Spec Ops: The Line

One of those rare games where the story nearly eclipses the gameplay. There is some powerful imagery throughout the game that will stay with you long after you've played it, and the choices throughout add to the replay factor because you'll want to go in and see what would have happened if you had made a different decision.

If you just want to click your brain off and shoot some guys, Spec Ops is not for you. That's ok though, gamers looking for that can find it in, well, almost every other game ever made. Spec Ops is unique in its intelligent treatment of adult themes. If you want a different take on the war game, I can't recommend Spec Ops enough.

Equal parts shooty and thinky, this is a deeply involving action game with a brain. [Sept 2012, p.96]

It may not be winning any awards, that's not to say that this is one of the most captivating shooters currently available to Xbox 360 users. The morality of your choices has never been so well presented as they are in Spec Ops: The Line and for that reason alone it's a game that everyone should experience, if only for a few short hours.

As a complete package, Spec Ops: The Line is highly recommended.

Spec Ops The Line is a good TPS whose lack of originality regarding its gameplay mechanics can be easliy criticized. And yet, the title offers a great experience, depicting a bright and apocalyptic vision of Dubaï, just as if players were there. The mise-en-scène of Spec Ops The Line also manages to share, both psychologically and physically, the craziness experienced by our heroes. Finally, the classic multiplayer modes make us forget the short time needed to finish the main campaign.

Even by military-shooter standards, Spec Ops: The Line is an uncompromisingly bleak journey into the mouth of madness. Sharing almost nothing with its predecessors except the Spec Ops moniker, this squad-based shooter tries to make you think - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - about the lines you're willing to cross in battle.

Spec Ops: The Line may seem like a standard third-person military shooter on the surface, but once you dig a little more, you discover its dark side. War is hell, and no game has delivered that point better than The Line. The decisions you are forced to make and the outcomes they deliver are incredibly gritty and representative of the things soldiers likely deal with in battle. The mind is a powerful tool, and having never served, I have massive respect for people who have had to deal with things like this. If you are looking for an emotionally charged military shooter, Spec Ops: The Line is a must-play.

It's kind of like having some philosophical chewing gum to go with your war. You feel like there's something to think about, but it's not going to bother you as you go about your business.

They say war is hell; Spec Ops: The Line, however, is not. Oh, it is no doubt for Martin Walker, John Konrad, and the poor people of Dubai, but for the player, Spec Ops: The Line just puts the fun back into the word fundamental with a solidly written and acted story, well-constructed gameplay, and perfectly adequate multiplayer.

Although its gameplay is conservative, it achieves to be very entertaining, and above all it is a diffferent game. Its atmosphere and story are exotic and thrilling, and it is also one of the first attempts on telling a mature story in videogames.

With epic moments and a megalomaniac scope, Spec Ops is a solid game with an amazing context and some really great gameplay moments.

A surprising game: a dirty, gritty travel through human moral and psyche. An experience worth trying, even if plagued by small technical and gameplay problems.

Well, call me utterly surprised. Spec Ops: The Line showed me that it's more than just a generic shooter. Backing up the solid, if somewhat familiar, gameplay is a fantastic and smart story experience that no other shooter has done for some time.

The game has rough edges but it can be overlooked with how well the subject matter is handled and how it will make you think about the choices you make. Even if you're generally not too into the war shooter genre, I suggest picking Spec Ops: The Line up simply to be engrossed with its story telling and thought provoking climax.

While itʼs not particularly interesting mechanically as a shooter, The Line is a surprisingly bold game – itʼs not here to entertain, but rather to provoke. The story might not be without problems, but the way itʼs told, integrated through gameplay, is a welcome first for the genre; hereʼs hoping more developers learn from it.

Spec Ops: The Line is a tremendous example of how much effect great writing can have on a game. Without it, this is a title that would be heading to the bargain bins within weeks, as another brown cover shooter. What we have here though is something that deserves to be played by all, thought provoking and an emotion roller-coaster than even some movies can't quite get right.

