It takes a strong man to deny what's right in front of him. And if the truth is undeniable, you create your own. The truth, Erik, is that you're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: a hero. I'm here because you can't accept what you've done. It broke you. You needed something to blame, so you cast it on me: a game. I know the truth is hard to hear Erik, but it's time. You're all that's left and we can't live this lie forever.
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LTTP: Spec Ops: The Line (I am Sick) [SPOILERS]
- Thread starter CoachKevin
- Start date
If GAF allowed 451 character tags, this should be ErikB's.
Koroviev
Member
In retrospect, I feel that I've been too harsh on the gameplay aspect of Spec Ops. I'm still not a fan of regenerating health or frequent context-sensitive button prompts, but it does a lot right. The checkpoints are well-placed and various portions of the game require near-perfect execution to get past without feeling unfair.
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
10/10
I felt the same way. In the last 5 months I've been much more appreciative of the gameplay than I was in the Spec Ops OT from June.
StopMakingSense
Member
holy shit lol
Koroviev
Member
It doesn't help that it's a story-driven game, so you're often getting impatient with the actual gameplay sections since you really want to see how the story plays out. At least that's how I felt, especially toward the end of the game. Now I'm trying to figure out what to play next and Spec Ops is looking more and more attractive next to the other games I've been trying.
Just out of curiosity, why did you choose to skip the game back in June?
I have my guesses and none of them have anything to do with you.
Koroviev
Member
I know that I skipped it because I had heard that it's fairly brief. Having played it, I think it's the perfect length. It actually took me longer than most people...closer to 10 hours. And as I said, I wouldn't mind playing through it again.
Agreed, nothing about Spec Ops' gameplay felt mediocre to me, it was a shooting gallery, that's for sure, but like I said before, enemy AI was perfect and ammo conservation is a very strong gameplay dynamic that works perfect with the narrative and overall feeling of despair.
I felt cheated a couple of times, but, even of FUBAR, it didn't ever become annoying like Uncharted does.
Length was also perfect, you can beat it on one day but playing it again is completely worth it to take note of all the foreshadowing and little details and just to make different choices.
Personally I barely even took notice of its existence and went in blind 6 months after release. I only just watched the Launch Trailer the other day just to see what marketing for the game was like.
It's rare, but it flew under my radar, I think I was under the belief it was a console exclusive or something like that.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Just finished playing through for the first time. I was surprised that the game looked as good as it did, and the gameplay was more than serviceable too, albeit it I'm glad I got it for $10 from Amazon along with Bioshock 1 and 2. This game is indeed short. I liked the shortness though, no scenario overstayed it's welcome. Even the turret sequences were good (I have a hard time calling this game fun, because while it was good, the more I played the more I knew I wasn't having fun. You're not really meant to) In some ways I thought it had better gunplay than Uncharted 2, minus the stealth which U2 did much better. I would recommend Normal for newcomers, which is what I played. Not playing through the game, again, though. Have other games to play. I would say this definitely belongs on a top 10 of 2012 list though.
As for the emotional impact it had...well, it did have one. Very uncomfortable game to play at certain points. I felt a bad because during the mob scene I opened fire full auto on the lady right in front. The devs and writers did a great job. I had Walker kill himself at the end. Dubai just seemed like too much of a fuck up at that point, and it would be better to put Walker out of his PTSD misery.
This is basically the Apocalypse Now of videogames. And in some ways it's better than Apocalypse Now since you yourself play an active role in the carnage.
Eeriest part of the game for me was the deja vu helicopter chase. It's like the game already knows that you've played Call of Duty, Gears, Medal of Honor, Uncharted , e.t.c. and it plays on those expectations.
As for the emotional impact it had...well, it did have one. Very uncomfortable game to play at certain points. I felt a bad because during the mob scene I opened fire full auto on the lady right in front. The devs and writers did a great job. I had Walker kill himself at the end. Dubai just seemed like too much of a fuck up at that point, and it would be better to put Walker out of his PTSD misery.
This is basically the Apocalypse Now of videogames. And in some ways it's better than Apocalypse Now since you yourself play an active role in the carnage.
Eeriest part of the game for me was the deja vu helicopter chase. It's like the game already knows that you've played Call of Duty, Gears, Medal of Honor, Uncharted , e.t.c. and it plays on those expectations.
It took me 9 hours to beat on my first run, but I was playing on Suicide difficulty, which is pretty unforgiving, and I like to take pictures and stare at random parts of scenery and think about meshes and some shit.
That's definitely a good catch.
Huh, I never had thought of the deja vu helicopter scene being a reference to other military shooters.
