6:23 that small, quiet "i'm sorry" fits in perfectly, something I could totally believe was in the game, Walker finally realizing the depths of his mistakes and apologizing for everything he did, then taking his own life, knowing he can't undo or fix what he did.
I thought the same thing until I realized it was the guy who said it Not Walker. I remember watching other reactions and wonder why there is no "I'm sorry"
"The truth is, Walker, you are here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: A hero." Fuckity doodle doo. And I thought that this was some CoD clone when I started. That slap in the face, the game telling you how pathetic you are for getting your heroic little power trips out of these war games. Fuckin' great. A shining example of video games as an art form.
The white phosphorus scene gets to me in a similar way as well, when you look at a broader picture of what the game's trying to get at. I mean, how many times, in a video game, have you gone into a black-and-white computer screen, and made white blips disappear? You get rewarded, the dots fade away, and you move on. End of story, right?
PonzooonTheGreat it literally shows how far would you go through to become the 'hero' instead of the regular red blips turned white cus you killed and enemy in this game there is no black and white no russians no arabians no americans just men trying to survive its pretty fucked up and amazing in some fucked up way it truly shows how far humanity would do
+Iluvatar Erú; Taking inspiration from a work is not necessarily ripping it off. Does that mean that Apocalypse Now is a rip-off of Heart of Darkness? Arguably, the vast majority of narratives that exist today are inspired, in some way or another, by past works. The Line also uses the narrative for a different purpose: Whereas Apocalypse Now used the tale to be (rightly) very critical of the Vietnam War and the US military presence there, The Line instead uses the narrative to critique the very genre it's working in and, at times, the player themselves. Aaaand now I've gone off on one. Apologies.
Mark346533243 wanted to become a hero, so he thinks blaming the developer for removing certain elements to the game is a good thing, that their action was evil. But this is nothing more than a thoughtful game design that damages nothing, so why should he care? If he was a better person, he wouldn't be here. He is as of now and forevermore wasting his time copy and pasting till he remembers why he did it no more.
“No matter how hard I tried, I never could escape the reality of what happened here. That was my downfall.” Konrad saying this as Walker’s subconscious really hits hard. The entire game Walker tried to escape the reality of what he’s done and blame others for his actions. This lead to his mental breakdown and downfall from attempted hero to mass murderer
The references of "I never could escape the reality" and "I'm done playing games" is perhaps a bit heavy-handed, but it's kind of needed. Because you talk of Walker and you're absolutely right, but how many times have _we_ done the same thing? How many times have we killed countless virtual depictions of people, then justified it by saying "well it's what you're designed to do in the game"? Hell, if you were around for the release of The Line, you might remember the vast numbers of people who got to The Gate, then flat-out _blamed the devs_ because "they made me do it". For me, it's points like these that turn The Line from an interesting game, into an _important_ one. Thanks for your comment.
@@TamiyaGuy123 Just like Walker spends the later half blaming Konrad, *exactly the same way.* He realises he killed all those people, and his first reaction is to deflect and deny. Konrad made me do it. And what did the players do? Blame Konrad too.
@@Mark-fc7tu So you're saying this game is we, the players didn't want to be villain, didn't choose to be villain and yet we are? Yeah, sounds like it's Extra Credits and those are less than a half-baked authentic.
(0:20) - "We surrender sir, Dubai is yours." I love how they always just assumed you were some monstrous psychopath that was trying to completely take over the city. That was their perspective; they just assumed you wanted conquer Dubai and kill all these innocent people. You thought there something wrong about Dubai, so you just assumed that they were the bad guys. You thought you stumbled in on a villainous act and so you played the hero. You were proved wrong, but that didn't slow you down. You made up a fantasy world where you'd get to live out the fight you wanted. And as long as you play, you'll never escape that world.
IamCaptainMan those soldiers likely weren't real they wouldn't salute him after what he's done and the way they say konrad is upstairs where he's always been is stating konrad is a figment of Walker psyche
I'd even argue that your last sentence extends to every game we play in which we revel in that ubiquitous power fantasy that defines the action game. _The Line_ doesn't do anything different in terms of gameplay or mechanics. It just forces us to confront what we've done, and what that says about us. The graffiti was right. There is not a man righteous.
@@TamiyaGuy123 "This was your fault" See Walker gets the better of himself and blames it on Konrad who he just saw dead. And Today i revisited this game on the PS4 (PS Now) and it was amazing.
It took me a few watches to notice that it was actually you saying "I'm sorry". I thought it was part of the game, but when I realized it was you I think it hurt even more
Yes, I thought that too, and couldn't remember hearing it when I played ***** You had quite a strong reaction to that ending. A few days before actually playing the game, I read a small comic that spoiled the Suicide ending. I knew nothing of the game's story, and it almost made me cry. Then, I played it for myself. I already knew the ending... and it almost made me cry AGAIN. That's how strong this story is.
Well, I'm the kind of guy who really gets invested in a game's story and the emotions and trials portrayed in it. And the way The Line used the link between player and player character to say something about the person holding the controller, that really got to me. I know what you mean about the ending being spoiled. Is it just me, or does it make everything so different when you *experience* the ending, not just watch it from afar?
@@TamiyaGuy123 It really is. I took the route to only watch the gameplays of this game, and I kind of regret it. But it's not like I can do anything about it because my schedule is quite packed for me to be able to play games. Watched the full gameplay, I can say the experience is NOT the same as if you are playing it. This is because the game kept blaming on you, the player for doing such acts, and this experience is not present if you are watching someone else playing it. If you are playing it blind then you will feel the true message of the game. Well you could say I can just play the game again, but I already watched 100% of the gameplay, so I already know the plots of the game! And even if I play it, I already knew what's coming to me.
“You did this.” “No, you did.” Probably been pointed out somewhere else in the comments, but Picasso’s famous painting of the bombing of Guernica features a woman clutching her dead child. There’s a popular anecdote surrounding the piece, that a Gestapo officer supposedly barged into Picasso’s apartment and saw the painting. “Did you do that?” he asked. “No.” Picasso replied. “You did.”
You know, I don't think I've ever heard Konrad's words likened to the alleged exchange regarding _Guernica,_ and jesus I've read about this game to a shameful degree. I wonder if it was deliberate, or if just simple coincidence at wanting to hit Walker (and by extension the player) with that line. Though now that I think about it, considering that Konrad is painting a vivid depiction of a war crime... Hell, that's a brilliant observation. Thanks for sharing, it certainly gives a new layer of depth to Konrad's words, beyond what they might direct towards the player at face value.
@@Mark-fc7tu if you had actually played the game, it basically tells you to stop playing the game. You had a choice. Continue and you lose. The loading tips, the stop sign at the beginning. You already lost when you decided to continue. Great game tho.
@@Mark-fc7tu I mean, you may have an unpopular opinion but sometimes you don't have to copy paste it between comments. Once is enough, anymore and you're playing with yourself
That "I'm sorry"... Almost felt like it was from the game. The genuine regret, the pain in your voice, and you aren't even paid to be playing a role. You're just here to experience the story. How fucking moving a videogame story has to be to make a person immerse themselves in all the guilt from the consequences of their actions is rarely ever seen. I honestly loved that you added that final line. This game really spoke to its players.
"Where is Konrad?" "Where he's always been. Upstairs." I just now figured out that he's using "upstairs" in the metaphorical sense, to refer to Walker's mind, the way you might refer to someone as being a little weird "upstairs." Think about the building they're in, and where both they and "Konrad" are within it. Why on earth would you refer to someone as "upstairs" when this someone is located over a hundred stories above you, and far more likely to accessed by elevator?
Wow, I never actually thought of that. That is a fiercely interesting thought. I always thought that it was meant "literally" in that Konrad has always been at the top of that tower, dead, and his corpse is "waiting" for Walker so that the truth can be revealed at long last. Your idea seems a bit more psychologically in-keeping with the tone of the game, though, constantly dropping little hints about what's really happened. Similar to Adams' and Lugo's response with the "Judgement" section and the just-out-of-sight views of Konrad on billboards. I like it. Edit: Fucking hell, UA-cam, stop logging me into the wrong account.
god....that look in wlakers eyes when he turns Conrad's chair around...the pure horror of the reality of what you had done. none of this would have happened if you stopped
Even if the mission _was_ to locate survivors and then leave the city, he could've broken contact after the first engagement and radio-ed Command. But then, he (and the player) wanted to be a hero.
Dinner-fork tongue the CIA got involved in this too. So if Walker and his 'squadron' did radio for help, more than 'one' battalion would have been killed, everything was fucked from the start. If only Konrad decided to leave before the storm hit and not go rouge, (Rorschach's voice): none of this would have happened.
His lost his last lifeline. His last excuse. He no longer has a scapegoat... and he must either live in complete denial, or realise that this is in fact all his fault.
I spent close to a month away from games. just had to collect myself. Think about how much games have desensitized us to all the bloodshed and madness. How we find entertainment in other peoples misery. I just needed a break.
+Zach Scarbrough I didn't quite go that far after playing it but I will admit that I was crying after I had walker shoot himself at the end of Spec Ops.
This game went from reality to imagination after the white phosphorus scene. Walker couldn't accept that it was his fault these people died so he casted the blame on Konrad from this point on. This man went crazy inside seconds.
Any time the game is doing a normal transition, it'll fade to black. Any time Walker is hallucinating, or lying to himself, in a kind of delusional fashion, the game will fade to white.......mind you,when the game starts after the chopper crash,the screen if fading to white...Some say Walker never survived the crash and he have to keep on re-live what he did untill he accepts it and finish himself like here in the video.If not,like i said,he have to go through this whole hellish realm over and over again.Remember,when he gets saved by the soldiers the screen fades to white and then they ask him:"how did you survived all this"......and he Walker says:"Who said i did"
@@BroInVietnam Walker gets knocked out by the helicopter crash, he hallucinates before he goes insane because the entire game (up to after the crash) is Walker remembering what he did while he's unconscious from the crash, because of his current mental state, his past memories also change when he relives them
I notice how when Walker says he didn't mean to hurt anybody, Konrad's reflection looks away from the player to say no one ever does Like he's treating you and Walker as separate people
It's actually about you. You're all that's left. Walker is already dead. I'm going to count to 5 and then I'll proceed the lobotomy. You couldn't accept so you made him a hero.
It’s not just that he looks away, he’s looking at walkers reflection. It could have a bigger meaning, I just think it’s part of the mind screwingness the pagans is playing with.
The painting is my breaking point. I guess it says something about me that the actual WP scene made me kinda just shake and feel a bit sick, but seeing the painting broke me emotionally. Spec Ops was the only game - the only piece of media honestly - that's ever truly made me feel that indescribable despair anyone who's played it knows.
I just finished I am shocked that during the white phosphorus portion I didn't even stop to think as I dropped them on the soldiers and civilians I was just used to that gameplay part in military shooters. It made me realize that in games you are never a true hero!
C1ph3r i remember the white phosphorus part,at first 2 hours, i was like "mehh,it is just another cod clone" but after that brutal scene,my hand was shaking and i was like "what the fuck is it?,why did i feel so uneasy". So i played it cuz my curiousty keep couraging me to continue playing it,the deeper i dig,the more uneasy,especially after the refugee hanging lugo. After fighting throught 33rd and finally meet with Konrad. I remember after the ending i don't have any courage to play any military shooter games,cuz my view change about military things,its not such an good and badass things,instead tons of nightmarish things.
