This is the best story-based shooter I have ever played, and in fact, probably top ten of all time for stories. It forces you to take some truly gruesome actions, all under the guise of having to do the job, to protect the masses. You find yourself emotionally invested as a result, and as the story progresses, you start to feel bad about your decisions, just in time for the next moment of heroics, to build your ego back up. Well thought-out, interesting characters, and with several twists throughout, you will have no idea what happened once you achieve one of the 4 (yes 4) different endings. With the ability to replay the game at the Chapter level, you can experience all the endings without putting 4 playthroughs in, which is also nice. The only gripe is the AI on Normal mode is a little goofy at times, but overwhelmingly firefights are exciting, fun, and have you looking forward to the next one. The game is beautiful, animation is quite good. This is quite simply a fantastic game.… Expand

Cuando la guerra deja mella en tí Yager Development pone el dedo en la herida con este titulo de acción en tercera persona Estamos acostumbrados a jugar sin pensar en las consecuencias, pasamos nivel tras nivel dejando una estela de destrucción y muertes que no nos paramos un momento en pensar que puede haber tras nuestros pasos mortales. ¿Nunca te has parado a meditar que ese escuascuadrón de “enemigos” podían tener familia?

http://www.elgamer.es/spec-ops-the-line/… Expand

Since there is a demo I won't mention game-play and let you determine your feelings on it. with that out of the way this game has the BEST story of any game I've played, including many rpgs. It is a modern take on the classic "Heart of Darkness". This game also manages to raise moral/ethical questions without seeming heavy-handed or biased. This game is one of the few that give credence to video games being called art.… Expand

this game was fantastic! the story was well told and emotional, the characters were solid and likeable, and the gameplay was satisfying and brutal. Dubai is a beautiful destroyed city with frequent sandstorms and gunfights. I haven't had a chance to play the multiplayer but the story and single player campaign is well worth the purchase. replayability is pretty high as well with hidden collectibles to be found and different endings and moral choices to see. overall an awesome war shooter with a great story and satisfying gameplay. I REALLY enjoyed this game.… Expand

Spec Ops: The Line will change you. If you have the capacity to fully immerse yourself in a narrative, to buy into the questions asked, and to allow even a moments thought on who and why you are killing, then Spec Ops the line will forever make impotent any high action shooter on the market. Immerse yourself, and enjoy. (Disclaimer: combat is not that great, but your not SUPPOSED to enjoy it. Convenient no?)… Expand

I found Spec-Ops The Line a good game, the setup is fun, where you go walking into Dubai in a state of destruction, your supposed "evacuation" mission suddenly changes from that to being hunted and racing towards a person called Conrad Verner your character served with a long time ago, which leads to emotion and disaster. Gameplay: another game they take too seriously like only 2 weapons. As for the multiplayer, I LIKED IT, this ANNOYS ME SO MUCH! nobody plays it omg! I only play games like RFG and Battlefield 3 online thus nobody even plays RFG, I enjoyed this multiplayer but very sadly nobody plays it online. The story is very good and the characters are fantastic as well as the voice acting, and gameplay in campaign has supposed consequences as you race through the tall buildings, museums and ruined streets. But given that it's good but not worth much and that nobody plays the multiplayer other than Mutiny and Team Deathmatch I give this 5/10 as a result instead of 8/10. And it counts as a loss if you quit as well which is completely unnecessary. Such a shame we get all these great games and nobody plays them. All because of Call of Duty, which I hate to talk about when it comes to great games with small community. And for the record, I'm gonna need mental pain killers if I'm gonna play and finish this on FUBAR difficulty, the achievements to this game are easy but this is the only one I can't get.… Expand

