Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line
Developer(s)	Yager Development
Publisher(s)	2K Games
Distributor(s)	Take-Two Interactive
Director(s)	Cory Davis François Coulon
Producer(s)	Tarl Raney
Designer(s)	Cory Davis
Programmer(s)	Hendrik Hoenicke André Dittrich
Artist(s)	Mathias Wiese Jason Flanagan
Writer(s)	Walt Williams Richard Pearsey
Composer(s)	Elia Cmíral
Series	Spec Ops
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows OS X Linux PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 NA June 26, 2012 WW June 29, 2012 OS X WW November 7, 2013 Linux WW May 14, 2015
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Spec Ops: The Line is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed by the German studio Yager Development and published by 2K Games. It was released on 26 June 2012 in North America and 29 June 2012 internationally for Microsoft Windows, and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. It was ported to OS X and Linux in 2013 and 2015 respectively. It is the eleventh title and a reboot in the Spec Ops series, and the first entry since Spec Ops: Airborne Commando in 2002. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 3.

In the game, the player controls Captain Martin Walker, who is sent into a post-catastrophe Dubai with an elite Delta Force team on a reconnaissance mission, where as the game progresses, Walker began experiencing hallucinations and slowly realized the horror of war. In the game, players can hide behind cover, vault over obstacles and shoot enemies with a variety of gadgets. Sands is also a key gameplay mechanic and can be manipulated to defeat enemies. Throughout the game, players will be tasked to make various morally grey decisions. An online multiplayer mode, developed by Darkside Game Studios, is included with the game, allowing players to engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay.

Yager started the game's development in 2007. The team took inspirations from various media including Hearts of Darkness and Apocalypse Now for the game's setting and story framework. The game was also designed to be "physically opposing" so that they can make players to question their precedent thoughts about treating war in video game as entertainment. The game suffered from multiple delays as the team used this period of time to refine the story and increase gameplay's pace. The game's soundtracks is a mix between licensed music and original soundtrack composed by Elia Cmíral.

Video game critics gave Spec Ops: The Line generally positive reviews. Praise focused on its narrative and themes, while criticism was targeted particularly at the online multiplayer mode and generic third person gameplay. Spec Ops: The Line was a commercial failure and failed to gain the attention publisher 2K Games hoped for, but it was nominated for several end-of-the year awards. Yager declared that there would not be a sequel to the game. The game was banned in United Arab Emirates due to the game's depiction of Dubai in a state of destruction.

Gameplay

Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter that follows Captain Martin Walker, who is on a mission to rescue the civilians in Dubai, which is attacked by sandstorms. The player can select from four different difficulty levels: Walk on the Beach, Combat Op, Suicide Mission and FUBAR. They can only gain access to the FUBAR difficulty after they completed the game with the Suicide Mission difficulty.^[1] Various new weapons and equipment become available as play progresses, some dropped by downed enemies.^[2] These include several different rifles, handguns, and machine guns, some with alternate firing modes, like attaching a suppressor or using a telescopic sight;^[3] as well as grenade launchers, hand grenades,^[4] and turrets.^[5] Supply caches can be found in different parts of the game, allowing the player to refill their ammo and grenades.^[6] The player can only carry two weapons at a time,^[7] and when they successfully headshot an enemy, the game enters slow-motion for a short period of time. The player can also defeat enemies at close range via melee combat. Dying enemies can be further executed, which grants the player additional ammo.^[8] Hiding behind covers can provide the player protection and prevent damage, as well as granting them opportunities to blindfire or lean out to shoot enemies.^[9]

While players can only play as Walker throughout the game, they can issue commands to Sargent Lugo and Lieutenant Adams, who accompany the player for most part of the game. Commands available include focusing fire on one particular target and ordering medical attention for an injured squad member. Adams can defeat enemies through heavy gadgets or touting grenades, while Lugo provides sniping assistance.^[5] As the game is set in Dubai, sand become one of the game's gameplay mechanics. Players can manipulate sands at scripted moments in the game, such as triggering a sand avalanche to bury enemies alive.^[10][11] When a grenade explodes on sand, dust clouds that can blind enemies are formed.^[5] Sand sometimes open up new paths for players to progress in the game.^[12] Environmental hazards like sandstorms occasionally occur, drastically lowering the players' visibility.^[13]

