LiquidMetal14
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The strains of war and how things changed.
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LTTP: Spec Ops: The Line (I am Sick) [SPOILERS]
- Thread starter CoachKevin
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The strains of war and how things changed.
We've been discussing this as one of the more interesting and well-designed aspects of the game throughout this thread. Good on you for picking up on it.
fushi
Member
That was one of my favorite "little touches" of the game. I am really surprised how almost no other game seems to have done this before. The closes thing I can recall is the changes to Wanda's general appearance in Shadow of the Colossus.
It's not THAT hard, but it'll be rough. Just use your squad A LOT on the first chapters and play safe.
For heavies, best strategy is to just use all your explosives on them.
One thing to know is that girls in those classes are nuuuuuuuuuuuuutsssssss...
From his reviews, it seemed like the only game Yahtzee really liked all year.
While I think that'd be cool, I'd really like it systemized.
Like on a horror game, the more frightened your character the more shaky his voice gets and he maybe drops the clip when trying to reload, etc.
You can mix the two for maximum awesomeness.
My favorite part towards the end is when he just starts screaming, "FUCK YOU!!!"
lol
Great stuff.
And yeah, that one weapon where he was like "This is just slowing me down," the one that the Heavies carry--great weapon, but holy crap, it's like five seconds of reload. It made me impatient, too.
lol
Great stuff.
And yeah, that one weapon where he was like "This is just slowing me down," the one that the Heavies carry--great weapon, but holy crap, it's like five seconds of reload. It made me impatient, too.
Fantastic idea, but I think games like Far Cry 2 with the random weapon jams proved that people like some consistency in their game mechanics.
There has got to be a way to make such mechanics work, or explain why such things will end up occurring so it doesn't raise peoples ire to the nth degree
Yeah, the FUCK YOU in particular is pretty great. The delivery is great, it really makes me feel his state of mind.
Yeah, predictability is a feeling most people expect in games, but I feel like there's room to do something there.
At least I really liked that aspect of Far Cry 2.
Don't get me wrong, just because Far Cry 2 fucked it up doesn't mean there isn't room to do it correctly by a more competent developer in a better game.
I think elements of implementing "battle fatigue" (different than PTSD) into video games could be really, really cool. Spec Ops just laid the groundwork, someone else needs to come in and carry that torch and take it to the next level.
Hmm, I got a couple free weeks from work, I think I'm gonna prototype doing something with unpredictable elements in core gameplay.
It'll turn out to be shit no question about it
Real developers I think should embrace that feeling a bit more. Adding a bit of randomness to your core systems can make trivially clearing a room into a pretty messy thing if one of your grenades just doesn't blow up. It has to be tightened a lot so it doesn't feel like you have no control over what's happening but I always like how things can get turned into their head by making them unpredictable.
I really want to replay this...but my back log is already so long as it is. I think the second playthrough must be pretty interesting knowing what's actually going on. Just thinking back on it makes my mind go crazy. That's one thing I wish the game did more, was show us more of the "flashback" scenes once the reveal happens.
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
No need, just spout random bullshit like me.
FC2's weapon problem was that they jammed far too frequently to the point of absurdity, and would explode after 8 magazines pumped through it or something. Bad implementation.
If I was remaking The Line, I'd have fewer enemies to face, with a bigger focus on scavanging in the city and more interaction with NPCs outside of blasting them. A bit more realism all round would be a nice touch.
cj_iwakura
Member
Walker's reactions reminded me of the squad freaking out in F.E.A.R.(my favorite FPS).
Oh, absolutely I think F.E.A.R. deserves mention here. I actually forgot about that, but you're right, that game did do that.
I agree wholeheartedly, I think there is room to expound upon that.
2K really was crazy.
I mean, there's no way there's gonna be another Spec Ops game down the line (sorry). Having another serious game about war-being-horrible would be pretty weird and going back to SOCOM clones doesn't really work either. And it didn't sell well enough, I gather.
It's really weird that 2K decided that this was where they wanted to take the franchise, because it's basically turning it into the ground and killing it forever.
I mean, there's no way there's gonna be another Spec Ops game down the line (sorry). Having another serious game about war-being-horrible would be pretty weird and going back to SOCOM clones doesn't really work either. And it didn't sell well enough, I gather.
It's really weird that 2K decided that this was where they wanted to take the franchise, because it's basically turning it into the ground and killing it forever.
Femmeworth
Banned
From the sound of it, 2K really interfered with the production. So this wasn't really a case of them trying to do something new/creative. They likely hoped that a tacked on multiplayer mode would be enough to make the franchise somewhat relevant (commercially) again.
I actually remember being mildly anticipated for the very first Spec Ops game (Rangers Lead the Way) in 1998. I was like 13. Then I got Rainbow Six for Christmas, while also reading the PC Gamer review for Spec Ops RLTW and never thought twice about it. I can't remember or even find the score they gave it on Google, but from memory it was below 50%. The seven games that came out after that in the next four years were progressively worse, even.
