History YMMV / SpecOpsTheLine

* AdaptationDisplacement: ''Spec Ops'' games were a line of obscure budget military shooters riding the coattails of ''VideoGame/DeltaForce'' with its Playstation versions surprisingly featuring squad-based gameplay predating ''Videogame/SocomUSNavySeals''. When ''The Line'' came out, ''Spec Ops'' was just a licensed IP of a FranchiseZombie.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The sheer amounts of SceneryPorn are inspiring. It's no wonder [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee]] likes the game so much. It has its share of grays and browns, but the base palette largely consists of bright oranges and yellows, the sky is regularly visible and bright blue, and the interiors of the lavish buildings that line Dubai are ''gorgeous'', with vivid colors in both warm and cool shades applied to obscenely wealthy but ruined villas and {{Creator/Banksy}}-style artistic renderings by the locals. [[RealIsBrown Real doesn't have to be brown]], even in gritty war shooters.

* BrokenAesop:
** [[http://metavideogame.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/the-shadow-line/ The game has been criticized]] for its anti-violence message, which is subverted by continuing to allow the player to kill enemies with executions and live burial by sand, even after the game tries to hammer the moral home with [[spoiler:the player/Walker mass-murdering civilians and proceeds to really rip into the player.]] Or course, at no point is the player obligated to execute enemies, and the times where use of sand is absolutely necessary to progress are few.
** The achievement system in the game, along with the multiplayer mode, have also been criticized as glorifying violence, though these were included due to a publisher mandate rather than an artistic decision on the development team's part. The creators themselves have express disdain toward the multiplayer mode for this reason, along with the fact that they didn't think it was necessary to begin with. However, all these achievement icons have very non-militaristic "player" images on them to drive the irony home.

* AdaptationDisplacement: ''Spec Ops'' games were a line of obscure budget military shooters riding the coattails of ''VideoGame/DeltaForce'' with its Playstation versions surprisingly featuring squad-based gameplay predating ''Videogame/SOCOMUSNavySeals''. When ''The Line'' came out, ''Spec Ops'' was just a licensed IP of a FranchiseZombie.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0mC__bGcmM Truth Revealed]], a slow and somber piece that plays as [[spoiler:Walker finally gets a reality check from his ''massive'' SanitySlippage. It begins to pick up in intensity with guitars as Walker and the Plater are given the choice to shoot himself or the *Imaginary* Konrad]].

* CultClassic: One of the most ''infamous'' examples in video game history. It was a commercial flop as it was released during a time where the video game genre was absolutely ''saturated'' in generic military FPS. However, Yager Development ''knew'' it could not compete, so instead, they gambled on the idea that their game will live on years after its release through word-of-mouth. True enough, the game's ''infamy'' meant that Spec Ops: The Line became a CultClassic with a dedicated fanbase trying to nitpick any symbolism the game had hid throughout the years. It is telling that the game is still talked about, a ''decade'' after it came out, whereas most shooters of its time, ''including the likes of Modern Warfare 3'', faded into obscurity.

* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler:Amazingly for such a dark game, this trope ends up being ''inverted'' in a majority of the endings. The loading screens would imply that it rains after Walker and Konrad's "confrontation". Given the fact that the water supply was destroyed by Walker's actions, the arrival of fresh water from the rain this would at least give the people of Dubai a bit of a chance to survive by the time reinforcements actually show up. There are, however, several strong suggestions that most or all of the game's endings are hallucinations or otherwise not real.]]

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The game was advertised as a fairly standard military shooter, though it is emphatically not one, because it would be impossible to come up with an appealing way to advertise what the game really ''is'' to the people it was intended for (ie. those who are close fans of the genre). From the dev's point of view, the advertisements [[GoneHorriblyRight were too effective at deceiving everyone]]; lots of players judged the game on the merits they would judge a typical war shooter, while the sort of gamer who would value its dark plot and innovative narrative style would be turned off by it ''looking'' just like every other shooter [[FollowTheLeader following the leader]].

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Say what you will about [[TheSociopath The Radioman]], but he has ''impeccable'' taste in music. The sheer SoundtrackDissonance of clearing room after room of insurgents in the second chapter as "Hush" by Music/DeepPurple plays over the loudspeakers is sublime, especially if you look at it as a deconstruction of the same type of scene playing out unironically in a normal military shooter, or as a homage to the [[SignatureScene helicopter scene]] in ''Film/ApocalypseNow''. Speaking of helicopters, there's also the part where he starts blasting "Dies Irae Verdi" as an attack chopper tries to mow Walker down.

* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: As is probably evident from Website/ThisVeryWiki, this game's story is just about the only thing worth remembering. It's no accident that the [[MisbegottenMultiplayerMode multiplayer mode]], which features no narrative elements whatsoever (and wasn't even designed by the development team behind the single-player mode), is the single worst-received part of the game.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** The infamous white phosphorus scene is generally considered to have aged poorly due to how the game forces you to do it, [[BlamedForBeingRailroaded despite its condemnation of you doing so and acting like you had another option]]. Games after this truly gave you a choice other than "just turn off the game", or even forced you to ''[[EarnYourBadEnding work]]'' for your bad outcome, and situations where you're encouraged to do something bad but are able to avoid it is something that's praised instead. Amusingly, ''Spec Ops'' does have this: near the end of the game, you're encouraged to [[spoiler:shoot into a crowd of civilians harassing you]], but there's a way to avoid doing this instead by [[spoiler:shooting into the air or sand]].
** ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' writer Anthony Burch once noted that the trend of "this violent video game is about how you're a bad person for playing violent video games" had become rather excessive in the years following the release of ''Spec Ops: The Line'', to the point the theme was starting to become obnoxious. The first person to film themselves urinating on an image of Jesus might be an artist, but the 10th person to do it is just an asshole.

** This game is often called a rebuttal or deconstruction of the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series. People saying this seem to think COD is a jingoistic shooter where AmericaSavesTheDay, instead of a series about how WarIsHell where you don't even play as Americans a lot of the time, and America sometimes just makes things worse. [[note]]In fact, ''all'' of the most popular MW protagonists are British.[[/note]]
*** ''Modern Warfare'' had the Marine campaign show that WarIsHell and ended it with [[spoiler: 30,000 soldiers dying as a nuke detonates. The player character (and a few others in the remake) crawl or shamble, shell-shocked, before dying from radiation poisoning]]. This game's white phosphorus scene is clearly supposed to be a {{deconstruction}} of the famous AC-130 sequence...which ''already'' focused on the DissonantSerenity of erasing infra-red signatures from the quiet and comfort of your aircraft, and how detached the operators are.

* EscapistCharacter: This game, like ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', deconstructs the concept of escapism. You first start the game as a generic [[EagleLand American]] special forces soldier, Captain Walker; who is brave, fearless, and shoots first before asking questions. His main goal to saving hostages later turns into [[spoiler: a sad, horrid [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Protagonist Journey to Villain]] plot. Because of Walker wanting to be the hero of his own story, he ends up killing his teammates and dooming the city of Dubai, along with all the civilians. Later on the game starts drawing comparisons between the player and Walker; that they attempt to live out power fantasies.

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:The fictionalized version of]] [[ColonelBadass Colonel John Konrad]] [[spoiler:that Captain Martin Walker made up in his head]] is [[spoiler:imagined as]] a crafty, ruthless, yet cultured and well meaning warlord who took control of Dubai after a failed evacuation, serving as the [[spoiler:"]][[BigBad villain]][[spoiler:" of Walker's hero fantasy]]. Konrad's voice gives Walker a "test" between [[SadisticChoice executing a thief or an insubordinate soldier]]. As Walker [[spoiler:commits atrocities, leading his men to their deaths]], Konrad [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech repeatedly condemns Walker]] while ostensibly forcing his hand, [[spoiler:leading to the deaths of his teammates. When Walker discovers the corpse of the real Konrad, the fictionalized one reveals himself to be a manifestation of Walker's conscience, which Walker blamed for his deeds. Forcing Walker to face the truth of his crimes, "Konrad" prepares Walker to [[GoMadFromTheRevelation kill himself]] as he breaks him down. Even if Walker resists this, a surviving Walker is left a miserable wreck of his former self]].

* VindicatedByHistory: Predicted by writer Walt Williams, who noted in an interview that the game's AudienceAlienatingPremise meant it was unlikely to ever be the sort of game with mass appeal but that word of mouth will eventually give the game the respect it deserves. It had enough of a following amongst certain gamers --usually those who seethe at the current trend of modern military shooters -- enough to have a book written on it. At the end of the 7th Console generation and while still controversial, the game has become acknowledged as a classic of that era and is considered to have one of the best story campaigns for any mainstream game, with some of the richest characterization, and it shows up in lists of best games ever due to its storytelling. The game even has a dedicated and enthusiastic fanbase who continue to theorize about the story and the game's messages to this day, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/SpecOpsTheLine/comments/p2efr2/dubai_madness_by_artstation_user_pino44io/ creates fanart]], and even created their [[https://www.moddb.com/games/spec-ops-the-line/mods own mods]] for the game.

** When Walker confronts [[spoiler: !imaginary!Konrad at the end of the game]], the latter has just finished a painting of [[spoiler: the white phosphorus attack from earlier, depicting a mother and her child burning to death]]. After getting a good look at the painting, Walker promptly accuses [[spoiler: Konrad of goading him into causing the attack]], to which [[spoiler: Konrad]] responds by stating that [[spoiler: it was Walker's own doing]]. Their exchange is a direct reference to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_(Picasso) a Picasso painting]] which was created after said artist's hometown was bombed during the Second World War. He was living in Nazi-occupied Paris at the time and it is alleged that a German officer, upon seeing a picture of the painting in his apartment, asked: "Did you do that?", to which Picasso responded: "No, you did."