C1ph3r its like,you are the walker,you are experiencing being soldier,expecting heroic action and fame,but instead watching how the war is like,committing genocide its not like killing animals,even thought it was coincident.
I beat the game on the FUBAR difficulty in one sitting. And dear god I went insane. Dying so many times. I got so frustrated. And I began to hate the games but I needed to finish it and see the ending. And when I finally saw the ending again I felt so sad that I had becomes so determined to beat the game on a hard difficulty for just the sake of a achievement. I felt the same way as walker. Tired. Angry. And the more tired I got the more shocking the events became in the game. Truly deep and incredible game that makes you question the war genre in it's entirety
@@Mark-fc7tu Assuming you weren't WANTING to hold the gun and pull the trigger. That's what you bought the game for, and that's what the game is shaming you for.
Fun fact: throughout the entire game you are on a literal environmental decline until the end where you ascend the spire. Each time you hit a major sink is when Walker breaks down more significantly compared to other parts of the game. The ending has to be one of my favourites from any video game though, the composition of the mirror reflection hit me hard. For one of the best interpretations, every line spoken by Walker after Conrad says "One" is directed as much to the player themselves as it is Conrad. He desperately tries to place the blame on you yourself, then justify that it wasn't by his own actions (as you were the controller). Another alternative is that he's speaking for the player, saying what you believe was not your own fault (because you were railroaded into your actions if you wanted to complete the game, where further actions were out of your control). That's just what I get out of it without sounding too pretentious, the game is far from anything a good movie or piece of literature could pull of, but it's fantastic in its own right and I don't believe even The Last of Us or any other cinematic-focused game comes close to striking a point as well as this game has. No matter what stance anyone has on this game, whether it be positive or negative, the developers had succeeded. Everyone felt an intended emotion at the end and it can all be justified, so for that they get my kudos.
The use of environment was a nice little touch, the way Walker is always descending towards his metaphorical Hell. Taken completely out of context, it's actually a little bit ridiculous: After an hour, there should be no more "down" left. The ending... Well, I hesitate to use the words "my favourite", because that implies that the ending was a good thing, but it's far and away the most powerful ending I've ever experienced in a game, particularly because, as you said, it includes the player in the climax. I, personally, believe that, right from "Welcome" (hell, dotted about in the rest of the game too), there are little double-lines that are aimed at the player, not just the player character. Konrad's lines "...I never could escape the *reality*... of what happened here", and "I assure you, this is no *game*" seem to clue us in to the real message that's being delivered. And, of course, 5:01. I don't think a game has ever punched me so hard in the gut ever before. It's really not being pretentious, don't worry. The fact that the game can even spark these discussions speaks volumes about it. It's the interactivity of The Line's ending that gets me. I mean, any game I can think of, Half-Life 2, The Last of Us, that has a great story, it'd work just as well as a film, or a book. The Line, however, it can only work *as a game*, because it demands that the person going through the story plays as the main character in order to bring that unsettling feeling of cognitive dissonance. Thanks for the comment, I never cease to find it fascinating how opinions and thoughts on this game can differ. It's brilliant to be able to have intelligent discussion about a medium that, not fifteen years ago, was just a simple form of fun entertainment.
Unfortunately, I've never played Silent Hill 2 (although from what people have been saying about it, I probably should, shouldn't I?), so I can't vouch for that game. At least for the games I've played, though, none can really compare to The Line because the message it is trying to get across is just so *different* from what I'm used to. I loved Portal's ending, plus its sequel, loved HL2 for its closure, combined with its mystery. The Walking Dead was wonderfully tragic. Perhaps The Stanley Parable, in the sense that it tries to ask the player questions, rather than the *character* that they are playing as. But even still, the two games are quite different in the way they ask those questions. The Stanley Parable seems to be quite jokey and bitter about the things it asks the player, whereas The Line is really quite brutal.
Inspired* As someone whose read/played/watched all three, I can tell you that although they all share the same themes, The Line does indeed have it's own unique plot.
Its great to see someone else's reaction to this game other then my own, not to sound like a sadist but this shows that games can effect us in many ways beyond feeling like a hero
It’s always rough when among Walkers’ earliest lines are “we go home.” Konrads’ message from before the game even starts is that soldiers never go home. They cross the line into war and a part of them can never return to life before war. All Konrad wanted was peace, and the only way he knew to make it was to kill for it. Walker wanted to be welcomed home as a hero. The only way he knew to make that a reality was to kill for it. They crossed the line and they never really went home. Whatever you want in this world killing for it will destroy it. Nothing in your life will overshadow crossing the line and becoming a killer. Maybe that’s the message.
"I-I didn't mean to hurt anybody." "No one ever does, Walker." Holy crap, when I heard that I legit froze up for a second. You gotta remember, many veterans actually experience this in real life. (Also, this game reminds me of MIA by Avenged Sevenfold)
Nolan North's delivery of that line is just phenomenal. It's like he's quietly begging, pleading with Konrad that he never wanted any of this, and Konrad's refutation of it is also great. Just straight up, matter-of-fact, to the point, letting Walker know (Well, Walker letting himself know) that his intentions are meaningless. What matters is what he DID, not what he WANTED to do. Konrad is having none of it.
+Ensar Osman Indeed. This is also a only game which I bought for PS3 and PC. Now I actually have the courage to play this again, lol. You notice all the little things which you never paid attention in first playthrough.
I just realized something. Throughout the game, every level goes down as you're traveling deeper into Dubai. No matter where you go, the level terrain is always going down, and it's not till the last level where you go up.
If you go over to the Spec Ops: The Line reddit, me and a few others did an alternate theory on the story in the game. In short, the theory states all of this is inside of Konrad's head as he struggles between suicide or living. Walker was a soldier who worked under Konrad but he died on the battlefield, hence Walker saying Konrad dragged his _corpse_ across a battlefield. Later, when the evacuation fails, Konrad can't deal with all of this and his mind creates a split identity - Walker. Walker shares a lot of similarities with Konrad, a distinguished service record and praise amongst his men, along with many more attributes - like wanting to be a hero and defying orders to do so. The enemies Walker and Delta Force kill are really Konrad's way of saying he killed all of those men and women by his poor judgment. This is all Konrad's way of coping with what he did, shifting the blame onto Walker. Walker, driven by Konrad's guilt, breaks through numerous mental fortifications to find the _real_ Konrad and confront him... Then the confrontation happens... Konrad wants to die because, for as much as he denies responsibility, he knows (subconsciously) that he is responsible for it all. Hence why, if he convinces Walker it's their fault or if he gets his way - you both die. If Walker refuses to let Konrad shift the blame onto himself and kills of Konrad, then he becomes the dominant identity and destroys Konrad. The entire end is a mental bout for dominance. Need more proof? Konrad's body is only present in the ending in which both of them die. This is because, since they are one in the same - committing suicide would kill them both. In the other endings, where only Konrad dies, the old and decrepit body of Konrad is missing after the confrontation. This is because, neither of you killed yourself so there was never any body to begin with. It also explains why Walker would be wearing Konrad's uniform during the final chapter post-credits. Additionally, when Walker dies fighting the rescue squad, you can hear both Konrad and Walker's voice speak at the same time before the dialogue switches over to Konrad completely.
I can see this being a plausible theory especially with the end where Walker is wearing Konrad's uniform. I would also like to add to your theory that the events in this game are mostly canon but Walker is just Konrad's amalgamation as a stand in villain for what was essentially CIA operatives. Every fire fight that Walker has with the 33rd is really just the 33rd fighting with CIA operatives/insurgents and all the subterfuge committed by Walker are CIA operations. The events of the game is literally all Konrad's fault because he too was told to not intervene and occupy Dubai, but Konrad disobeyed and tried to be the hero. The evacuation was a catastrophic failure and led to many deaths. Konrad is also responsible for the American on American violence. Riggs explicitly says that the CIA is there because Konrad's occupation of Dubai puts the USA in danger of further war with the Middle East. In order to avoid this, the CIA is tasked with burying all of Dubai and the 33rd. So Konrad's need to play hero led to the complete death and destruction of both Dubai and the 33rd. Had Konrad obeyed orders then the 33rd would still be alive and Dubai might have survived long enough until the sandstorms died down. Walker's path mirrors Konrad's to an insane degree, so it's not farfetched to theorize that Konrad is self-reflecting through Walker.
@@captainbadassitude1845 I think that Walker and Konrad are both split personalities of the character we are playing with. I think a marine got so scarred from what happened to Dubai. He was probably a 33rd gone rogue. That he developed two personalities. This is why it is said on screen: Do you even remember why are you fighting? Inside the protag. there is this battle of personalities. Even though what ever events happened; they happened a long ago. And the protag. is in a catatonic state. I think this is why there are multiple endings. Protag. shoots himself=split pers. Konrad takes over Protag. shoots Konrad=split pers. Walker remains in charge If at the end you shot Falcon Team or die at their hands=it means both Konrad and Walker fuse somehow into a single personality If you drop weapon=you wake up to reality and the two personality splits are gone. What I think is that this unknown marine was under Konrad's charge. The battle of factions happened. This marine stood for Konrad. But they killed lots of civies. This traumatized the marine. This marine was in team with two other people. 1 week later, Captain Martin Walker is sent with two men named Ludo and Adams. They try to mend the conflict, but Konrad uses phosphor and kills the entire Dubai. Martin and his men die in the crash. The marine is the only one walking. His mind cannot bear the events. And in his semi-catatonic state he believes himself to be Walker while at the same time Walker personality develops a personality of Konrad, someone to blame. And everything inside this poor marine's head gets mixed up. I say this because in a note, Konrad says: Sorry if/when you hear bad things about your father. It is most likely the fact that Konrad used phosphor to burn down everyone and everything. This is why we see a drawing with people being burned. When Walker used phosphor that was most likely the marine's brains getting memories interwined with Konrad's deeds. Idk if you noticed. But both Konrad and Walker blame each other. And in reality alter egos do have the power to alter the memories of the original personality. I also noticed that we find lots of notes describing the most recent events. I think that this marine, in his semi-catatonic state discovered Konrad and Walker's belongings(their journals) which led to him cope with the trauma by creating two different personalities.
I think one quote that stuck with me the most is Walker's "I never meant to hurt anybody". Because I 100% believe its true. He did not want to hurt anybody and thats why his fall from grace, from a decorated soldier to a murder machine hurts so much to see. The pain in his voice when he says it. No one ever does...
After all of my years of playing shooters, this made me realize that even though in our eyes we're the hero, we're actually the bad guy we were trying to stop in a game where being an action hero...creates more problems than it solves.
@@Mark-fc7tu I don't hate the game at all...far from it actually. I just tried to pretty much sum up Captain Walker's journey of sorts through Dubai as well as try to imagine what a lot of players felt like after seeing this scene. If Andrew had a different perspective on things, than that's his deal, not mine. This is my opinion, not his, so why are you quoting his editorial when you stopped playing around the second chapter?
