Spec Ops: The Line

I've heard good about this game, so I decided to give it a try. It was worth it.

For those who don't know, Spec Ops: The Line feels and plays like an absolutely dumbed down generic military shooter. But at its core, it's a big "fuck you" to generic military shooters (looking at you CoD and Battlefield). Hell, I don't even like military shooter games. That's why I decided to try this out in the first place.

Granted, at first, I was looking to play any kind of third person shooter, as long as it was good. To be fair, in terms of gameplay, even though it gets repetitive quickly and there's not much you can do, it's relatively solid and takes a bit to master, and at some point you'll be doing headshots all over and it feels pretty nice. Gameplay wise, that's pretty much it. Lurk around, shoot people, grab guns, etc.

But the heart of the game lays at its story. One could say it's somewhat inspired on the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. This game isn't about shooting bearded sand people for the glory of the American nation. This is a game that makes you feel like shit. It makes you question your own actions and moral choices. It puts you in a role that will make you hate yourself. And for that, I applaud it.

Visual wise, it looks quite nice. I've never been to Dubai myself, but I really liked the atmosphere and the attention to detail on the places you visit, and the contrast of the aquatic museum, nice beaches and pools, expensive hotels, with the destruction brought by massive sandstorms all over the region.

On another note, the original soundtrack is pretty awesome. And besides the original soundtrack, you can find in some areas songs from Alice in Chains, Nine Inch Nails and other great bands.

If you're looking for a military shooter a la Call of Duty or anything, don't play this. The game will feel dull after a while, because that's not the point of the game. If you're looking for a much more human story, I really recommend this game. It's somewhat short too, so you won't spend much time in it and it's just about enough for the experience.

The only thing I could say against this game is this it would perhaps work out better as a movie rather than a videogame.