That's definitely a good catch.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
CHEEZMO
Obsidian fan
MW2's gunner scene is probably my favourite helicopter-sidedoor-minigun segment ever.
Yeah, it reminded me of CoD4's beginning, but the "I've done this before" line is very referential of other military shooters and it's basically equating Spec Ops to them, saying that the things you do in both games are equally atrocious.
It does say similar things in other parts of the game, just had missed that one
My man! That was my favorite part of the game, too.
Femmeworth
Banned
Heh, didn't know about those. Haven't played any of the Call of Duty games. I thought Walker's comment was just simply breaking the fourth wall.
ShinobiFist
Banned
OMG...Amazing.
I don't think the game without regenerating health would have been enjoyable. In spite of the regen health I managed to die a LOT, and there were a bunch of scenarios that were genuinely challenging to get through. Imagine if you wanted to move the story forward but were literally unable to do so. For me, that would have ruined the game. It struck a perfect balance.
Still haven't tried Suicide, though--I'm currently on a second playthrough on normal just to see how picking different options plays out.
I love how there's shit flying everywhere in this game. Coupled with the camerawork, it really does give you an adrenaline rush. (If there's anything I would have done: bigger explosions when you blow up the explosive items)
Koroviev
Member
Oh no, I agree. It definitely has quite a few difficult spots. I was just stating that, in general, I'm really not a fan of regenerating health. While it works here, I'd rather not see it in most games. And if there was anything that didn't work, I would argue in favor of the context-sensitive cover mechanics. Having to look for the right button prompt during some of the more intense moments could become quite frustrating.
ShinobiFist
Banned
That's how I feel as well. The last bit of the game was very intense, and so was other sections where I lost patience. Those P90 guns hurt a lot. And notice that when I beat the game, it was in normal. A game that has a really great narrative and story, not having regenerating health would have killed the flow, and made people quit. Also, this game should get praise on certain scenarios that put a lot of AAA games to shame. Sandstorms in the middle of gun fights, Buildings collapsing during battle with sand and so on. Even when they put you in a certain scene where you get to see the amazing skyline of Dubai is rather breath taking. Everything this game screams "concept art" I need a artbook for Spec-Ops.
Just finished the game on Fubar difficulty and found it to be a very enjoyable experience. The gameplay is actually improved when it's harder IMO. Every section you have to clear becomes like a little puzzle, there are definitely clear optimal ways to complete each of them. Only problem I had was Adams going down a lot during the last chapter, man that guy is useless. That makes 5 times I've completed this game I think, 1000 points for it on 360 now, yay!
This is pretty good.
This is pretty good.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Flawless.
Man, that's exactly what I said!
It's pretty cool because if you try to make it a reflexes thing you'll get destroyed in FUBAR difficulty. Instead, if you think for a bit what's the best spot for cover and learn when to use squad commands, which is the best gun to use and how to save ammo, it becomes almost easy.
And yeah the Adams part was pretty rough, specially on my first run, but I learned that the best you can do is run to the back of the helicopter and snipe the guys from there with the 417. When the heavy comes, just unload your SCAR's grenade launcher on him and pray it's enough.
I would actually suggest to people who are good at shooters to play it on a high difficulty first time through. One added benefit is it lets you see all the loading screens. There are some after the helicopter crash, near the end of the game, that I had actually never seen before. They're these weird ghostly images with music that sounds like it's coming out of a wind up music box. Amazing.
Just finished it tonight. Fuck. If I could name a game of the generation, this would be it. It's the antithesis of the post-cod4 era and makes the player feel things that they can't really feel in any other medium. Not to mention outstanding art direction and great usage of licensed music.
ShinobiFist
Banned
Like I mentioned before, I really would love a Artbook for this game. The in game art murals are fantastic piece of work, anyone know the artist?
I'd definitely buy an artbook, it's more deserving of one than most games. Spec Ops truly has some of the most striking art design I've seen in any game this gen. How close the end product is to some of the concept art is really impressive.
Yeah, I wouldn't say I'm good at shooters but I have some experience at 'em and Survival felt alright.
Btw, this is the wallpaper I settled for:
Not very symbolic but looks rad.
Heavy's Sandvich
Member
I'm certain antitrop had a red name.
I am making things up.
Back to Spec Ops.
I am making things up.
Back to Spec Ops.
ShinobiFist
Banned
Going to buy Spec-Ops on Amazon for 2.49$(With the 5$ credit Amazon sent me for the Editors Choice Awards) and Gift it to a friend on Steam. I feel like I under paid for this game during Black Friday(7.49$).