@@TheNobodyNamedDubyaBee That's...a very good point. I'm not the best at expressing my thoughts through comments, but I try my best to do so, even if it comes across as overly dramatic. I do stand by my opinion that Walker deciding to play the hero just made things worse because he was supposed to recon and report back on the situation...not get directly involved in Dubai's power struggle and get innocent people killed by his own hand, even if he either tries to downplay it or shift the blame to someone else.
The way you said “I’m sorry” got me chocked up a little, I felt the pain and sorrow in your voice man, this game is a masterpiece in storytelling, one of the best games of all time no doubt. Killing walker seems to be the only humane thing to do, letting him live with the mental scaring he acquired thanks to his action seems almost too cruel. I about teared up when I saw this. Thank you for making this.
@@Mark-fc7tu Bulletstorm essentially tried to be a shooter that didn't take itself seriously as it was colorful, funny, and just all around a fun ride (for me, at least)...unlike A LOT of shooters at the time which did take themselves more seriously to the point where the shooter genre became crowded fast...not that I minded.
6:24 Holy shit, that I’m sorry you said at that for some reason felt like it came from the game, it feels appropriate too, walker’s death is typically his choice to accept he was responsible for the horrors he committed, him saying sorry wouldve been like the icing on the cake, his final words of regret before accepting his place in Hell
Comment was 7 years ago, jeez, been that long huh? Still I wanna address it. That was to Walker.The statement was aimed at him as much as it is a meta commentary. Walker isn't as "blank slated to be self inserted by the player" as he seems to be, he has actual motivations and reasons as a character, this still works as Walker's insane pursuit of glory as it is the player's wanting some form of achievement.
Rohan Kishibe and 『Heaven's Door』 It’s both. In story because of what Walker did. And in Life where we commit virtual war crimes, satiating some kind of bloodlust with violence.
Mark346533243 The game is the gun, and you picked it up and pulled the trigger by playing it. that’s the message. You wanted to play Spec Ops: The Line because you wanted to have your macho shooter power fantasy and feel like a badass hero.
@@TamiyaGuy123, I wanted to ask you how you interpret the ending, namely suicide in it, because in my opinion, it is very interesting and I really wonder what you think about it, because in this game, this action can be interpreted in two ways.
When I finished this game for the first time, I was in service, it made me think about what my friends have gone through and what i was soon to face in life. As a vet today, this ending is a constant reminder of a harsh reality. No matter how much I try, i can't help but break down crying every time. "It takes a strong man to deny whats right in front of him, and of the truth is undeniable, you create your own" The perfect words to describe what someone who's perception of reality has just shattered Is facing.
That's the thing, though, I really don't think it'd work as a movie. One of my favourite things about The Line is that it embraces the concept of video games' interactivity. It's not just you looking at what's happening as an outside observer, _you are responsible for what happens here_. _You_ kill those soldiers, _you_ burn those civilians to death, _you_ get Adams and Lugo killed, and at the end of everything, _you_ are the person who is shown the consequences of your actions and what that says about _you_ as a human being.
When I first played this game I swear I had a nightmare about the woman's corpse holding the child, that was how bad this game managed to leave a mark on me. A truly piece of art in my opinion
Have you ever died during the fight with "Lugo"? In my eyes, that had more of an impact on me than the actual scene, and that's saying something. Then again, I am the sort of person who is affected more by what one's own mind can conjour up, by the more subtle stories rather than the in-your-face ones.
+TamiyaGuy: what happened during the fight with "Lugo"? I stupidly throw a grenade to myself a few seconds after "Lugo" appeared, and when I respawned it's just a normal enemy, not "Lugo" anymore.
During the fight, "Lugo" taunts and lambasts you, saying how you're not a hero, you can't save anyone, and that everything that's happened throughout the game is your fault and yours alone.
I completed this game for the second time on FUBAR a month ago, and I came here because even now, I'm constantly reminded of my experience. I went in with minimal expectations, assuming it would just be another attempt at a good CoD campaign. Oh was I wrong. This was much better than a CoD campaign. Everything from the bloodstained story itself to the moral questions in loading screens, to how emotionally exhausted you might feel by the end of it, as an actual soldier would. Spec Ops: The Line, for its four hour length, manages even 11 years after its release to accomplish what more modern military shooters either lack the ability, or the courage, to do; remind us all of the horror and hell of war. That we, as "the hero of the story", are anything but. Your reaction wasn't dissimilar from my own, actually
Seven years later and I still play this game. Easily in my top ten. Thank you for posting this! I've watched it countless times cause the story and character development is so rich!
Its the small things. When i found Konrad dead, my first thoughts were of the destruction of the water, the part where Conrad warned against it and Walker went ahead anyways. Konrad being dead all along means that subconsciously Walker realised that the CIA meant to kill all the people left in Dubai, but he went through with it anyway. At that moment i went: 'Oh god'
After watching this so many times, I kinda realise something. The reflection of Konrad and Walker at the climax symbolise the division of the game and reality (One is Konrad vs Walker and the other is the Players vs the Game). And when the reflection of Konrad turned to the other Walker beyond the reflection... he's actually pointing the gun at us, since we were too close to Walker for comfort. So when he said he will shoot Walker, he actually means he want to shoot us and asks if we can live with our sins.So the ending splits into three1) The players accepts the punishment from Konrad/the Game ( Confirm that you had a choice and still have it )2) The players punish Walker ( Confirm that Walker is the villain )3) The players kill Konrad ( Confirm that this is a game )
+Zelkarda Ashgard (Pariah) correct, sir. the game designers use the same representation during the white phosphorus bombing: you can see walker's reflection on the screen of the laptop were it should be yours
You can really see your mind and emotions racing throughout the entire cutscene. I also caught you're "I'm sorry" right at the end. Always interesting to see how this game effects people.
I remember seeing this game on PS+ and I decided to to subscribe to plus so that I can try this game because I heard that it has a good story. So when I first started the game I thought that this is just another cookie-cut-out shooter. But when I reached the bridge and I had to choice who would live I was like: 'why I can't save them both?'. So I tried to shoot the snipers and the game allowed! That was the point for me when I started to pay more attention to the game. So when I got to the famous white phosphorus part I saw the civilians with the heat-cam and I decided to not use it but there were just too many guys to take them down and eventually I died. After that I tried to survive again but still no change. So I realized that I can't survive without the white stuff and I just stood in front of the button for a minute thinking about that this choice can't be good, and pressed the button. That moment when you face the thing that you have done is still haunts me. One of the most shocking moment in my gaming history. Sorry for the novel...
What strikes me the most about this is your facecam reactions during the phosphorus painting and the flashback. In the painting, you close your eyes for a moment and blink a few times, then look down and away: as if not looking will somehow protect you from it. Then in the flashback, as soon as you realize what you're looking at, you visibly flinch and then look away again. In fact, a few times, it almost looks to me as if you're going to be sick. All that speaks volumes as to how heavily that affected you, and how much you don't want to face up to what you did even as it's shoved into your face. That, more than any words, demonstrates just how powerful this game's message is.
I'm not entirely sure that anyone _wants_ to face up to the things that this game lambasts you for. The Line's message is a truly sobering one, and although it's heavy-handed at times, it did have a lasting effect on me, even though I've never been too big a fan of the likes of Call of Duty & Battlefield. If anything, one of the biggest gut-punches for me in The Line isn't just the fact that I committed these atrocities in the game, but the fact that so many times in the past I've done the exact same things without blinking an eye. How many times, over our gaming years, have we cut to a top-down thermal imaging camera and clicked at white dots to make them disappear? How many times have we "valiantly pushed forward" in search of some heroic goal? Hell, you could even ask how many times we have shot a human being in the head and been _proud of ourselves_ for accomplishing that? I'd have to paraphrase Yahtzee Croshaw here and say that one of the reasons I love The Line (although maybe "love" isn't the right word...) isn't because it's a great game mechanically, but it's a game that truly deserves to be played.
It's really genius how they forced us to choose by bombarding us with revelations and time. That way we have no time to rationalize or justify our actions. So in the end we are confronted on our value. Masterpiece in story telling
It took me watching another playthrough of the ending to appreciate what makes this particular capture unique and one I keep coming back to. That final musical sting at 6:25? I thought that was tied to whenever you pulled the trigger, but, no, you just managed to sync the gunshot up perfectly with the music.
So genuinely, thank you so much for noticing. Syncing music to action is one of those things that is such a small touch but I feel makes a huge difference to the atmosphere of a scene. I actually ended up recording the whole ending with the music muted (you might've noticed an odd colour change at 0:50 when I muted the music), and I added it in post specifically to time the final gunshot to the end of _Truth Revealed._
@@TamiyaGuy123 Oh, wow. I see. I suppose that explains it - that's still really cool that you did that, though. Because you're right, it makes that last sequence that much better.
Maybe this is just me, but it looks like Walker's eyes are cracked, like broken windows, at 4:43. Maybe it's symbolism of how these actions have broken him, or maybe it's just the lighting effects from the game. Just thought I'd point it out.
MyGamer125 It's actually something you can see evolved throughout the game. You truly see it once at the end when he confronts "Konrad" and you can guess it symbolizes the fact that he is mad. In the alternate endings, if you choose to shoot Konrad, the cavalry comes to rescue you and the soldier who speaks to you says you are shell shocked. And one of the symptoms is the eyes that constantly give an empty/distant look
JeKeScy One of the well-known symptoms of PTSD, particularly in the World War era, is the infamous "thousand-yard stare". There are so many other little things about Walker's character, both in cutscenes and through the gameplay, that evolve to match Walker's character arc. After Walker crashes the water trucks, for instance, his water-filled backpack becomes torn and empty.
***** Yes, that's the thing I was talking about, the stare. You can also hear the difference, not only in the music that seems to get darker, but also in what the squadron say when they kill an enemy (especially with Walker and sometimes with Adams). At the beginning, it's very professional, and at the end, you fell only hatred. It goes from "Tango down" in the first missions to "Got that traitor/fucker!". And you can see it too in the way the executions are made.
***** This ending made me question everything I know about video games. We as gamers only kill mindlessly, not taking in casualties that may have happened. The things we do never phase us truly. What if each game we play, every character we take control of, is really deluding themselves into thinking that they are the hero of their story. What if everything's just a lie
As I've already said here, it just shows how Spec Ops: The Line's message goes *way beyond* just being a commentary on the "modern military" shooter trend of the era-it's totally applicable to ALL games down to the most family-friendly ones. We'll realize that using this mindset solidifies the notion that, for example, Mario is a murderous fuck all along (there are theories regarding that online), and so on. I know I've said this so many times elsewhere, but another more-or-less perfect example would be the Chrono games. In Chrono Trigger you soon discover that their world was to be destroyed by Lavos in the future, and you suddenly go on a quest traveling through time to prevent the catastrophe from happening. After a long, complicated journey, you eventually defeat Lavos, and "YAY!", you saved the world, the future looks brighter now, you are celebrated as the champions of time, and things wrap up in a generally happy and light-hearted, feel-good, heart-warming note. And then there comes Chrono Cross. This time, things aren't that simple and child's play. You are forced to confront the end result of what you've done before in CT, and it's not for the positive. You realize that by your time-traveling _interventionism_ (hint hint) in history to save the day, you only made things much worse-your efforts were all in vain and the Lavos you were supposed to defeat only become stronger as the Time Devourer: intent on not just destroying their world, but also all of the universe. Your beloved childhood heroes you used in your journey in CT have paid or are paying the terrible price as a result. And you are to fix this complete mess by the means of the individual who is the product of the consequences of what you did in CT. And it also concludes in a fashion that's pretty much designed to keep you wondering for long time, to make you ask yourself what you did before and what about now. Basically, one big aspect of CC is a thought-provoking examination of CT's fairy tale adventures, deconstructing it as an unrealistic, misguided hero fantasy, where it shows how the road to hell can be indeed paved with good intentions, especially if one doesn't study first the situation beforehand. See how the decision to begin the quest to save the future in CT draws a connection with Walker taking matters into his own hands early on in SO:TL and the consequences it followed? And Konrad's messages are totally applicable in Chrono: "You were never meant to come here", "None of this would've happened if you'd just stopped", and "You wanted to be like something you're not, a hero." Putting Chrono Cross's treatment of Chrono Trigger under SO:TL's perspective totally changed the way I look at CT forever; it was definitely a childhood-ruining, but ultimately humbling, maturing, and enlightening experience.