The player need to make morally grey decisions^[14] at certain points of the game, including making choices that determine the fate of both soldiers and civilians. These decisions affect the relationship between Walker and his squad mates, and will lead them to react differently.^[15] The game has several subtle effects as the team loses their sanity, with Walker having visual and auditory hallucinations, and his executions of enemies becoming more violent, his team orders and shouts becoming increasingly angry and ragged versus his original stern command voice and kill confirmations of enemies degrading from professional in the beginning to psychotic.^[16] Similarly, loading screens initially display helpful gameplay hints to the player, but as the game progresses, the texts become increasingly hostile towards the actions of Walker, and by sometimes breaking the fourth wall, addressing the player directly.^[17] The game features collectibles known as Intel, which are audio logs that provide additional backstory for players.^[18]

Multiplayer

Spec Ops: The Line features both co-operative multiplayer and competitive multiplayer mode. Set before the events of the campaign, the competitive multiplayer divides players into two different teams: The Exiles and The Damned.^[19] Both teams have their respective perks. Six classes are available for players to choose: Gunner, Medic, Scavenger, Breacher, Sniper and Officer. Each have their own upgrades and advantages.^[20] Environmental hazards, including sandstorms, may also occur during a multiplayer match.^[21] The game modes featured in the game include:^[1]

• Chaos: Chaos is a free-for-all mode, which tasks players to eliminate opposing players.
• Mutiny: Mutiny is a team deathmatch mode which tasks a team of players to eliminate the opposing team.
• Rally Point: Rally point is a King of the Hill styled match, which tasks players to secure a rally point and accumulate scores for their team.
• Uplink: Both teams are tasked to capture a central rally point, and disable the opposing team's COM Station to prevent them from receiving points.
• Attrition: In Attrition, players engaged in three team elimination rounds with only one life and no respawn.
• Buried: A team of players is tasked to destroy opposing team's Vital Points, which reveal their High Value Target. Players are tasked to eliminate opposing team's target in order to win the match.

A co-operative mode is added to the game upon its launch. It supports two players and features four missions. Players are tasked to defeat waves of enemies and completed a series of objectives, similar to a horde mode. Similar to the competitive multiplayer mode, the cooperative mode shared a similar premise, serving as a prequel to the main campaign.^[22]

Synopsis

Setting

Six months prior to the game, the worst series of dust storms in recorded history began across Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dubai's politicians and wealthy elite downplayed the situation before evacuating in secret, leaving countless Emiratis and foreign migrant workers behind. Colonel John Konrad (Bruce Boxleitner), the decorated but post-traumatic stress disorder-troubled commander of the fictional "Damned 33rd" Infantry Battalion of the United States Army, was returning home with his unit from Afghanistan when the storms struck. Konrad volunteered the Damned 33rd to help the relief efforts, then deserted with the entire unit when ordered to abandon the city and its refugees. As the storms intensified, a massive storm wall engulfed Dubai for miles, disrupting surveillance and communication, air travel, and all but the strongest radio broadcasts. The 33rd later returned to Dubai as an occupying force and committed atrocities against the civilian population with the intent of maintaining order. Aggrieved by this, elements of the 33rd staged a coup d’etat against Konrad in protest, forming the exiles. The CIA black ops unit has been organizing the insurgents to attack both Konrad’s loyalist 33rd and the exiles. The 33rd declared martial law, and struggled to maintain order amid 80 mph winds, riots, and dwindling resources. The last communication from Dubai stated that the 33rd was attempting to lead a caravan out of the city. The caravan never arrived, and soon afterwards the UAE declared Dubai a no-man's-land. All travel to the city was barred, the 33rd was publicly disavowed for treason, and no further news left the city.

Two weeks before the beginning of the game, a looped radio signal penetrated the wall. Its message was brief; “This is Colonel John Konrad, United States Army. Attempted evacuation of Dubai ended in complete failure. Death toll: too many.” The United States military decides to covertly send in a three-man Delta Force team to carry out reconnaissance. The team, consisting of Captain Martin Walker (Nolan North), Lieutenant Alphanso Adams (Christopher Reid), and Staff Sergeant John Lugo (Omid Abtahi), are told to confirm the statuses of Konrad and any survivors, then radio for extraction.

Plot

The game begins in medias res with Walker, Adams and Lugo aboard a helicopter piloted by Adams, flying over a half-buried Dubai. Other helicopters begin to chase them, which Walker attempts to dispatch with the helicopter's minigun. However, a sudden sandstorm causes the helicopter to crash in the desert.

