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Yu Ominae · 2010-01-24, 21:37

Upcoming game for the PS3, Windows and Xbox 360 in part to revive the Spec Ops Line.

Story:

Quote:

Dubai was hit by a series of massive sandstorms, leaving the UAE's well-known city in a pile of sand. One of the people left behind by John Conrad, a US Army Colonel who stayed behind to protect local and foreign residents of Dubai as the sandstorms came in with a squad of men under his command when they refuse to leave after a majority of the residents have evacuated.

After a weak transmission from a distress signal was found, a Delta Force unit led by Captain Martin Walker was deployed in to what is left of Dubai in order to figure out if anyone is alive, locate Colonel Konrad and his men and assess if they are still alive or not and figure out the mystery of the sandstorms.

The plot somehow reminds me of Hokuto no Ken since you need to fight outlaws that have settled in almost all of Dubai.

Official Website

Basically, you have a three-man squad with each of their own specialties. In addition, the sand can be a friend of a foe. The player-controlled commando can also fight by blind firing.

Spoiler for Sand stuff.:

Yu Ominae · 2011-10-02, 19:21

News

Old now, but the game has been only officially banned in UAE due to the story.

Hm.

Skane · 2012-07-20, 05:56

Quite surprised to not see a thread about this gem of a game yet. Probably because at first glance it looks to be your typical FPS game? Well, I assure you, it is not.

I don't normally play FPS unless it has a compelling story, and this is something SO:TL has. I can't say much without spoiling the story too much, especially with regards to the multiple possible endings (yes, endings. Not blue, green and red, but apples and oranges), but people really need to play more games like these if only to stem the tide of cookie-cutters in terms of single-player plotlines.

The last game to make me question my decisions was Mass Effect 1 when I had to choose between Kaiden or Ashley. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. What will you choose?

Cheers.

RRW · 2012-07-20, 07:12

i watch total biscuit video . it seem it portray brutal version of war instead usual you vs enemy.

i quite interesting and refreshing probably will buy later if i have time

Kyero Fox · 2012-07-20, 07:20

I heard the gameplay sucks, so i just watched the cutscenes.

grylsyjaeger · 2012-07-20, 07:38

Spec Ops was great.

I thought the game play was fun and I really enjoyed the gun fighting.

The pure brutality of the game was very well done and I honestly felt sick at times from the decisions I (in)directly made at times.

And believe me, you'll leave well aware the effects White Phosphorous has on human beings by the game's end.

Spoiler for Plot:

Gamer_2k4 · 2012-07-25, 10:08

I haven't beaten the game yet (somewhere around Chapter 13-15 right now), but so far I'm just not impressed. SO:TL tries to excuse mediocre gameplay with a stunning and compelling story. Unfortunately, because it fails as a game, it also fails as a storytelling device.

Spoiler for examples:

I could list other examples, but suffice it to say that the game treats the player and the character of Walker as two separate entities. Some people find this unexpected and complex. I find this stupid and annoying. My issue isn't with a character doing something I'm opposed to; some of the best characters in any medium are thorough unlikable. My issue is with the protagonist in a GAME being treated as something other than an avatar of the player. When you punish me for things that are out of my control, you force a disconnect between me and my character. That disconnect goes against the fundamental purpose of a game: to provide appropriate response to my stimulus. How would you like it if a character in an RPG started using a different weapon than you gave him? How would you like it if your player in Madden started running around in circles instead of obeying the inputs you provided? It wouldn't be fun, would it.

If SO:TL wants to be an engine for a dramatic and compelling story, it has to succeed first at being what it is: a game. Perhaps this is an odd gripe to have, but the fact that there can be difficulty in getting from cutscene to cutscene (often fake difficulty, like having an obviously teleporting enemy attack you while strobe lights are going) means that SO:TL still considers itself a game of some sort, and not just a story. However, because the disconnect between game and story is so drastic, you're left frustrated at both.

Because of this, Special Ops: The Line is objectively not a good game.

Skane · 2012-07-25, 19:06

Hmm, that's quite a different perspective. I'm no expert at FPS-es since they're not usually my favourite choice of genre, and I played SO:TL on Normal Difficulty and found it to be much easier than other FPS-es that I have played before? That Heavy you mentioned, I killed him on my first try.

The mortar issue is quite a common complaint though, I will concede on that, although it wasn't an issue for me because I went the pragmatic route on my first playthrough and didn't consider alternatives.

The other scenarios though, like "The Test" were quite engaging, in the ways you could play it out.

Cheers.

2011-10-02, 19:21	Link #2
Yu Ominae ARCAM Spriggan agent Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Coquitlam, BC, Canada/Quezon City, Philippines	News Old now, but the game has been only officially banned in UAE due to the story. Hm. __________________ Even if we were at odds with each other, I still thank you for training me, Instructor Bowman - Yu Ominae, reflecting on Bowman's death after killing him in Phantom Island

2012-07-20, 05:56	Link #3
Skane Anime Snark Join Date: May 2006 Location: Singapore Age: 41	Spec Ops: The Line Quite surprised to not see a thread about this gem of a game yet. Probably because at first glance it looks to be your typical FPS game? Well, I assure you, it is not. I don't normally play FPS unless it has a compelling story, and this is something SO:TL has. I can't say much without spoiling the story too much, especially with regards to the multiple possible endings (yes, endings. Not blue, green and red, but apples and oranges), but people really need to play more games like these if only to stem the tide of cookie-cutters in terms of single-player plotlines. The last game to make me question my decisions was Mass Effect 1 when I had to choose between Kaiden or Ashley. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. What will you choose? Cheers. __________________ Hearthstone Battletag: Skane#1425 [Can't GIF This], [Jail's House of Rock], [Kanon In The Snow], [She Ain't Dead Yet... She's In Quantum], [She Stabs] Founder of "The Cult of Psycho-Moe", Member of "ARIA the Social Group" & the "Belkan Saint Church".

