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[Naughty_Doge]

Do you feel like a hero yet?

 

[DUFFMCWALIN]

It's a mediocre shooter with and interesting plot twist. Just that.

Yup but that makes it better than 75% of shooters out there which is really sad. The game did some cool stuff with the story though.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

I have other free things to play.

Well then. Dunno why complain about confirming but not really suspicions...

 

[Easy_D]

Fine op, I'll change my opinion of the game to make you feel better.

 

[anexanhume]

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.)

He's actively telling us to stop praising it and liking it. That's not what you're describing.

 

[Griss]

Compared to most games, it seemed quite average, and isn't quite as special as most people make it out to be.

Compared to most shooters, though, it's a deep-thinking masterpiece. It's important that games like this, ones containing social commentary, and more importantly, commentary on the state of the games industry and players themselves, are made. But to those of us who came to the game because we DON'T typically play shooters or military games and were told that this is the one we'd like, it was quite easy to still be a little underwhelmed. Also, once you understood the thematic references to Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now the rest of the story became mostly predictable / apparent.

And finally, that famous scene really didn't hit home to me properly as I could see it coming and was given no option to avoid it. In a game about the repercussions of blindly following orders and military ideology, the fact that I couldn't express my automatic assumption to not do that made my connection to the main character and story quite weak.

 

[pswii60]

I can't see any mention of the gameplay in the OP?

 

[FriedConsole]

Do you feel like a hero yet?

Yeah if your deepest points are made in loading screens maybe the game isn't so deep.

 

[ZSeba]

In my experience, it succeded in what it tried to acomplish and I never looked at millitary shooters the same again.

It was a fantastic game, I'm sorry you didn't appreciate it.

 

[PseudoViper]

Spoiler

Anyone here expected Konrad to be dead?

Dammit XD I clicked the spoiler.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Well then. Dunno why complain about confirming but not really suspicions...

what am I complaining about?

 

[Markitron]

Yes it is, it's a good game with a particularly good story. That's pretty much as far as the game's fans, which I consider myself one of, would go when praising it. Nobody treats it like it was the second coming, I don't see the point of your post OP

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Yeah if your deepest points are made in loading screens maybe the game isn't so deep.

Then again, loading screens are part of the experience of most games... For better or worse.

 

[toastyToast]

People probably think Scarlet Blade is good. They won't suddenly think it's not good because you said so.

 

[Einbroch]

In my experience, it succeded in what it tried to acomplish and I never looked at millitary shooters the same again.

It was a fantastic game, I'm sorry you didn't appreciate it.

Yes it is, it's a good game with a particularly good story. That's pretty much as far as the game's fans, which I consider myself one of, would go when praising it. Nobody treats it like it was the second coming, I don't see the point of your post OP

Just two posts above you someone said it changed the way they looked at games.

 

[Aaron D.]

I enjoyed it, but I understand it's not for everybody...just like virtually everything out there in the world.

I do find the whole, "It's not as good as you think it is." angle a bit odd though. Kinda presumptuous, to be honest.

 

[DigitalDevilSummoner]

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

Another thing I loved about the game was ammo conservation. It truly felt like you were in the middle of a non traditional battlefield. I had to always switch to the weapon dropped by the next guy I killed. And I had to rely a lot on head shots to save bullets. (played on the PC, m/kb, increased difficulty)

 

[antitrop]

Yeah if your deepest points are made in loading screens maybe the game isn't so deep.

I think the discussion in this thread, and deeper critical analysis pieces like Errant Signal, shows that the deepest points the game has to be made aren't just the loading screens. They are just there to really drive the point home for people that otherwise wouldn't "get it".

And as far as loading screens in video games generally go, at least Spec Ops does something more interesting than a progress bar or tips and hints that should be in instruction manuals that don't come with games, anymore.

 

[AgentOtaku]

You don't get it, it's deliberately bad. Thats what makes it good!

Yeah, i read through that thread. I appreciate the discussion, but yeah, the actual concept is just absurd. Only thing I do agree with is the dev trying to wear the player down with waves and waves of enemies... this still ultimately worked against the game though in my eyes

 

[ZSeba]

Just two posts above you someone said it changed the way they looked at games.

Not "games" in general, but military shooters.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Spec ops isn't a good game... or is it just you who isn't a good person ?

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Just two posts above you someone said it changed the way they looked at games.

Individual experiences, you know?

 

[Markitron]

Just two posts above you someone said it changed the way they looked at games.

He said it changed the way he looked at military shooters, that's hardly calling it the best game ever.

Okay, it still changed the way you look at something. That's obviously something that effected you enough to linger outside of the game.

"Never looking at something the same way" is a powerful statement.

That depends on the context. It's not exactly a powerful statement when the game set out to do just this.

 

[kunonabi]

You saw that ending coming ?