The story jumps back to the beginning. Walker, Adams and Lugo traverses the storm wall through to the outskirts of a mostly-buried Dubai on foot. They come in contact with a group of hostile armed survivors, referred to as "insurgents", who have captured a squad of 33rd soldiers. Contradicting his orders, Walker elects to find out what has happened in the city. Throughout most of their journey, the team hears broadcasts on homemade speakers by the Radioman (Jake Busey), a former journalist turned DJ who speaks on the behalf of the 33rd. Walker and the team then learnt of the 33rd's and Konrad's atrocities Although there is now clear evidence against Konrad's virtue, but Walker inclines to trust Konrad as Konrad once saved Walker's life in Kabul during a war.^[23]

The team attempts to peacefully intervene when they come across refugees being rounded up by loyalist 33rd soldiers. However, the soldiers mistake them for CIA operatives and begin a firefight. The team then learns that a CIA agent, Daniels (Rick Pasqualone), has been captured by the 33rd and is being interrogated. Arriving to rescue Daniels, they discover that Daniels is dead and that it was a trap set for Gould (Chris Cox), another CIA agent.^[24] Gould is later captured and killed, but the team learns that they may get more information at a location called the Gate. Arriving at the Gate, the team uses a mortar loaded with white phosphorus to attack the 33rd, disregarding Lugo's objection.^[25] The team later realized that the 33rd were only providing shelter for civilians and the motor accidentally killed 47 civilians. Walker vows revenge on the 33rd, claiming that the 33rd had forced him to fire the phosphorus..^[26]

Walker finds a small handheld radio, via which Konrad begins questioning the morality of Walker's actions. Shortly afterwards, Konrad forces Walker to choose between executing an Emirati survivor or a 33rd soldier, both of which committed serious crimes.^[27] Subsequently, Delta finds CIA agent Jeff Riggs (Patrick Quinn), who is leading a raid on the Underwater Aquatic Coliseum, the city's last water supply. Learning that destroying it will cripple the 33rd's operations, the team aids Riggs. However, Riggs destroys the water trucks and revealed that he wanted to wipe out the entire remaining population of Dubai so that no one would learn of the 33rd's atrocities, which he feared would cause a full-scale war declared by the whole region. Riggs, injured and trapped after destroying the water supplies, died.^{[lower-alpha 1][28]}

The entire city will begin dying of dehydration within four days. To organize an evacuation, the team, which is now becoming increasingly hostile toward each other, heads to the Trans-Emirates Building to silence the Radioman and warn the city of an evacuation using the radio. The Radioman surrenders and is shot dead by Lugo.^[29] To leave the building, Adams commandeers a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, and is tasked by Walker to circle around the radio tower, allowing him to destroy it in hopes of making his intentions clear to Konrad. Other helicopters give chase, leading to the helicopter sequence, from the opening of the game (which Walker seems to remember) following which the helicopter crashes in the desert after a sudden sandstorm.

Upon waking up after the crash, Walker experiences a hallucination with the Burj Khalifa on fire. Upon reuniting with Adams in a crashed yacht, Lugo is found lynched by a mob of civilians. When attempts to resuscitate Lugo fail, Walker and Adams either scare the crowd away or kill them in retribution.^[30] Walker's hallucinations became nearly constant, and Adams is openly distrusting of his command. Walker and Adams make their way to the tower to confront Konrad, however Walker hallucinates Lugo as a Heavy. The two are soon surrounded by the last of Konrad's men. Walker attempts to surrender to get inside, but an enraged Adams insists on fighting to the death. Walker escapes at the last moment before falling unconscious in gunfire.^[31]

Awaking, he stumbles to the entrance of the tower and meets Konrad in his penthouse. At first, Konrad appears to be the paranoid, charismatic force behind the atrocities Walker was hoping for, until Walker finds his decaying corpse on the penthouse deck.^[32] Walker has been suffering from a dissociative disorder to rationalize the actions he has witnessed and carried out. The real Konrad had committed suicide before their arrival to Dubai, while the Konrad that Walker has been in contact with is actually a traumatic hallucination that none of his team saw or heard. This mental projection of Konrad appears to Walker, explaining that Walker knew he had the choice of stopping, but pushed ahead out of a desire to be a hero.^[33] To maintain his 'sanity' after the white phosphorus strike, many subsequent events in the game were distorted by Walker's mind to make Konrad look like the villain. With the truth in front of Walker, 'Konrad' tells him that he must confront the lie he has been living. Pointing a gun at Walker's head, 'Konrad' ordered Walker to make the decision of who is to blame for the events in Dubai, or he will shoot.^[34]

Endings

The Line has four possible endings. The player can choose to allow Konrad to shoot Walker, or to have Walker shoot himself. Both actions result in the first ending, which shows Walker's corpse next to Konrad's. Konrad's original broadcast then plays as the camera pans over the burning remnants of Dubai and fades to black.