2012-07-20, 07:20	Link #5
Kyero Fox Tastes Cloudy Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Snake Way Age: 35	I heard the gameplay sucks, so i just watched the cutscenes. __________________

2012-07-20, 07:38	Link #6
grylsyjaeger Onani Master Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The girl's bathroom Age: 34	Spec Ops was great. I thought the game play was fun and I really enjoyed the gun fighting. The pure brutality of the game was very well done and I honestly felt sick at times from the decisions I (in)directly made at times. And believe me, you'll leave well aware the effects White Phosphorous has on human beings by the game's end. Spoiler for Plot: Loved the whole Fight Club "I hate when I'm looking for Tyler Durden, and it turns out I'm Tyler Durden" approach. I replayed the later half of the game when I finished it and it's so obvious now. Your men look at you puzzled when you're seemingly talking to Konrad but play along. And I admit, when those civilians killed my squad mate, I opened up on them with my SAW... And it felt good. __________________ "It doesn't mean much, we never had a chance."

2012-07-25, 10:08	Link #7
Gamer_2k4 Anime Cynic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: USA Age: 35	I haven't beaten the game yet (somewhere around Chapter 13-15 right now), but so far I'm just not impressed. SO:TL tries to excuse mediocre gameplay with a stunning and compelling story. Unfortunately, because it fails as a game, it also fails as a storytelling device. Spoiler for examples: Consider the part of the game where you bomb out an area with a phosphorus mortar. The game acts like you're a terrible person for doing that, having your squadmates scream at you and forcing you to march through the carnage afterward. Only problem is, it's not actually your decision. The rappelling lines are disabled until you use the mortar (meaning you can't go down and try to just shoot or bypass everyone), and if you use your rifle from that vantage point, you can literally watch enemies spawn to replace the ones you kill. I understand the game holding it against you if you just took the easy way out, but that's not what happened. What happened is that the game made a decision for you and tried to make you feel bad about it. I'm not going to be moved by something I had no control over. Or, consider another example: the time you fight your first Heavy. Leading up to the battle area, the game forces you to walk (and actually disables running) through an alley of dead and dying people, only to have you emerge and see about a half dozen people on fire burning to death. The first time through, you might think, "Oh! The horrors of war!" like the game wants. However, since this is your first encounter with a Heavy, you'll probably die a few times. Is the checkpoint after the burning people? Nope, it's before the alley. In other words, every time you die, you have to watch all that again. By the third or fourth time, that ceases to be profound and becomes annoying. Add to that the fact that you can't actually shoot the burning people to quicken their passing (I've tried), and it's clear that the game is willing to disrupt gameplay for the sake of proving their tired point. That's not okay with me. I could list other examples, but suffice it to say that the game treats the player and the character of Walker as two separate entities. Some people find this unexpected and complex. I find this stupid and annoying. My issue isn't with a character doing something I'm opposed to; some of the best characters in any medium are thorough unlikable. My issue is with the protagonist in a GAME being treated as something other than an avatar of the player. When you punish me for things that are out of my control, you force a disconnect between me and my character. That disconnect goes against the fundamental purpose of a game: to provide appropriate response to my stimulus. How would you like it if a character in an RPG started using a different weapon than you gave him? How would you like it if your player in Madden started running around in circles instead of obeying the inputs you provided? It wouldn't be fun, would it. If SO:TL wants to be an engine for a dramatic and compelling story, it has to succeed first at being what it is: a game. Perhaps this is an odd gripe to have, but the fact that there can be difficulty in getting from cutscene to cutscene (often fake difficulty, like having an obviously teleporting enemy attack you while strobe lights are going) means that SO:TL still considers itself a game of some sort, and not just a story. However, because the disconnect between game and story is so drastic, you're left frustrated at both. Because of this, Special Ops: The Line is objectively not a good game. __________________

2012-07-25, 19:06	Link #8
Skane Anime Snark Join Date: May 2006 Location: Singapore Age: 41	Hmm, that's quite a different perspective. I'm no expert at FPS-es since they're not usually my favourite choice of genre, and I played SO:TL on Normal Difficulty and found it to be much easier than other FPS-es that I have played before? That Heavy you mentioned, I killed him on my first try. The mortar issue is quite a common complaint though, I will concede on that, although it wasn't an issue for me because I went the pragmatic route on my first playthrough and didn't consider alternatives. The other scenarios though, like "The Test" were quite engaging, in the ways you could play it out. Cheers. __________________ Hearthstone Battletag: Skane#1425 [Can't GIF This], [Jail's House of Rock], [Kanon In The Snow], [She Ain't Dead Yet... She's In Quantum], [She Stabs] Founder of "The Cult of Psycho-Moe", Member of "ARIA the Social Group" & the "Belkan Saint Church".