Just beat this.
Pretty good as kind of a contemporary adaptation of Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now. And gameplay-wise functionally but unassuming.
But I swear, I don't know if this is just /v/'s tendency/inability to do anything other than act in the extreme, but you guys were acting like this thing actually gave you PTSD.
>>330279448
Did you forget the White Phosphorous scene or what?
Also which ending did you get?
>>330279448
I could have sworn that I have seen this post before. That or pretty much all these Spec Ops threads start and finish the same with the middle ground of shitposting to compliment it.
>>330279448
What I got from /v/ is that it's pretentious shit. I enjoyed it regardless.
Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now are also known to have people "lose faith in humanity", and that kind of shit, but not everybody get some groundbreaking experience for viewing those.
>>330279734
>Did you forget the White Phosphorous scene or what?
I mean, yeah, it was gruesomely rendered but it's kind of gauche for a game to give you no way of proceeding other than doing something, then try to make you feel guilty about it.
>Also which ending did you get?
Walker got evacuated by the rescue team.
>>330280150
Nice, you got the best ending.
>it's kind of gauche for a game to give you no way of proceeding other than doing something, then try to make you feel guilty about it.
It's meant to shame people that play military shooters and expect to become a hero by the end. Imagine a dudebro patriot type of guy playing it and getting that chain of events. It would probably make him rethink what he did and that's the intended purpose.
If you don't play many military shooters, it's not going to have the same impact.
>>330280150
That was really the point of the scene. You are railroaded the entire game and in other shooters that indiscriminate destruction is the only way through, and the one time where the game shows you the after effects of such a decision do you realize that you didn't have a choice.
>>330280797
>If you don't play many military shooters, it's not going to have the same impact.
I play military shooters because I like shooting games with a military theme. Beyond that I'm just going for the ride the campaign takes me on.
>>330280797
I don't get why people act like this is supposed to convey anything to the player past just seeing walker deal with the consequences of his actions. I never felt like the game was trying to tell "me" anything. I'm just watching a story of a man deal with the shittiness of war and become unhinged by it. Why does everyone add this pretentious shit to it by saying it's supposed to make you feel something specific?
>>330280150
>make you feel guilty about it
You are not Walker. The whole point of the game was to explore the relationship between player and player-character. You're not supposed to like Walker at this point.
If you're the kind of autist who can only think of the player-character as an extension of yourself, of course it's going to go over your head.
>>330281332
>loading screens initially display helpful gameplay hints to the player, but as the game progresses, the text becomes increasingly hostile towards the actions of Walker, and by sometimes breaking the fourth wall, it addresses the player directly.
>One of the main goals for the narrative was to depict the war in a fashion unlike the way that common media, such as TV and books portray it. Another goal was to use the scenarios presented to cause players to raise questions about their thoughts of killing people in a video game as a form of entertainment. 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 could project themselves into the protagonist's position, especially when making choices that involve the killing of innocents. They hoped that players would be able to feel angry at the developers who "forced" players into killing civilians in the game.
>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. The white phosphorus strike scene has been the subject of much scrutiny and was described as "troubling" 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 saying 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
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_Ops:_The_Line
It's going to sound silly but I started to enjoy the game a lot more after I started "roleplaying" as Walker. just put yourself in the mindset of an American soldier who is killing his own countrymen just to find out what's going on. In the WP scene, for example, you see that you're completely outnumbered and the mortar is the only viable option. Most people complain about how they couldn't just 360 noscope the entire platoon because it's a video game but that's the entire idea. You're playing Walker's story, not your own, and even though you have some influence over his actions they all end up being minor. This is the game pointing out that choice in games is just an illusion and the only option open to you is either programmed in or-god forbid-go outside and make real decisions[/spoiler](determinists need not apply).
And I think that's what I personally liked about the game. It works as a face-value story, and also as a criticism of war shooters.
>>330282329
>one of the game's endings is for the player to put the controller down and stop playing
Ignoring how pretentious that is, that's not a valid reaction. Could you refute any form of media by simply not consuming it when it didn't suit you?
it's just a game, no need to feel guilty about what happened when you didn't write it
>>330283785
It's meant to try and be so violent and fucked up that weak-minded individuals would put it down. Most people here aren't easily triggered by these sorts of things. Imagine showing something like that to your mom or a normie friend. They probably would be shocked and not play the game any further.
Pretentious or not, I found the experimentation to be unique and intriguing.
I never played this game but I've read a lot about it while on /v/
Did I honestly miss out on something good here? It feels like I did
>>330286486
just pirate it and find out.
>>330285449
>It's meant to try and be so violent and fucked up that weak-minded individuals would put it down.
you'd think after playing first-person/third-person shooters for a few years, seeing people die and get blown up in video games isn't too big of a deal anymore. shooting someone is just a means to proceed and advance with the story. it's just a game.
The book's pretty good.
I wrote a thesis on the game too.
>>330279448
I haven't read Heart of Darkness yet but I own it
Should I bump it up on my to read list?
>>330281713
>>330280797
Thank god people get it in today's thread.
Fucking every time
>the game told me to stop playing!
>the devs said it was a canon end!
I rarely open sotl threads because of it always being a bait shitshow.
>>330286719
Post it fag.
>>330279448
how amusing it is that the most interesting and deep plot you've played in the last few years belongs to a game that looks like a generic war tps?is the whole industry dead or what?
>>330286643
Not many games have you accidentally kill a bunch of civvies in a particularly gruesome manner and just roll with it.
![Spec_2a334e_5788042[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/wcaOh36.jpg "Spec_2a334e_5788042[1].jpg")
>>330286486
Yeah, probably one of the most remarkable games you'll play in your life.
>bland but somehow engaging and satisfying as fuck gameplayspecially if you AA-12 your way out of problems
>one of the best music placement i've ever seen - i mean, some games like call of duty for example, paid top dollar to have major hits playing on their games and yet they didn't have the skill or the talent to use it properly so you had the fortunate son playing for no reason at all just because it's cool as fuck to add that music to vietname shit...and i was seriously waiting for the time wagner started playing once i got in a chopper
>multi-layered story that will make you wonder about the whole game after you end it and probably make you replay the whole thing again
so yeah, it's a very good game with some very good pros and cons but what made this game such a success to the eyes of the critics was that it was all properly welded together
![Alright+listen+here+walt+spoilers+the+_577747920e8ed43167a3127f0dfc19d4[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/dj1EDaO.png "Alright+listen+here+walt+spoilers+the+_577747920e8ed43167a3127f0dfc19d4[1].png")
Heh, videogames
>>330288378
>100%ed the game ages ago
>still want more
It's a shame that such a concept could never have a coherent sequel.
I wonder if the online still works.
![MV5BMTY5OTE4MDM5N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDAyMDg0Nw@@._V1_[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/M4we3ep.jpg "MV5BMTY5OTE4MDM5N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNDAyMDg0Nw@@._V1_[1].jpg")
>>330288924
masterpieces rarely need a sequel and when they do it's often for the wrong reasons - ending up losing all the respect they initially deserved
>>330289283
>masterpiece
heh
>>330289283
I'd argue that games that earned their mastery through concept or gameplay can produce equally good or better sequels.
For example, Myst produced a number of beautifully crafted sequels, more for the fact that it's main graces were the visuals and puzzle design.
A game based entirely on subverting expectation like SotL wouldn't translate to a sequel at all because everyone would know what to expect.
>>330287846
Not many games force you to kill a bunch of civilians.
