Poll: Do you hate the shooting in Spec Ops?

[JudgeGame]

I decided to play Spec Ops: The Line knowing it didn't compare in gameplay and overall polish to other much more popular shooters.

Tbh, I didn't leave with that impression at all. The controls felt good and the shooting was enjoyable for me. By comparison, the shooting in Bioshock Infinite is awful and physically painful to play through. I'm not a fan of cover-hugging shooters but unlike Gears of War, I felt the cover system to be simple and intuitive. I got frustrated several times when I left cover for no apparent reason but I have that problem with many more acclaimed games.

As for the graphics, while most of the game looks technically good, there are moments when the visuals are awe-inspiring and I mean beautiful. The artists in charge of scene composition really knew their job.

All this is my opinion and whenever the subject of Spec Ops come up, many are quick to point out how bad the gameplay and graphics are, I'm beginning to wonder if my tastes are weird or they are just taking the piss.

 

[Zhukov]

No.

I thought it was alright. Certainly didn't blow my mind or anything, but I found it mildly fun throughout.

Incidentally, what did you find wrong with the shooting in Infinite? I've seen a few people say it was terrible and I'm just not seeing it. What platform did you play it on?

 

[Genocidicles]

I didn't find it spectacular, but it wasn't awful or anything.

Just pretty standard third person shooter shooting.

 

[The Madman]

I didn't hate it at all, quite the opposite even. Maybe it's because I don't play all that many 3rd person shooters but I genuinely don't understand why so many people called the combat in Spec Ops bad, it felt fine to me.

 

[JudgeGame]

No.

I thought it was alright. Certainly didn't blow my mind or anything, but I found it mildly fun throughout.

Incidentally, what did you find wrong with the shooting in Infinite. I've seen a few people say it was terrible and I'm just not seeing it. What platform did you play it on?

There is very little opportunity for strategy. The level design is lazy and you will often be attacked from both sides which is annoying. Mixing weapon upgrades with the necessity of swapping weapons constantly was a terrible decision. The weapons themselves feel unpolished and fake most of the time. The sniper sections are pretty pointless. One thing I particularly hate is that when you possess a turret the game often glitches and it will just freeze for 30 seconds without having shot anything. The 8 vigors had remarkably similar uses in combat and you could use just one through the entire game if there weren't two or three enemies that are immune to a specific vigor.

Later enemies have way too much health and just serve as ammo-sinks. I spent almost the entire game either spamming the skyline attack or holing up in a room every time my shield was eliminated.

Overall I didn't think there was much depth to the combat.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

No.

I thought it was alright. Certainly didn't blow my mind or anything, but I found it mildly fun throughout.

Incidentally, what did you find wrong with the shooting in Infinite? I've seen a few people say it was terrible and I'm just not seeing it. What platform did you play it on?

The trouble I have with Infinite is the same that I had with the first two Bioshocks, namely that there are too many things to juggle at one, making combat finicky. Granted, Infinite did way better with the Vigors than Bioshock's plasmids, but it still feels a bit too hectic.

As much as I love the Bioshock games, it is the gunplay that is the hardest hurdle for me to get over. It feels a bit too floaty on PC, and constantly needing to spam the heal button until I run out of health packs gets tiring.

However, I'm still trying to perfect timing my shotgun blasts to the beat of Waltz of the Flowers whenever Cohen has his outburst.

 

[DoPo]

I didn't find it spectacular, but it wasn't awful or anything.

Just pretty standard third person shooter shooting.

I suppose you said it better than I can. I voted "meh". I should also mention that I haven't really played many modern shooters (actually, just Mass Effect 1/2 at the time, if you can count them), so I don't know exactly how it compares to the rest. But it worked, so I don't think it would be that bad.

 

[Scrustle]

I played the demo, and I found the shooting to be pretty... flaccid. It wasn't really bad, but probably below average. I didn't even make it through the entire demo before quitting due to boredom. I didn't hate it, but it really turned me off the idea of actually playing the game.

I know that's selling the game short and the real quality is in the story, but I don't think the story is really relevant to me as someone who doesn't play MMS games at all. I pretty much know how it goes, and nothing about it has really had me thinking "I need to experience this myself".

 

[Tohuvabohu]

I didn't hate it.

I think what really elevated the game's fun level was the way the action presented itself. Ammo was scarce, firefights were intense and hellish, and also challenging (At least for me) And of course, whenever the Radioman chimed in to taunt you or play a tune over the bloodshed.

I guess I'm one of those people who thinks that presentation can matter a lot. And as far as shooters go, I haven't seen many that present themselves in such a way like Spec Ops does.

Sure, the shooting mechanics were simplistic and didn't offer anything "new", but I don't see why that automatically means the shooting should be considered terrible.

 

[itsthesheppy]

While playing Spec Ops: The Line, the quality of the shooting was the furthest thing from my mind.

Mostly I was thinking about what a bad person I was.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Nope.

The shooting was good enough that it didn't take away from the main point of the game.