Critic & User Reviews
Story is this shooter's strongpoint
posted by tjsmoke (NORTHAMPTON, PA) Jun 28, 2012
Member since Dec 2008
16 out of 16 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
"Spec Ops: The Line" appears, on face value and in terms of gameplay, to be just another military shooter, though this is in 3rd person instead of the favored FPS. As a shooter, it works well enough. The aiming doesn't always snap to its target, but it works more often than not. Same with the cover system, which only fails on occasion. Shooting and using grenades are easy enough and use familiar controls to anyone who's ever played a COD or a Battlefield. you can only carry two weapons, but they can be a similar type, as you not limited to one pistol and one long ranged weapon. Melee is okay, though you won't use it often, and your team's AI is generally competent. The enemy AI isn't the smartest, but they're not the dumbest either. The game's 15 chapters (plus an epilogue after the credits) will take most about 6 hours to play through. There's intel to be found, which is worth finding in that it adds to the story. And then there's the story, and what a story it is. Inspired by Joseph Conrad's novel "Heart of Darkness" and the film "Apocalypse Now", the story takes you on a dark journey through the sand ravaged streets of Dubai (which is rendered beautifully). What starts of as a recon mission quickly turns to a rescue mission and then an all out fight for survival. On your journey you'll be confronted with making choices, but none of these are your typical right or wrong moral options. In each case you may find your choice and its consequences disturbing, which is the game's intention. Good as this was done I would have liked to see a bit more options, but it was effective nonetheless. The choices affect how your teammates react to you and the game's ending, so that may be incentive to replay the campaign. I only played the single player campaign, but there is multiplayer for those who enjoy that. All in all, this game is well worth playing. The graphics are terrific, the voice acting superb, and the soundtrack is great. A must play at least.
Spec Ops: Draws the Line.
posted by UkManiak (ROCHESTER, NY) Jun 29, 2012
Member since Sep 2010
13 out of 13 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
Spec ops is one of those games that make you go through all of the motions but more importantly and shocking, too me at least, is that it makes you go through all of your emotions as well. You will feel enraged, sad, guilty, and happy and you won't know when it hits you..until it comes across your chin like a hammer.
The story in Spec Ops is by far one of the most gripping, confusing, and intense experiences I have had with gaming in a long time. The moral decisions you must make are gut wrenching, even the ones you have no control over. Spec ops pulls you right in, chews you up, spits you out, and goes for seconds. My emotions were messed with so bad...and I loved every minute of it.
Forget the shooter aspect for one moment and immerse yourself in the dialogue. Listen..very carefully. Even though the visuals are great, it's the sound, the atmosphere draws you in. The radio man messing with you, your squad mates losing faith, your mission getting more and more irrelevant, Dubai truly becomes (h)ell.
The mechanics are a bit flawed, the controls will take some getting used too. None of that matters. Get yourself ready for one of the best story shooters I have ever played. Spec ops takes itself very seriously and draws a major line not yet set in shooters of the past. (you kill A LOT of American soldiers).
When all is said and done, when the smoke and the dust clears, Spec ops will have sent you on a rollercoaster of emotions, make you actually THINK, and the ending ties everything up very nicely. Yager has some true talent on their development team and I cannot wait too play more from them.
If there was ever one game you should not miss just for the campaign, this is it. Multiplayer is bland on the unlock system will keep you around for a little while. Nothing new there. Where Spec ops really shines, is the single player, your jaw will drop harder then a bag of bricks and your soul will be twisted into ways you never though possible....from a video
The story in Spec Ops is by far one of the most gripping, confusing, and intense experiences I have had with gaming in a long time. The moral decisions you must make are gut wrenching, even the ones you have no control over. Spec ops pulls you right in, chews you up, spits you out, and goes for seconds. My emotions were messed with so bad...and I loved every minute of it.
Forget the shooter aspect for one moment and immerse yourself in the dialogue. Listen..very carefully. Even though the visuals are great, it's the sound, the atmosphere draws you in. The radio man messing with you, your squad mates losing faith, your mission getting more and more irrelevant, Dubai truly becomes (h)ell.
The mechanics are a bit flawed, the controls will take some getting used too. None of that matters. Get yourself ready for one of the best story shooters I have ever played. Spec ops takes itself very seriously and draws a major line not yet set in shooters of the past. (you kill A LOT of American soldiers).
When all is said and done, when the smoke and the dust clears, Spec ops will have sent you on a rollercoaster of emotions, make you actually THINK, and the ending ties everything up very nicely. Yager has some true talent on their development team and I cannot wait too play more from them.
If there was ever one game you should not miss just for the campaign, this is it. Multiplayer is bland on the unlock system will keep you around for a little while. Nothing new there. Where Spec ops really shines, is the single player, your jaw will drop harder then a bag of bricks and your soul will be twisted into ways you never though possible....from a video
very engaging story
posted by chuck74 (SAN DIEGO, CA) Jun 29, 2012
Member since Dec 2009
12 out of 13 gamers (92%) found this review helpful
Overview
=================
As others have said this is one of the most engaging stories for a shooter. In short things are a mess when you get to Dubai....you don't know who is running things and why everyone is trying to kill you. The game keeps you on the edge with the action and the story.
The campain is where this game shines. Unfortunately I'm knocking it down for control issues. The "X" button is used for running and cover. Unfortunately it was designed to keep you running until you perform an action to break the running which can cause you to get shot. Also the "O" button is used for melee and vault. Which will cause you to accidentally perform one action when you meant the other.
Also the multiplayer was pretty bad. It was very generic and affected by the same control issues. The community is already really small (forgot about it in a few months). Also, when I got done playing my first match I was disconnected from the server and lost all of my XP.
If you rent for campaign it is great....if your focus is multiplayer skip it. No "online pass" at least allows you to try the multiplayer without forking over money.
Pros
=================
1) engaging story
2) some neat sand and light effects
Cons
=================
1) control issues
2) poor multiplayer
=================
As others have said this is one of the most engaging stories for a shooter. In short things are a mess when you get to Dubai....you don't know who is running things and why everyone is trying to kill you. The game keeps you on the edge with the action and the story.
The campain is where this game shines. Unfortunately I'm knocking it down for control issues. The "X" button is used for running and cover. Unfortunately it was designed to keep you running until you perform an action to break the running which can cause you to get shot. Also the "O" button is used for melee and vault. Which will cause you to accidentally perform one action when you meant the other.
Also the multiplayer was pretty bad. It was very generic and affected by the same control issues. The community is already really small (forgot about it in a few months). Also, when I got done playing my first match I was disconnected from the server and lost all of my XP.
If you rent for campaign it is great....if your focus is multiplayer skip it. No "online pass" at least allows you to try the multiplayer without forking over money.
Pros
=================
1) engaging story
2) some neat sand and light effects
Cons
=================
1) control issues
2) poor multiplayer
love this game!!!!!
posted by kbodin1 (LYNN, MA) Jul 2, 2012
Member since Jul 2006
2 out of 2 gamers (100%) found this review helpful
Yet another pretty awesome TPS game to add to my long list of likeable games. The graphics are pretty solid andthe game play flows pretty well. I love that it takes place in a supposedly soverign nation. I like ths game alot. It's fun and fast paced and a great rent. if you like TPS games, you'll like this one too.
Of course there will be haters that say this game sucks because so many people find one flaw in a game and automatically give it a bad rating, but trust me the good reviews will far out weigh the bad ones.
Of course there will be haters that say this game sucks because so many people find one flaw in a game and automatically give it a bad rating, but trust me the good reviews will far out weigh the bad ones.