imaginary group of gamers that don't think at all about the shooters they play and how they interact with them (imaginary not because they don't exist, but because it's impossible to define who specifically this group constitutes).

The loading screens are borderline gag-inducing. DO YOU FEEL LIKE A HERO YET? They continually tell you how to feel about the story, instead of presenting a situation and letting you react to it on your own. It's the equivalent of whenever RPGs have their characters openly pontificate about What The Events Of The Story Mean, except in a way designed to chide you for even playing the game in the first place.

...Having said all that, it is a good game. I just don't think it's a great game, and that it could have been done better.
 
R

Raptor

Member
Adry9 said:
For real? What about those heavy guys that won't die even if you shoot them in the forehead with a sniper rifle?
Click to expand...

One type of enemy in the whole game?

Every game has this types minibosses that are damage sponges to make things "harder" to kill.

Im talkign about regular gunplay agains your regular enemies, not bulletsponge at all.

Also real time silencer mode on the AR was a really neat thing to have.
 
R

Rymuth

Member
Game made me laugh out loud in multiple occasions.

- The whole thing with the
white phosphorus
was so choreographed that I just smirked and refused to use it. Those thermal white dots not moving was a dead giveaway. When I realized I can't advance the plot without it, I did it and rolled my eyes as the game pointed at me saying "You a bad person, you!"

- The whole 'Dubai is separated from the rest of the world' bothered me so much that it completely took me out of the game and I was unable to take things seriously.

- Videogame critiques military shooters, puts a multiplayer mode with ladders/perks etc. Mmmmkaay...

- One of the endings of the game, according to writer, was for you to put down the controller. No, thank you...I've never heard of anything so stupid in my life. I paid $60 for this game, I'm going to get my money's worth.

- Played it, finished it, traded it...couldn't remember it after a week (unlike TLOU, Portal 2, Journey and others). I remember wanting to write a sort of 'argument' against the game's point but honestly, I couldn't be bothered. That this game failed to rile up any sort of reaction from me was one of its failings.

So yeah, would've worked better as an indie experiment.
 
K

kyser73

Member
Hey, some people think both Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness are overrated too.

I liked it for the story yes, but more because it is a game that at least tries to say something about its subject matter and gaming itself. I'm totally down with the deeper critical appraisals of the game, partly because it's one if the few that can really stand for it to be done.
 
T

The Dear Leader

Banned
Game was good, story was great, I respect your opinion but I don't agree with it, it was a refreshing take on the same third person shooter that was everywhere at the time, it did something different with storytelling that made it stick out.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
CosmicQueso said:
Think you might have missed the point.

It is not only a good game, it was an important game to be made at the time, and contains social commentary that is rare in the medium.
Click to expand...

I can certainly appreciate intent, and it has its moments.

The execution just wasnt good though, for reasons listed in my OP.
 
L

LakeEarth

Member
I've mentioned this in another Spec Ops thread earlier this month, but I'll mention again how brilliant it is for the game to give you "execution" moves for grounded opponents, but then leave half a dozen of them on the ground after every battle, and give no reward for doing so, so that eventually the player realizes they're doing it for no reason and stop. Perhaps even self reflect on why you were enjoying doing these execution moves in the first place.
 
A

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
I actually really enjoyed tge game. Then again, I do like "meta" games that subvert expectations.
 
Adry9

Adry9

Member
Raptor said:
One type of enemy in the whole game?

Every game has this types minibosses that are damage sponges to make things "harder" to kill.

Im talkign about regular gunplay agains your regular enemies, not bulletsponge at all.

Also real time silencer mode on the AR was a really neat thing to have.
Click to expand...
Well then don't say they don't do that. And as someone said before I'd rather have Gears of War with it's "bullet-sponge" enemies than this campaign as far as gameplay goes.
 
D

DigitalDevilSummoner

zero cognitive reasoning abilities
The common reason people keep saying it had mediocre gameplay is because it didn't really offer anything new. Which is true. But it was a incredibly solid and fluid third person shooter. It was the perfect combination of Gears and CoD. Innovation aside, the action was great, shit was coming down all the time. Length aside it was incredibly satisfying.

Along with Killzone 2, Spec Ops the Line is probably one of my favourite war games of recent years.
 
B

banagher

Member
jOIcMqyKpEf4Z.png

I had alot of fun and the story/themes it presented, while not perfectly executed, was still leaps and bounds ahead of most other military games.
Nolan Norths performance and the soundtrack are also class.
 
R

Relaxed Muscle

Member
AgentOtaku said:
Yes, another Spec Ops thread.... im sorry

SPOILERS ahead

But.. I couldn't help be concerned when I see so many threads here on GAF claiming this game to be some misunderstood, passed over cult piece.
Finished this morning before heading to work. Had a decent amount of time on my commute to digest.

I can honestly forgive the completely flavorless gameplay.... everything else though? Not so much.

- Nolan North, what could have been a standout performance eventually devolves into lots of angry shouting. Given the context of the story, this is fine except none of it is earned due to mediocre writing. The whole, they're supposed to be military stereotypes is a poor excuse. None of the characters are relatable or likeable. As in, because they're merely constructs, not because of their actions. There's Battle:LA levels of characterizations at times.