God damn.

most plot twists are easy to see coming. I figured out the plot twist in SH: Shattered Memories within the first couple minutes.

 

[Einbroch]

Not "games" in general, but military shooters.

Okay, it still changed the way you look at something. That's obviously something that effected you enough to linger outside of the game.

"Never looking at something the same way" is a powerful statement.

He said it changed the way he looked at military shooters, that's hardly calling it the best game ever.

And you used hyperbolic language comparing a videogame to a heavenly figure descending on the Earth. Of course no one would say a videogame has that much influence on the world.

 

[Naughty_Doge]

I didn't enjoy it, and I don't really think it was good, but it was an important game, if that makes sense.

 

[FriedConsole]

I do find the whole, "It's not as good as you think it is." angle a bit odd though. Kinda presumptuous, to be honest.

Reading what GAF says about a game will ruin what you think about a game either way. It will either give you unrealistic expectations or it will point out all the flaws you might not have noticed if you didn't read about it.

Always play a game before reading what people say about it on GAF. You will enjoy games better.

 

[Scoops]

- 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.

They're constructs because they're supposed to be. They and the scenarios they're in would be relatable if you've fought in combat before and had to make tough decisions. They're like the endless number of soldiers that end up with PTSD, not the glorified bro soldiers in CoD that would come home from war untouched. Do you relate to CoD soldiers? And likable? Who cares. I don't always have to like characters to appreciate the story.

- 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.

"Do you feel like a hero?" is probably the best one. After killing numerous people throughout the course of the game and all other shooters, how can you still feel like a hero? Spec Ops is basically the Letters from Iwo Jima of games. Even if you think you're on the "good" side you're supposed to feel bad for all of the killings, not glorify it ala CoD.

- 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.

Technically speaking, the game isn't a looker. It's a simple UE3 game. What people like about the visual presentation is the unique setting, the more colorful levels then a lot of shooters and some of the psychedelic like qualities to some of the scenes.

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

Meh, it's easy to claim that once you finished the game and it's all been explained to you but I feel like most people didn't see that coming before they got to that point.

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

There's definitely set piece scenes. Some work better then others. Set pieces are meant to be attention grabbers that the player remembers. The fact that people still talk about the phosphorous level proves it worked. There's several subtle touches throughout the game as well.

Is the game perfect? Of course not, it has its fair share of problems. I just doubt you're holding other games to the same standard you're holding Spec Ops too here, and I think that's what's bothering people. Most people don't analyze the performance of individual voice actors in CoD or Battlefield like Nolan North's performance is analyzed here. Next time an installment of one of those games comes out I hope you make an impression thread being just as critical to their voice actors.

Just curious what were the moments you did like?

 

[Sai-kun]

Absolutely fantastic game. No one can tell me otherwise >:|

 

[Mr.Swag]

I disagree op

 

[Nordicus]

I think the discussion in this thread, and deeper critical analysis pieces like Errant Signal, shows that the deepest points the game has to be made aren't just the loading screens. They are just there to really drive the point home for people that otherwise wouldn't "get it".

This is just what I was going to write, actually. the loading screens merely repeat the message the game is already giving otherwise, but in context where it's obvious that the game is trying to say something to the player too when it's confronting Captain Walker.

 

[firehawk12]

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

The twist is that nothing after the helicopter crash happened. It's a much more artful version of what Levine tried to do with Infinite.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Critising Spec Ops gameplay but giving a game like Gears of War or Uncharted a pass is hypocritical.

No, it's not. I really enjoy third person shooters. I love Gears of War and I really like the Uncharted series. I found Spec Ops: The Line to be an extremely mundane experience from a gameplay perspective. I loved the setting though and the story was somewhat interesting, I guess.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Is fine that you don't like the game, but is annoying that people come here and say;

"COD have better stories" "I'm going to complain about this game that I have not played but I got it for free just to confirm my suspicions" or "it was overhyped even if it was a Bomba".

 

[CosmicQueso]

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

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

Perhaps... guess it has a lot to do with how one defines the word "game".

For me, the word means more "experience" so I enjoy things like Alice Madness Returns, Gone Home, etc where the actual game play may be lacking, but everything around it in art and story is interesting.

If someone else really enjoys the mechanics of the game, really likes to understand how the actual elements within the game function, well then I can see how a game like this underwhelms.

We're all unique snowflakes lol.

 

[Graphics Horse]

Is fine that you don't like the game, but is annoying that people come here and say;

"COD have better stories" "I'm going to complain about this game that I have not played but I got it for free just to confirm my suspicions" or "it was overhyped even if it was a Bomba".

Why do you keep saying I was complaining?

 

[AJ_Wings]

- 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.

As an Emirati, I thought Yager did a fantastic job capturing their vision of a post-apocalyptic Dubai. Not only is there a lot of recognizable landmarks but they did a mostly good job of capturing their real world counterparts geographically speaking. Not to mention a lot of gorgeous vistas despite the shitty textures and modelling.