Because we know that in shooter games, the enemies we kill aren't real people, it's fictional, they were meant to be fun & enjoyable, so you can enjoy them without worrying about it.
The frightening thing about this game is that Walker stumbled into being a war criminal. Not everyone who does something terrible means or even wants to do it.
At first I wondered why I loved this game's story so much, and then I realized it was Silent Hill 2 in Call of Duty form. Both games have protagonists who enter a surreal city under dubious pretenses, commit atrocities they didn't think they were capable of or wanted to be capable of, and encounter other people driven mad by their surroundings. Both games end when the protagonists realize that the real villain is themselves, or rather the part of themselves that can't accept what they've done, and only by confronting themselves coming to grips with the darker aspects of their humanity can they hope to move on.
...Huh. I honestly had never considered a comparison with Silent Hill 2, but when you explain it like that it really does seem a reasonable one. Having never played Silent Hill 2, I can't really speak for the characters (the little exposure to the characters that I do have has mainly been James and the various monsters), but the endings certainly fit thematically, as do the protagonist's uncertain motives, though James' seems shrouded in mystery while Walker's is more straight-laced, albeit subverted later on. Very interesting stuff, thanks for the thoughts.
Tfw you shot yourself because you realise it was all your fault. In my first playthrough I skipped the WP civilian scene out of guilt, I knew what *I* did but didn't want to see it or believe it, so I fed into Walkers dissonance, it wasn't my fault, it was Konrad's - until Konrad shoved it in my face at the end and my "eyes were opened for the first time". I deserved to die at the end. I just sat there in silence for 15 minutes absolutely crushed lol
Spec Ops: The Line is possibly my favorite military shooter due to its unique themes, subversion of expectations, etc. I highly doubt we will ever get another game like Spec Ops: The Line, and honestly I don't have a problem with that. It tells its story and overall finishes its job, no sequel needed. At most, I'd want a modern remaster/remake, but the game still holds up well even after all these years. Playing the game on FUBAR was quite the experience on its own, makes me feel like I really am in this sort of hell for Walker, and that continuing will bring nothing but further pain upon others.
I think the direction the intelligent ones in the video game industry should take going forward is that there should be a Spec Ops: The Line for every genre possible. Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Chrono Cross, Braid, and the Drakengard/Nier series were a good start (all predating SO:TL), but there is a lot more ground to cover to fulfill said vision.
"No matter how hard I tried, I never could've escaped the reality of what happened here. That was my downfall." It just hit me, that's Walker talking to himself, isn't it?
That's one way of looking at it. Another common view is that it's Walker's projection of Konrad, and how he must have felt at the failed evacuation that took place before the events of The Line. My personal view, and one that is shared by many, is that it's a break of the fourth wall; Walker, Konrad or even Yager Development are speaking directly to the player, about how pathetic they are for wanting to play "the hero" in a game exclusively about murdering human beings. Notice how often the conversation involves playing, reality or similar subjects. "...I never could *escape the reality*..." "I'm done *playing games*, John." "I assure you, *this is no game...*"
+TamiyaGuy I respectfully disagree. Many people, myself included, do not play a game(any game) to be a 'hero' of some description. In fact, there exist many a game in which you portray less than heroic individuals. We play to be entertained. That entertainment may come solely from the gameplay or the story. Sometimes it may come from both. That's the purpose of a game, in my book. Entertain, via the means provided by the medium.
That's a perfectly valid point. Particularly nowadays, there are plenty of games where you play at best humdrum characters (The Stanley Parable, The Graveyard, Amnesia etc) and at worst some really quite unlikable people. Entertainment is, indeed, what a lot of people seek, and I admit that in certain games my analogy of wanting to "be the hero" kind of breaks down (racing sims come to mind, since there is more a focus on the skill involved in a clean race, rather than winning outright). Could you not say though, that particularly in developers' minds, there is still some desire to give the player power and agency over their actions (hero-like in a sense)? Thinking about games such as Call of Duty, Skyrim, Half-Life 2, Hitman etc, the main character is often hailed, through game mechanics, as someone who is in control of their destiny and can have an impact on the world around them. The Line, in quite a cruel fashion, shows that you're only able to do what the game has programmed you to do, but that your complacency in what happens shows choice on your part. Apologies that this is a bit of a slap-dash response. I hope we can agree, though, that any game that is able to spark conversations like this is one worthy of note. And on an unrelated note, holy fuck. Respectful disagreement on a UA-cam comment thread. I never thought I'd see the day.
***** We can agree on that indeed. One of the comments I read often about the game that I disagree entirely is that there's choice in the game. The 'you can turn the game off' defense that some people have used in the past is a bit silly, in my opinion. It might've worked if they didn't ask money for the game.
+Andrew Pliakis (Valkaar) It might seem that the "option" to stop playing the game is a copout, but to just dismiss it as an option would be missing the point of the game. To proceed further on, Captain Walker becomes more and more of a monster, and you, the player, are complicit in his actions, which the game boderline breaks the fourth wall to call you (the player) out on in this scene. Spec Ops follows a very tight narrative, and if you continue to play the game out, then you continue to either directly commit or take part in horrific act after horrific act, and then the game confronts you with this by telling you that you "were never meant to come here" and that "none of this would have happened if you just stopped. But on you marched - and for what?" As far as having your choices not affect the outcome in any meaningful way, I'm ok with that, because The Line is not your story - it's Captain Walker's story. Walker is a fully fledged character, and he's not simply a blank slate meant to be a stand-in for the player-character in the same way that Commander Sheppard from Mass Effect is. You're just along for the ride, and you can choose to either take part in his story, making you complicit in whatever he does, or you can walk away as soon as you see that there's obviously something very wrong with Walker and that shit is seriously fucked in Dubai. The game gives you ample opportunity to recognize that something is very, very wrong long before even the WP scene, and by the time you're destroying the city's water supply, you should already know that things are not going to end well.
I love how you edited the music to keep going after...'it' happened The way it suddenly cuts out in the game always felt a bit wrong to me Also "I'm sorry" - you somehow made the ending more dramatic and I love that
Okay, so it's taken me an entire year to get to this, but I needed to respond to your comment. Thank you _so much_ for noticing that I tweaked the music slightly to fit in with the cutscene, it took a surprising amount of effort to do and, without wanting to sound a little narcissistic, I was fairly proud of how it came out. I've always had a fondness for actions & themes fitting to music, and the idea of synchronising the final beat of the utterly haunting _Truth Revealed_ to Walker's (and my) final act was too tempting to pass up. I have to agree - even though it may well have been technically unreasonable to marry the music and the player's action, the way the music seems to end so dramatically when relatively little is actually happening on-screen in-game felt a little jarring. Again, thank you for being able to confirm that the efforts to right that little nitpick of mine were well-founded.
Absolutely love these lines piercing player and Walker alike: "What happened here was out of my control (linearity)" - "None of this would have happened if you just stopped" "You're here because you wanted to feel like someone you're not - a hero" Especially that last one because it's implied Walker's drive to save the civilians himself (instead of going back), his road to hell, comes from the heroic event in Kabul he wanted to reenact so badly he even let his hero fall. Beautiful tragedy.
i got this game on a discount and i thought, 'huh, i like the division, maybe this'll be fun' without reading anything or knowing about it but that one clip where you shoot a window and the enemies go down in a sand avalanche. needless to say i came out a different man after playing this game
I... I hadn't noticed how it's Walker himself that says the "it takes a strong man to deny what's right in front of him". Your TF2 SFM brought that to my attention. I never cease to be amazed at this game. Or to shed tears to it.
I truly hope that it's a game that will be remembered by history. It asks a lot of quite damning questions about just _what_ it is we're enjoying when we play these games, in a sincere and intelligent way that respects the player. Even now, four years later, I'm still discovering things about The Line, and in my view that's a sign of a truly great game.
I've said it before but I do think it bears repeating: _Spec Ops: The Line_ is one of the only games I have ever played that has fundamentally changed my view on why we play video games, on the sense of agency that we seek from them. Even six years later, even with games like DOOM that revel in the childish glory of the power fantasy, there's still a niggling little thought in the back of my mind, reminding me that this is all a bit sadistic. It was _The Line_ that planted that seed, and I am very much thankful for it.
@@TamiyaGuy123 You could always give Life is Strange (and LiS: Before the Storm) a try. Not the same thing, not as good, but still... makes you /feel/.
i love how the game feels prepared to answer the question "but the game made me do that to continue! i had to do it!" guess who thinks the same bud? captain martin walker. you both were prosecuting konrad, both NEEDED to reach the ending, both needed to be the hero, its obviosuy not in the same scale, but it really works to put you in the shoes of someone who feels the need to do inmoral acts to "see what happens, or how the game ends", its kinda the same with undertales genocide route, its a horrible grim route where youre a monster, why did you do it? "because you could, and because you can, you have to."
I just happened upon this particular video, wanting to re-listen to this speech now and again because of how amazing it is, and I just have to say, not expecting it to feature a face cam, I was struck by how you reacted. I was worried at first you were going to take the piss and just joke your way through a serious scene, but you were right there with Walker. I could see the realizations hitting you the way they hit the character, and as someone who has never really watched anyone else playing this game at all, it added to the experience of watching a video of this part of the game in a way I did not expect, especially when your hand went to your face at the end...I empathized. Maybe comes off a bit corny, but I felt compelled to leave this comment. I swear this isn't a long setup for an ad for my channel (especially as I've basically quit doing Let's Plays at this point), but if you were to happen to watch the last episode or two of my Let's Play of the Walking Dead Season One, you can see that we're the same type of player, when it comes to video game plots. I never used a cam, but you can hear my voice wavering during the commentary, and I am not ashamed of that. So, though the moment you felt during this video is probably long forgotten these years later...thanks for sharing.
