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It's a good game, but they're level design team, and specifically speaking gameplay programmers, it was an absolute mess. It was a linear game where every enemy is a bullet sponge who can take 3-40 bullets to the head, and the controls were floaty and rather slow. The only people I feel did a respectable job were probably the story writers themselves, besides the game artists who also did a fantastic job. It's a good game but asking it at a price point above what I payed for when it went on sale (25$) it honestly, can't justify that price, for lazy difficulty programming and a lack of motivation for multiple playthroughs a game only 6-7 hours needs better incentives then just more spongey enemies. It's simply, too expensive, few people will pay 8-7$ an hour to play a game.
Its a really amazing game. My GOTY so far and nothing is coming out for the rest of the year to move it from that position.
as Themuad said. I'm not quite sold on the gameplay of the game at all, but reports on the story ( and the debate about MOH's felating the Yosemite Sams of this world by glorifying war even further only furthers this opinion) and its take on war as gruesome and dehumanizing makes me really want to try it out. The industry could do with some bolder concepts rather than the chest beating steroid infused shenanningans of the CoD's of this world.
It's pretty sad that this game undersold. Maybe it would have been better if they had promoted the story and challenges you face in the advertising, cause every showcase of the game pre-release just made it look like another generic 3rd person shooter. Hope they can get more success with whatever they do next, cause Spec Ops The Line was a glint of sunshine (at least for the story) among most other AAA shooters.
Should have advertised it for what it was, rather than what you wanted the CoD crowd to think it was. It's too bad that a game like this comes along and gets completely lost in the CoD chasing stream of poo because people don't realize how different it is.
My second playthough (on easy, to not get stressed with the action) was an unforgettable gaming experience. Like some of the best sections of Mass Effect 2 or Fallout: New Vegas.
I LOVED this game, the gameplay was pretty standard, and the levels pretty linear, but it's story kept me hooked. It felt worth the week 1 price I payed for it, even if the gameplay was a little standard.
Perhaps I came off a bit too aggressively, the game is definitely a step in the right direction and for what it does right it does fantastically, but both the gameplay and the marketing were done in a stupid fashion not fitting the type of game it really was, in it's current state it just can't warrant a premium price however.
Looked like very average gameplay with a very average-titled game.
Spec Ops: The Line? C'mon, could you get any more generic for a name? I've heard great things about the story, but I'm burnt out on the endless list of other 3rd person shooters. I'll pick it up during the Steam Winter Sale if it's under $25 just for the story. Picking up a 3rd person shooter for its story... That's a first for me.
Spec Ops: The Line? C'mon, could you get any more generic for a name? I've heard great things about the story, but I'm burnt out on the endless list of other 3rd person shooters. I'll pick it up during the Steam Winter Sale if it's under $25 just for the story. Picking up a 3rd person shooter for its story... That's a first for me.
Spec Ops wasn't Yager's debut title. Their first was Yager, an aerial combat game set in the future. Hopefully SO will have a long tail for them. It strikes me as the sort of game with the quality for that to happen, if it stays current enough.
Maybe they should have better thought out their control interface. I mean, they completely left out left-handed control schemes. I've got a friend that I play games with a lot and he's left handed. He simply cannot play a game that does not include a left handed controller setup (swap thumbsticks). We were both looking forward to this game and both us and a few other friends canceled our pre-orders for this very simple excluded feature.
First modern military shooter (maybe ever) that really tried to deal with the atrocities of war, and it's not getting a sequel. What a shame.
Gaming industry, you disappoint me. Put down Call of Duty and Battlefield for three seconds and pick this game up.
Gaming industry, you disappoint me. Put down Call of Duty and Battlefield for three seconds and pick this game up.
This really saddens me. The game was original: A military shooter that made you uncomfortable about shooting people. It asked some challenging questions and had top notch art direction, sound effects, voice acting (some of Nolan North's best work IMO) and soundtrack. The gameplay's only flaw was the imprecise mouse aiming. I had hoped it would sell better. Looking forward to studios next release, they are a talented bunch.
I found the story interesting, but it definitely had its share of cliches and illogical moments.
Technically, the game was kind of a mess. Pop-in was a REAL problem, and it often felt that, if you didn't take the exact strip of cover that the game wanted you to, you would be torn to shreds. Combine that with the idiocy of team AI which chases after enemy bullets when you want to hang back and pick people off (forcing you out of cover to save the moron before he bleeds out), and you have some serious gameplay issues.
For example, there's one part in the game where you and your teammate emerge from the cover of an old airplane to face a hopped-up knifeman, a heavy in full body armor with a light machine gun, and around ten rifle-armed troops. Your moron teammate immediately runs right out in front of them, so you must run in front of them (to save him) before he bleeds out. However, if you do somehow manage to revive your partner, pick up some ammo, and return to the plane's cover after many failed attempts, you will be unpleasantly surprised to find that the door has been magically shut (Iperhaps guess for loading reasons). Then you are shot to ribbons and must start again.
