It actually got good reviews, mostly in the 7 - 8 range. And it's essentially a giant deconstruction of the modern warfare shooter by showing what would really happen to a soldier if he committed the crimes you would see in such a game (PTSD beyond repair). Plus,the gameplay isn't bad, just average, which also serves to disconnect the game from the grim reality of war. It shows you just how hellish war really is by making everything feel so off that it makes you uncomfortable rather than empowered like other shooters do. If you think about it from that perspective, it's an excellent example of just what games can really achieve beyond simple entertainment.
English
-
Edited by Uberdawg: 4/19/2015 3:38:29 AMThat is a good summary of it. What I'm about to write is really pretentious, but here we go. What I appreciated about the game was that it was an attempt to step outside the confines of the genre in a meta way. (I don't normally care much for deconstructionist stuff like this, but unless I've just been missing it, that sort of thing is not common in vidya games.) I don't think, from what I recall of it, that it blindly shoved some "WAR IS BAD!!!" message on the player, but it was not pro-violence in the way so many video games are by default. Part of its message seemed to be: "think about what you're actually doing, war is actually complicated, and it's fought by people--not unstoppable death machines." The other part of the message was that it was piquing modern shooters and their players for desiring to partake in that illusion of an unstoppable death machine serving all that is good and destroying all that is bad. But CarelessRook, to your point (I sort of hate how it feels as though it's difficult to have two conversations at once with the same post on new B.net), I think it's notable you said "another piece of media" sending an antiwar message. Hollywood and literature are full of both "good guys kill bad guys rah rah" and messages about how "wait a minute, isn't it more complicated than that?" and messages about "wah wah war is horrible!" But again, unless I've been missing out on a lot of games, Spec Ops: The Line is either the only one or one of the few to be more disaffected about war in the vast pantheon of [i]video games[/i]. And that's why I appreciate it. (Though I wouldn't consider myself a part of any cult following, I don't even own the game.) EDIT: Well, I see in the time it took me to write this post you guys had a long conversation that sort of passed me by. Lol.
-
...so it's a really pretentious deconstruction? Because that sounds really offputting to me.
-
Play it and find out for yourself. That's all I can really say.
-
I don't know. If my original post was any indication, this game looks mediocre to me, and I don't much like it when my entertainment tries to make me feel bad for enjoying it.
-
Well it's what the game is trying to do. If that's not your thing that's fine. I thought it would suck the first time I heard about it. Then I played it. Now it's in my top 20 favorite games of all-time.
-
Well that kind seems a bit counterintuitive. I dunno what it is but this game rubs me the wrong way. Like I'm a bad person for enjoying a match of Halo or Battlefield and I refuse to accept that. If I really wanted to hear about the tragedy of war, I could just switch on my TV and turn to the news. I play videogames to get away from that crap, Not to get lectured by some smug pseudo-shooter about the way I play and how morally correct it is. (As you can probably deduce, I have some strong feelings about this kind of thing. I hope I'm not being rude or insulting to you by expressing my veiwpoint. I just happen to be very blunt and vocal.)
-
It's cool. I just personally feel that there should be more games like Spec Ops: The Line and that are great not for being fun, but for being engaging and honest.
-
...I could do without that. This game comes off to me as preachy. And I hate preachy. I don't like it when the media tells me how I should and shouldn't feel or be. This game sounds like something that would ruin every other shooter for me and I definitely don't want that.
-
Nah it won't ruin it. It just gives perspective on how unrealistic other shooters are by comparison. And it does it well. It's the Apocalypse Now of shooters, and of gaming period.
-
I'm kind of an insecure person. A single Zero Punctuation review can make me depressed for a week. Putting extended time and effort into something that constantly tells me I'm wrong and a bad person would probably give me mental breakdown.
-
Zero Punctuation actually gave this game a glowing review. Even named it the best game of 2012.
-
...it makes total sense why Yahtzee would love this game. It condescendingly and depressingly preaches to it's audience that their choice in entertainment is bad. ...just like he does in his "reviews."
-
Yahtzee, like a lot of guys on the internet, is a hilarious dick.
-
I kinda sorta hate Yahtzee with a fiery passion. His "reviews" either make me angry or just plain sad. Either way, I end up feeling terrible after watching his videos. I've stopped watching them after they depressed me to the point of not being able to enjoy videogames.
-
[quote]I've stopped watching them after they depressed me to the point of not being able to enjoy videogames.[/quote] Funniest thing I've read on here yet.
-
Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine.
-
Hey just telling the truth, I thought it was funny as hell.
-
-
I know. I HATE Zero Punctuation.