Although not from a mainstream blockbuster franchise, Spec Ops: The Line is a surprising solid shooter in all departments. Graphics are excellent with superb lighting and good textures one of the best looking Unreal Engine 3 games on the Xbox 360. Framerate is smooth and rarely drops even at very intensive parts. The campaign is of good length, with the highest difficulty being just right. The setting of it being in Dubai manages to mix a perfect blend between realistic and intense warzone-looking parts with beautiful scenery. Level design is fairly generic but it's not too repetitive, and is generally high quality. The story isn't your conventional military shooter; it's actually written by an author so you can expect higher than average entertainment value in that department. As for the most important part in a shooter the mechanics and controls they are very impressive. Those who have played Gears of War or even Uncharted will feel right at home here. Controls are responsive, fluid and consistent for the most part. The game mechanics are your typical third person shooter, but executed with perfection. The cover mechanic is not a hassle, aiming both in and out of cover is simple and fast, you can swap shoulders etc. All the common sense stuff is here, with logical button layout. The gunplay is similar to Uncharted's mechanics; however since the weapons are fully licensed you can take advantage of selective fire for some weapons. You should not be put off buying this excellent title if you're after a solid single-player third person shooter simply because it's not branded. Be assured that this is a high quality game with few mistakes, and excels in all areas. It doesn't push the boundaries or do anything new there's nothing 'special' or unique but it does do everything very well. The only minor setback is your teammate AI. They will not position themselves well at all in combat, and whilst you can order them to attack, you can't move them into cover. There is very little you can actually order your teammates to do, but there doesn't feel like anything's missing. All in all, this is a robust third-person shooter in all aspects.… Expand

For a fan of shooters, the ease of gameplay may be a big deterrent. However, and seeing as today's games are further breaking the boundaries of story, this one reaches for the sky and beyond. A well orchestrated story with character, fleshed out and at times dramatically surrendering. A simpleton with a pension for KVD and the Call of Duty series could never enjoy a game like this. Though for those who want a little experimentation in exposition, as well as an interesting Apocalypse Now aesthetic, this game may very well be for you. *4 out of 5 stars."… Expand

Spec ops the line, es un obra de arte, solo en historia, en puntos de jubailidad gráficos, sonidos tecnología esta bien. La jugabilidad es mas que simple pero buena. Gráficamente esta bien, con algunos puntos flojos y algunos que otros bugs que son muy lamentables. Pero lo que si vale la pena tener este juego es por la historia y sus giros que te dejan con la boca abierta y con ganas de de tirar el Joystick por la ventana. En fin Spec ops es un excelente juego pero con algunas cosas malas que son lo de menos. Y si lo juegas te va a quedar gustando.… Expand

The Spec Ops games are probably one of the best. Nice graphics, good story, good gameplay. Just one wrong. Only a few games section shall walk, nothing else.
The gameplay is very good for walking outside, and by the way, even the graphics are good.

Great campaign,great visuals,good gameplay.The game is awesome.The only bad thing is MP is not interesting.Not awful,but not good either.Loved the game.

An well-directed cinematic experience, full of "wow" moments thanks to the exciting graphics, dialogue and the clever insertion of pop music. Weapons are well ballanced and this game have the most acurate handgun i've experienced in videogames. That desert-eagle really kills! Some details put this game very up-to-date, for example the melee attack should be incorporated on every future shooter from now on. Really good experience, even if it's linear and scripted th only thins keeping it from getting a 10.… Expand

Spec Ops: The line is another game that is all about the story and the message the developers are trying to put across. From a gameplay standpoint the game is completely mediocre with standard cover based shooting and sluggish controls. However this in a sense adds to the message of the game even more, as the game goes on it forces the player to question their progress and the people they have killed as a result as the main character descends into madness. The message works rather well, at one point near the end of the game, you are asked "Do you even remember why you came here?" and this hit hard, and made me think as the game often does… Expand

Going into this game, I was already aware that the story was based on the book, The Heart of Darkness. Knowing this, my interest was piqued as I played through the campaign and was absolutely amazed by the plot of this game. As Delta Squad delves further into the city of Dubai, they are gradually changed by the horrors of war as their mission to save the civilians only gets worse. I'm not going to add any spoilers as I believe this is a story best told through the game itself.