The gamer in me hated much of Spec Ops: The Line. The critic in me loves it. Like anyone else of two minds, I'm forced to decide which side of the line I stand on.

With the only real drawback of the length, Spec Ops: The Line manages to establish itself as a well made videogame, offering a couple of enjoyable hours.

It's involving, and while not everything may be prepared for that, it provides an experience that very few games can these days.

Spec Ops: The Line is a solid shooter that may not do anything particularly new from a pure gameplay perspective, but it's wrapped up in an engaging story that will keep you glued to the screen.

With a shift away from clear-cut good and bad, Spec Ops challenges the sympathetic grey-matter with highlighted gaps between 'killing machine' and morality lessened as you tread "the line".

Spec Ops: The Line lacks innovation or polish in its gameplay, but makes up for it with a story that genuinely has impact and meaning. Whilst the ending is a bit limp, the overall narrative raises serious questions about the duty of a soldier, and how far that goes. Whilst the multiplayer does not quite hit the same heights, this is still a shooter that stands on its own and is not afraid to show the ugly side of the Call of Duty dream.

It's not particularly new or innovative in its core mechanics, but it marries the dependable and familiar with the not-so to create one of the year's most interesting titles. At its heart it's still a shooter, but at least it's also one with the brains to ask you to shoot something different.

Spec Ops: The Line is an original take on the shooter's standard. Even with some flaws and derivative solutions in terms of gameplay, its original story and setting make it one of the most interesting TPS of this year.

The sum of Spec Ops' unexpected story is an army shooter that makes killing people mean something. This, along with its thoughtful aesthetic and intelligent enemy encounters, defies the standard established by low-aiming action games.

A third-person shooter packed with thrilling set-pieces that tries to make you think about why you are doing the shooting. It's utterly bleak, occasionally gruelling and falls just short of the thought-provoking masterpiece it was aiming for, but it's still a relentlessly compelling experience if you've got the stomach for it.

There are such a lot of shooters these days, and so many tend to blur into each other if you're not careful. This one won't, however - and that's quite an achievement.

The power-fantasy catharsis behind other shooters buckles under the weight of Spec Ops: The Line's story of mistakes made and the consequences of intentions. And against very steep odds, Spec Ops: The Line succeeds in what it's trying to do.

I can't think of another game where I replayed chapters, after beating it, for the sole purpose of fully understanding the gravity of key story moments.

Spec Ops: The Line has its issues, but they're overshadowed by a brave, compelling narrative that treats the medium with respect, and calls you a son of a bitch for playing it.

In a season where game releases generally slow down, gamers should take a close look at Spec Ops: The Line as it has some great qualities that most should enjoy, but the ride may be over a little too quickly for those who those who invest the money and don't play online.

Spec Ops: The Line is a cut above the usual generic military shooter with solid gameplay backed up by a story that pulls you in and doesn't let go. And it makes you think. It's a grim day at the beach for sure, but then war is hell.

Spec Ops: The Line uses a tried and tested shooter formula to deliver a powerful and thought-provoking story.

While the story remains riveting up to its questionable conclusion, the minute-to-minute gameplay is uneven.

German developers Yager put the horror of war on the screen – brutal, ruthless and depressing at times. In its' quiet moments it generates a fantastic atmosphere set in the Dubai desert. But this is still a shooter and regarding action and especially AI it falls short.

Spec Ops: The Line is a decent third-person shooter that doesn't bring much original features to the table. The amazing and brutal narrative, however, will keep you ploughing through this sandy shooter.

Spec Ops: The Line tries to take you on an emotional rollercoaster ride to try and distinguish itself from other 'Hollywood-ish' competitors. It makes you doubt your morality and who your enemy is. These moments usually work well, but don't always tug at the right strings. The complete experience can be seen as a very decent one and a nice surprise at that.