* EscapistCharacter: This game, like ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', deconstructs the concept of escapism. You first start the game as generic, [[EagleLand American]] soldier, Captain Walker; who is brave, fearless, and shoots first before asking questions. His main goal to saving hostages later turns into [[spoiler: a sad, horrid [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Protagonist Journey to Villain]] plot. Because of Walker wanting to be the hero of his own story, he ends up killing his teammates and dooming the city of Dubai, along with all the civilians. Later on the game starts drawing comparisons between the player and Walker. Players who play modern military shooters as Power Fantasies]].

* AngstWhatAngst: After the [[spoiler:white phosphorus incident]], Adams is clearly disturbed and Lugo begins freaking out. Walker, on the other hand, has no outward reaction, which flabbergasts Adams. [[spoiler:Key word being "outward": [[AvertedTrope the guilt of it drives him to insanity and causes him to start hallucinating]].]] And given Walker's position in the chain-of-command, this also makes sense. Everything he said in that calm, cold tone after the incident was completely accurate -- if the group didn't move from their position, it ''would'' only be a matter of time before other forces converged on their position. [[spoiler:Keeping on the move will also help him avoid reflecting on what he just did]]. Pragmatism at its most disturbing.

** It's easy to find the game directly criticizing the player for engaging with it as being a bit sanctimonious and even [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]], so many prefer to ignore this angle and view the story as more a self-contained character-driven tragedy rather than a metatextual condemning of the genre itself.

* AcclaimedFlop: It was critically acclaimed by both critics and players for its incredible deconstruction of the Military FPS genre and its mindfuck-levels of psychological horror. But it was a commercial failure. This was slightly downplayed since Yager Development ''expected'' the game to not do well; instead relying on word-of-mouth. In the end, their strategy worked, as Spec Ops is still talked about ''to this day'' and became CultClassic as a result.

** It's easy to find the game directly criticizing the player for engaging with it as being a bit sanctimonious, so many prefer to ignore this angle and view the story as more a self-contained character-driven tragedy rather than a metatextual condemning of the genre itself.

** Bizarrely enough, the game that helped start the trend of TakeCover (that ''Spec Ops'' uses as a framework), ''kill.switch'', had a YouBastard undertone and explored player agency. The player character was a faceless man working for a weapons corporation that profited by sending remotely controlled soldiers to start civil wars, and then selling weapons to both sides. You control one such soldier. [[spoiler:It's further highlighted by the player character's callous dialogue and eventual death by a third party, who gives the soldier the PC had been controlling free will... and a chance to end the corporation that had been controlling him.]]

* AcclaimedFlop: It was critically acclaimed by both critics and players for its incredibly deconstruction of the Military FPS genre and its mindfuck-levels of psychological horror. But it was a commercial failure. This was slightly downplayed since Yager Development ''expected'' the game to not do well; instead relying on word-of-mouth. In the end, their strategy worked, as Spec Ops is still talked about ''to this day'' and became CultClassic as a result.

** This game is often called a rebuttal or deconstruction of the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series. People saying this seem to think COD is a jingoistic shooter where AmericaSavesTheDay, instead of a series about how WarIsHell where you don't even play as Americans a lot of the time, and America sometimes just makes things worse. ''Modern Warfare'' had the Marine campaign show that WarIsHell and ended it with [[spoiler: 30,000 soldiers dying as a nuke detonates. The player character (and a few others in the remake) crawl or shamble, shell-shocked, before dying from radiation poisoning]]. Even the AC-130 sequence, which the white phosphorus scene is clearly a {{Deconstruction}} of, already focused on the DissonantSerenity of erasing infra-red signatures from the quiet and comfort of your aircraft. ''Modern Warfare 2'' was criticized for beating the player over the head with death quotes about excessive nationalism and the protagonists eventually turning out to be British SAS fighting [[spoiler:an American nationalist, killing goons that are implied to be American special forces]], and in ''Modern Warfare 3'', a heroic Russian helps the SAS into [[spoiler:killing the mastermind behind it all... who was funded by said American ultranationalist.]] ''Black Ops'' explored the murky morality of the titular operations, and put the lead character's sanity and {{Determinator}} tendencies into question.

** Some argue that the ''Modern Warfare'' series ''already'' covered some of the themes in this game, and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'' became a meme for its {{Anvilicious}} death screen quotes about excessive nationalism, much like this game's loading screen quotes. Also, [[spoiler:the main villains on ''both'' sides of the conflict commit horrible atrocities out of fanaticism, much like Walker.]]