I'll just go right ahead and say this first. The gameplay is NOT the focus of this game. This is a thinking man's game in the sense that it has it's own message and acts as one big commentary on the modern war genre of shooting games. If you're coming at this game thinking that this is some extravaganza of guns and fun in the sand, think again. The gameplay does what it's supposed to and not much more. The guns feel rather "meh" with the exception of a few overpowered hand-cannons that you wouldn't want to drop if it weren't for the scarcity of ammo throughout the game. The AI is also functional but prone to moments of stupidity. You do have the ability to give your squad orders, but it's rather limited for the most part. Everything works fine, but it's easy to tell that it's the story that's the highlight of the game.

As you continue to play the tones throughout the game gradually shift, turning darker, cynical, and more violent to reflect the squads' (especially Walker's) degrading mental states. The executions, which start as basic neck stomps and a quick shot to the head soon turn into savage beat downs and forcing a gun barrel into the struggling victim's mouth. Walker's orders also shift from being a professional to him breaking down to barking orders with no shortage of profanity.

To put things simply, this game gets disturbing. You're often forced into moral choices with no positive outcome and you're made to live with the consequences. And boy, are there consequences. There are moments in this game that hit you like a hammer as the game brutally ( and mockingly) reminds you that everything that has happened is entirely your fault. The game even outright tells you to stop playing if you don't want things to get any worse. The ending in Spec Ops is one of the best of any video game that I've seen in a very long time. Despite being based off a book (that I've read, no less), it's still so well executed that I can't help but be amazed by it. Definitely not something you want spoiled for you.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Spec Ops: the line is a great game, fantastic storyline and very playable, easy to pick up gameplay. Alright the visuals are not stunning but they still look very good. Although Spec Ops doesn't really bring anything new to the table it is well worth the purchase, the 3rd person genre has plenty to offer and Spec Ops will never be top of the pile but if you like army of two or gears of war, you won't go wrong picking this up.… Expand

Wonderful game! I love the story and cut-scenes very much, also the progress of it is very intense and interesting. Sometimes you have a choice and there are overall 4 endings. The game itself is nice - you shoot guys, there are quite a few weapons, like 12, there is a helicopter mission, parts with sniping, escorting, shooting from a nest with a mini-gun. Intense, powerful, interesting to play.
Best shooter of the year.… Expand

Spec Ops: The Line is a great game, you can't deny that. I just wanted it to be longer, it's quite short, but still, I thought it was amazing, quite underrated if you asked me, one of the best game this gen. Yes, it is that good, please buy it as soon as possible.

2K games publishes another bland boring shooter that I can't be bothered to finish like Borderlands 2. NPC use grenades and trying to avoid them is annoying due the contextual button for wall hug is the same as run, caused most of my deaths. The only good feature to this games is that I can trade it in like B2.

People looked upon this game as a mediocre, paint-by-numbers shooter, and I did too. When you think about it, why shouldn

