Explain this game to me /v/
shit
>>322945303
's aight
>>322945303
War is hell.
Getting Real Tired of your Shit, Dubai: The Game
>people actually like this game
what's the best ending?
Fun game with a fun story that makes retards mad
>>322945823
Not playing the game
gone home of TPS
>>322946360
Pretty accurate, bravo.
>>322945890
why people get so butthurt about it?
>>322945303
Game designed around making players feel uncomfortable. Succeeded in making players uncomfortable. Failed at selling games.
>>322946529
Because people say its got a good story that sheds light on its genre and if anything is said to be good or popular then it must be shit
>>322946529
>>322946814
Because they felt cheated by not being able to make a particular decision upon which some of the game's rhetoric and themes are heavily based.
the point of not letting you choose is the only real decision is to stop playing.
>>322946979
Not having a choice is kinda the entire point though
>>322946784
>Succeeded in making players uncomfortable.
it really didn't
>suceeded in anything in general
it succeeded in being manipulative and hamfisted. The decision was to bomb the fuck out of innocents was forced on you by the game, and then it prentended that you had a choice by going Arsenal Gear on you. MGS2 did that one better - and way earlier.
In terms of a similar game narrative being actually succesful at what spec ops was attempting to achieve; play Far Cry 2
this shit is lowhanging fruit for plebs
Okay
It's just a meme game.
>>322945303
Unique game with a great story IF you got it at 5 bucks when it occasionally goes on sale. I would advise you don't spend a full 30 bucks on this game. But for 5 dollars it is an amazingly good deal. A 4 hour story that twists the narrative of most FPS shooters that usually make you out to be the hero. This game takes that narrative and along with a few key game moments that can change your endings it will throw it back at you and make you butthurt if you're very patriotic or support your troops. Especially if you're American. You kill american soldiers in this game. There are a few different endings. I'd say the best one iswhen you survive the whole ordeal and get to go home. There is a moment where you will be tested to see if you have the strength to deny the entire game's narrative. But do you really win in the end?It was the best 5 bucks I've ever spent.
>>322947450
or alternatively
>>322947465
>he doesn't know what meme game means
>>322945303
I actually really enjoyed the gameplay in spec ops the line, it reminded me of the conflict series on ps2 alot. Plot twist at the end of the game was great and added another neat layer to when you replay the game.
>>322946529
Because one of the devs was a fan of WarGames.
>>322947393
Anon I really love Farcry 2 and all but that story is not presented well in the slightest
>>322946529
Gameplay is as mediocre as it gets. And even so it has more depth than Star Wars Battlefront EA.
>game tries to do something with the story
>somehow it fails at it but it tries
>people shit on it
>we get generic stories over and over again
just how many games we have like spec ops the line?
A post-modern critique on modern military shooters that was a solid, if flawed piece of critique, albeit a mediocre game in and of itself (though this was the point).
I mean it's not brilliant or anything but it sure as shit is more high brow than many anons here will give it credit for. No amount of
>but it's a shit game because of its shit gameplay and shit lack of choice
can really counter the fact that this was the absolute entire point of the whole fucking game.
I will say that it would have been a more interesting approach, from the perspective of a critique, to actually offer more "real" choices and let the game rise above the thing it was critiquing. Specifically the phosphorous scene. I feel like the point was decently driven home but it would have been much more preferable to allow the player to break the illusion of the illusion of choice by actually having a choice in this circumstance, perhaps extremely well hidden so the player feels forced to bomb the civilians despite the alternative still being possible. This would get the same point across while rewarding critical thought and careful observation, showing a superior element to mechanical design within story beats and a branching narrative.
It's an interesting game to discuss because it's one of the few games with merit beyond the scope of just its gameplay or mechanics or story. The intent of their design as a layer of criticism is pretty unique and I don't think most of /v/ would care to even begin a thoughtful discussion about it, hence the deluge of "but it's art"/"but it's shit" shitposting from either side. The answer lies in the middle - as "just" a game it's flawed, as a critique it's flawed, as an experience it's flawed, but most importantly it's a rather notable stepping stone towards more thoughtful artistic endeavors within the medium. Once a medium can impose self criticism, I believe this is a key signal of its growing maturity.
>>322945303
it's a shitty boring generic shooter that hides behind the reddit guise of 2deep4u bullshit. "LE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS TO NOT LE PLAY." fucking pseudo intellectual nonsense, got viraled to hell and back here too.
>>322947465
>>322947635
There is actually no such thing as a meme game, its just something /v/ labels something it doesn't like.
The same goes for meme movies, meme albums, meme artists, etc.
This whole idea bout labeling something a meme because it becomes popular is retarded and doesnt even make any sense. It reminds me of 2012 back when normies started to realise what trolling was (or at least what they thought it was) and started lebeling every joke, or mistake, or opposing opinion as a 'troll'
Anyone who uses the word troll or meme needs to leave or stop using those terms completely.
>>322947393
Isn't the fact that you have no choice the fucking point?
>>322948041
Excellent! Thanks for the (You) :^)
>>322947450
At what point does an interaction like that occur during the game?
>>322947868
if it had risen above the thing it was critiquing then nobody would care about it
>>322948134
No problem dicklicker.
>Trying to discuss this game on /v/ post 2013
Whats the point, all your going to get is pseudo intellectuals saying the story is shit and that its a meme game.
>>322948261
man, fuck dogs
>>322947393
>The decision was to bomb the fuck out of innocents was forced on you by the game, and then it prentended that you had a choice by going Arsenal Gear on you
No, the entire concept of the illusion of choice was the point. You've reduced the intent down to the method here. You didn't have a choice, this was the entire point because the whole game was a meta-commentary and "literary critique" (can't think of a truly applicable word here in the case of vidya so I'll stick with tradition) on the notion of false choice within the medium because of inherent limitations within forced story sections. The writer can only write so many deviations of the story and can never account for the full range of player's actions.
I mean I'm not exactly pulling this from my ass, the writer even said as much in interviews - the whole point of the scene, as well the overarching theme of the game, was examining the inherent lack of choice and the arbitrary punishment and reward of players within the context of this illusion. It wasn't perfect and could have been handled far better for sure but I think you mistook the message for the delivery here.
>>322948261
Based dogs.
>>322948504
No, fuck you cat fag.
>>322948261
I love dogs
>>322948328
The story is ok and certainly completely unexpected for people that played without knowing much about the game. But back it came out /v/ over hyped the game and then most people realize it really wasn't that great, which means it's shit now..
>>322948180
He might be referring to the CIA guy towards the beginning I think. My only problem with that bit was aiming at his hand and somehow killing him. Could've been set up better, but I dunno how I'd do it.
>>322948827
It has a mediocre story that defeats its' own point.
>>322949042
>>322945303
better than undertale
>>322948213
Then the insipid shitposting is a sign it worked? It's kind of weird. Frankly I think there's dissonance between what players expect games should be and what games are, or can be, and even what Spec Ops was. I think many anons in this thread missed the point entirely, and when it first came out there was a lot of bullshit about it "not being art" or not being criticism because it's just a game. The argument about vidya-as-art is fucking retarded, I see no logical way in which vidya is not art when it's a combination of all other forms of art (even elements of painting and sculpture) plus brand new forms of expression.
It's not that Spec Ops is super intelligent or 2deep4u, in fact it's a rather basic form of critique, but I honestly think too many people who played it are either too stupid to even get the point, or are not willing to put any thought into it because of the stigma against "art games" like Gone Home and Dear Esther on here.
>>322945303
http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Harmless-Critical-Reading-Spec-ebook/dp/B00B9P2WP6
Here's a book that explains it.
>>322947393
>>322948568
>The decision was to bomb the fuck out of innocents was forced on you by the game, and then it prentended that you had a choice
The point of that section was more to show how the "turret/kool military hardware" segments in modern shooter games would look if they played out realistically. As it turns out, indiscriminately bombing people using chemical weapons like WP would be a mortifying thing to watch unfold, not a masturbatory act of badassery like it's depicted in CoD. Similarly, doing something as reckless as that would almost certainly harm any non-combatants in the areawhich it obviously does in this game.
>>322945303
A somewhat different game, that shook /v/eddit to the core since your average /v/edditor doesn't read anything, thus has no idea what a good story is.
>>322947868
This. The "main" crisis is the white phosphorous portion but given that you're literally forced to do it the ensuing "horror" and chiding come off as clumsily manipulative and sort of funny
>>322948568
I wonder if anyone's actually going to refute this or just say it's manipulative and unfair for fifty more posts.
>>322949447
Well this too, things can have multiple meanings. The gameplay and "choice" in and of itself have been stated to be a criticism of the lack of choice in games, but the scenario as a whole contains a variety of themes and criticisms. I thought it was more effective at what you pointed out than the choice/no choice aspect overall.
Imagine a comedian. This comedian is parodying some man by imitating him in an exaggerated way, like taking exaggerated steps to poke fun of the way the man moves
Spec Ops is the comedian
>People are STILL UPSET that this game wasn't fucking Mass effect.
I guess it's impossible for any story to be sad since the game arbitrarily forces you to do shit or it forces someone to die without your permission!
So unfair!
It's a fucking story, sit back and enjoy it you homos.
Better than Bioshock Infinite.
>>322949430
>>322950471
I didn't regret my purchase of Spec Ops.
I regretted buying Bioshock infinite.
And I got the GMG deal where they gave you 15$ back, Bioshock 1 and 2, and XCUM enemy unknown.
>>322945303
You play as crazy man who decided to disobey orders and has hallucinations, people who are under you decided to follow your orders instead of orders of superiors and thus all 3 of you were disobeying orders.
That is the jist of the game, orders are evil, don't follow them, unless it's game orders then do.
A basic cover shooter with a 'le edgy storyline' that is read into far too much.
Plus the gameplay funnels you into the story, it's no more complex than a COD campaign
>go to Dubai to evacuate sandniggers
>kill 101 sandniggers during tutorial
>story is intentionally presented in a confuzing way
>loading screens ask you "hurr anon, do you remember y u kil all dose ppl?"
>be swarmed by angry, though unarmed, mob
>chase off with melee
>loading screen gives you shit anyway
and finally
>shoot half of Dubai dead
>lol who cares
>roast a dozen more people with white phosphorus
>oh noes, all dese pepols
>>322948180
This isn't something most people talk about, but in one of the shooting stages, a civilian runs out in the same way as an enemy. The crosshair turns red and I shoot. She dies.
I don't even know if that was scripted, but it certainly made an impact. Maybe the idea was about how we're conditioned to treat anyone the game deems an enemy as an enemy?
>that FUCKING MUSIC AND SETTING
I fucking love this game.
>>322951037
>Defending yourself and collateral damage is the same thing.
Don't criticize any story ever you fucking mongoloid it's obvious you're a fucking retard.
>>322951014
>le edgy storyline
what the fuck does this mean? do you also shitpost about other dark games like vampire or soul reaver?
>>322947868
>post modern critique
Oh fuck off
95℅ of the game is a dogshit generic TPS marketed to capitalise on the Modern Warfare 3 hype and suddenly pops a lazy "twist" in your face.
If not a critique, its an eleventh hour attempt at reversing the already cemented and lackluster tone of the game.
>>322951014
>Plus the gameplay funnels you into the story, it's no more complex than a COD campaign
got em anon you really got em das it mane that's what they were hiding from us if only we had seen their folly
>>322950638
Infinite was an absolute disastrous clusterfuck of bullshit.
>>322947868
>they developed and spent loads of money to make a shit game on purpose!!
what the literal fuck are you on about
>>322951037
As dumb as this post's style is, the guy is right. The gameplay heavily contradicts the story's themes, and ultimately renders the message meaningless for the player. I believe they call it dissonance of something or other.
>>322951223
Hey, dead people are dead people, I bet the ones you kill with phosphorus would try to kill you as well, if you gave them the chance.
>>322950170
>Game doesn't give you a choice
>Character says he didn't have a choice
>"BUT WHY DIDN'T THEY GIVE ME A CHOICE?"
>>322951297
the story plays out like a 15 year old's realisation of war being bad.
>>322951470
Not even a nostalgia fag that thinks old games are good or "Le wrong generation" faggot.
But you know a fucking game is awful when you play a prequel and find it's better designed than the damn game.
Bioshock had environmental traps, atmosphere, and plasmids actually made sense for daily use AND combat.
Infinite was fucking bad.
>>322951470
And the worst part is, I could see all that potential it had. I really could see it unveiling as a great game, it just wasn't at all.
>>322951417
Here's a funny thing. This game was originally supposed to have a classic branching storyline (with presumably the "good" choices being carefully concealed or discouraged). Then 2K pulled an EA and pushed the game out with only the "evil" branch included.
You can kind of see in the themes what they were going for, but without the element of actual choice, the story kinda falls flat.
>>322951623
Except you know, the guy who coined the term "ludonarrative dissonance" used Spec Ops the line as an example of not having this problem?
The writers think they're smarter than you, the person who paid for their basic horseshit
>>322951623
That is precisely what I was trying to say, thanks for the translation.
Anyone here disliking the game for real reasons or is everyone just bandwagoning hating it?
>>322951618
>muh shit game rhetoric
Right on schedule, anon. You should read, like, anything the developer has ever said about the game since its announcement. Or better yet, use your brain and look at how the entire game and its marketing was set up. This isn't rocket science. And yes, they did spend loads of money to make a game that intentionally shit on similar games for their stories, settings, tone, gameplay, and narrative interplay. It's not even subtle at all. Many artists have spent very large amounts of money on their art. You have a very narrow concept of video games.
>>322949447
>not a masturbatory act of badassery like it's depicted in CoD
You've never actually played CoD4 have you? The AC-130 scene is pretty fucking uncomfortable if you pay attention to the subtext.
>>322951941
>literally projecting your insecurities onto the writers
damn that's sad anon
>>322952106
generic gameplay
>>322951623
>As dumb as this post's style is, the guy is right. The gameplay heavily contradicts the story's themes, and ultimately renders the message meaningless for the player. I believe they call it dissonance of something or other.
No, the gameplay feeds right back into the point of the game - it's a scathing critique on shooters, the portrayal of war, the illusion of choice in narrative heavy games, all sorts of shit. It used a specific style of gameplay to paint a picture of what is considered average for the target of its criticism.
>>322951938
It does though. Gameplay has you murdering thousands of faceless enemies, yet the story (by which I mean the narrative style as well as the events that take place) expects you to care about a few of those faceless people, who you, as a player, have been given no reason to care about.
>>322952106
Everyone badnwagon hates it. Hell, that's why anyone dislikes something you like: because it's cool to do.
No one has a legitimate dislike.
oh God it's the post modern cognitive dissonance guy posting again
Nobody likes your game
Get it through your skull, the only remnants of discussion left about it are because of people who keep trying to make it more than it is and people still reciting bullshit stories how they "had to put the controller down and reexamine themself', its The Expendables without any humour or even interesting action, not some Orson Welles masterpiece
>>322952241
Confirmed for not having played the game
Protip: Click on their heads to progress to the next pretentious loading screen
Spec Ops is garbage that doesn't deserve to be talked about, but here we are because you faggots always get it wrong
>>322947393
>>322948568
SAVAGE
>>322952408
well the gameplay feels very clumsy sometimes and it's really repetitive but most of the hate here is just a bunch of random buzzwords.
>>322952339
I dunno, I couldn't really give a fuck about war crimes after killing dozens of people to the sounds of hard rock.
I felt the game needed to decide if it wanted to be fun or serious, because it ended up not being much of either.
>>322952339
>it's a scathing critique on shooters,
It is one.
>the portrayal of war,
It does one.
>the illusion of choice in narrative heavy games
It features this as well.
You can't just play, pardon the word, tropes straight and then claim you're doing it ironically for the purpose of critique. A slight bending, subversion, or exaggeration is required to qualify a work as proper critique. Duty Calls did this well (albeit cheaply and not entirely without malice). Spec Ops is, by all means, a linear, narrative-heavy, story-driven third person shooter with thoroughly generic gameplay.
The only thing that differentiates it from other generic shooters are some story elements (the actual pickable ending, for one, and perhaps the overall tone, which is not usual) and its marketing/press campaign.
>>322950007
>>322950170
Frankly, I don't think 'choice' is the point of Spec Ops. The actual point of the game is to show what a military shooter game would be like if it were portrayed with a touch of realism in the writing: IE, creepy, weird, and thoroughly unglamorous. It's meant to be a take-that at the violent, jingoistic madness that is played as being "cool" in MW and Battlefield.
There's only one real choice in Spec Ops, and they make it count.After seeing how demented modern warfare is, deciding what fate Walker has earned is a satisfying conclusion to this kind of game. Is him offing himself the right thing to do? Should he return to America and answer up to his crimes?
>>322952183
>CoD4
That's before the series devolved into mindless swill tailor-made for inconsiderate dumbasses. I have played CoD4 and I would agree that it's very unlike the kinds of the games it's inspired. The level of credibility and self-awareness drops sharply in all of the following MW games.
>>322952359
>Gameplay has you murdering thousands of faceless enemies
But anon have you ever actually just sat and watched the enemies die? Every NPC in the game can cry for their mom or rock back and forth in pain or even try to help their downed comrades. Hell if you walk around without shooting you can hear them casually talk to each other. If you just go in shooting people or don't pay attention to them like one might normally after being conditioned to due to this aspect never being addressed in the vast majority of shooters, you'd miss these neat little details. This is the point.
>>322952503
>Protip: Click on their heads to progress to the next pretentious loading screen
top fucking kek, that's the wittiest and most accurate description of the game I've heard.
>>322952126
>literally saying they intended to make a game as shit as possible with that budget
Are you in some fucking bizzaro world? This wasn't one crazy billionaire with a computer, this was a company, with laywers, and contracts, and stocks, and publishers.
But if you're saying that the majority of the games DNA was designated solely to the lowest common denominator ala Paul Blart Mall Cop with ZERO artist merit or reasoning behind it other than "CoD and bf are popular but its like totally not like that because the ending is not what you think!!"
Then yes, you are right
anyone noticed how the executions become more brutal the more you advance in the game?
What other little details does this game have?
>>322945303
How come Spec Ops gets so much praise for its story but Farcry 3 doesnt?
>>322952503
>literally feeling insulted by a video game
B E T A
E
T
A
>>322952882
Aaaaactually, many shooters these days do this since, and I shit you not here,Call of Duty games have been doing it for years.
>>322952859
>Frankly, I don't think 'choice' is the point of Spec Ops
I don't have any links on hand but both the creative director and the writer expressly stated they tackled the illusion of choice in the game's writing.
>>322953091
far cry 3 only gets credit for vaas
>>322953143
>authorial intent
>mattering
KEK
>>322953091
Spec Ops was marketed as having a deep story.
Far Cry 3 was marketed as having a CUHRAYZAY villain, EXPLOSIONS, and a wingsuit.
>>322953143
Yeah, and anon over there doesn't feel that way. That's the thing about art, everyone can see it differently.
>>322953143
The superficial choices you get to make are part of the game, but I just think they aren't the main point of the game.
>>322953031
>>literally saying they intended to make a game as shit as possible with that budget
But I didn't anon I think you've missed the point. They didn't dedicate money to make a game as shit as possible, they made a game with very average, standard gameplay on purpose and utilized that to make a point. They used the medium well in this regard. You should at least try to give the game a chance because throughout the ENTIRE game there is a huge amount of thought put into most aspects, from the marketing to even how it starts and the colors in the story. You know how people always complained about brown-n-bloom shooters during last generation? They literally fucking set it in a brown desert with a shitload of bloom. And then it goes under the sands into the buildings to reveal a vibrant use of color, and from there the color also informs the tone of the story. I think you honestly just don't get it, you're thinking reductively.
>>322945303
I only thought of it as a retelling of the book. Particularly how a Man "embraces" the darkness. In the movie and the book we only met the Man at the end of their life. I have no idea why this game causes so much internet buttpain. Killing the the soldiers is the best ending btwf.
>>322953091
cus noone wants to think about video games being an unhealthy addiction
>it like...doesn't give you a choice for a REASON dude
>it's like a critical masterpiece...it wants to be generic ironically per se?
>it's like I dunno like, a very post-modern thing its not just like a third person shooter...its a third person painting.
Spec Ops The Line faggots are the worst.
How much times can you be BTFO persistently? It's Patricia Hernandez levels of utter bullshit from thin air.
is it a bad thing to like this game?
>>322951037
because you're the one who kept playing as it points out. I dont see how people cant make these brain dead obvious conclusions
>>322953642
>I have no idea why this game causes so much internet buttpain
Because niggas are extremely insecure about their own intelligence
>>322953785
No, it only means you have shit taste.
I'm tired of this 'le morally ambigious American war crimes' meme that ignorant self hating Westerners always lap up. God, you're such fucking cliches. You deserve to play this shit again.
Gameplay is so generic and bland that I couldn't even bring myself to finish it tbqh pham
>>322952859
>That's before the series devolved
I agree that CoD4 was the last CoD that isn't overtly pro-war but don't shift the goal posts. You were talking about the WP scene in Spec Ops and the compared it to how in Call of Duty the scene that closest represents that scene is a "masturbatory act of badassery." Which isn't right at all. I'd even go so far as to say that CoD4 does the "war is hell" message far better than Spec Ops because it isn't forced down your throat as some 'epic twist' but rather it requires you to pay attention to subtext. Therefore it doesn't suffer from ludo-narrative dissonance like Spec Ops does.
>Going to save a trapped pilot minutes before a nuke detonates
>Think you made it in time
>Nope
>Radio operator says shit like "good kill" when you make a particularly economic strike on a cluster of baddies
>>322953713
>Still no retort or explanation for why its shit
>Just buzzwords and meme spouting
>>322954069
THE FUCKING GAMEPLAY
>>322954186
There we go, a legitimate complaint
Thank you anon
>>322954069
Gameplay
>>322953713
Dude you can take any argument and add petty insults to it. Look, I'll do it for yours.
>"hurr durr Patricia Hernandez levels of bullshit, muh Spec Ops boogeymen."
>>322953637
>I made 99% of the game as generic and unentertaining as possible but like the ending is deep, its art desu, that'll redeem everything
WHAT THE FUCKING SHIT ARE YOU ON ABOUT
they made a generic setting due to all the CoD hype, they used generic gameplay due to a lack of any sort of creative competence, they did not do so to be cutting edge, that's fucking stupid, its literally like listening to a shitty Rihanna album and proclaiming that it's art because the last track is a different genre.
>>322954310
>>322954186
And yet it still has better mechanics and deeper combat depth than higher-rated games like the Arkham series.
>>322954501
lol, hell no
>>322953091
Because FC3 plays its "young hero inadvertently becomes worse than the villain" so smoothly most players fail to even notice that something is wrong.
Compare that to Spec Ops, which constantly throws its themes in your face, like you're a braindead American who needs every subtlety pointed out to them, else is flies right over your hamburger-topped head.
>>322954501
>deeper combat depth
>>322952503
>>322954186
Not him
It was alright, played like Gears of War, the problem is that it doesn't go well with the stpry, which also is far from perfect.
>>322953713
You're equating appreciation with adoration. I think the game is a good critique but taken at face value it's rather mediocre. I wouldn't list it as a favorite game by any stretch of the imagination but I appreciate the intent behind its design and the message of it. Don't be dense.
>>322954454
Anon you're a fucking idiot.
>>322954454
This
One writer thought he was a fucking genius by shoehorning a "No John you are the demons" twist which in itself is dull
And the rest of the staff just went along with it whilst creating another literal brown n bloom shooter on the market
If Meet the Spartans showed a paper bag in the wind to a film noir jazz soundtrack right at the end, the experience wouldn't be magically elevated, the game gets all the hate it deserves
I like how retards on one side don't see their complaints about the mediocre gameplay are never once disagreed with by the other side
literally SOCOM with an edgy ending, highlighted by the point that people discuss the jarring contrast of the ending with the boring game instead of the game itself
It's shit
>>322954570
>>322954680
You guys do realize that in the Arkham series, you don't even have to move the analog stick to target enemies, right? Spec Ops's combat mechanics are miles ahead of that. It's a solid TPS.
>>322954834
>the intent
This I appreciate as well, but "intent" hardly means anything when the delivery is as poor as here. Games considered "worse" by the majority of /v/ (such as Modern Warfare 2 or Far Cry 3 mentioned in the thread already) have explored similar themes as Spec Ops, and did it better, despite the overall experiences still being less than amazing.
Spec Ops made the mistake of ending up as a rather poor game, on top of not following up on its lofty promises story-wise. I dare say if the gameplay was at least a bit better, the amount of haters would shrink to a fraction.
>>322945303
MGS2's messages and themes but beaten over your head and done poorly. You can't make someone feel bad for doing evil things in a video game if that's the only option.
>>322955423
>Far Cry 3
>considered worse than Spec Ops by /v/
lol no
/v/ tells it like it is on that one
but I guess it's 4chan, so there's gotta be another guy with weird delusions
>>322955392
>It's a solid TPS
It's a boring, repetitive chore of a game.
>>322955527
Why not?
>>322955392
>solid TPS
That's not enough.
>>322955701
I realised I may have picked a wrong example after posting. For certain I enjoyed FC3's gameplay more than Spec Ops'which, hey, serves to underline the point of the protagonist learning to enjoy murder as well, so yeah.
I think I'm spot-on with MW2, however. An overall poor game with a single, infamous level that does a good job of making you believe you don't have a choice, when in fact you do.
>>322955842
>Go kill these people
>You're bad for killing these people
That's Spec Ops.
>>322956161
Because the right choice is not to play the game.
>>322945823
The worst. Kill your saviours and welcome them to Dubai.
>>322956368
The right choice is to play the game and call out all its bullshit so it hopefully won't happen again
>>322955173
That's the POINT you fucking moron.
You're met with a bunch of
>it's shit...for a reason.
excuses that completely defy reality unless the devs were really that pretentious.
The game is a clone of all the boring shooters on the market with its ONLY differentiation being the unexpected ending, an ending that tells the player off and dictates they're a bad person for playing the game like the bland TPS that it is and believing it to be the bland TPS that it is, it gives this facade of shock and disgust towards a player who's sitting in his armchair laughing or mockingly raising his eyebrow, whilst the writers are thinking that he's stunned.
It didn't achieve its marketing goal of being a boring cowadooty game, it didn't achieve its hamfisted ending of being avant garde and deep. It tried both, it wanted both, it failed miserably at both of them.
Spec Ops: The Line is a bad game and a bad story and no matter how much artistic synonyms you throw at it when describing it, you're fooling nobody.
So, wait, the intention of the publisher is for me to choose not to play the game?
They want me to actually not play the game?
>>322956689
yep
halo 4 had more emotional weight in the story and immersion that year, and thats saying something
>>322956858
They want "you" to stop buying generic military man shooters ( allegedly )
>>322955842
>game has moral choice system or just different options in general
>go the easy route of killing everyone
>get chastised by characters in the plot for these actions and the plot takes a dark turn
>go the more difficult route
>not only do you feel a sense of accomplishment with the more difficult method, the plot has a more final ending and feels more satisfying
>game has one linear and direct plot
>attempts to make you feel bad for what you have done in the game
>you feel no guilt as that is the only option in the game
Do I have a problem with games with linear plot? No of course not. However, I do have a problem with games that only give me one option to go about something and then immediately chastise me for doing said action, even though I can't do anything else to progress in the game.
>>322956858
It's deep like that. You still better buy it though!
>>322956858
Unless you are a horrible person. And anyone that plays video games is a horrible person.
>>322956858
They want you to pay for it, of course, and play it all the way through so they can feel all clever. I think they want you to stop playing all those generic military shooters except theirs.
>>322956689
So its either a lack of creativity or a terribly anti-consumer stance propped up with "but its art" reasoning, It's a lose/lose situation, shit game
>>322957026
Also, I'm very much aware Metal Gear Solid 2 does not have multiple endings, but the idea of choice is a primary theme. I was just using the moral choice system of games as an example.
>>322956689
>Spec Ops: The Line is a bad game
Let's see...
>Gorgeous graphics that max out the potential of Unreal Engine 3
>Fantastic licensed soundtrack featuring lesser known artists like Black Mountain
>Solid shooting mechanics with visceral executions
>Thoughtful storytelling with excellent attention to detail
>Featuring great extras such as elements of choice, momentos and multiple endings
Yeah man, absolutely awful game, no doubt.
>>322945303
>Shoot that guy
>You actually did it, you madman
>>322957446
Did you pull that off the back of the box?
>>322957010
By making you play through hours of a generic game right down to the echo echo Oscar mike calllsigns and humourless cast (objectively)
And then having the laughable gaul to criticize the player and pretend its something else, its like meeting someone at a party and they tell you their name is John and then acting shocked right at the end because you didn't know their real name is James and they sit their gasping and shaking their head, its mildly confusing for the wrong reasons at the very most.
>>322956689
Bingo
Fuck outta here spec ops fags
Go find some artistic rhetoric in Ape Escape or something
>>322948827
that cat looks swole as fuck for a cat you could tell it was mad as fuck when it was wagging its tale
>>322957459
>You must shoot this guy to progress
>you absolute madman
>what's the matter anon? you couldve turned the game off ;))
>this is art btw okay
>>322957459
laff
Neat concept, shitty execution. You can't bash the player for playing the game the only way it can be played by saying "just turn the game off!!"
Soundtrack was on point tho senpai desu
>>322953091
>>322954623
I thought far cry 3's story went to shit. I killed off lord Vaaser then I fucked around with some eurofag on a different island and I had to choose between fucking my waifu and escaping with my fag hipster friend
Because it's a shitty, lazy excuse to not actually giving an option for the player to not do bad actions.
>>322957554
No but now that I reread it, my sides are in orbit because it genuinely does sound like the description on the back of a game case.
Yager deposited fifty cents into my account for that post, feels good man. But in serious I think the only reason I liked Spec Ops so much was because it was like five dollars and resonated with me. I could definitely see how people would be salty if they bought it at $40.
>>322948041
actually a meme game is something like a guacamelee that tries to fill the game with memes.
It's a game that highlights why all other games like it are shit, and that war is hell.
>>322945303
Serious question
How the fuck this shit is based on Heart of Darkness?
Apocalypse Now is also an adaptation and while they changed the setting, the plot has a similar structure, but I really cant find anything similar between HoD and Spec Ops or between Ap Now and Spec Ops other than "hurrdurr war bad".
Also Kurtz was a fat an edgy faggot trying to be deep, if the character was to be adapted into a 2015 setting he would be a blogger with a fedora.
I remember playing my copy of Golden Balls and the most was simple, it just seemed like an ordinary party game, nothing much to it, nothing deceptive.
But that ending, where during split or steal the game informed me I was stolen FROM. I experienced severe trauma, the glitz and glamour of fame and TV shattered in an instant, I couldn't fucking believe it. Was this what The Catcher in the Rye wanted with his Orwellian post modern takes on renaissance libertarianism?
I had to think for a second, this wasnt just any shovelware for the Nintendo DS, it seemed like it, but that outcome, all that lost prize money, I couldn't believe it. I have played Spec Ops and I have crossed the line, but not until then had I truly crossed...the line.
>>322959050
outside of that one mexican town with rage faces I dont remember that many memes in guacamelee it was a concomitant beat em up platformer with good animation, meme games are like Goat Sim or Shower with your dad
>>322959224
Konrad
>>322959247
i know its a troll but this is what you faggots actually look like
>>322959224
>Military group goes rogue
>MC has PTSD
>>322959490
Yes I know Konrad is a reference, but to what exactly? After reading the book and watching the movie I cant find any parallel other than war is bad.
I just thought the game did a good job showing how broken Walker became.
>>322959867
wasn't that the main story? why everyone is shitposting?
>>322959495
>a troll
I believe that's called "satire"
>>322945303
Kinda fun firsttime. No real replay value. Muh social commentary bullshit.
>>322960101
Because it is cool when people talk about Spec Ops The Line.
>>322959224
Spec Ops The Line to Heart of Darkness is like what "All About That Bass" is to soul music
It parades itself as a tribute and pretends to have real sentiment but is so culturally and commercially sieved of any real value or dignity that any such claims are just hilarious.
>Was this what The Catcher in the Rye wanted with his Orwellian post modern takes on renaissance libertarianism?
No dude that's Spec Ops: The Line ;^)
>>322959867
If Mario didn't find Peach at the end of Mario Bros. and just sat in a chair and sank his head whilst the credits rolled, that would be a more effective social commentary then what Spec Ops The Line brings
is anybody reading these posts and mockingly saying "Spec ops THE LINE" with emphasis in their head?
God its such a fucking stupid title
>>322961145
No, no, it's meaningful. See, the protagonist crosses THE LINE several times in the course of the game. It's a play on the words "the line" and their implied idiomatic meaning.
It's pretty deep.
>>322949430
>not linking http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Darkness-Joseph-Conrad/dp/1503275922/
I don't mind when somethings just critically overrated like Ocarina of Time, when the actual work itself isn't pretentious and the regular fans aren't
But when the fans are pretentious, the devs are pretentious, and the game is praised for concepts that are poorly executed or simply arent fucking there, that's annoying
This means Spec Ops The Line and the Souls series, like Vaatividyas videos
>>322961145
Crawfish Ops: The Craw
It's groundbreaking if you've never seen a decent war movie.
It's groundbreaking if you have a buttplug inserted.
>>322961689
thisss
>>322961779
or a book, or even a fucking leaflet
>>322961843
Everything's groundbreaking if you have a buttplug inserted.
>>322961725
Do you feel like a hermit crab yet?
>>322961978
Narcissa Ops: The Whine
>>322961689
VaatiVidya genuinely has the most annoying voice on YouTube
It's the opposite tone of Markiplier, Pewdiepie etc. and somehow STILL manages to sound more repulsive, its like a smug paedophile voice
>Truly, we are Spec Ops: The Line
god dammit
>>322961725
Fuck I couldn't believe that scene where I innocently boiled a bunch of lobsters...
I thought they were fucking eggs, EGGS, I have truly crossed The Line
I'M SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CHOICE, THAT'S HOW MODERN VIDEO GAMES ARE ADVERTISED TO ME! IT'S ALL ABOUT CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCES! WHERE IS THE DIALOG WHEEL?!?!
IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!
>>322945303
it's a game that tries too hard to make you feel bad about killing polygon people. if you play it as a comedy its pretty funny
>>322946529
Just read Heart of Darkness
No Walker, you are the demon.
Utter, utter fucking garbage.
This shit sat on my backlog for one year, gave it a shot and completed it in less than 4 hours.
Almost everything about this game is atrocious.
Starting from the gameplay, which is a glorified abysmal retarded gears-clone with a shoehorned "lol dynamic ambient" gimmick which contributes to absolutely nothing, all the fucking weapons were absolutely horseshit and unsatisfying as fuck to shoot and operate, and you can clear the whole game by just watching as your buddies kill everything, because apparently there is a script that makes your two fucking deadweights instakill shit after 10 mins of firefight, to promote "advancing in the game".
The story must be the most retarded pretentious fucking thing ever written for a videogame, even worse than Gone Home and all these "2art4u" games we've been having since 2009.
They put an enormous amount of work in small details and things for such a shitty, retarded plot that makes close to no sense, a polished turd with candies on it is still a goddamn turd, and almost all the emotional retarded bullshit this game was supposed to have was so flat it felt almost hysterical, as models and animations weren't exactly any good.
You clearly never had a choice, the game literally forces you to annihilate everything and everybody because "lol why not" and "lol i'm getting insane here guyse", the only part where you actually have a choice isin the end, where the ending you get is just a prompt, either ending A by killing yourself, ending B by killing the mirror image, ending C by not doing anything, and then the retarded endings ABC which are literally "shoot everyone, don't shoot, die while shooting"
The only positive thing, at least for me, is the whole ruined Dubai setting, but this is just a biased shit of mine since i'm fond of abandoned places and post-apocalyptic cities.
cont
>>322962459
Nice try faggot
It's the shaming for hours of forced gameplay, bland settings and cookie cutter dialogue that all combines into one big hilarious blunder.
Nobody's asking for a Yes/No button, they're asking for a good game and a good story
No mercy.
>>322962753
Whenever /v/ talks about this game it is always the same shit, people praising the details but no the story, while also shitting the gameplay.
This game could have been miles ahead if it was an actual open world RPG\FPS hybrid and not just a lane shooter with 2deep4u jokes and forced emotional babbleshit to impress normies.
So yeah, i wouldn't recommend this shit to anyone unless you're into 2deep4u emotional retarded games with a pretentious plot with abysmal gameplay as second.
Dubai was extremely cool, tho, i give them that.And Jimi Hendrix's TSSB in the menu, i liked that.