The other three endings are accessed by having Walker shoot 'Konrad,' who disappears after telling Walker that he can still return home. Afterwards it is shown that the remnants of the 33rd who surrendered were also part of Walker's imagination. Walker uses Konrad's radio to request an immediate evacuation of Dubai. An epilogue after the credits shows a convoy of Army rescue Humvees locating a shellshocked Walker, who is sitting on steps near the Burj Khalifa wearing Konrad’s uniform and brandishing an AA-12. The player can either drop the weapon or open fire.

• If Walker drops his weapon, he then evacuates with the patrol. A soldier remarks that the unit has driven through the entire city looking for Walker and seen the shocking horror, brutality, and devastation of Dubai. When questioned about how he survived, Walker wearily replies, "Who said I did...?"
• If Walker is killed by the patrol, he is shown dying in a pool of his own blood while the patrol watches. Walker recalls a conversation between himself and the real Konrad during the War in Afghanistan where he casually remarked about returning home, to which Konrad replied, "Home? We can't go home. There's a line men like us have to cross. If we're lucky, we do what's necessary, and then we die. No... all I really want, Captain, is peace."
• If Walker manages to kill the entire patrol, he will pick up and use the patrol's radio saying, "Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai", which is one of the first statements Walker said to his team as well as one of the first statements 'Konrad' said to Walker. Walker then returns to the remains of the Burj Khalifa as the camera pans to a wide shot of the ruined city.

Development

Background

Following the release of several Spec Ops games in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the series was met with low sales and poor reviews, causing a halt to production of successive games. In 2003, Take-Two mentioned in their financial results that Rockstar Games was working on the franchise but in 2004 the project was canceled.^[35][36] It was later revealed that Rockstar Vancouver was the developer of the canned project^[37] with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme developing the soundtrack for the game.^[38]

From 2005 to 2009, the series remained largely unmentioned, with the rights belonging to Take-Two Interactive. In 2006, German-based Yager Development pitched a cover-based shooter concept for publisher 2K Games. 2K rejected their original vision, which featured futuristic soldiers and did not have Dubai as a setting,^[39] and offered them a chance to develop a reboot for the Spec Ops series, promising to them that they will have a lot of creative freedom. Development of the game was begun in early 2007, with most elements of their original games intact.^[40] While the game is an installment in the Spec Ops series, the team intentionally avoided using the existing elements of the franchise and chose to create new ideas.^[41]

Narrative design

The game took inspiration from multiple media. The set-up and story's foundation was inspired by Hearts of Darkness, whose story reveals the changes of a person in chaotic times.^[42] The relationship between Walker and his squadmates was inspired by HBO's Generation Kill, and the post-war traumatic experience suffered by Walker was inspired by Jacob's Ladder.^[43] The story of Tower of Babel was also an inspiration for the game.^[44] The story was originally set to be written by several German writers, but they were later replaced by American writers Richard Pearsey, who had worked on TimeGate Studios' Section 8,^[39] and and Walt Williams, who had previously worked on other 2K projects including BioShock 2 and Mafia II, as Yager believed that the two American writers are more capable of understanding the art of the language. The team also consulted Wil Makeneole for military advice.^[45] One of the game's core goal is to features violence, but the team hoped that it would not be "cheesy" or excessive. This led the team to put lots of focus on creating the game's story, so as to give motivations for players for the actions they have done.^[40] According to Williams, writing the story for the game had became uncomfortable and rough for him as time progressed due to the game's dark themes.^[46]

The game was designed to be a third-person shooter so that players can see the three characters' changes and "evolution" as the game progresses, and that the perspective differentiates the game from others shooters in the market.^[47] According to Williams, the game was meant to feature narrative gameplay, in which the game was to be played without any cutscene and the entire story would be told through gameplay sequences only. However, the idea was scrapped as the team realized that having cut scenes helps players to be more emotionally connected and allows the team to create dramatic scripted sequences.^[43]