On the other hand, The awful Arabic signage and writing and the whole "Dubai is separated from the whole world!" were just... dumb to say the least.

 

[neogaffer1]

I agree with the OP. The gameplay was so amazingly dull that I gave up on the game and ended up just reading the rest of the story on Wikipedia. The loading screen tips were also dumb.

Spoiler

I think I've said this before, but when I got to the Willy Pete part I hesitated when shooting the large group of people because that didn't make any sense. I shot the tank above them, but I tried to make it so that most of the people wouldn't have been hit. The game instead just told me I killed everybody. Seriously? You didn't give me a choice or anything? I'm not at fault because your shitty game design forces players to do something that you get to blame them for.

As for seeing the twist coming, I didn't see it coming exactly but the fact

Spoiler

that they never showed Konrad's face tipped me off that there was something important to the plot related to his identity. If I was a bit more cynical I'd probably realize what it was.

It's a very overrated game, IMO.

 

[Markitron]

Okay, it still changed the way you look at something. That's obviously something that effected you enough to linger outside of the game.

"Never looking at something the same way" is a powerful statement.

And you used hyperbolic language comparing a videogame to a heavenly figure descending on the Earth. Of course no one would say a videogame has that much influence on the world.

I used hyperbolic phrasing to emphasise my point, which you got. You don't have to nitpick at my choice of words for no reason just because you don't agree with me.

 

[FriedConsole]

Is fine that you don't like the game, but is annoying that people come here and say;

"COD have better stories" "I'm going to complain about this game that I have not played but I got it for free just to confirm my suspicions" or "it was overhyped even if it was a Bomba".

Whoa. Whoa. Who said that? I said COD was better gameplay wise. If you want to argue with that it will be hard to defend that.

 

[MDSLKTR]

Definitely grossly overrated around these parts, the story was just ok (it didn't stick with me after I was done, I don't even remember the name of the ugly dude you're playing) but the rest is garbage.

 

[Einbroch]

I used hyperbolic phrasing to emphasise my point, which you got. You don't have to nitpick at my choice of words for no reason just because you don't agree with me.

It's not nitpicking. You say that fans think the game is just "good". There are people in this very thread, like I one I quoted, that stated that the game had so much influence on them that it changed the way they viewed shooters. That's more than good, in my book. I actually can't think of a game that I've played where it's impacted my life to the point that I view other games differently.

If we disagree on what "good" means, then so be it.

 

[spindoctor]

Game made me laugh out loud in multiple occasions.

- The whole thing with the

Spoiler

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!"

Yep, this is so true. And the part where you walk through the corpses, they lower your movespeed so that they can really drive home the point. For a game that's supposedly so intellectual and thought provoking, it had absolutely no subtlety.

And that particular ending hasn't been shocking or surprising since Fight Club.

 

[DigitalDevilSummoner]

I found Spec Ops: The Line to be an extremely mundane experience from a gameplay perspective.

I get the feeling this is one of those games that get ruined because of the intentionally lowered difficulty. Same thing with Shadows of the damned, the normal setting was a surprisingly lackster experience.

On the other hand, The awful Arabic signage and writing and the whole "Dubai is separated from the whole world!" were just... dumb to say the least.

Maybe it was meant to show how fast everything went down.

Spoiler

that they never showed Konrad's face tipped me off that there was something important to the plot related to his identity.

Spoiler

You didn't get to see the radioman's face either.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

Whoa. Whoa. Who said that? I said COD was better gameplay wise. If you want to argue with that it will be hard to defend that.

Ohhh...

I actually read wrong. I swear somebody said that... My bad.

 

[jett]

It's really not, it plays awful.

Some people will actually argue that it plays awful on purpose. The story is all right, it has some effective emotional punches, but in the end, if I want to experience Apocalypse Now, I'll watch Apocalypse Now.

"Heart of darkness"

 

[Ivieto]

Played it randomly about a year after it came out. Could not stop playing, finished that game in one sitting and came out loving it. Such an amazing experience.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

It's really not, it plays awful.

Some people will actually argue that it plays awful on purpose. The story is all right, it has some effective emotional punches, but in the end, if I want to experience Apocalypse Now, I'll watch Apocalypse Now.

"Heart of darkness"

 

[SlasherJPC]

I'm pretty sure the OP is going to return and blow our minds off in a bit just like the end moments of Spec OPs.

 

[LQX]

Over the years I've come to better terms with people not liking what I like. It is what it is, but this game is absolute shit and the people that like this game because they think it sends a message are absolute liars. It just drives me nuts more than anything when I see the posts claiming they are not a fan of FPS games but LOVED this one because it sent a powerful message about first person games and killing. Yeah...