LogFAQs > #951500250

#4 Spec Ops: The Line (Playstation 3, 2012)



In general, I am not really into military-themed shooters. I have played a few and enjoyed them for what they are, but you haven't really seen them on my list. Spec Ops: The Line is not your average military shooter, although you couldn't tell that at first glance. It subverts a lot of your expectations about this type of game and ends up being something very unique. I will go into specific detail on this (and also the game's whole story) so if you ever want to play this game "un-spoiled" you should probably stop reading now. And maybe also a warning that the content of the game is pretty disturbing/dark, so read at your own risk. Although I guess even that is a spoiler, but that's the risk you take when reading about a game you haven't played yet! And I don't think any of the other presenters in this topic played this game.

This third-person shooter follows a trio of Delta Force operators in a near-future setting that has Dubai, UAE engulfed in an apocalyptic, never-ending sandstorm. They are sent to investigate the desertion and disappearance of a US Army battalion that was assisting the city with evacuation efforts. The leader of the Delta Force squad, Martin Walker, knows the battalion commander, Colonel Konrad, personally. It all starts off like a normal mission, with the trio fighting against local insurgents as they enter the city. Subsequently, Walker finds out the insurgents are being organized by CIA agents to fight against the remnants of the deserted Army battalion, and soon after the squad are targeted by the deserters. Disobeying orders to leave the city, Walker starts a personal war against Konrad and his army.



As the game progresses, Walker commits increasingly worse atrocities in his vendetta against Konrad, and gradually descends into madness. All the while, Konrad taunts Walker over a two-way radio. The more horrible his actions, the more he blames them on Konrad, and the more he loses the trust of his squad, although they continue to follow his orders. Eventually he completely loses the ability to discern reality from his disturbing hallucinations, and the last act of the game takes on a surreal nightmare-like quality. Finally, after his squad is killed, and after a violent last stand that sees almost every last person in Dubai dead, Walker reaches Konrad's headquarters and the remaining deserters surrender. When he enters Konrad's office, he finds Konrad's long-deceased corpse. Turns out that Konrad killed himself long ago and Walker had been imagining their conversations the whole time. This moment of lucidity is capped when Walker sees Konrad's ghost who explains that all the despicable atrocities that Walker blamed on Konrad were all his fault. Walker either accepts responsibility and commits suicide, or kills Konrad's ghost and continues living alone in Dubai in a PTSD-induced denial.



There are a number of things that make the game unique. The third-person perspective is unusual for military shooters, but it allows the player to get a better sense of Walker's condition and his emotions throughout the game. As I said before, at the start, it's all very standard stuff; typical army procedure and banter among the squad in their clean uniforms, fighting against Middle-Eastern insurgents. As the story moves forward, the squad becomes disorderly, their appearance is more rough, and their attitudes turn desperate. By the end, they have abandoned all pretense of civility, covered in blood and wounds, constantly screaming and cursing at each other and their enemies. It's curious to see Walker, who was the calm and collected leader at the start of the game, become someone who can brutally execute a fellow US solider while shouting "Fuck you!"



(continued on next post...)

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