We got the feeling there was a little bit more behind Spec Ops: the Line than a cover mechanic and sand while watching the VGA reveal. Speaking to GameSpot in a video interview, game producer Greg Kasavin and lead designer Cory Davis spoke to its psychological element -- perhaps even twist -- slated to be explored in the game.
“Spec Ops: the Line is the most provocative shooter you’ve ever played,” Davis said.
He elaborated, “It means, essentially, that we have a very, very strong focus on narrative in the game. We put the player into situations where he actually gets to make decisions between what is moral and what is necessary.”
Guns and morals are two things we can certainly get behind, if all those hours spent in the Capital Wastelands can be used to prove anything.
Later in the interview Kasavin said that morality is central to the game’s story and players will have to make multiple choices in the game -- some having an affect in the immediate, while others in the long-term.
“We want that to evolve over time, and for that build over time, Kasvin said. “For you to gain empathy for the character and for your own feelings about the environment to change over the course of the game because this is about Captain Walker’s journey to the heart of darkness.”
Let’s hope the protagonist remembered to bring his flashlight.
brad i know the other podtoid guys aren't buying into it, but i'm with you, this seems like it could be fucked up and awesome. if nothing else, they've partially won me over already by having the balls to put a bjork song in the trailer.
It's easy to be cynical over another shooter set in another Middle East inspired setting with another morality system but I'm really rooting for these guys. For some reason I just have a really good feeling about this one.
Let me elaborate: I think the setting of destroyed Dubai is cool as fuck. I think the choice mechanic in the narrative COULD be cool as fuck, being a decision not between good and bad, but between what is necessary vs immoral. However, the sand shit, I don't care. And it sort of seemed like the guys in that interview really have no idea how to market their game. you can just tell Kasavin wants to call it a gears of war clone.
Final point: Is it just me? or is their no crosshair, and do the guns look exceedingly wild. I don't know how I'd ever hit anything with guns that fire like that.
What reindall said. Moral choice is bullshit if the game plays the same no matter what you do and you just get a slightly different cut scene. I don't give a fuck if the story changes. I want my choices to have game play ramifications. Otherwise your system is no more advanced than a Choose Your Own Adventure book which, admittedly, was awesome... in 5th grade.
Wow, I'm not huge on shooters and rarely do I actually get excited or interested in one, but that trailer really makes me want to know more about this game.
It looks intense and eerie (although the bjork, it sounds like, music definitely helps bring that feeling) but the atmosphere in general looks different than a normal war shooter.
The game physics look really cool too, check out the death of the 2nd guy on the little hill at 32 seconds or so, i dunno it just stuck out to me as looking realistic (although i've never seen someone be shot in person, but you know what i mean)
The problem with moral choices affecting gameplay is then you're just making a choice to play the game however you want and morality isn't like that.
When you get into morality shifting gameplay that's when I agree that you should dump morality altogether. I think morality affecting gameplay renders morality pointless. At that point you might as well just say "Okay look. You can take the gun or you can take the sword."
I'm all for choices in gameplay but moral choices in gameplay can often defeat the purpose of a moral choice. I don't want to shoot somebody just because I know it means I'll have more ammo. Then it no longer becomes a question of "If I shoot this guy how will it affect Character X and Situation Y?" and becomes a question of "Gee, do I really need this ammo?" That's not morality that's resource management.
I think the setting of destroyed Dubai is cool as fuck.
seconded! Having been there I can't wait to see what it looks like in this game... just hope they do a little research and realise the "Burj Dubai" was renamed "Burj Kalifa" this week, since it's in the video's it's very possible that we get to go there, but if the whole place is plastered with "Burj Dubai"-signs, even though it's a few years from now, that would just suck...
What totally pulls me in for now is the fact that Dubai is actually running the risk of becoming a sandy desert all the time since they're right on the edge of one and actually have to spend thousands of dollars ( prolly millions ) to keep it at bay...
But, sadly, in real life morality is often also counterpointed by material reward. For instance theft, while immoral, has a material reward that encourages it. Just as killing usually (though not always) has a motive behind it. What I would like to see in games is a more accurate representation of the consequences of immoral (or evil) choice. Like, hey I just killed the town hero and got my +5 sword of awesome, but o, the town found out, hates me, and I can never go there again, but the girl I tried to romance lives there, wait the people know this, player sneaks into town, finds corpse of girlfriend strung up in a cage in town centre.
A game with unpredictable, but strong consequences, would be more accurate than a lack of consequence/reward, it would also be more potent too.
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Contest:
8:00 PM on 01.05.2010
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Final point: Is it just me? or is their no crosshair, and do the guns look exceedingly wild. I don't know how I'd ever hit anything with guns that fire like that.
It has my attention, but I'm not expecting much.
It looks intense and eerie (although the bjork, it sounds like, music definitely helps bring that feeling) but the atmosphere in general looks different than a normal war shooter.
The game physics look really cool too, check out the death of the 2nd guy on the little hill at 32 seconds or so, i dunno it just stuck out to me as looking realistic (although i've never seen someone be shot in person, but you know what i mean)
The problem with moral choices affecting gameplay is then you're just making a choice to play the game however you want and morality isn't like that.
When you get into morality shifting gameplay that's when I agree that you should dump morality altogether. I think morality affecting gameplay renders morality pointless. At that point you might as well just say "Okay look. You can take the gun or you can take the sword."
I'm all for choices in gameplay but moral choices in gameplay can often defeat the purpose of a moral choice. I don't want to shoot somebody just because I know it means I'll have more ammo. Then it no longer becomes a question of "If I shoot this guy how will it affect Character X and Situation Y?" and becomes a question of "Gee, do I really need this ammo?" That's not morality that's resource management.
seconded! Having been there I can't wait to see what it looks like in this game... just hope they do a little research and realise the "Burj Dubai" was renamed "Burj Kalifa" this week, since it's in the video's it's very possible that we get to go there, but if the whole place is plastered with "Burj Dubai"-signs, even though it's a few years from now, that would just suck...
What totally pulls me in for now is the fact that Dubai is actually running the risk of becoming a sandy desert all the time since they're right on the edge of one and actually have to spend thousands of dollars ( prolly millions ) to keep it at bay...
That is all.
/agree
But, sadly, in real life morality is often also counterpointed by material reward. For instance theft, while immoral, has a material reward that encourages it. Just as killing usually (though not always) has a motive behind it. What I would like to see in games is a more accurate representation of the consequences of immoral (or evil) choice. Like, hey I just killed the town hero and got my +5 sword of awesome, but o, the town found out, hates me, and I can never go there again, but the girl I tried to romance lives there, wait the people know this, player sneaks into town, finds corpse of girlfriend strung up in a cage in town centre.
A game with unpredictable, but strong consequences, would be more accurate than a lack of consequence/reward, it would also be more potent too.