First off, thanks for the comment. I really think that, if one plays through the entire game and "absorbs" themselves into the story, it's virtually impossible to be jokey by that point. I sort of feel that, barring (possibly) Konrad's death, the ending isn't that big a reveal - You know that Walker (and, by extension, you) have been the bad guy for a long time, this just feels like the final nail in the coffin. So, with that slowly dawning and by now overpowering feeling, I just... I dunno. I suppose that last sentence also goes some way to explaining the choice I made in the end. It's nice to know that others are also, well, affected by a good narrative as much as I am - sometimes I ask myself if I'm taking things a bit too literally, seeing too much of the real world in these kinds of stories (particularly regarding morality). And that last sentence is very interesting - I couldn't differ more. I've hailed Spec Ops: The Line as one of the best video games I've ever played (I hesitate to use the word "favourite", because that implies it was fun) because, to this day, The Line has fundamentally changed the way I look at video games, about what their narratives, subtexts and mechanics mean, and what they say about the player. A few months after finishing the game a few mates invited me over for a few rounds of Call of Duty. After twenty minutes, I just felt sick, and genuinely couldn't play any more.
wow, just wow, i remember the feel when i finished the game, for the first time i let him die too, because i didn't know i had an option because i thought it was all a cut scene. made me think about how sometimes i let things happen because i didn't think i had a choice. this game is full of metaphors that i didn't notice until i saw someone else face.
Playing this game on the hardest difficulty, I FELT how Walker looked by the end. Those firefights when your squad is gone, and its just Walker by himself, were some of the most intense moments of any third person shooter Ive ever played besides maybe Max Payne 3 on Hardcore. The absolutely insane, near-insurmountable odds up against Walker in those moments in the latter half of the game made me feel totally desensitized and inhuman by the time I was done. His commands and executions getting more and more deranged and unhinged as the game goes on just adds to the whole experience. Absolutely amazing attention to detail. One of the most underrated third person shooter’s in my opinion.
To be fair, the game's lead writer Walt Williams has said before that he believes that the helicopter crash that happens twice in-game actually killed Walker, and that what happens afterwards is essentially his purgatory. With all of the shit he hallucinates at the time, like the soldiers, Konrad, or all of the stuff shown in his flashbacks here, it wouldn't surprise me if the entire tower or at least the elevator was part of some afterlife of his, and doesn't actually exist in the way he thinks. Honestly, it makes more than a bit of sense considering even Walker himself has a weird bit of Deja Vu when you do the helicopter sequence for a second time, saying: Walker: "Wait. Wait, this isn't right!" Lugo: "Well, it's too late now!" Walker: "Nah... I mean... we did this already!" He was already slowly falling apart before the helicopter crash, but the incident with the white phosphorus just totally shattered him, and sent him off the deep end, blaming Konrad for everything that happened. With all that he did, and his inability to accept his role in what went on, he had to find some larger villain to pin it all to, leading him to continue the warpath he was cutting through the decimated remains of Dubai at the expense of the lives of the survivors and his own team.
6:23 that small, quiet "i'm sorry" fits in perfectly, something I could totally believe was in the game, Walker finally realizing the depths of his mistakes and apologizing for everything he did, then taking his own life, knowing he can't undo or fix what he did.
Unlike Demona from Gargoyles.
Truly makes it a perfect ending
I thought the same thing until I realized it was the guy who said it
Not Walker. I remember watching other reactions and wonder why there is no "I'm sorry"
I did hear it in my playthrough though.@@dr.doctor4878
I can't help but keep coming back to this.
"I'm sorry"
And... It wasn't Walker.
But after all of this....you still get to go home....lucky you.
It wasn't even Walker who said that. It was the guy filming this.
@@Mark-fc7tu Hindenburg trials says otherwise. If you are ordered to commit a war crime, you are obligated to disobey.
@@Mark-fc7tu no. you think its stupid BECAUSE you quit at the first level
"The truth is, Walker, you are here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: A hero."
Fuckity doodle doo. And I thought that this was some CoD clone when I started. That slap in the face, the game telling you how pathetic you are for getting your heroic little power trips out of these war games.
Fuckin' great.
A shining example of video games as an art form.
The white phosphorus scene gets to me in a similar way as well, when you look at a broader picture of what the game's trying to get at. I mean, how many times, in a video game, have you gone into a black-and-white computer screen, and made white blips disappear? You get rewarded, the dots fade away, and you move on. End of story, right?
***** The horrors of war. Atrocity and madness. The human heart at its darkest.
PonzooonTheGreat it literally shows how far would you go through to become the 'hero' instead of the regular red blips turned white cus you killed and enemy in this game there is no black and white no russians no arabians no americans just men trying to survive its pretty fucked up and amazing in some fucked up way it truly shows how far humanity would do
"Who knows what darkness lurks in the hearts of men?" -The Shadow
+Iluvatar Erú; Taking inspiration from a work is not necessarily ripping it off. Does that mean that Apocalypse Now is a rip-off of Heart of Darkness? Arguably, the vast majority of narratives that exist today are inspired, in some way or another, by past works. The Line also uses the narrative for a different purpose: Whereas Apocalypse Now used the tale to be (rightly) very critical of the Vietnam War and the US military presence there, The Line instead uses the narrative to critique the very genre it's working in and, at times, the player themselves.
Aaaand now I've gone off on one. Apologies.
When Conrad said "I'm as sane as you are."
And he's entirely telling the truth. He's part of Walker's mind, so he's literally as sane as him.
greatorder, and...they're both insane
Konrad*
Technically true.
Hello! This is a copy and paste reminder that Mark346533243 is an asshole who thinks having an unpopular opinion makes them the smartest person alive.
The “I’m sorry” before he pulls the trigger is beautiful
That was actually the reactor
@@HumanB312It was still perfect timing
"In four days, this city will begin dying of thirst. Just like Riggs wanted.
This is your fault, Walker. You did this. Not me."
Hello! This is a copy and paste reminder that Mark346533243 is an asshole who thinks having an unpopular opinion makes them the smartest person alive.
@@ambernez7427 its probably a waste, me saying this but...sir you should not take words to heart of a random person on YT. Good day.
Mark346533243 wanted to become a hero, so he thinks blaming the developer for removing certain elements to the game is a good thing, that their action was evil.
But this is nothing more than a thoughtful game design that damages nothing, so why should he care? If he was a better person, he wouldn't be here.
He is as of now and forevermore wasting his time copy and pasting till he remembers why he did it no more.
Good, we killed the fake Walker. Come now Walker we got things to do. Cleaning up this mess
“No matter how hard I tried, I never could escape the reality of what happened here. That was my downfall.” Konrad saying this as Walker’s subconscious really hits hard. The entire game Walker tried to escape the reality of what he’s done and blame others for his actions. This lead to his mental breakdown and downfall from attempted hero to mass murderer
The references of "I never could escape the reality" and "I'm done playing games" is perhaps a bit heavy-handed, but it's kind of needed. Because you talk of Walker and you're absolutely right, but how many times have _we_ done the same thing? How many times have we killed countless virtual depictions of people, then justified it by saying "well it's what you're designed to do in the game"? Hell, if you were around for the release of The Line, you might remember the vast numbers of people who got to The Gate, then flat-out _blamed the devs_ because "they made me do it".
For me, it's points like these that turn The Line from an interesting game, into an _important_ one. Thanks for your comment.
@@TamiyaGuy123
Just like Walker spends the later half blaming Konrad, *exactly the same way.*
He realises he killed all those people, and his first reaction is to deflect and deny. Konrad made me do it. And what did the players do? Blame Konrad too.
"I...I didn't mean to hurt anybody"
"No one ever does, Walker"
6:07
@@Mark-fc7tu Nice copy and paste asshole
@@Mark-fc7tu So you're saying this game is we, the players didn't want to be villain, didn't choose to be villain and yet we are?
Yeah, sounds like it's Extra Credits and those are less than a half-baked authentic.
Hello! This is a copy and paste reminder that Mark346533243 is an asshole who thinks having an unpopular opinion makes them the smartest person alive.
You know they say: *The road to hell is paved with good intentions.*
@@rhondahoward8025 but they never mention what is real and in between
(0:20) - "We surrender sir, Dubai is yours." I love how they always just assumed you were some monstrous psychopath that was trying to completely take over the city. That was their perspective; they just assumed you wanted conquer Dubai and kill all these innocent people.
You thought there something wrong about Dubai, so you just assumed that they were the bad guys. You thought you stumbled in on a villainous act and so you played the hero.
You were proved wrong, but that didn't slow you down.
You made up a fantasy world where you'd get to live out the fight you wanted.
And as long as you play, you'll never escape that world.
IamCaptainMan those soldiers likely weren't real they wouldn't salute him after what he's done and the way they say konrad is upstairs where he's always been is stating konrad is a figment of Walker psyche
I'd even argue that your last sentence extends to every game we play in which we revel in that ubiquitous power fantasy that defines the action game. _The Line_ doesn't do anything different in terms of gameplay or mechanics. It just forces us to confront what we've done, and what that says about us.
The graffiti was right. There is not a man righteous.
@@TamiyaGuy123 "This was your fault" See Walker gets the better of himself and blames it on Konrad who he just saw dead. And Today i revisited this game on the PS4 (PS Now) and it was amazing.
Only in this, and few instance are the soldiers considered, but in most instances they have been thought to have chosen their fates.
the difference is their assumptions were right
It took me a few watches to notice that it was actually you saying "I'm sorry". I thought it was part of the game, but when I realized it was you I think it hurt even more
Yeah, apologies for that. As you said, that was the kinda thing that hurt. Not just for what I did, but for what it said about me as well.
Yes, I thought that too, and couldn't remember hearing it when I played
***** You had quite a strong reaction to that ending.
A few days before actually playing the game, I read a small comic that spoiled the Suicide ending.
I knew nothing of the game's story, and it almost made me cry.
Then, I played it for myself.
I already knew the ending... and it almost made me cry AGAIN.
That's how strong this story is.
Well, I'm the kind of guy who really gets invested in a game's story and the emotions and trials portrayed in it. And the way The Line used the link between player and player character to say something about the person holding the controller, that really got to me.
I know what you mean about the ending being spoiled. Is it just me, or does it make everything so different when you *experience* the ending, not just watch it from afar?
@@TamiyaGuy123 It really is. I took the route to only watch the gameplays of this game, and I kind of regret it. But it's not like I can do anything about it because my schedule is quite packed for me to be able to play games.
Watched the full gameplay, I can say the experience is NOT the same as if you are playing it. This is because the game kept blaming on you, the player for doing such acts, and this experience is not present if you are watching someone else playing it. If you are playing it blind then you will feel the true message of the game.
Well you could say I can just play the game again, but I already watched 100% of the gameplay, so I already know the plots of the game! And even if I play it, I already knew what's coming to me.
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“You did this.”
“No, you did.”
Probably been pointed out somewhere else in the comments, but Picasso’s famous painting of the bombing of Guernica features a woman clutching her dead child. There’s a popular anecdote surrounding the piece, that a Gestapo officer supposedly barged into Picasso’s apartment and saw the painting.
“Did you do that?” he asked.
“No.” Picasso replied. “You did.”
You know, I don't think I've ever heard Konrad's words likened to the alleged exchange regarding _Guernica,_ and jesus I've read about this game to a shameful degree. I wonder if it was deliberate, or if just simple coincidence at wanting to hit Walker (and by extension the player) with that line. Though now that I think about it, considering that Konrad is painting a vivid depiction of a war crime...
Hell, that's a brilliant observation. Thanks for sharing, it certainly gives a new layer of depth to Konrad's words, beyond what they might direct towards the player at face value.
I read this with my coffee mug with Guernica on it right next to me. That was satisfying. "The woman clutching her dead child? Hmmm oh there she is."
