Spec Ops: The Line review
After completing most third-person shooters it’s unlikely your first thoughts turn to the evolving storyline and the ethical issues of the battle you have just taken part in. Yagar Development has tried to think outside the box when it comes to Spec Ops: The Line, focusing on the morality of your task and forcing you to take a step back to let it all sink in, asking; Was it all really worth it? And for this, they should be commended.
Spec Ops takes place six months after a terrible sandstorm has struck Dubai, leaving the city in ruins while people and buildings lay buried beneath tons of sand. You control Captain Martin Walker who, with the aid of fellow Delta Operatives Lieutenant Adams and Sergeant Lugo, has been sent on a mission to evacuate any survivors.
Sounds simple enough, but things rarely go to plan in Spec Ops and it’s not long before you find yourself under fire from insurgents who make you feel like your presence isn’t exactly welcome. Soon afterwards the team discover a distress signal sent out by Colonel John Konrad, a man tasked with helping the evacuation of the city but now thought dead after things went horribly wrong. Walker feels compelled to seek out Konrad after revealing that he was the man who saved his life on a previous mission. What follows is Walker going on a journey through the human psyche as he tries to decipher right from wrong.
The first thing you notice about the game is the arresting location. Seeing the skyscraper-filled city of Dubai swamped in sand is quite an image. Add to this the sight of bodies hanging from streetlights and political graffiti sprayed across various sites and it becomes apparent that this is a very unique setting for a military shooter. The outdoor scenery is pretty bland with just a few broken down vehicles and sand dunes to stare at, but views of the Dubai skyline are striking and exploring the various hotels and shopping malls is much more interesting.
Not that you’ll have too much time to admire the background. A gunfight is never far away and before you know it you’ll often find yourself under attack from all angles. Taking cover is the main component of gameplay and it’s here where Spec Ops lets itself down slightly with a couple of issues.
A simple tap of A hides Walker behind an obstacle and out of harms way, but be careful when moving around as a slight tap of the left stick in the wrong direction will see you inexplicably stand up into a barrage of bullets. Walker can’t take too much damage so a couple of seconds out in the open could be your last. Also, the button for melee strikes and vaulting over an object is the same, leading to several occasions when Walker will attempt to hit the scenery instead of trying to clear it. These issues can be forgiven but they do detract slightly from the experience.
In order to clear out areas you’ll have to use the help of teammates Adams and Lugo. Holding RB will allow you to command a target for them to hit so that you can focus on firing at somebody else. Double tapping RB will see one of them throwing a flash grenade, temporarily blinding anyone in its path. Advising your squad in these ways adds a slight tactical element to the game and breaks up the predictability of segments.
Spec Ops tries to vary combat from the norm of ducking and shooting by adding in scripted set pieces. These let you fire at walls to collapse sand upon multiple enemies, or shoot glass that snipers are standing on before watching them fall to an untimely death. Sand storms will also play a part of outdoor gameplay. They’ll appear from nowhere forcing you to run for cover, and then once there you can pick off enemies who have been blinded by the sand.
The set pieces are a nice little addition to try and shake things up but they feel few and far between. Their importance is also downgraded when you realise it’s just as easy to actually shoot the enemy instead of aiming at parts of the interactive background.
Levels are linear and it’s always obvious where to go next, not leaving much room for exploration. Various Intel items are scattered throughout the game which you can collect to gain a bit more backstory but overall they won’t make a difference to what you experience at the end.
Multiplayer is included in Spec Ops but it’s clear not nearly as much time was spent polishing this compared to the single player. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are pretty dull with a long waiting time in between matches, but Buried mode is a nice addition - two teams of four attack an enemy base while trying to defend their own. A leveling-up system is in place which sees you unlocking new gear, but the slight gun improvements won’t be enough to keep many players interested.
Overall multiplayer just seems like a distraction for players to dabble in when the main campaign has been completed, but don’t expect them to hang around when there are several other, superior online shooters. And maybe that’s OK. Yager knows it’s trying to pitch a different type of game at audiences, one that focuses on plotlines, decision-making and setting over taking control of a character who feels no remorse for his actions.
Unfortunately progressing through the story just involves a lot of shooting, taking cover and shooting some more. Captain Walker and his team take out hundreds, possibly thousands of enemies by themselves, taking a slight hit at the realism factor Yager was hoping to create.
All in all, gameplay is secondary to storyline. Captain Walker and the gang will make discoveries and choices along their journey which will have an effect on the way they perceive their mission. They start out as archetypal war heroes before ending up at each other’s throats and wondering whether there is such a thing. There is no definitive answer, and that is why the Spec Ops plot will stay with you long after you’ve completed it.