Although the lead player character, Martin Walker, was designed to be as simple as possible in order to help players to engage in the game and relate to the character,^[39][43] the team added some personality for him, expressed through his body language and his own reaction during battles present in the game, so that he can reflect emotions to players, making players to share the emotion he has in the game.^[43] The squad was designed to be typical character's archetype so that rooms were left for character development.^[46] The transformation of the squad's mentality serves as an important plot device in the game and has a significant narrative context in the game. The changes in the cleanliness of their clothing and their reaction towards each other help to reflect the story.^[47][48] According to Williams, they hoped that players will start the game with a relatively low expectation or considered the game another typical heroic war shooter,^[39] then by seeing the transformation of these characters, they will be shocked by the game's narrative and be "engulfed by the darkness".^[48] To make the transformation process clear, the team found it necessary to show the personality of the characters at the beginning of the game in order to create a strong contrast.^[49] Gameplay is also a plot device and is tied to the game's narrative, as players can choose to execute enemies, which reflects the brutality and horror of war.^[47][49]

According to Williams, he believed that most games in the market failed to create a correct representation of the war experience, or express the psychological changes that some combatants may experience after participating in a war. He further added that a war is not as straightforward and immature as it is portrayed in various shooters. As a result, the game's theme centers around the moral aspect of war. By using this theme, they team hoped to tell a story and an experience that feels realistic, covering the combatant's mental changes during and after a military conflict, similar to how the movies in the 1970s and 1980s, such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now convey these messages.^[43] The team also had the intention to give players the opportunity to show that a shooter can also have a decent story that can invoke emotions.^[50] To achieve this, the team simplified their original story setting of having Konrad as a "megalomaniac with messianic delusions" to a setting that is more similar to Hearts of Darkness.^[50]

Spec Ops: The Line also features choices for players to make. According to Williams, it was the game's key concept since the beginning of the game's development. The game does not feature a morality system, and instead has "moments" and "situations" that give players some freedom. Some choices were made not apparent in an attempt to make them more realistic and encourage players to explore the other potential options and think about the consequences that these choices may bring. According to Williams, these choices were inspired by Fallout 3^[39] and are often between "what the character knows and what the player would maybe try and do".^[43] To make choices more realistic and increase the impact of the story, the team put in a lot of morally grey choices and "bad or worse" decisions.^[51] Williams added that absolute good choices are not practical and sometimes may not exist in real-world situations. They also intentionally added choices during combat sequences, forcing players to make split-second decisions and accept the consequences of their actions. According to Williams, these are something that people had to make frequently if they are experiencing similar scenarios in real-world, and they must "live with it" after the decision. Williams also added that they hoped different players will have different feelings after making these choices, as this indicates that they had create an opportunity for players to examine their own inner emotion,^[43] and that they had successfully provided different experiences for players without having a branching storyline.^[50] Replay value was also considered when the development team was designing these choices.^[41]

The game's moral choices do not have any connection to gameplay, as the team feared that players will viewed them as gameplay mechanics and disconnect them from the story.^[39] He further added that the consequences of each choices should be designed in a way that players cannot predict, as it can create tension. Both approaches are applied to let players to make decisions based on their own will instead of "gaming the system".^[51] Williams also added that they attempted to make violence in the game "meaningful". While the game's basic premise is have the Delta Squad rescuing civilians in Dubai, the game by its nature tasks players to kill with their firearms. Therefore, the team added a lot of dialogue to justify and rationalize the violent actions the characters are doing, creating complex plot points, drama and climax.^[52] The team also developed banter between enemies in an attempt to humanize them.^[46]

The game's theme is heroism, in which being a hero may brought more harm than help.^[39] There was once a decision in the beginning of the game, where players can choose to leave Dubai. This decision was cut from the game as the team found it not effective enough, and it broke immersion.^[46] According to Williams, the choice system was originally similar to Fable II, in which after the player made a decision, they cannot reload the game and choose again unless they start a new game. It was later removed due to the game's structure as a shooter and that the team feared that it may cause players to feel frustrated, as they may stuck in an endless cycle of killing and dying.^[46] Williams later added that adding achievements to the game a mistake, as it disrupts the game's narrative.^[46]

One of the main goals for the narrative is to depict the war in a faction that other common media, such as TV and book portray it.^[48] Another goal is that they hoped through the scenarios presented, players will raise questions about their preceding thoughts of killing people in a video game as a form of entertainment.^[42] To achieve this, the team made the hints at the game's loading screen increasingly aggressive, while the game's overall narrative was designed with the goal of being "physically opposing", so that players can project themselves into the protagonist's position, especially when they are making choices that involve the killing of innocents. They hoped that players can feel angry at the developers who "forced" players into killing civilians in the game. The development team had a lot of internal debates regarding the imagery used in depicting violence towards civilians, as many considered them excessive and unnecessary.^[53] However, 2K approved their vision even when the team thought they had pushed the narrative too extreme.^[39]