No u no u
@@Mark-fc7tu if you had actually played the game, it basically tells you to stop playing the game. You had a choice. Continue and you lose. The loading tips, the stop sign at the beginning. You already lost when you decided to continue. Great game tho.
@@Mark-fc7tu Well found the guy that likes to have the unpopular opinion
Silent Hill : Dubai
S.H. N. lol.....
Silent Dunes
Silent Dunes definitely sounds better
Silent Hills of Duty
basically this game should've been called Silent Hill Dubai, lmao
Had anyone noticed that when Konrad dissapears at 4:45, Walker talks to himself with voice of Konrad?
Details, details, but oh so marvelous!
Yep. And through it, Walker's face can only be described of one of a madman, incoherently mumbling to himself.
It's the little things, you know?
So does the painting.
@@Mark-fc7tu Pst. You know there's something else you can do with a game
@@Mark-fc7tu I mean, you may have an unpopular opinion but sometimes you don't have to copy paste it between comments. Once is enough, anymore and you're playing with yourself
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That "I'm sorry"... Almost felt like it was from the game. The genuine regret, the pain in your voice, and you aren't even paid to be playing a role. You're just here to experience the story. How fucking moving a videogame story has to be to make a person immerse themselves in all the guilt from the consequences of their actions is rarely ever seen.
I honestly loved that you added that final line. This game really spoke to its players.
"Where is Konrad?" "Where he's always been. Upstairs."
I just now figured out that he's using "upstairs" in the metaphorical sense, to refer to Walker's mind, the way you might refer to someone as being a little weird "upstairs." Think about the building they're in, and where both they and "Konrad" are within it. Why on earth would you refer to someone as "upstairs" when this someone is located over a hundred stories above you, and far more likely to accessed by elevator?
Wow, I never actually thought of that. That is a fiercely interesting thought. I always thought that it was meant "literally" in that Konrad has always been at the top of that tower, dead, and his corpse is "waiting" for Walker so that the truth can be revealed at long last. Your idea seems a bit more psychologically in-keeping with the tone of the game, though, constantly dropping little hints about what's really happened. Similar to Adams' and Lugo's response with the "Judgement" section and the just-out-of-sight views of Konrad on billboards. I like it.
Edit: Fucking hell, UA-cam, stop logging me into the wrong account.
Robert Kreiling You could also see Upstairs as Upstairs in heaven. Anothet hint to his death
Robert Kreiling konnrad was killed In the radio tower
How do you know? I've never heard that theory before
Everything in this game is done for a specific reason.
god....that look in wlakers eyes when he turns Conrad's chair around...the pure horror of the reality of what you had done. none of this would have happened if you stopped
Even if the mission _was_ to locate survivors and then leave the city, he could've broken contact after the first engagement and radio-ed Command. But then, he (and the player) wanted to be a hero.
Dinner-fork tongue the CIA got involved in this too. So if Walker and his 'squadron' did radio for help, more than 'one' battalion would have been killed, everything was fucked from the start. If only Konrad decided to leave before the storm hit and not go rouge, (Rorschach's voice): none of this would have happened.
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@@benjaminparent4115 ohh, soi soi.
His lost his last lifeline. His last excuse.
He no longer has a scapegoat... and he must either live in complete denial, or realise that this is in fact all his fault.
Jesus Christ man, you looked like you just had your own personal Vietnam by the end of this video. Hope you're alright...
We all had when we finished this game
I spent close to a month away from games. just had to collect myself. Think about how much games have desensitized us to all the bloodshed and madness. How we find entertainment in other peoples misery. I just needed a break.
This game is basically a vietnam-in-a-box :(
Almost like a shitty acting job.
+Zach Scarbrough I didn't quite go that far after playing it but I will admit that I was crying after I had walker shoot himself at the end of Spec Ops.
This game went from reality to imagination after the white phosphorus scene. Walker couldn't accept that it was his fault these people died so he casted the blame on Konrad from this point on. This man went crazy inside seconds.
Any time the game is doing a normal transition, it'll fade to black. Any time Walker is hallucinating, or lying to himself, in a kind of delusional fashion, the game will fade to white.......mind you,when the game starts after the chopper crash,the screen if fading to white...Some say Walker never survived the crash and he have to keep on re-live what he did untill he accepts it and finish himself like here in the video.If not,like i said,he have to go through this whole hellish realm over and over again.Remember,when he gets saved by the soldiers the screen fades to white and then they ask him:"how did you survived all this"......and he Walker says:"Who said i did"
Not true, he was having allucinations in the begining, he was blaming konrad after he saw the two hanging people.
@@Mark-fc7tu "just following orders"
you know how many people and what kind of people tried that defense? every single one was still guilty
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@@BroInVietnam Walker gets knocked out by the helicopter crash, he hallucinates before he goes insane because the entire game (up to after the crash) is Walker remembering what he did while he's unconscious from the crash, because of his current mental state, his past memories also change when he relives them
I notice how when Walker says he didn't mean to hurt anybody, Konrad's reflection looks away from the player to say no one ever does
Like he's treating you and Walker as separate people
It's actually about you. You're all that's left. Walker is already dead. I'm going to count to 5 and then I'll proceed the lobotomy. You couldn't accept so you made him a hero.
It’s not just that he looks away, he’s looking at walkers reflection. It could have a bigger meaning, I just think it’s part of the mind screwingness the pagans is playing with.
The camera is where the reflection of Konrad would be. Ooo metaphor
The painting is my breaking point. I guess it says something about me that the actual WP scene made me kinda just shake and feel a bit sick, but seeing the painting broke me emotionally. Spec Ops was the only game - the only piece of media honestly - that's ever truly made me feel that indescribable despair anyone who's played it knows.
And that's exactly what makes it so terribly beautiful.
I just finished I am shocked that during the white phosphorus portion I didn't even stop to think as I dropped them on the soldiers and civilians I was just used to that gameplay part in military shooters. It made me realize that in games you are never a true hero!
C1ph3r i remember the white phosphorus part,at first 2 hours, i was like "mehh,it is just another cod clone" but after that brutal scene,my hand was shaking and i was like "what the fuck is it?,why did i feel so uneasy".
So i played it cuz my curiousty keep couraging me to continue playing it,the deeper i dig,the more uneasy,especially after the refugee hanging lugo.
After fighting throught 33rd and finally meet with Konrad.
I remember after the ending i don't have any courage to play any military shooter games,cuz my view change about military things,its not such an good and badass things,instead tons of nightmarish things.
Yeah! I don't think I could ever play another military shooter again!
C1ph3r its like,you are the walker,you are experiencing being soldier,expecting heroic action and fame,but instead watching how the war is like,committing genocide its not like killing animals,even thought it was coincident.
I beat the game on the FUBAR difficulty in one sitting. And dear god I went insane. Dying so many times. I got so frustrated. And I began to hate the games but I needed to finish it and see the ending. And when I finally saw the ending again I felt so sad that I had becomes so determined to beat the game on a hard difficulty for just the sake of a achievement.
I felt the same way as walker. Tired. Angry. And the more tired I got the more shocking the events became in the game. Truly deep and incredible game that makes you question the war genre in it's entirety
+Yehohnathan Herrera But, you've played the game at least once before that? Because FUBAR unlocks after finishing the game on Suicidal.
Nomang (gasps) got caught in the lie. 🤥🤥🤥🤥
Andres Mcguire-Buckley But he stated he saw the ending "again"
RulerOfThisNewSekai what? Do you think I'm talking about Nomang or the other guy? Cuz I'm not talking about Nomang.
I heard this late, but xxxtentacionxxx got shot and died.
"I'm as sane as you are Captain."
Hahaha... Ha. Ha. Ha. ... Ha... ah... hmmm
yeah, I thought the same.
Dark Souls reference?
If a person is insane, and another tells said person that he is as sane as the insane person is, then they're both insane.
@@Mark-fc7tu Assuming you weren't WANTING to hold the gun and pull the trigger. That's what you bought the game for, and that's what the game is shaming you for.
@@Mark-fc7tu Oh! Well, in that case, you won the game. You didn't get trapped in the violent cycle of Dubai.
4:46 Notice Walker's mouth moving to Konrad's words after he disappears. Brilliant touch.
Fun fact: throughout the entire game you are on a literal environmental decline until the end where you ascend the spire. Each time you hit a major sink is when Walker breaks down more significantly compared to other parts of the game.
The ending has to be one of my favourites from any video game though, the composition of the mirror reflection hit me hard. For one of the best interpretations, every line spoken by Walker after Conrad says "One" is directed as much to the player themselves as it is Conrad. He desperately tries to place the blame on you yourself, then justify that it wasn't by his own actions (as you were the controller).
Another alternative is that he's speaking for the player, saying what you believe was not your own fault (because you were railroaded into your actions if you wanted to complete the game, where further actions were out of your control).
That's just what I get out of it without sounding too pretentious, the game is far from anything a good movie or piece of literature could pull of, but it's fantastic in its own right and I don't believe even The Last of Us or any other cinematic-focused game comes close to striking a point as well as this game has.
No matter what stance anyone has on this game, whether it be positive or negative, the developers had succeeded. Everyone felt an intended emotion at the end and it can all be justified, so for that they get my kudos.
The use of environment was a nice little touch, the way Walker is always descending towards his metaphorical Hell. Taken completely out of context, it's actually a little bit ridiculous: After an hour, there should be no more "down" left.
The ending... Well, I hesitate to use the words "my favourite", because that implies that the ending was a good thing, but it's far and away the most powerful ending I've ever experienced in a game, particularly because, as you said, it includes the player in the climax. I, personally, believe that, right from "Welcome" (hell, dotted about in the rest of the game too), there are little double-lines that are aimed at the player, not just the player character. Konrad's lines "...I never could escape the *reality*... of what happened here", and "I assure you, this is no *game*" seem to clue us in to the real message that's being delivered. And, of course, 5:01. I don't think a game has ever punched me so hard in the gut ever before.
It's really not being pretentious, don't worry. The fact that the game can even spark these discussions speaks volumes about it. It's the interactivity of The Line's ending that gets me. I mean, any game I can think of, Half-Life 2, The Last of Us, that has a great story, it'd work just as well as a film, or a book. The Line, however, it can only work *as a game*, because it demands that the person going through the story plays as the main character in order to bring that unsettling feeling of cognitive dissonance.
Thanks for the comment, I never cease to find it fascinating how opinions and thoughts on this game can differ. It's brilliant to be able to have intelligent discussion about a medium that, not fifteen years ago, was just a simple form of fun entertainment.
Personally, I'd place Silent Hill 2's "In Water" ending up next to Spec Ops. That's a really hard question to answer confidently, though.
Unfortunately, I've never played Silent Hill 2 (although from what people have been saying about it, I probably should, shouldn't I?), so I can't vouch for that game. At least for the games I've played, though, none can really compare to The Line because the message it is trying to get across is just so *different* from what I'm used to. I loved Portal's ending, plus its sequel, loved HL2 for its closure, combined with its mystery. The Walking Dead was wonderfully tragic.
Perhaps The Stanley Parable, in the sense that it tries to ask the player questions, rather than the *character* that they are playing as. But even still, the two games are quite different in the way they ask those questions. The Stanley Parable seems to be quite jokey and bitter about the things it asks the player, whereas The Line is really quite brutal.
The only winning move is not to play.
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Quotes: The video game.
lol agree, there are many quotes in this game that it should be a book.
+Foxar Because i's just written that well. Doesn't happen often in videogames.
its based on a book
hearts of darkness
and a movie . apocalypse now
Inspired* As someone whose read/played/watched all three, I can tell you that although they all share the same themes, The Line does indeed have it's own unique plot.
Creedo this concept is based on apocalypse now?
Its great to see someone else's reaction to this game other then my own, not to sound like a sadist but this shows that games can effect us in many ways beyond feeling like a hero
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This game is a literal masterpiece. Nothing will compete.
***** Can you give names? I'm interested
***** I've heard good things about Undertale, might look into it.
***** Sounds great, I guess that'll be a new purchase
i reccomend minecraft if spec ops the line is your type
Yeah Lasgne Only really once you kill the Ender Dragon.
It’s always rough when among Walkers’ earliest lines are “we go home.” Konrads’ message from before the game even starts is that soldiers never go home. They cross the line into war and a part of them can never return to life before war. All Konrad wanted was peace, and the only way he knew to make it was to kill for it. Walker wanted to be welcomed home as a hero. The only way he knew to make that a reality was to kill for it. They crossed the line and they never really went home. Whatever you want in this world killing for it will destroy it. Nothing in your life will overshadow crossing the line and becoming a killer. Maybe that’s the message.
Took me time to realize that "I'm sorry" Line wasn't Walker, even voice and context fit excellent
This is the first game that made me feel like shit. And that is why I love it.
+PłaskiJakDeska Boss battle with Maiden Astrea in Demon's Souls made me feel like shit too.
Dregon Skreper Sif's boss fight made me feel like shit.
Fallout 4 VR made me feel like shit, but for completely different reasons
Still waiting a game with such impact as spec ops the line
we are all shits of the WORLD
"I'm sorry."
Man, this really shook him up, ha
"I-I didn't mean to hurt anybody."
"No one ever does, Walker."
Holy crap, when I heard that I legit froze up for a second. You gotta remember, many veterans actually experience this in real life. (Also, this game reminds me of MIA by Avenged Sevenfold)
You should look up My Lai, and the detailed accounts of it, but be wary... You might not like what you find.
Nolan North's delivery of that line is just phenomenal. It's like he's quietly begging, pleading with Konrad that he never wanted any of this, and Konrad's refutation of it is also great. Just straight up, matter-of-fact, to the point, letting Walker know (Well, Walker letting himself know) that his intentions are meaningless. What matters is what he DID, not what he WANTED to do. Konrad is having none of it.
@@Mark-fc7tu If you are told to commit a war crime, you are obligated to disobey. Hindenburg trials come to mind
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@@alexanderleonardi3625you mean the Nuremberg trials?
Its been almost a year since I played this game, and I still keep coming back to this. No other game or media has brought such emotions in me.
***** This game is so unique, i watched the ending 100 times and i'm still here watching it again and everytime i watch it makes me feel guilty.
+Ensar Osman Indeed. This is also a only game which I bought for PS3 and PC. Now I actually have the courage to play this again, lol. You notice all the little things which you never paid attention in first playthrough.
Someone hasn't played the metal gear solid series
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I just realized something. Throughout the game, every level goes down as you're traveling deeper into Dubai. No matter where you go, the level terrain is always going down, and it's not till the last level where you go up.
If you go over to the Spec Ops: The Line reddit, me and a few others did an alternate theory on the story in the game.
In short, the theory states all of this is inside of Konrad's head as he struggles between suicide or living.
Walker was a soldier who worked under Konrad but he died on the battlefield, hence Walker saying Konrad dragged his _corpse_ across a battlefield. Later, when the evacuation fails, Konrad can't deal with all of this and his mind creates a split identity - Walker. Walker shares a lot of similarities with Konrad, a distinguished service record and praise amongst his men, along with many more attributes - like wanting to be a hero and defying orders to do so. The enemies Walker and Delta Force kill are really Konrad's way of saying he killed all of those men and women by his poor judgment. This is all Konrad's way of coping with what he did, shifting the blame onto Walker.
Walker, driven by Konrad's guilt, breaks through numerous mental fortifications to find the _real_ Konrad and confront him...
Then the confrontation happens...
Konrad wants to die because, for as much as he denies responsibility, he knows (subconsciously) that he is responsible for it all. Hence why, if he convinces Walker it's their fault or if he gets his way - you both die. If Walker refuses to let Konrad shift the blame onto himself and kills of Konrad, then he becomes the dominant identity and destroys Konrad. The entire end is a mental bout for dominance. Need more proof?
Konrad's body is only present in the ending in which both of them die. This is because, since they are one in the same - committing suicide would kill them both. In the other endings, where only Konrad dies, the old and decrepit body of Konrad is missing after the confrontation. This is because, neither of you killed yourself so there was never any body to begin with. It also explains why Walker would be wearing Konrad's uniform during the final chapter post-credits.
Additionally, when Walker dies fighting the rescue squad, you can hear both Konrad and Walker's voice speak at the same time before the dialogue switches over to Konrad completely.
so what you are saying is all that we seen in the game was on kondrad'smind?
Konrad is an acronym = Convict - radical
You shoot Konrad because it was your fault
If you shoot Walker you become Walker
@@robertagren9360 An acronym stands for something, doesn’t it?
I can see this being a plausible theory especially with the end where Walker is wearing Konrad's uniform. I would also like to add to your theory that the events in this game are mostly canon but Walker is just Konrad's amalgamation as a stand in villain for what was essentially CIA operatives. Every fire fight that Walker has with the 33rd is really just the 33rd fighting with CIA operatives/insurgents and all the subterfuge committed by Walker are CIA operations.
The events of the game is literally all Konrad's fault because he too was told to not intervene and occupy Dubai, but Konrad disobeyed and tried to be the hero. The evacuation was a catastrophic failure and led to many deaths. Konrad is also responsible for the American on American violence. Riggs explicitly says that the CIA is there because Konrad's occupation of Dubai puts the USA in danger of further war with the Middle East. In order to avoid this, the CIA is tasked with burying all of Dubai and the 33rd. So Konrad's need to play hero led to the complete death and destruction of both Dubai and the 33rd. Had Konrad obeyed orders then the 33rd would still be alive and Dubai might have survived long enough until the sandstorms died down. Walker's path mirrors Konrad's to an insane degree, so it's not farfetched to theorize that Konrad is self-reflecting through Walker.
@@captainbadassitude1845 I think that Walker and Konrad are both split personalities of the character we are playing with.
I think a marine got so scarred from what happened to Dubai. He was probably a 33rd gone rogue. That he developed two personalities.
This is why it is said on screen: Do you even remember why are you fighting?
Inside the protag. there is this battle of personalities. Even though what ever events happened; they happened a long ago. And the protag. is in a catatonic state.
I think this is why there are multiple endings.
Protag. shoots himself=split pers. Konrad takes over
Protag. shoots Konrad=split pers. Walker remains in charge
If at the end you shot Falcon Team or die at their hands=it means both Konrad and Walker fuse somehow into a single personality
If you drop weapon=you wake up to reality and the two personality splits are gone.
What I think is that this unknown marine was under Konrad's charge.
The battle of factions happened.
This marine stood for Konrad. But they killed lots of civies. This traumatized the marine.
This marine was in team with two other people.
1 week later, Captain Martin Walker is sent with two men named Ludo and Adams.
They try to mend the conflict, but Konrad uses phosphor and kills the entire Dubai.
Martin and his men die in the crash.
The marine is the only one walking. His mind cannot bear the events. And in his semi-catatonic state he believes himself to be Walker while at the same time Walker personality develops a personality of Konrad, someone to blame.
And everything inside this poor marine's head gets mixed up.
I say this because in a note, Konrad says: Sorry if/when you hear bad things about your father. It is most likely the fact that Konrad used phosphor to burn down everyone and everything. This is why we see a drawing with people being burned. When Walker used phosphor that was most likely the marine's brains getting memories interwined with Konrad's deeds.
Idk if you noticed. But both Konrad and Walker blame each other. And in reality alter egos do have the power to alter the memories of the original personality. I also noticed that we find lots of notes describing the most recent events.
I think that this marine, in his semi-catatonic state discovered Konrad and Walker's belongings(their journals) which led to him cope with the trauma by creating two different personalities.
I think one quote that stuck with me the most is Walker's "I never meant to hurt anybody". Because I 100% believe its true. He did not want to hurt anybody and thats why his fall from grace, from a decorated soldier to a murder machine hurts so much to see. The pain in his voice when he says it.
No one ever does...
After all of my years of playing shooters, this made me realize that even though in our eyes we're the hero, we're actually the bad guy we were trying to stop in a game where being an action hero...creates more problems than it solves.
@@Mark-fc7tu I don't hate the game at all...far from it actually.
I just tried to pretty much sum up Captain Walker's journey of sorts through Dubai as well as try to imagine what a lot of players felt like after seeing this scene.
If Andrew had a different perspective on things, than that's his deal, not mine. This is my opinion, not his, so why are you quoting his editorial when you stopped playing around the second chapter?
Revising your comment to reflect solely this game kinda diluted the essence of your original thoughts.
@@TheNobodyNamedDubyaBee That's...a very good point. I'm not the best at expressing my thoughts through comments, but I try my best to do so, even if it comes across as overly dramatic. I do stand by my opinion that Walker deciding to play the hero just made things worse because he was supposed to recon and report back on the situation...not get directly involved in Dubai's power struggle and get innocent people killed by his own hand, even if he either tries to downplay it or shift the blame to someone else.
"This is Colonel John Konrad. United States Army. Attempted evacuation of Dubai ended in complete failure... Death toll;... Too many..."
"None of this would have happened if you had just stopped"
Konrad is not talking to Walker when he says this.
"I'm as sane as you are, Captain"
That's not very sane.
but not a lie
In fact a literal truth.
‘I’m sorry.’
For a minute I thought that was part of the game. It fit too well.
The way you said “I’m sorry” got me chocked up a little, I felt the pain and sorrow in your voice man, this game is a masterpiece in storytelling, one of the best games of all time no doubt. Killing walker seems to be the only humane thing to do, letting him live with the mental scaring he acquired thanks to his action seems almost too cruel. I about teared up when I saw this. Thank you for making this.
Mark346533243 fuck off with your copy paste bullshit, this game is still good.
Mark346533243 ok and? Still a good game. Sorry it’s not like the last of us 2 with it’s shit story, I’m sure that’d appeal to you better :)
@@Mark-fc7tu Isn't duty calls is a satire piece for Bulletstorm? (Awesome game!)
@@Mark-fc7tu Bulletstorm essentially tried to be a shooter that didn't take itself seriously as it was colorful, funny, and just all around a fun ride (for me, at least)...unlike A LOT of shooters at the time which did take themselves more seriously to the point where the shooter genre became crowded fast...not that I minded.
" i'm sorry"
ok, THAT was awesome.
6:24 Holy shit, that I’m sorry you said at that for some reason felt like it came from the game, it feels appropriate too, walker’s death is typically his choice to accept he was responsible for the horrors he committed, him saying sorry wouldve been like the icing on the cake, his final words of regret before accepting his place in Hell
"You're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not... a hero..."
