The inspirations are obvious, and that is ok, the team from German developer Yager are not attempting to hide the influence of Conrad’s Heart Of Darkness, nor the film it in turn inspired, Apocolypse Now. The question is, is setting and storyline enough to get past the obvious bugs and flaws of this third person action game?
So, let’s talk setting. Sometime in the near future disaster hits the opulence of Dubai, burying the inhabitants deep under the desert, the result of a gigantic an unstoppable sand-storm. Despite the help of a US military lead evacuation, no word has been heard from thousands of occupants, let alone the 33rd battalion that were sent to help.
That’s where you come in Captain Walker of Delta Squad, apparently it was appropriate to send in a total of three soldiers to sort out what may have happened following months of silence from thousands of people possibly trapped in a disaster ridden modern city.
|
|
As the squad explores, and battles what seem to be bands of looting insurgents, it becomes clear there has been more happen to Dubai than disasters of natural origin. Unravelling exactly what is happening, whilst staying alive becomes the focus of the Delta squad trio.
CONTINUED on PAGE 2
Having established an interesting setting, and a somewhat (if not, bordering on ludicrous) story to work with; it is time to get down to the action.
Spec Ops: The Line is a third person military shooter, the weapons are here, but it is up to you to find the two favourite ones to carry, though your hardware line-up may be dictated by scarcity of ammo rather than killing power of individual guns.
The mechanics of aiming and shooting, as well as the selection and tossing of grenades works as expected. Certainly the developers were aiming for playability rather than reality when it comes to weapon authenticity, forgiving recoil and bullet spread mean even shotguns are effective at range.
Targets present in a wide range of verticality as the fight moves through multi-level atriums and out onto the rooftops of Dubai’s landscape of skyscrapers. This gives the action a variety beyond the usual corridor shooting of most games.
|
The game goes to great lengths to dramatize the results of modern weapons on the human body, as well as the overall effect of warfare on the human mind. There is certainly a lot to like from the attempt to humanise the story before getting back to the usual tropes of blasting never-ending waves of enemies in the face with high powered rifles.
CONCLUDED on PAGE 3
The biggest flaw with the game is the enemy AI (Artificial Intelligence).
It is also the funniest, seeing an enemy soldier standing mid-battle-field, stationary, yelling out expletives but just waiting to be blasted is almost as funny as when one is stuck high on a rooftop doing the Moonwalk because the AI route tracing has been confused.
|
Friendly AI fares better, but this game is certainly at its best played with or against fellow humans. Looking for a third person modern day shooter that adds a challenge, I cannot believe I am saying this for it goes against my normal ideals, however, forgo story and look at something like Ghost Recon Future Soldier instead.