Williams has stated that its events are open to interpretation^{[lower-alpha 2]}. Many other theories and interpretations had been discussed by the development staff.^[53] The game's pacing are described as "deliberate" by Davis but he added that there are moments where pacing significantly slow down and allow the player to learn more about the game's story through inspecting environmental objects.^[44] The city of Dubai is filled with graffiti, which are used to give players information regarding the factions and the backstory of Dubai. These graffiti, according to Yager, was aimed to provide players a perspective that is different from the main game, and help make the location more realistic.^[49] The team also hoped to make players feel lost when playing the game. As a result, the team added hallucination to the game. The team hoped through using hallucination as a plot device, they can create a snowball effect and engaged players further into the story and complete the game.^[46] These hallucinations sometimes occur through a format of subtext, in which players may not realize their presence. Williams added that having subtext is important, and that "best stories are the ones that have stuff hidden in them".^{[lower-alpha 3]} According to Williams, the game fades to white when the game transits from one scene to another when the latter is an hallucination created by Walker.^[46]

General design

The game is set in Dubai, which is ravaged by sandstorms. The story set-up is inspired Davis and Williams' own personal experience with heat wave, hurricanes and sandstorms in Louisiana and Lubbock, as well as a story about a Persian army that has vanished in an Egypt desert due to sandstorms. The two found the chaotic forces behind sandstorms would help them to convey the message that is the fragility of humans and the harshness of war.^[39] Gameplay wise, the team believed that the location provided the team a "fantastic" real-world environment that allows them to produce great visuals, and that Dubai as a setting allows the game's levels to have verticality and provides lots of variety to the game.^[49] The development team also sent the their art directors to visit Dubai and inspect the local environment there.^[49] To prevent the game from featuring typical "dirty, grungy brown environment", the team added more colors to the game, as well as objects such as glass, marble, gold, and crystal to make the location looks vivid and vibrant.

Using Dubai as a setting also allows them to incorporate sand as part of the game's key mechanics. Davis described the Dubai in the game as "a mix of fantasy and real-world environment".^[54] To prevent the sand mechanics from turning gimmicky, the team introduced multiple ways for players to utilize sand as weapon, such as the ability for players to trigger dust cloud by throwing grenades on sand, and cause a sand avalanche by shooting weak structures and supports.^[55] In addition, the team added several scripted sequences regarding sand to keep the game dynamic.^[56] The occurrence of these moments were decided based on the game's production value.^[44]

The game featured advanced artificial intelligence due to the inclusion of the game's squad command system. Adams and Lugo will assist Walker in battles and react to the battle situation accordingly even if they are not given any orders. They will also analyse the situation when instructed and decide the best approach to defeat enemies. The battle command system was designed to be accessible and easy to use, so that players do not have to spend a lot of time into managing the squad.^[56] Lugo and Adams may get severely injured and if both of them died, the game ends. This mechanic prompts the player to rescue them as fast as possible, and the system is designed to create tense situations.^[49] The AI for enemies is also affected by various factors, including visibility and hearing.^[41]

Audio

The team did research on weapons' sound by consulting several military experts. The team also spent a lot of time in audio mixing, so that the resulting sounds will not intervene the narrative. To make the game's script more unique, the team added more variety to characters' lines during actual gameplay moments, and had these lines correspond to the scenarios the characters are having in the game.^[56] Elia Cmíral was hired to compose the music for the game, and the soundtrack was described to be "unearthly" and "rock-orientated".^[56][57] To establish the character of the Radioman, the team also added in several licensed music, including Martha and the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run", Mogwai's "Glasgow Mega-Snake", into the game.^[58]

Multiplayer

Spec Ops: The Line, albeit having a strong single-player focus, features multiplayer components. Yager was only responsible for the game's single-player, and the multiplayer was outsourced to Darkside Game Studios. The multiplayer team at 2K Games, which previously developed the multiplayer of BioShock 2, also assisted in creating multiplayer classes.^[21]

According to Davis, while 2K Games was supportive to Yager and its campaign, they insisted that the game must have multiplayer components to boost the game's sales, a decision that Yager thought would hurt and ruin the game's overall perception and package. Davis described the project as a "waste of money", and a "low-quality Call of Duty clone".^[59] The president of Darkside Game Studios, Hugh Falk, responded by saying that Davis' opinion is "outlying". He added that Darkside participated in the project towards the end of the game's development cycle and that they had to revamp the entire multiplayer within tight deadlines.^[60] Davis later claimed that his comments was not directed to Darkside Game Studios and that he is satisfied with their final product after a long and troubled development cycle.^[61]