- Broad, dopey grim stuff that's supposed to be evocative but really isn't. "How many Americans have you killed today?" Isnt Meta, its fucking dumb.

- Despite the praise it seems to get, I found it to be a fairly marginal looking game as well. Like they had a great evironmental art team and they really wanted to show that off, even though the city/geography doesnt make that much sense. Also, I know its shallow as hell, but I couldn't get over how dopey Walker's character model looked.

- twists that you see coming from a mile away, including the conclusion.

- Despite it suggesting that it might be trying otherwise, game ultimately sacrifices subtle for spectacle. And its spectacle moments are mediocre as well

I really wanted to like this one but for a game that supposedly wants to be a commentary on bland military bro shooters, it still ends up being one ultimately. It's story has some interesting moments, but thats about it.
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- I wouldn't know, I played the game dubbed in Spanish, but I don't feel the writing is bad at all, the characters aren't supposed to be relatable or likable, basically is the contrary. Much like in the book is based (and movie)

- For a lot of people the game narrative had an impact and for others didn't, I guess is a matter of how open you were to be inmersed in the game. I don't think is dumb, because little games make you understand in such a subtle manner, than you aren't the good guy, you're the bad guy and how little you question your actions on a game.

- The ambientation at moments is really good, but I don't think is a stellar point of the game, bu I also believe is secondary to all.

- At some point they're quite clear, but I also believe they're played quite well. Again the twists aren't really the point, but rather the implications of these over the player (you) actions.

- The spectacle is just to show this spiral of madness: characters gets more violent over the time, more thirsty of blood, their finishers gets more violent along as their words and way of speak.

Is not a commentary on bland shooters, you missed the point, is a commentary on overall violence and killing in games.
 
H

Hades Hotgun

Banned
It came off like a bad game that the devs tried to mask with a weird 'homage' to Heart of Darkness which itself was also badly done.

The game literally asks questions of the user yet the plot doesn't actually raise those questions at all.

Also, the liberal use of 'it was all a dream' style revelations was terrible. Atleast present a scenario that can be seen in different ways, rather than just showing a cutscene that is completely contrary to what actually happened in the game.
 
E

Einbroch

Banned
LakeEarth said:
I've mentioned this in another Spec Ops thread earlier this month, but I'll mention again how brilliant it is for the game to give you "execution" moves for grounded opponents, but then leave half a dozen of them on the ground after every battle, and give no reward for doing so, so that eventually the player realizes they're doing it for no reason and stop. Perhaps even self reflect on why you were enjoying doing these execution moves in the first place.
Click to expand...

False. You get ammo, something you need on higher difficulties. You're rewarded for executing.
 
D

DevilFox

Member
Linkark07 said:
Anyone here expected Konrad to be dead?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, yes. Almost everything can be obvious in gaming, it depends on the player, how much he's willing to get involved in the story.
If he starts to ponder about the story, and compared to movies he can think about it twice as long at least, every possible twist becomes potentially predictable.
This is why I always let myself get involved from the start to the end. It helps the game a lot unless the twist or the ending or whatever is so absurdly obvious that can't be ignored.
 
N

Nordicus

Member
Rebel Leader said:
mandatory:

Extra Credits: Spec ops part 1 (no spoiler)
Extra Credits: Spec Ops part 2 (Spoilers)
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I feel Errant Signal has the best analysis of the game's themes, but even Chris kinda gets the violence-related message wrong. Spec ops doesn't "hate violent videogames", but rather sloppy contextualization of it through linear narrative

Really, it's best to hear about the game from the writer himself at 2013 GDC panel


Rymuth said:
- Videogame critiques military shooters, puts a multiplayer mode with ladders/perks etc. Mmmmkaay...
Click to expand...
Outsourced, publisher decision
 
A

antitrop

Member
LakeEarth said:
I've mentioned this in another Spec Ops thread earlier this month, but I'll mention again how brilliant it is for the game to give you "execution" moves for grounded opponents, but then leave half a dozen of them on the ground after every battle, and give no reward for doing so, so that eventually the player realizes they're doing it for no reason and stop. Perhaps even self reflect on why you were enjoying doing these execution moves in the first place.
Click to expand...

You get more ammo for doing executions, but since I played on the lowest difficulty, ammo conservation was a non-issue.

It's still a commentary, though. A commentary on whether the extra brutality is justified to further aid Walker in accomplishing his wishy-washy and clearly misguided goal. A commentary on games in general rewarding the player for doing ostensibly terrible things in the name of reaching the end credits and "winning the game".
 
F

fin

Member
This game is definitely in my top 10 of last gen. The gameplay is the same as every other shooter, but that's kinda the point. Critising Spec Ops gameplay but giving a game like Gears of War or Uncharted a pass is hypocritical. You're basically doing the same thing... At times Spec Ops is blantantly spawning the same enemies over and over from the same place...which is funny now that I've played like 40 hours of Destiny...

That's just some of what I got out of the games story, which was cool. Also really liked the setting, super pretty environments.

I think everyone should give it a try. It was just on sale for like $5 on steam.
 
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