So, Spec Ops ment nothing to me... *spoilers*

[Nouw]

Perhaps you should finish the game before dismissing it. People mention that moment as a turning point, because it is a turning point. It is not the end and all of the game.

EDIT: These threads have become the 'pony-liking' threads of Gaming Discussion.

 

[Liham]

I agree with a lot of the above posters, whilst that is a seriously bad scene it just starts off Walker's downward spiral and it really should be finished.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

The white phosphorus thing isn't really meant to shock you on its own, it's just the point when the game stops hinting at what it's going to be and starts to directly reveal itself.

Though if you killed a bunch of people and thought WELL I KILLED INFINITY AND A HALF INNOCENT PEOPLE IN GRAND THIEFT AUTO then you kind of missed the point in that scene. You're not just supposed to feel bad for killing all those people. It's more about thinking back to a minute ago when you firebombed that clump of white blobs and it got all of them and you said to yourself "well that was convenient."

Spec ops has a really nicely layered narrative and finds interesting ways to use the game mechanics as symbolism. How it does things is often more important than what it's actually doing. It's the kind of game that can be completely ruined if you're just kind of playing it and not really paying attention to it.

 

[Zhukov]

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

I'm pretty sure I've agreed with you in the past on this, but yeah... this.

Whenever I play the campaigns of the kind of games that Spec Ops is valiantly trying to skewer, I am well and truly aware that how fucked up they are. (Anyone remember that one bit in CoD4 where you turn off the lights and stab guys in the dark, or those bombing missions where you just sit there and rain hell on helpless targets? So heroic!) So when good ol' Spec Ops tries to call me out, my reaction is, "Well no shit, glad you've caught up there hotshot", rather than, "Oh God, I'm a twisted monster!"

...

That makes me wonder, would any of the target audience of Spec Ops actually get the message? I realise that I'm playing to a less-that-flattering stereotype here, but I still find it doubtful.

OT: Yes, you should finish it. Despite everything I just said, it's a good game and the ending is worth seeing. If nothing else, it's quite short.

PS. It's spelled "meant". With an 'A'.

 

[Raikas]

. The white phosphorous is just one of the big moments in it.

Exactly this. It's not the main point, it's just the turning point.

I'm normally all in favour of quitting a game if it bores you, but honestly this game is short enough that it won't take long to get to the actual climax.

That makes me wonder, would any of the target audience of Spec Ops actually get the message? I realise that I'm playing to a less-that-flattering stereotype here, but I still find it doubtful.

Given the way it was marketed, I imagine that a lot of people didn't get it just because they quit playing early on because of the mediocre combat rather than because they were too dense.

 

[luke10123]

Hmm well like I implied before, I thought the gameplay was more bland than any game I can remember but I guess I'll slog on through it to see how it ends and try to enjoy turning bland-protagonist (can't even remember his name) into a war criminal for a giggle...

 

[FoolKiller]

Don't let the ending get spoiled for you, finish the game first. Same reason Braid and Citizen Kane aren't as enjoyable when you know the ending.

Man... Braid hit me with that ending.

Spec Ops only fails with that scene (but succeed throughout the rest) because everywhere else you had a choice and here they sort of take it away. it didn't feel organic to use it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

 

[GAunderrated]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

That is kinda your fault then for letting "hype" ruin another game for you. If you want the best gaming experience it is always a good idea to ignore all the hype that either builds a game up past its actual worth or masks severe flaws.

 

[ninjaRiv]

It's not supposed to be the biggest thing. Finish the game, man!!! But, also, I think the people who dislike the game and its message have a different mindset. I didn't know what it was about when I played it, I didn't know what to expect. But at the end, looking back, I understood what it was trying to say. maybe those people don't think the message was deep or meaningful but, in my opinion, the real meanings and messages the game tried to get across are most effective when you think about it for yourself and look at the shooters it's shelved with in stores. So perhaps thinking about what it says, taking that further than just the game, is why the people who praise it love it so much. If not, it's at least why I loved it.

 

[ninjaRiv]

Also< I think the fact that we're STILL talking about it shows that it had a decent effect on us as a community.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

That is kinda your fault then for letting "hype" ruin another game for you. If you want the best gaming experience it is always a good idea to ignore all the hype that either builds a game up past its actual worth or masks severe flaws.

I refuse to believe it was my fault.

It was everyone else's for hyping it up too damn much XD

 

[wulf3n]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

Like most things it's only as "deep" as you want it to be.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

Like most things it's only as "deep" as you want it to be.

I wanted it to be deep, I wanted it to be as deep as those really deep tubs of icecream.

Alas, t'was not the case

 

[GAunderrated]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

That is kinda your fault then for letting "hype" ruin another game for you. If you want the best gaming experience it is always a good idea to ignore all the hype that either builds a game up past its actual worth or masks severe flaws.

I refuse to believe it was my fault.

It was everyone else's for hyping it up too damn much XD

Gotta learn to take personal responsibility there. No one forced you to build the game up to a hype point that disappointed you. You choose to build up the game before playing it and left disappointed.

From how you described the situation it was your own expectations that disappointed you not the game itself. You can't blame the game for what you did to yourself.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Kind of the same feeling I had.

Everyone was talking about good the game was, so I went in expecting an emotional and critical story on war, I wanted to hear the message the game had to say, and then the game tells me I'm a monster for wanting to hear them out.

'Do you feel like a hero yet?'

Well, actually, no, I never play games to 'feel like the hero', but thanks Spec Ops: The Line, thanks for calling me out on something I never felt in the first place.


Douchebag.

you really hate that game, don't you?

Only because it wasn't as deep as I was led to believe

That is kinda your fault then for letting "hype" ruin another game for you. If you want the best gaming experience it is always a good idea to ignore all the hype that either builds a game up past its actual worth or masks severe flaws.

I refuse to believe it was my fault.

It was everyone else's for hyping it up too damn much XD

Gotta learn to take personal responsibility there. No one forced you to build the game up to a hype point that disappointed you. You choose to build up the game before playing it and left disappointed.

From how you described the situation it was your own expectations that disappointed you not the game itself. You can't blame the game for what you did to yourself.

Yeah, but I'm stubborn

Fuck da police, the game wasn't very good.

 

[Zeke63]

The white phosphorous scene is hardly the climax of the game. As someone who was born and raised in a country that was blasted with white phosphorous (thanks US) and as someone who has practically never picked up a modern shooter, I wasn't particularly impressed by the scene. The good part only starts there.

Maybe the fact that Spec Ops' story shines as outstandingly good in the bucket of fecal matter that is videogame writing is the reason it goets so much praise. The writing in Spec Ops surpasses even Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now which it claims to be inspired by, making it one of the better stories of this era.

If nothing else, I have to respect Spec Ops' massive balls when it decides to comment on the state of modern shooters, war, US politics, interventionism, insanity and more when most games are still too chickenshit to comment on anything at all.

While I understand many people would have their minds blown by actually having a video game show you the consequences of your actions, the rabbit hole goes much deeper.

Personally the really affecting moment I had in Spec Ops happenned even earlier, when I accidentally shot a civilian in the mall I was supposed to be rescuing, when she ran at me, I shot reflexively. It wasn't even a scripted scene.

i think its a little too far to suggest specs ops hands down is better written than heart of darkness/apoc now. You might just feel that way since its more resonant as it directly comments on our time and to you, as you said, a scenario going on in your native land. still, i like all your other points, and ya the resonance might have been lost for many of these posters from all the buzz removing shock and surprise. Thats why i didntpick it up anyway, thought itd happen to me. Plus i just dont play shooters anymore anyway, infinite being the exception, though it had too much shooting for its own good