The game originally did not have a cooperative multiplayer mode, as the team thought that it would cause distractions when players are playing the game's tonally darker levels, and that it did not match with the game's narrative".^[42] The cooperative mode was added to the game in August 2012 as a free downloadable content and it does not follow the storyline of the campaign.^[62]

Release and marketing

On December 12, 2009, a ninth game in the series was announced at Spike Video Game Awards. A trailer was accompanied that depicted several minutes of gameplay and showed off the setting. A subsequent press release detailed the premise, other game features, and a possible 2011 release date. An official site was soon launched, and a new trailer was released in November 2011.^[63] The game was later delayed to the first or second quarter of 2016, before the fixed release date was announced. Spec Ops: The Line was released on June 26, 2012 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.^[64] It was released on March 13, 2014 for OS X.^[65] This version of the game was developed by Digital Tribe Games.^[66]

No more news about the game were made for 18 months during the game's development cycle.^[46] Davis thought that it was a result of the game being announced too early, resulted in excitement for the game to died down. The developer carried out focus test in this period of time. The game's gameplay was found too slow-paced, which would lower the game's competitiveness with other shooters in the market such as Call of Duty. As a result, the team spent time to speed up the game's action.^[39]

In addition to the game's standard edition, players can purchase the game's Premium Edition at a higher price. Players who pre-ordered the game in selected retailers can have their games upgraded to the Premium Edition without additional cost. The Edition grants players additional advantages in the multiplayer segment of the game, including granting them an experience points boost and early access to the Officer class.^[64] A multiplayer beta for selected applicants for the Xbox 360 platform was held in 2010.^[67] A playable demo for the game, which featured two chapters from the beginning of the campaign, was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 8, 2012.^[68]

According to Williams, the game was difficult to market, as the team wanted to prevent spoiling the game's story and narrative while encouraging people to buy the game. He also added that the demo they had created were unrepresentative of the final game as the final game is supposed to be a one connected experience. Williams expected the game to be sold through word of mouth promotion and that it may become a cult classic instead of a million-seller, and he considered it "exciting" to have the game to be the industry's "hidden gem".^[46]

Reception

Critical reception

Reception
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings (PC) 76.50%[69] (PS3) 78.16%[70] (Xbox 360) 77.58%[71] Metacritic (PS3) 77/100[72] (X360) 76/100[73] (PC) 76/100[74] Review scores Publication Score Destructoid 8/10[75] EGM 9/10[76] Eurogamer 8/10[77] Game Informer 7.75/10[78] GameSpot 6.5/10[79] GamesRadar [80] IGN 8/10[81] Joystiq [82] Polygon 8/10[83] VideoGamer.com 7/10[84]

Reviews of Spec Ops: The Line was mostly positive, with many critics praising the narrative, themes, and provocative take on violence in video games, but note that it fails to innovate or present a strong multiplayer component. The game was considered to be underrated by many critics.^[85][86]

The overall gameplay received mixed reviews. Some critics believed that the game's gameplay is enjoyable,^[9] serviceable and acceptable by modern standards, but most agreed that some of the gameplay mechanics, such as the cover system, lacks polish and are flawed.^[81][76][78] Some critics considered the gameplay generic due to its inclusion of typical shooters elements such as on-rail and turret segments,^[83][79] and stated that such mechanics are unable to help the game to differentiate itself from other shooters such as Gears of War and bring the game an identity crisis.^[84][82] Some critics lamented that gameplay occasionally disconnects players from the story, creating annoyance.^{[84][82][77][79]} Many criticized the game for not having a roll mechanic.^[9][84] The artificial intelligence system was criticized for not being strong enough to make the game more gratifying,^[84][9] though some critics thought that the AI system for Adams and Lugo was well-crafted and doesn't suffer from severe or frequent technical problems,^[81][77] albeit they may not be able to carry out the command given by players.^[9][78][77] Some critics criticized the game's low replay value,^[78][87] unbalanced difficulty level and sudden difficulty spike.^[81][88]