In this day and age of gaming, we are always having military shooters shoved down our throats all the time and it has become extremely repetative. After hearing about spec ops the line I wasn't exactly jumping for joy for I am sick and tired of military shooters and the Spec ops series hasn't exactly had the best history. However, after playing Spec Ops I can honestly say that this is one of the best games of 2012 if not one of the best games of this generation. You assume the role of Captin Walker a US Delta force operator who is sent in with two other delta force operators named Lugo and Adams to the city of Dubai. A city that was destroyed by a deadly sandstorm and you are sent in to search for a high military figure named John Konrad, leader of the 33rd US batalion, who was has been missing for 6 months after being sent into the city against orders to save the citizens. Dubai is a beautiful world that I truly wanted to invest myself into. With wonderfully done lighting that properly that has a certain texture to it that brings this dead city to life, level design are all symbolisms of either political or other views of the world, graphite art on the walls for deeper meanings, and the wonderful voice acting. I could talk about the world nonstop however I am limited on characters. The story is quite possibly the biggest surprise for me, as it is the first military shooter that truly dives into the mind of a soldier and what war is like and what it truly does to the people in war. Spec ops will actually start of with nothing special going for it except for the fact that the game is extremely well written even thogh it starts off as a cleche. Spec ops eveloves and waits for u to find the answers of the story which is something that we have't seen since bioshock and something we've never seen in a military shooter. The secrets in dubai is something you want to find out for urself and it is truly disturbing. In fact it can be too disturbing for some and if you really pay attention u may feel bad that you are actually playing the game making it one of the best story experiences of the last few years. Discussing themes such as anti-war, does any reason for killing really change the context of muder, why do we try to be heros when we are not, is fighting for your country a good enough reason to kill, the mind of a soldier in the battlefield, the choices soldiers must make, deception, insanity, and the list goes on really delivering something that we rarely see in gaming and something we never see in a military shooter. Now gameplay in Spec ops believe it or not is extremely entertaining, while the gameplay doesn't innovate like the story it's definately playable and plays extremely well. While I may have some gripes of the fact that sometimes Walker will still get hit even while in cover that is minor for what the gameplay gets right. Now this may be hard to believe but Spec ops the line's enemy and ally AI is actually quite brilliant, enemies know the terrain and will take every advantage they can to kill you. They will flank you, throw grenades at you, throw grenades not directly at you but close enough to kick up clouds of sand to blind you, they will use cover fire and move from cover to cover and have no predictable patterns, and will have fantastic aim but not cheap. Even your allies are extremely smart, they dont get in your way and they actually kill enemies, better yet u can command them to kill certain targets and if you order them to kill a target they 9.999 times out of 10 will kill him right away and if not quick enough Lugo will either snipe him if hes far away or Adams will throw a grenade. Either way they will always get the job done and I am happy with how Yager handled the AI. However, multiplayer is this game's down fall, while it isn't horrible (trust me i've played some really bad multiplayer) it doesn't do anything different and it is clearly obvious that it was half assed and only put their becuase 2K told them to put it in there. Not going to go into any details with that just know that multiplayer isn't anything to write home about. Spec ops the line truly surprised me, it did something that i was not expecting and truly is the best military shooter to date. All for its mature handling of adult themes, fantastic writing, beautiful world, captivating and deep story, and everthing that a game should have, context, focusing more on the moments and the emotions than the typical badass high five dudes. Now it isn't perfect like every other game i still find things i dont like however Spec ops the line is a special game that makes u angry that u even enjoy violent games a game that will have u think about certain themes without pushing it down your throat. I can't reccomend it enough, stop reading this review and go get this game.....what are you waiting for? Go now!… Expand

Finally. It took long enough but we finally have a shooter with a story worth following. Highly recommended. The graphics are great, the sound design in awesome, the controls are great although I hate the fact that a few buttons do multiple moves causing some problems. The sand is a cool novelty but after a few times you will get over using it as a weapon. The story mode is perfectly balanced in regards to ammo and set pieces but the difficulty is up and down. As good as the game looks the bloom is overdone at times and after a while the look of the city and desert gets a tad old. The indoor sections mix things up a bit. Multiplayer is just an add on that gets old quickly. But this is a game you will want to play for the single player anyways. Very few games have a story so deep and so emotional. Some of the things you do and see are not for the faint of heart. But this is the direction I wish more games would go. Very few shooters these days are worth playing for their story and luckily, the game is fun enough and interesting enough that you will enjoy seeing where the story goes. Great game.… Expand

This game is great, but not for the reasons you'll hear from most. Ask around the internet and you'll find that this is the (apparently) long awaited game were you "finally get to kill Americans". The simpletons who find joy in this aspect are missing the real message that makes Spec Ops: The Line; War makes everyone the bad guy. It's hard to explain this concept without giving spoilers, but rest assured; this theme will characterize your experience. This game knows what it is to be gritty, and it's not a dark color palate and constipated voice actors. It's making the player feel truly guilty for what they do. Spec Ops does this all too well.… Expand

What may seem like a rather generic Third Person Shooter set in an interesting location you've played dozens of times, Spec Ops: The Line quickly turns into one of the most engaging and thought provoking shooters and/or video games in general in recent memory. The developers purposely play on this fact and mentality only to pull the rug from underneath your feet and show you the other side of the genre which has seldomly been explored. Even after finishing the game you'll sit wondering about the choices you made, the consequences of those actions and whether or not what you did was truely 'right', as there is no clear line in the proverbial sand on the issue. Spec Ops: The Line is one of the most engaging and totally enthralling titles to come out this generation, and one that should not be left unexperienced by any gamer wanting more out of this interactive medium.… Expand