If someone time-traveled to 2002 and told me the best game of 2012 was going to be an entry in the Spec Ops franchise I would have thought them an insane person, someone to be mocked and dismissed without consideration.
But really, how can they follow this game?
Going back into the same road might feel exploitative and doing something "normal" would make The Line angry.
And yeah I had no idea there was such thing as a Spec Ops franchise before this one, so in some way it worked.
I just have trouble imagining a sequel.
Going back into the same road might feel exploitative and doing something "normal" would make The Line angry.
And yeah I had no idea there was such thing as a Spec Ops franchise before this one, so in some way it worked.
I just have trouble imagining a sequel.
Yeah. I can't imagine where they could go from here, and trying to pull the same trick again won't work. But from that interview it seems a sequel was something they had no intention on doing.
That is consistent though if it's tied to a horror mechanic. It sounds almost like the sanity effects in Eternal Darkness.
Of course, a game that gets harder to play the worse you play is probably a bad idea
jim-jam bongs
Member
I know I'm late but this may be my favourite GAF post of all time
AcceptableGhost
Member
I would really like to know the behind the scenes on this game. Was this called Spec Ops from the get go? Did 2k even know what was being made for the single player? What events happened to let this game actually get funded by 2k and then actually released.
bigboss370
Member
they needed a game with the 'spec ops' title to retain the rights. but they gave creative freedom for the game's content.
McBradders
NeoGAF: my new HOME
Just finished after blasting through it in two sittings.
Yeah, it's in my top 10 for this (last) year. What a great game... kinda speechless right now.
Yeah, it's in my top 10 for this (last) year. What a great game... kinda speechless right now.
onlyindreams
Banned
http://www.gamespot.com/features/ga...dition-spoilercast-spec-ops-the-line-6386587/
The lead writer Walt Williams gives some tidbits. The most interesting stuff was about the ending.
Before listening to that, I have to imagine the original teasers we saw at E3 a few years back are nothing like what we got in the end story-wise.
I think your right. Jeff Gerstmann mentioned (on the bombcast) something about them realizing they were making a shitty game and going through a redesign.
My guess was it was probably somewhere in 'Army of Two' territory.
Now only if Army of Two could realize that it is in 'Army of Two' territory.
There is legitimate room in that franchise's premise to explore the morality and real dirty dealings of private military contractors instead of everything that the series really is. EA will never allow that franchise to be anything but mundane, boring shit.
Completed the game on FUBAR difficulty. Quite a few frustrating moments, mostly because of the loading times, but overall manageable. In the last big uphill battle with the mortar and turrets I ended up just cheating by basically shooting around (or through) corners. I found out that if your reticule is red bullets will hit most of the time even if there's a wall in between you and your target. Made it a lot more bearable.
Edit: Interesting statistic: It only took me 2 minutes longer to complete the game on FUBAR than it did on Suicide difficulty.
Edit: Interesting statistic: It only took me 2 minutes longer to complete the game on FUBAR than it did on Suicide difficulty.
Didn't EA promise this (or something similar) in Syndicate?
Since EA won't do it with Army of Two, this might be one place Yager could go with another entry in the franchise. Not a sequel, but a continuation of the themes from The Line. Call it Spec Ops: The Mercenaries or something.
Yeah, These two are also my top games.
Doubt we'll see a sequel to Spec Ops but I think Yager could actually do amazing things with the Kane & Lynch license.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
This was one of my favorite things too because I started playing the game at around 3:30am and didn't stop until I finished it at 2:00pm (today). So that by the time I was in the last part of the game the lack of sleep was making me die quite a lot. But I think that frustration added a lot to the experience. I was actually angry at the soldiers, in the beginning I didn't want to finish off anyone, but at the end I was trying to decapitate all of them with the AA-12.
Wow, I can't remember last time I did that. You just made me feel all kinds of old.
Just did the whole game in one evening. At the end I was almost crying. My hands were fucking shaking. Amazing experience.
The gameplay is pretty average. But at least it's not fucking filled with QTEs. That made some moment of the game even stronger.
The ending was kind of easy in term of writing, but the delievery was so good.
Just curious now. What choice did you end the game on ?
The gameplay is pretty average. But at least it's not fucking filled with QTEs. That made some moment of the game even stronger.
The ending was kind of easy in term of writing, but the delievery was so good.
Just curious now. What choice did you end the game on ?
I shot myself. That scene with the ghost heads coming from the ground. It's still haunting me
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Do you always get that choice? (I did fuck up a lot of things early on the game, the only thing I did right was not shooting the mob of civilians), I didn't notice having any choice at all.
edit: there were some hilarious typos in this post, I haven't slept yet
Acquiescence
Member
You know, I have to admit, there was a point during my playthrough, maybe chapter 11 or so, where I was starting to think that the big twist of the game was that it was going to morph into a survival horror of sorts. That part where you're facing the teleporting heavy and the game designers insist on giving the player an epileptic fit with the flashing lights, coupled with that severely eerie loading screen with the mannequins... I was so ready for it to happen!