It was an enjoyable experience overall, but it certainly wasn't a top-tier game by any means, and I understand the varying scores.
Technically, the game was kind of a mess. Pop-in was a REAL problem, and it often felt that, if you didn't take the exact strip of cover that the game wanted you to, you would be torn to shreds. Combine that with the idiocy of team AI which chases after enemy bullets when you want to hang back and pick people off (forcing you out of cover to save the moron before he bleeds out), and you have some serious gameplay issues.
For example, there's one part in the game where you and your teammate emerge from the cover of an old airplane to face a hopped-up knifeman, a heavy in full body armor with a light machine gun, and around ten rifle-armed troops. Your moron teammate immediately runs right out in front of them, so you must run in front of them (to save him) before he bleeds out. However, if you do somehow manage to revive your partner, pick up some ammo, and return to the plane's cover after many failed attempts, you will be unpleasantly surprised to find that the door has been magically shut (Iperhaps guess for loading reasons). Then you are shot to ribbons and must start again.
It was an enjoyable experience overall, but it certainly wasn't a top-tier game by any means, and I understand the varying scores.
I wasn't blown away by the demo, but I am very intrigued by the story. Still, as sad as it is, games only go so far as their gameplay. If I can't have fun playing it, then what's the point?
I was a little offput by the demo. The voice acting was pretty lousy and combined with some odd control and design choices, it killed my investment in the story pretty quickly.
For those that didn't play it, buy it and don't play on hard difficulty.
You don't want frustration to get in the way of a nicely placed Deep Purple song, or preventing you from noticing how your face is reflected in the display of the deadly war machine you're operating.
You don't want frustration to get in the way of a nicely placed Deep Purple song, or preventing you from noticing how your face is reflected in the display of the deadly war machine you're operating.
People seriously need to buy this game and give these people some money, you won't be disappointed. (Sadly, the demo does a piss-poor job of selling the thing.)
I was listening to Angels by The xx when I read this, and now I'm much more saddened by this than I should be.
Anyways, I always hate when people put effort into changing a genre by releasing a game like this, and it doesn't sell well. It is a fantastic break from the FPS' we normally play. I recommend it.
Anyways, I always hate when people put effort into changing a genre by releasing a game like this, and it doesn't sell well. It is a fantastic break from the FPS' we normally play. I recommend it.
From a narrative perspective, SPEC OPS: THE LINE is exactly what videogames need more of. Brave, challenging, very well-written. I was so absorbed I played the whole campaign in one go. The gameplay did have its problems, but nothing serious.
Titles like this deserve lots of support. I'm saddened to see sales didn't go well.
Titles like this deserve lots of support. I'm saddened to see sales didn't go well.
The pity is they marketed it to the CoD audience, which is already saturated by CoD alone. And the gritty military tps niche was already filled by the already established and popular Ghost Recon. They would have been better served by marketing it as an adventure a'la Uncharted.
I remember playing the demo and thinking it was just another nondescript military shooter, only to find out weeks later that the big selling point of the game was the Heart of Darkness-style story that unfolds further in.
I'll probably get to it some day, but if it carries on like it did in the demo, I doubt I'll be getting it any sooner than when it sees a huge price cut on Steam.
I'll probably get to it some day, but if it carries on like it did in the demo, I doubt I'll be getting it any sooner than when it sees a huge price cut on Steam.
The title was really a killer for this thing. I had no idea it wasn't some generic me too title like Sniper Ghost Operations Special Forces Tango Warface, or what have you.
I thought Spec Ops was a good game. The story especially, and the atmosphere that it builds are extremely impressive. The way the characters break down the more things go to shit, and the way the game plays mind tricks with you are all amazing stuff.
However, the gameplay isn't so hot. Firstly, while it is all functional and feels great, there is nothing to it. You've played this game so many times before. It is just another cover shooter. No interesting weapons, no interesting enemies, no interesting set pieces. It's all so generic. Secondly, the game looks like an early gen game.
Now I'm the last guy to say that graphics have anything to do with whether or not a game is any fun, but this game looked so bad it was actually distracting. I couldn't believe this was a game being released in 2012. Heck, Perfect Dark Zero looked twice as good, and that game is more than 6 years old. And lastly, the game is short. I mean super, super short.
You can beat it in less than 4 hours, and the multiplayer is generic so it isn't like you can stick around for that. So for your $60 you are getting a great, moving and emotional story, but also a super short campaign with generic gameplay, lazy graphics and boring multiplayer. If they had spiced up the gameplay with some variety, and added on another 3 or 4 hours of single player content, I have a feeling it would have been a better game.
Some gamers say things like "I'd rather have a 3 hour game full of awesomeness than a 8 hour game with too much filler", but that is just a cop out. We should not be paying $60 for a 4 hour game, no matter how great it is. If a developer can't give us at least 8 hours worth of awesome content, then A) They shouldn't be making the game to begin with and B) They shouldn't charge us $60.
If this game was $40, I wouldn't have been nearly as hard on it. $40 for a 3 and a half to 4 hour game, even though it is on the generic side, is a very reasonable price. $60 for a game like this isn't.
However, the gameplay isn't so hot. Firstly, while it is all functional and feels great, there is nothing to it. You've played this game so many times before. It is just another cover shooter. No interesting weapons, no interesting enemies, no interesting set pieces. It's all so generic. Secondly, the game looks like an early gen game.
Now I'm the last guy to say that graphics have anything to do with whether or not a game is any fun, but this game looked so bad it was actually distracting. I couldn't believe this was a game being released in 2012. Heck, Perfect Dark Zero looked twice as good, and that game is more than 6 years old. And lastly, the game is short. I mean super, super short.
You can beat it in less than 4 hours, and the multiplayer is generic so it isn't like you can stick around for that. So for your $60 you are getting a great, moving and emotional story, but also a super short campaign with generic gameplay, lazy graphics and boring multiplayer. If they had spiced up the gameplay with some variety, and added on another 3 or 4 hours of single player content, I have a feeling it would have been a better game.
Some gamers say things like "I'd rather have a 3 hour game full of awesomeness than a 8 hour game with too much filler", but that is just a cop out. We should not be paying $60 for a 4 hour game, no matter how great it is. If a developer can't give us at least 8 hours worth of awesome content, then A) They shouldn't be making the game to begin with and B) They shouldn't charge us $60.
If this game was $40, I wouldn't have been nearly as hard on it. $40 for a 3 and a half to 4 hour game, even though it is on the generic side, is a very reasonable price. $60 for a game like this isn't.
Bummer that it undersold, but I was sure it would... if for no other reason than the ho-hum name. "The Line" would probably have gotten more attention. Or maybe "Heart of Sandiness." Anyway, I'll be buying this if I see it on sale again. I think it was 33% off during the summer sale, and I would've gotten it for that price if I had more money. Hopefully that deal comes around again (Magicka-style, lol).
A thing I don't like in regards to cheevos tied to moral choices, is how for OCD/completionist types like me it means you're forced to play it a second time, making sure to do the opposite things you did before.
I think this is on everyones buy later list. Which, sadly for the devs, is where it belongs.
I hate to speak for entire communities, but even with the cool story and characterizations, i think we've all just seen enough shooters over the last ten years to get us through the next ten without ever buying another one.
I loved the spec ops demo up until about halfway through. Same as i did with the binary domain demo. I was having a great time and then suddenly, i relaized ive shot so many things since halo came out that its just not fun anymore no matter how many different genres or games i play in between.
Hell i cant get through the new transformers demo either for the same reasons.
Shooters are great, but good god are they getting dull.
I hate to speak for entire communities, but even with the cool story and characterizations, i think we've all just seen enough shooters over the last ten years to get us through the next ten without ever buying another one.
I loved the spec ops demo up until about halfway through. Same as i did with the binary domain demo. I was having a great time and then suddenly, i relaized ive shot so many things since halo came out that its just not fun anymore no matter how many different genres or games i play in between.
Hell i cant get through the new transformers demo either for the same reasons.
Shooters are great, but good god are they getting dull.
Personally, I've decided I never want to play another military shooter ever again.
SO bored with it all.
And yes the title and marketing screamed generic fps #7042.
SO bored with it all.
And yes the title and marketing screamed generic fps #7042.
i really liked the old ps1 spec ops games. i use to have great craic sittin up all night with my flatmates playin them...nice open plan levels if i remember too.
the line is generic shooter crap...which is a pity cause the story had some real interestin moments in it makin what should have been a completly forgetable experience somewhat memorable. it also didn't help that it looked a little blurgh.
the line is generic shooter crap...which is a pity cause the story had some real interestin moments in it makin what should have been a completly forgetable experience somewhat memorable. it also didn't help that it looked a little blurgh.
I'm a big fan of Conrad, so I'll buy it just for the Heart of Darkness reset. Not until it's under $40, tho.
Terrible marketing showed to us that it was yet another boring brown & bloom shooter without any weight behind it. Should have focused on the narrative.
I think perhaps it didn't do so well because of the way it was advertised. They didn't really push it's strengths or unique features. It just looked like another brown modern shooter.
Sure they didn't market the great narrative of the game but for those of us who picked it up expecting it to be generic cover-based shoot GRRRD BRRLEEESS AMERRRRRRRKA type nonsense I wouldn't have been so overjoyed that it wasn't. In fact, the only reason I picked it up was because it was set in Dubai (a city I know all too well) and wanted to write a damning review for wishing such horrors to the people of a city I love. But after playing it the only mistakes they made was that the "natives" spoke Farsi while most people there speak Arabic and some inaccurate road-signs.
To be honest, after playing the demo and learning how linear it was i really didnt feel the need to buy it day one. Always though it looked rather free-roamish, probably would have made for a better game if there was a little free roam to it.
sorry but ive had enough of the military shooters, no matter the story or gimmicky "events" they throw in them. they just arnt fun any more.
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