Wasn't my choice to skip it per say, it just slipped in under the radar for me (had a busy summer so my gaming went out the window for a while).
Then I spotted it on the steam sale a dew days ago, read a review or two and spotted this thread in GAF and decided to go for it. I'm glad I did
I think the context-sensitive prompts work a lot better on the mouse and keyboard. With the controller I was always using the right stick to move the camera and would wait for the prompts to come up before moving my thumb over. With the keyboard I just either hold Space or Shift while I'm already moving, and the action is just performed automatically whenever I get close to something I can interact with. It just flows a lot more.
Fulleffect
Member
i was never impressed when i saw videos of this, but i'm picking it up on sale now, hoping i feel whatever you guys seemingly have been!
Koroviev
Member
It works for the most part. There were a few times were I picked a "bad" chest-high wall, though.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
The blinding sun rays represent the start of the game, when you are blind of the things to come, and the abrasive sand symbolizes the rough gameplay. Moving right in the image, the angle of the hill means that the black foreground is increasing, representing the increasing darkness of the narrative over the game's length, and the increasingly red city is obviously a stand in for the blood on Walker's hands by the end of the game.
I liked it from the start and thought it was really underrated. Most normal FPS and TPS I play don't have the challenge this does on the default difficulty or the use of tactics at all. I went in expecting something really sub par because of everyone saying it was a generic TPS and experienced one of the stronger ones in the last 3 or 4 years.
Koroviev
Member
Yeah, your health can deplete remarkably fast and the enemies will flank you and frequently throw grenades to get you out of cover. I just wish that there were more precise controls for directing your AI partners. Having one button that the game interprets leads to some unnecessary sorrow and frustration. But there were some scenarios, especially toward the end, that definitely required careful planning and execution. I actually still remember some of the layouts and enemy placement.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Spec Ops won Yahtzee's GOTY, nice.
It seems to be joining good company
Finished getting all the achievements save for the Suicide/FUBAR ones. So far have 21 hours logged into the game (just singleplayer... the multiplayer looks horrible from the videos I've seen), and I'm still entertained.
The ending was still as impactful the second time around! Overall my only gripe with the presentation is when Walker justifies his actions to his squad, like "Konrad is responsible for this! He WILL pay!" or "I had no choice, Konrad forced my hand!" It just feels a little heavyhanded and contrived, I don't like the way he delivers the lines. But the story is otherwise fantastic, and stands up to scrutiny on a second playthrough.
Gonna start up the Suicide run now. I'm kind of nervous about it... there are some scenarios that I REALLY disliked, and those were whenever I was left without my teammates. Those parts were a bitch to get through, I can't imagine them being harder. Also, I HATE the Heavies. Those bastards are impossible to beat before they close in on you!
The ending was still as impactful the second time around! Overall my only gripe with the presentation is when Walker justifies his actions to his squad, like "Konrad is responsible for this! He WILL pay!" or "I had no choice, Konrad forced my hand!" It just feels a little heavyhanded and contrived, I don't like the way he delivers the lines. But the story is otherwise fantastic, and stands up to scrutiny on a second playthrough.
Gonna start up the Suicide run now. I'm kind of nervous about it... there are some scenarios that I REALLY disliked, and those were whenever I was left without my teammates. Those parts were a bitch to get through, I can't imagine them being harder. Also, I HATE the Heavies. Those bastards are impossible to beat before they close in on you!
I suppose I might need to take some "art appreciation" classes in college...
This is also the first year my GOTY has come anywhere even close to Yahtzee. In fact, could anyone have EVER predicted Yahtzee giving his game of the year to a third person cover based modern military shooter? LUDICROUS!
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Do I have a false memory or did Walker become more of a belligerent asshole over the course of the game OUTSIDE of cutscenes as well? I remember on Chapter 14 Adams was downed and when I went to go revive him, he thanked me but Walker said something along the lines of "Shut up and get back up already." He also talked more aggressively whenever I would kill something, like "kill FUCKING confirmed" or "that heavy is FUCKING DOWN" . Whenever I would mark something for Lugo he would say something similar to "TAKE OUT THAT FUCKING GUY ALREADY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
It's like the opposite of Resident Evil 5 and 6 where your partner is always like "I got your back ^_^" or "Come on! :0". Even Wesker would say "Much appreciated." whenever you play co-op and give him ammo lol
It's like the opposite of Resident Evil 5 and 6 where your partner is always like "I got your back ^_^" or "Come on! :0". Even Wesker would say "Much appreciated." whenever you play co-op and give him ammo lol
You're not mistaken. He becomes palpably more vicious in his demeanor and actions as the game progresses.