The picture above is what you should feel like after completing Spec Ops: The Line. Tired. Lost. Not aware of where you belong, if anywhere. Once in a while a piece of media arrives that conveys what it would be like to be someone else. Everyone remembers the Omaha Beach Invasion scene from Saving Private Ryan or a look into the mind of a medicated (or not) psychopath in The Voices; Ryan Reynolds put up a pretty decent performance in that movie but don't go too far out of your way to see it. I've seen Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and this is the most amazing representation of it in a video game.
The Line plays like any other third-person cover-based shooter. Duck behind a chest high wall and use your portable explosion mechanism to fling hot metal into your enemies' faces. A few licensed songs are woven in via the makeshift PA system strung throughout the desolated city to highlight some stretches of the game to great effect. The game play is not the reason why we're here, the real spectacle is watching our Delta Force Captain slowly break down as he loses his sanity even as his subordinates start to question his actions.
You've heard the stirs this game made when it was released in 2012 with the white phosphorus and controversial depiction of Dubai being reclaimed by the desert. The latter image seems absolutely believable after venturing into that part of the world, those deserts are ruthless. I knew all of this going in, so I wasn't shocked by the civilian casualties or the "difficult" decisions I was forced to make on my squad's behalf. I was not aware that you would be fighting American Army throughout most of the game, yeah they're presented as defectors and traitors but I'm still uneasy about shooting my countrymen. After taking care of our soldiers for so many years it made me sick to my stomach to shoot and execute them; I've never had to tell myself "It's only a game" before.
Captain Walker is our case study. An All-American Delta Force hero, just like a million other military shooter protagonists before him. For the first half you can almost justify putting the game down because you've seen it all before. Don't make this mistake. If you played through Metal Gear Solid 2 the game went full on crazy after Raiden went under Big Shell for the last part of the game, The Line doesn't jump the shark quite as bad as the former's codec conversations but is the closest thing that reminds me of the tonal shift that takes place for Capt. Walker.
This isn't an experience you pat yourself on the back for after you complete it. You think about it and you think about it. It eats at the back of your mind. Not in a bad way, but an "I look at the world a little bit differently" sort of way. Spec Ops: The Line got its share of publicity when it came out and should be mandatory playing for anyone studying how to forge a narrative or just want to see what it's like to be a soldier in a less glamorized light a la Platoon.
Play this game.