The graphics and art design of the game was praised. Brandon Justice from Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that he expected the game to look "bland" due to the the game's setting, he was surprised that there are a lot of variety and colors in the game.^[76] The game's level-design and vibrant colors were further praised.^[83][81] Critics agreed that the game's setting, Dubai, is excellent and well-realized,^[82][9] with some critics praising Yager for adding different details to the game's world.^[81][79] The terrain and landscape was praised for being interesting, unique,^[78] and creating "fantastic set piece battles".^[84][80] Some commented that the sand mechanic sometimes become gimmicky.^[80][78] Many criticized the game's poor texture and poor rendering of cutscene.^[9][81]

The game's overall narrative was praised by critics, with many considered it compelling,^[9] engaging, riveting,^[80][78] and mature,^[76] and viewed it as the standout feature in the game,^[76][83] Some believed that the story had an excellent presentation with decent voice-acting, memorable characters and atmospheric soundtracks.^[76][81] Many critics thought it was a bold attempt by Yager and that the story about mistakes and consequences make the game's narrative to exceed its competitors in term of quality.^[83] Some critics believed that Yager should be respected for successfully creating a message through the story and deliver it to the player,^[82][78] and trying to do something different.^[76][80] Mitch Dyer of IGN thought that the game's narrative made violence "meaningful", and that the story was unexpectedly good and personal.^[81] Some believes the story is impactful and at times shocking,^[79] and that the plot would make "Modern Warfare 2's nefarious No Russian look pretty tame".^[84] The choices featured in the game are praised for being "powerful" despite not offering a branching storyline.^[76] Some critics believed that these choices are provocative,^[76] organic,^[82] impactful,^[78] upsetting,^[80][78] thematically correct though unsatisfying and sometimes hollow and binary.^[77] The endings of the game were praised,^[76] though some felt that there are some plotholes in the story. Some critics noted that emotionally Spec Ops: The Line is not a pleasant game.^[83][89]

The multiplayer received mixed reviews. Justice appreciated the upgrade system, as he thought that it had successfully encouraged teamwork.^[76] Dyer added that the multiplayer is unremarkable and uninspiring, despite saying that the Buried mode created a tense experience. Many critics believed that this mode is not worthwhile, and can only be served as a distraction.^[9][80] Arthur Gies from Polygon noted that the multiplayer component suffers from technical issues such as freezing and glitches, to players conduct issues such as cheating in matches.^[83]

Critics have pointed out that the "mechanics" of the game—the actions available to the player, and the responses resulting from said actions—contrast pointedly with many mechanics of popular FPS games, and that the game deliberately used shooter genre clichés in order to illustrate how ludicrous they are in comparison to real warfare.^[90] In particular contrast to other games of its kind, some critics believe that Spec Ops: The Line does not intend the combat to be a fun experience for the player, but rather aims to engage the player through its narrative which critiques the shooter genre for being removed from reality and providing players with an unrealistic, morally dichotomous escapist fantasy.^[91] The white phosphorus strike scene has been the subject of much scrutiny and was described as "troubling"^[92] due to images such as the corpse of a mother clutching her child. In response to complaints that the massacre was unnecessary or exploitative, Williams justified the scene by saing that the plot device was intended to evoke anger from players, and that one of the game's endings is simply for the player to put the controller down and stop playing.^[93]

Sales

The game debuted in No. 3 in the uK retail chart in the game's first week of release, behind Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and The Amazing Spider-Man.^[94] Spec Ops: The Line was commercial failure, selling less than anticipated. The sales of Spec Ops: The Line, combined with Max Payne 3, was lower than the combined sales of L.A. Noire and Duke Nukem Forever.^{[95][lower-alpha 4]} The low sales of the title contributed to Take-Two disappointing financial results in fiscal year 2013.^[96]

Accolades

The game was nominated for Best Shooter, and the White Phosphorus scene was nominated for Best Gaming Moments at the Golden Joystick Awards.^[97] It was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Story at the 16th DICE Awards.^[98]

Legacy

According to Yager Development, 2K never discussed the change of developing a sequel with 2K during the game's development.^[39] Timo Ullman, managing director of Yager stated that the game failed to compete with other shooters, and that market for games like Spec Ops: The Line is too small. As a result, the team would not return to the franchise.^[99] Team members also expressed desire to move on and develop a game that has a much lighter tone.^[96]

Sources

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Spec Ops: The Line

• Official site
• Developer site

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness Adaptations Apocalypse Now (1979 film) Heart of Darkness (1993 film) Apocalypse Now Redux (2001 film) Heart of Darkness (2011 opera) Spec Ops: The Line (2012 video game) Related Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death Shatterpoint Kurtz "An Image of Africa" Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse