Muzman on 2/7/2012 at 10:46
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ROBtiVAUUI&feature=plcp)
TB thought the same. It's rather fascinating.
There's a lot of complaints that, in reviewing this people are letting mediocre gameplay slide too much. But I don't know. I really don't think RPS would give a third person cover-shooter that much attention if it wasn't doing something interesting. It's like Robocop is doing a fairly standard hero arc, but it's doing it in an interesting and subversive way. If this game wasn't a Gears clone what it's doing wouldn't make as much sense, I'd wager. (still not paying full price)
Angel Dust on 2/7/2012 at 12:14
Just finished it. Wow. That was pretty intense and genuinely discomforting.
More thoughts later but I'd just like to say I actually enjoyed, although as the story progresses that's hardly the right word for it, the shooting. The mouse control is a bit off and the cover sticking is sometimes an issue but on the whole the combat, at least on hard, strikes the right note of gradually escalating intensity. As you're about as vulnerable as the non-bullet sponge enemies it's often a desperate struggle (I used blind-fire far more than any other third-person shooter I've ever played) and the lack of ammunition forces you to make your shots count as well as scramble for new weapons when required.
pdenton on 3/7/2012 at 06:47
As I get older I'm finding it harder and harder to find games that I can enjoy as an adult. A friend and I finished Spec Ops around the same time and were able to have a lengthy conversation about the game's themes and how they related to Heart of Darkness (we're both Joseph Conrad fans). It was exhilarating actually. Now games like Battlefield and Call of Duty seem trite and kid's play (fun multiplayer aside). In fact, Spec Ops has now risen a bar for what I expect, or at least hope to see, in future military shooters.
The ending blew me away...not that the twist was anything totally shocking but just how the tone set by the rest of the game wasn't betrayed. I mean these guys REALLy, REALLY stuck to the brutality and horror of war up until the finale frame. If you're in the market for a third person shooter like this, I can't recommend it enough.
And FYI, it's 25 bucks on Amazon right now for PC.
poroshin on 7/7/2012 at 18:19
Just finished it. Great game. Very different and very disturbing. However, it posits itself as though you have moral choices to make but you really don't. You can't not shoot, unless I missed something. I guess you can just not play...
Malleus on 7/7/2012 at 18:53
I just finished the game too, and it was definitely better than I expected, but I still didn't like the gameplay itself. It was just a TPS, and I found the shooting tiresome and repetitive, especially with the ridiculous amount of enemies you kill. Other than that the story was great (I especially liked how the characters start to break down both in appearance and in attitude as you progress), the scenery and the locations looked good, and I "liked" the brutal imagery and the disturbing scenes. I don't get why they needed to add the slomo headshot thingy though - that together with mowing down hundreds of enemies seem to be at odds with the tone of the game ... but maybe that's what they wanted?
All in all it was worth playing for the story, but the gameplay kind of detracted from the whole experience for me.
poroshin on 7/7/2012 at 21:06
What did you think of the narrative itself? And the choices, or rather pseudo-choices?
pdenton on 8/7/2012 at 09:08
I think the lack of choice, or at least absence of a right or wrong choice, was intentional. You CAN choose to shoot, or who to shoot, or where to shoot, but the outcomes are always lose-lose for Walker and his men. Which I really liked. I didn't buy this thinking there was a karma system or Mass Effect like freedom.It was a nice touch that when Lugo dies you can either kill the mob or shoot into the air to clear them out. That felt like an organic choice to make in that situation which was both intense and realistic.
poroshin on 8/7/2012 at 13:05
Still, the advertisement said you had to make choices, and you don't. It's very linear. Whenever the game actually gives you an outright choice a handful of times it isn't a real choice since the outcome is largely the same. That said, I liked the game and the story anyway. I guess I just expected it to be non-linear as per player's choices.
gunsmoke on 9/7/2012 at 14:28
I am putting this game in my 'to do' list. Sounds fantastic! I have just been replaying old games over and over again recently (well, since Skyrim) and need something fresh.
poroshin on 14/7/2012 at 23:21
Quote Posted by gunsmoke
I am putting this game in my 'to do' list. Sounds fantastic! I have just been replaying old games over and over again recently (well, since Skyrim) and need something fresh.
It is a great game. I'm replaying it right now.