1 thing: The story! I have never seen a story like that. The gameplay is not wow, because the controls don't feel well and the shooting doesn't feel well. In the game you can find alot of items that tells you something about the story and what is happening in Dubai after the sandstorm. This game is not great in the multiplayer section but if you love great stories and you are a fan of first person shooter.. You must play this game!!!… Expand

what a great game. the actual gameplay is standard 3rd person shoot with nothing new, but all the controls work well. the story is where this game shines bright like a becon of hope for games every where. they say they drew inspiration from heart of darkness but thats where it ends. spec ops is its own unique take on it and is in no way similar to a Apocalypse Now. I have never played a game through twice but this i have. the multiplayer is very basic but it is unique to this game but still enjoyable. anything else will ruin it, so this is a game you need in your collection… Expand

"Spec Ops: The Line" truly surprised me. Upon hearing about it, when it first came into production, I blindly assumed this would be another 'bog-standard' third person shooter... Oh how I was wrong.
Upon entering the game you get the usual intro i.e. here's who you are, here's your team and a story based tutorial to get you used to the controls and enter you into the world. From there the real story begins. You are sent on a recon mission to find survivors of the war in Dubai, which has been devastated by a sandstorm, but something is amiss. From there the story gets better and better, more gripping as each page of the story unfolds to the point were you can't put the controller down as you are desperate to find out what happens next. The gameplay is rather simple but there's nothing bad about that. It sticks true to most third-person shooters so it's easy to pick up, using a cover based system so you have to think tactically about the fight before you run in 'all guns blazing'. In many circumstances 3 or 4 shots from the enemies will kill you. Your team mates also take damage so you have to watch out for them. You can also control your team in various ways such as making them throw flashbangs or grenades. "Spec Ops: The Line" has a very big interaction with the environment. For example you can throw grenades at certain walls which will blow open pouring sand over your enemies and drowning them, so there are many ways to eliminate your opponents. The game prompts you when it reckons it is a good idea to throw a flashbang or tells you to tell your team mates to target a certain target such as a sniper far away. However the game isn't easy, but its not hard either. Certain points in the game prove for a very hard fire-fight, so there's definitely a challenge for the 'harder' gamers. Enemies vary in weapons and style of fighting and the enemies get harder as the game develops. But... The best bit about this game for me was the decision making parts. In most games it's very basic i.e. good or evil. However, in "Spec Ops: The Line" they take decision making to a whole new level. There's no good or bad options in this, each decision is a morals check. Out of the two options which do you believe is less 'evil' then the other? There were several moments in this game where I was left 'mouth wide open' in utter shock as to what my character had actually just done. This draws you more into the character, making you take a good look at the decision and thinking was there a better way around it and most of the time, there isn't. It's deciding the lesser of two evils which makes this game so memorable. Graphics are really good. Nothing compared to games such as 'Gears' and 'Forza' however they are still very good and nothing to complain about. Another great aspect is because of the decision making, you really want to know what the other decision impacts on the game. This made me complete it 3 times, on 3 of the 4 difficulties, skipping out easy. There is also 4 really varied endings which is another reason the game makes you want to keep completing it. Altogether this is one of the most surprising games of 2012, a true gem that every gamer should experience. Fantastic story, good gameplay, good graphics and memorable decision making. A great game.… Expand

This is... okay. The story's decent and not gripping at all. Gameplay is sort of like Gears of War, witch does not work as well. Multiplayer is alright, nothing great like Battlefield's multiplayer. I was hopping it would be great but it not. Spec Ops: The Line 6.4/10

the best storyline and script a shooter has EVER had, the gameplay is a little clunky, but the story was SOO well written that it had me thinking, WHILE SHOOTING! this isn't just a shooter, this is a shooter with a story that makes sense. However, the multiplayer is just average, so I guess that's what makes me give it a 9/10