Spec Ops: The Line Review

To be completely honest I wasn't even sure if I was going to even buy the game at first. I mean.. yea the demo was BEYOND impressive to me and made me want to go buy the game, but still I had my skepticism about it. They often say where there is a will, there is a way. Spec Ops: The Line is a military shooter developed by 2k Games in which puts you in the shoes of Martin Walker, Captain of the Delta force team in The U.S army. You are accompanied by 2 other soldiers that go by the names of Lupo and Adams. The game takes an odd twist as at first (Like the demo) starts you off with taking down enemy choppers that are high on your tail. I found it a little odd for a game to start out so intense so quick.. but then it dawned to me right then and there it was going to be like "Oh... it's going to be one of those "how did it get to this point" kind of deal."

Low and behold I was right (that and remembering some of the parts from the demo of course). Without really trying to spoil the moments for you, the experience from start to finish was just.. phenomenal. This is the first shooter that I've played in a while that really had an engaging story. I'm not taking away from them cinematic experience that is Call of Duty , but still...it's a nice change to see another company do it without following the trend to much (basically 2k games made a statement with this game, that they too can make an engaging story and be on par (if not better) than Call of Duty).

As you progress through the game, you will see and hear them react differently as time passes on, and with good reason. That's what really caught my attention.. it didn't seem generic, but rather what would really happen if anyone were to go through an experience such as that. One of the experiences are the sandstorms...because you will be going through the few of them in the campaign. As you would come to expect from a sandstorm, your visibility is very limited and your accuracy drops dramatically. That sort of realism is what kept me engaged among other things.

The controls, while easy to learn, I had to constantly fight with the cover system for a while until I understood the mechanics for it. Alot of my deaths early on was because I kept dropping out of cover. While I still have my gripes about the cover system (which are very little) it felt like an smooth experience throughout. The graphics for the game are about what you expect from a current-generation title. When it came to the protagonist and antagonist... they looked really defined, however the enemies in the game were about as generic as they could be (that's normal).

Now we talk about the multiplayer. It was.. interesting. It was a nice little distraction, but I can see its strength is really the campaign. You have your typical deathmatch, team deathmatch, objective based games.. etc etc. After I got done with a match, I played around the menus and clearly saw they took a few ques from call of duty such as title unlocks, classes, perks, etc etc. That is fine, because that seems to be about the standard of shooters today anyways. One would ask though, what would make this experience any different? Well the sandstorms are implemented into the multiplayer as well.. and I have to say.. it can become quite the game changer. While the sandstorm can conceal you from gunfire, it also makes you vulnerable to close up encounters...so plan to move accordingly. Overall the multiplayer is fine, but I see it as one of those type of multiplayer games that probably won't be played for long.

Final Thoughts on Spec Ops: the Line

I would really love it if they would make a sequel, because the campaign was really strong. 2k Games really did outdo themselves with launching such an ambitious title. At first, when they were releasing trailers of the game, I wasn't too interested in passed it off as just another generic shooter for the summer. It was really when I finished playing the demo that it made me reconsider and buy the game. Before I forget, some people are wondering if there is any co-op for spec ops, and my answer is yes and no. I say no, because as of right now, Co-op is non-existent. I say yes however because of 2k games announcing FREE DLC featuring 4 co-op missions sometime in august.

Do I recommend you buying this game? well.. I say give it a rental. The campaign has about a 6-8 hour span, but it will be the most intense 6-8 hour span you will go through, I promise you. Seriously, this game made me question my morality after it was all said in done.. and if a game can accomplished doing that, then it is one game you need to play.