Snail Ops: The Slug
>>322962459
NO
I ONLY WANTED TO SAVE THESE PEOPLE
I CAN MAKE IT RIGHT, I CAN MAKE IT BETTER
>>322962631
>feel bad about killing polygon people
No.
It's a game like COD or Battlefield except that when Sgt. Grizzled Chin McGravelvoice plays dirty harry with his mission's scope (recon becomes, I MUST SAVE THE SOLDIERS becomes I MUST SAVE THE RESISTANCE AGAINST THE OPPRESSIVE BUTCHERS becomes FUCKING KILL THE MONSTER THAT MADE ME KILL ALL THOSE PEOPLE) the game denies their designated hero status.
When their wisecracking friend gets killed in what would normally be a "this steels my resolve" you are instead presented with an unarmed angry mob furious over the fact you sentenced themto die of thirst.
It doesnt paint any side as pure evil or good, or even give you the option to be some antihero. It gives you the moral dilemma where the only difference in outcome is your hand on your dick and your good intentions then asks you if all those people negatovely affected REALLY give a damn about your good intentions.
Fucking LOVE SPEC OPS.
Tries to be a playable military TPS and fucks that up
Tries to save itself by being a deep MGS2 social context twist right at the end and also fucks that up considering the foundations of the game
Same goes for that time paused, guilty conscience, alternate universe shit that happened in the last ep of Life is Strange, the reasoning behind it was so fucking minimal that it feels like the devs think being meta instantly equates with being a genius, it doesn't.
Also Do you feel like a hero yet might be the most annoyingly pretentious, transparent and comedically Ineffective line ive ever seen in a videogame
It's a vidya adaptation of Heart of Darkness
>>322963097
"Do you feel like a gastropod mollusk yet?"
"Colonel Konrad I'm Spec Ops: The Line"
>>322963854
In which way? Im sure you can explain how this Konrad is similar in any way to Kurtz, the ivory trader that through technology becomes the god of a small tribe. Go ahead, Im sure you read the book and you are not parroting retarded wikipedia trivia
>>322965180
Was feeling like a hero part of your plan?
>>322965180
you don't get do bring konrad
>>322945303
It was a story oriented game.
Gameplay was indeed tight and well made but as generic as you would expect. Not necessary bad as I said it controls well it is gratifying it is solid it just doesn't have something flashy to it apart of how realistically it handles its in game violence.
The story is the selling point of the game. It can make you feel 2 ways. You will either feel disassociated with it which will lead you to hate it or you will take a good time pondering its ethical messages over dinner or something. The atmosphere it creates through the environment and sound is pretty damn top notch and will help draw you in.
The thing is do NOT accept 90% of the criticism /v/ gives it since it stems from leldit tier contrarianism and hipsterdom. Criticism that boils down to shit like "Gone Homo of shooters" or "try hard casual garbage" is simply put it shit opinions of idiots trying to hard to fit in.
Accept criticism from people that were not drawn to its story and world and understand why they did not manage that you might be the same case.
All in all I say pick it up during a Steam sale for low bux even if you don't ultimately like it at least you will not regret it.
I liked it personally.
>>322968161
>all this common sense
am I'm still on /v/?
>>322969446
here have this as a gift
the things I despise
god's speed anon
>>322968161
>le other opinions are wrong but mine is right
A lot of people have mention Heart of Darkness here but honestly Far Cry 2 did a better job of making a vidya interpretation of the novel than sepc ops the line did. either way i consider both games a 9/10.
>>322969979
>a post from 2011's /v/
>>322968161
>I liked it personally.
That's all you had to say, instead of writing a small essay about how people shouldn't accept criticism of a frankly hollow game with very little play aside from "click on heads to progress".
>>322969446
Samefag as fuck, so I'll say it again; it's a poor game with the most jarring mix of generic TPS plus pretentious overtones.
If the game had been a FPS, the story elements would have worked a bit better with the action, but third-person shooting is probably the most unsuitable and the most video-gamey front-end possible for such a babby-tier meta presentation.
I don't think it works, and I don't think you should be telling anyone to disregard any of the deserved criticism the game gets.
>>322970690
>>322969979
>that pic
>tfw I was there
I never understood the weird perspective some people on /v/ have about gaming.
Let's for instances take the basic cover and shoot, from Gears of War. It was fun to play the first time i saw it, it was fun to play in the Dark Void and i t was fun to play in Spec Ops: The Line.
When i saw that the gameplay was the same at the core, i didn't put on a hate parade about how fucking much i hate it that a game dares to use the same base in gameplay, i just fucking dealt with it, played the game and *gasp enjoyed it nonchalantly.
Dark Void, imao was a pretty sub-bar game in in terms of it's story but it was a solid imitation of gears of wars core gameplay with an enjoyable fly mechanics.
Spec Ops, once again, featured a really basic, yet working gameplay and a bit "deeper" story than your average military shooter, plus it had nice atmosphere that felt like you where behind gods back.
Uh... what a mean to say is that a lot of you guys are a bunch of assholes and you deserve to feel that every game you play is inadequate for your taste. You are not the videogame critiques Robert Ebert. Fuck you.
>>322972554
>people don't like hackneyed garbage on top of mediocre, uninventive and repetitive gameplay
Well who'dathunkit
>>322951145
Does Spec Ops actually have good music? I haven't listened to it at all. Looking for OST right now but what are the best tracks?
>>322956689
This is no longer podracing.
This is a stone cold killer.
The gameplay is shit, couldn't care less for the story.
