Join the army. See the world. Take in the sights. And let no man, woman or sandstorm stand in your way. And if they do, just shoot them… the army will foot the therapist’s bills. Or just deny it even happened. Welcome to Dubai.
Developer: Yager Development
Publisher: 2K Games
S.A. Distributor: Megarom Interactive
For fans of: Hot and dry holiday destinations where people like shooting at you.
Reviewed on: Xbox 360.
Also available on: PlayStation 3 and PC.
If we had to give it a numerical score: 8.0 out of 10
What I liked
- Compelling story.
- Sense of desolation and the futility of war is well realised.
- Different setting.
- Music adds a cool “retro” atmosphere – just like it’s ‘Nam all over again.
- Decent length singleplayer with some replay-ability.
Not so much
- Gameplay is not original or innovative and is not always satisfying.
- Average graphics and scripted sandstorms.
- AI of team mates is a little annoying at times.
Overview
Spec Ops The Line is a third-person-cover-based-squad-shooter that drops you in Dubai after a ferocious sandstorm has hit and killed the majority of the city’s inhabitants. With a backdrop of cover-ups already in place, the three man Delta Force team led by you – Captain Martin Walker as voiced by Nolan North – arrives to search for Colonel Konrad and the 33rd Battalion, and evacuate any survivors. The job sounds like a bit of a “doozy” doesn’t it?
Gameplay and Features
Let me be frank here – in terms of gameplay, there’s very little innovation going on. At various times I saw Gears of War (but without the chainsaw), Army of Two (but without the fist pumps) and Binary Domain (but without the robots). In the end one could throw in a multitude of other cover based shooters to compare it with. Some gameplay elements the game gets right, while others seem a little FUBAR, but all the while, there’s a growing charm which is down to a great story that drags you in and leaves you wanting to know more as you progress.
The game is easy enough to play solo. At times you may have to, because if you don’t directly instruct your subordinates – Alphanso Adams and John Lugo – to “take out that sniper”, they’ll probably just stand in the middle of the desert like John Rambo grunting and shooting. The promised co-op DLC coming soon will slot in rather nicely however, as the game does at times expect a little teamwork – flanking or suppression of a target is at times a necessity. Frustratingly, choosing the option to do so appears to be limited to when the game decides you may. There is also some opportunities to just stealth it a little, but ultimately almost every scenario heads into a shootout frenzy featuring plenty of enemies only to keen to have their lives extinguished.
The game also allows you to make choices at certain points of the game which basically come down to a “lesser of two evils” option – but they do add some level of replay-ability. The choices you make don’t appear to have much influence on the game itself and the only effect it has on morality is how your real world self feels about shooting a civilian over a soldier. Your partners simply appear to mutter about the vulgarity of war and what a bad person you are. They still appear only too happy to run into a hail of bullets for you.
The game does reach a moment when your decisions do mean something, and that’s right at the end after you’ve dragged yourself and your team through hell and back. I won’t ruin the story for you, but suffice to say, your decisions in the last chapter and the game’s epilogue will offer up around four different endings. Those endings and the story itself are really the core of the game. You will question your sanity and wonder how far you will go to achieve your goal. You will finish the game and actually feel a little dirty and have a deep connection with Captain Walker.
Visuals and Sound
The game is not going to win any awards for outstanding graphical achievements, but it certainly does manage to convey a great sense of desolation. Dubai looks ruined. The city lies under sand and when the game decides, you get battered by scripted sandstorms that make hitting targets a real challenge. The levels are an interesting mixture of (seemingly) open spaces and claustrophobic buildings.
Some of the cover is destructible, so hiding behind the collapsing wall crying like a coward is not really an option. It’s not quite Frostbite 2.0 in action, but it certainly keeps you on your toes.
The voice acting is generally very good – it had to be to complement the story. The atmosphere generated by the environmental sound effects (think a slightly poor man’s Battlefield 3) and music is top class too. The echoing gunshots in an empty building at one point really had me completely immersed in the game. Even the typical banter between the three comrades-in-arms was more bearable than normal – I usually find the buddy talk annoying and cheesy in most games. The fact that the relationships become more strained as the game goes on and that the dialogue reflects it so well is another triumph.
Final thoughts
Spec Ops The Line is a good game. It probably gets the most important thing right – a good story that really sucks you in. All other aspects of the game are competent. Heck, they’re more than competent. In fact it’s a very good game. Dubai in a sandstorm is definitely worth a visit – even when everyone is shooting at you.
Zombiegamer rating:
