Reviews Videogame / Spec Ops The Line

Done better in Apocalypse Now

As far as being a deep game goes: it’s okay. Most of the game in the 2nd to last parts are basically chastising you for even playing it, and the reveal of what happened to Konrad is interesting, but it’s been done to death before in other media including video games. They try desperately to make you feel sorry for what the game is making you do, and pass it off as an intellectually honest critique of gaming. And while I do have a problem with power fantasy characters: I think that there are other stories like The Watchmen and Wanted that do the subject better. Walker is voiced amazingly by Nolan North, and the rest of the cast is well acted as well. I just don’t think the game is as smart as it claims it is. The gameplay itself is standard, boring 3rd person shooting with cover mechanics. The setting itself being the most interesting part of the game and the soundtrack being largely standard (albeit with a few gems like The Black Angels and Mogwai) rock music that fits a war story setting. The main issue I have is the narrative and how it forces you to do things because it wants to scold you for doing them. People like to claim that Walker is the main villain, but everyone that’s in Dubai are worse than Walker. The 33rd, Konrad, Riggs etc. Walker did a lot of messed up things in the story, but a lot of stuff had already happened at that point thanks to the 33rd, the CIA, and Konrad.

There’s a lot of dishonesty in the story that tries to paint you as the bad guy despite you being a leaf in the wind compared to everyone else.