That wasn't to Walker.
Oh god, the feelings hit all at the same time.
Comment was 7 years ago, jeez, been that long huh? Still I wanna address it.
That was to Walker.The statement was aimed at him as much as it is a meta commentary. Walker isn't as "blank slated to be self inserted by the player" as he seems to be, he has actual motivations and reasons as a character, this still works as Walker's insane pursuit of glory as it is the player's wanting some form of achievement.
Rohan Kishibe and 『Heaven's Door』
It’s both.
In story because of what Walker did.
And in Life where we commit virtual war crimes, satiating some kind of bloodlust with violence.
Mark346533243
The game is the gun, and you picked it up and pulled the trigger by playing it. that’s the message.
You wanted to play Spec Ops: The Line because you wanted to have your macho shooter power fantasy and feel like a badass hero.
Mark346533243
Good. You won the game.
@@rustkarl first run dying: crap i have to do better
second run dying: mhe prolly the best
Facecam got really dramatic at the end. Love that head-nod.
What can I say, it's a dramatic game.
@@TamiyaGuy123, I wanted to ask you how you interpret the ending, namely suicide in it, because in my opinion, it is very interesting and I really wonder what you think about it, because in this game, this action can be interpreted in two ways.
_Hotline Miami_ : Do you like hurting other people?
_Spec Ops: The Line_ : Do you feel like a hero yet?
_Nier: Automata_ : Is it all pointless?
Your reaction really makes this video wonderful.
I didn't mean to hurt anybody...
After 8 years of this game release i just realised konrad basically pulled the uno reverse card when he say "no,you did"
PTSD start to kick in
When I finished this game for the first time, I was in service, it made me think about what my friends have gone through and what i was soon to face in life.
As a vet today, this ending is a constant reminder of a harsh reality. No matter how much I try, i can't help but break down crying every time.
"It takes a strong man to deny whats right in front of him, and of the truth is undeniable, you create your own"
The perfect words to describe what someone who's perception of reality has just shattered
Is facing.
I thought the "im sorry" was part of the game
Imagine if they made this into a movie. All the more it hit people right in the feels.
That's the thing, though, I really don't think it'd work as a movie. One of my favourite things about The Line is that it embraces the concept of video games' interactivity. It's not just you looking at what's happening as an outside observer, _you are responsible for what happens here_. _You_ kill those soldiers, _you_ burn those civilians to death, _you_ get Adams and Lugo killed, and at the end of everything, _you_ are the person who is shown the consequences of your actions and what that says about _you_ as a human being.
*****
You have a point
+freexavier Well, Apocalypse Now is pretty close to this. That's a movie.
+Comodore's Lists they kind of did that with sucker punch
Timothy Creighton I remember watching that film, but now forgot what was its plot about.
"None of this would've happened if you'd just stopped. But on you marched... And for what?"
The platinum trophy ;-;
4:30 That blazing tower is your destination.
And what do you find when you get there?
5:30 A mirror.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
...dotted with road signs of ignorance and naivety towards the truth behind the situation.
"I'm sorry."
I have to ask: Who were you apologizing to?
Walker?
Konrad?
All the people who died?
None of the above?
Honestly? I don't even think I know.
@@TamiyaGuy123 To your conscience, or any shred of innocence left...
I hope its the player they are saying sorry to.
*Mine, and my own evil*
When I first played this game I swear I had a nightmare about the woman's corpse holding the child, that was how bad this game managed to leave a mark on me. A truly piece of art in my opinion
Have you ever died during the fight with "Lugo"? In my eyes, that had more of an impact on me than the actual scene, and that's saying something. Then again, I am the sort of person who is affected more by what one's own mind can conjour up, by the more subtle stories rather than the in-your-face ones.
+TamiyaGuy: what happened during the fight with "Lugo"? I stupidly throw a grenade to myself a few seconds after "Lugo" appeared, and when I respawned it's just a normal enemy, not "Lugo" anymore.
During the fight, "Lugo" taunts and lambasts you, saying how you're not a hero, you can't save anyone, and that everything that's happened throughout the game is your fault and yours alone.
***** hmm okay and then what happened when we died? Because I respawned as usual.
It's probably better if you see it for yourself on UA-cam (or just playing through that mission again).
I completed this game for the second time on FUBAR a month ago, and I came here because even now, I'm constantly reminded of my experience. I went in with minimal expectations, assuming it would just be another attempt at a good CoD campaign. Oh was I wrong. This was much better than a CoD campaign. Everything from the bloodstained story itself to the moral questions in loading screens, to how emotionally exhausted you might feel by the end of it, as an actual soldier would. Spec Ops: The Line, for its four hour length, manages even 11 years after its release to accomplish what more modern military shooters either lack the ability, or the courage, to do; remind us all of the horror and hell of war. That we, as "the hero of the story", are anything but. Your reaction wasn't dissimilar from my own, actually
Seven years later and I still play this game. Easily in my top ten.
Thank you for posting this! I've watched it countless times cause the story and character development is so rich!
The “I’m Sorry” at the end got me
"I didn't want to hurt anybody..."
"Nobody ever does."
Its the small things. When i found Konrad dead, my first thoughts were of the destruction of the water, the part where Conrad warned against it and Walker went ahead anyways. Konrad being dead all along means that subconsciously Walker realised that the CIA meant to kill all the people left in Dubai, but he went through with it anyway. At that moment i went: 'Oh god'
After watching this so many times, I kinda realise something. The reflection of Konrad and Walker at the climax symbolise the division of the game and reality (One is Konrad vs Walker and the other is the Players vs the Game). And when the reflection of Konrad turned to the other Walker beyond the reflection... he's actually pointing the gun at us, since we were too close to Walker for comfort. So when he said he will shoot Walker, he actually means he want to shoot us and asks if we can live with our sins.So the ending splits into three1) The players accepts the punishment from Konrad/the Game ( Confirm that you had a choice and still have it )2) The players punish Walker ( Confirm that Walker is the villain )3) The players kill Konrad ( Confirm that this is a game )
+Zelkarda Ashgard (Pariah) Wow, you're so right.
+Zelkarda Ashgard (Pariah) That is... actually really interesting.
And I like it.
+Zelkarda Ashgard (Pariah) correct, sir. the game designers use the same representation during the white phosphorus bombing: you can see walker's reflection on the screen of the laptop were it should be yours
4 actually. atttacking the rescue squadron (walker learns nothing)
You can really see your mind and emotions racing throughout the entire cutscene. I also caught you're "I'm sorry" right at the end. Always interesting to see how this game effects people.
"I'm sorry."
Tell that to all those, whos blood you are drenched in. As am I...
This must be what growing up feels like...
* *sigh* *
Remember when shooters were about killing demons from hell? Those were good days, weren't they?
We are being forced to confront consequences in an unfair, uncaring and unavoidable world of hatred, misery and death.
**PBBBBBBTTT**
Zero Punctuation, nice.
*cough*
@@Mark-fc7tu how many times did you copy paste this
@@DeosPraetorian Not enough apparently
I remember seeing this game on PS+ and I decided to to subscribe to plus so that I can try this game because I heard that it has a good story.
So when I first started the game I thought that this is just another cookie-cut-out shooter. But when I reached the bridge and I had to choice who would live I was like: 'why I can't save them both?'. So I tried to shoot the snipers and the game allowed!
That was the point for me when I started to pay more attention to the game. So when I got to the famous white phosphorus part I saw the civilians with the heat-cam and I decided to not use it but there were just too many guys to take them down and eventually I died. After that I tried to survive again but still no change. So I realized that I can't survive without the white stuff and I just stood in front of the button for a minute thinking about that this choice can't be good, and pressed the button. That moment when you face the thing that you have done is still haunts me. One of the most shocking moment in my gaming history.
Sorry for the novel...
What strikes me the most about this is your facecam reactions during the phosphorus painting and the flashback. In the painting, you close your eyes for a moment and blink a few times, then look down and away: as if not looking will somehow protect you from it.
Then in the flashback, as soon as you realize what you're looking at, you visibly flinch and then look away again. In fact, a few times, it almost looks to me as if you're going to be sick.
All that speaks volumes as to how heavily that affected you, and how much you don't want to face up to what you did even as it's shoved into your face. That, more than any words, demonstrates just how powerful this game's message is.
I'm not entirely sure that anyone _wants_ to face up to the things that this game lambasts you for. The Line's message is a truly sobering one, and although it's heavy-handed at times, it did have a lasting effect on me, even though I've never been too big a fan of the likes of Call of Duty & Battlefield.
If anything, one of the biggest gut-punches for me in The Line isn't just the fact that I committed these atrocities in the game, but the fact that so many times in the past I've done the exact same things without blinking an eye. How many times, over our gaming years, have we cut to a top-down thermal imaging camera and clicked at white dots to make them disappear? How many times have we "valiantly pushed forward" in search of some heroic goal? Hell, you could even ask how many times we have shot a human being in the head and been _proud of ourselves_ for accomplishing that?
I'd have to paraphrase Yahtzee Croshaw here and say that one of the reasons I love The Line (although maybe "love" isn't the right word...) isn't because it's a great game mechanically, but it's a game that truly deserves to be played.
It's really genius how they forced us to choose by bombarding us with revelations and time. That way we have no time to rationalize or justify our actions. So in the end we are confronted on our value.
Masterpiece in story telling
The timing with the way you said "I'm sorry" sounded like Walker apologising for everything he did
2021, to this day this ending still got me "i'm sorry" got me really hard sync with music
Yea the music is on point fr
It's been 10 years since I played this and still feel like a war criminal.
I curse my pursuit of the Platinum trophy for desensitizing me to even this soul wrenching writing.
I am a monster.
FUBAR.
It took me watching another playthrough of the ending to appreciate what makes this particular capture unique and one I keep coming back to.
That final musical sting at 6:25? I thought that was tied to whenever you pulled the trigger, but, no, you just managed to sync the gunshot up perfectly with the music.
So genuinely, thank you so much for noticing. Syncing music to action is one of those things that is such a small touch but I feel makes a huge difference to the atmosphere of a scene. I actually ended up recording the whole ending with the music muted (you might've noticed an odd colour change at 0:50 when I muted the music), and I added it in post specifically to time the final gunshot to the end of _Truth Revealed._
@@TamiyaGuy123 Oh, wow. I see. I suppose that explains it - that's still really cool that you did that, though. Because you're right, it makes that last sequence that much better.
Maybe this is just me, but it looks like Walker's eyes are cracked, like broken windows, at 4:43. Maybe it's symbolism of how these actions have broken him, or maybe it's just the lighting effects from the game. Just thought I'd point it out.
MyGamer125 It's actually something you can see evolved throughout the game. You truly see it once at the end when he confronts "Konrad" and you can guess it symbolizes the fact that he is mad. In the alternate endings, if you choose to shoot Konrad, the cavalry comes to rescue you and the soldier who speaks to you says you are shell shocked. And one of the symptoms is the eyes that constantly give an empty/distant look
JeKeScy One of the well-known symptoms of PTSD, particularly in the World War era, is the infamous "thousand-yard stare". There are so many other little things about Walker's character, both in cutscenes and through the gameplay, that evolve to match Walker's character arc. After Walker crashes the water trucks, for instance, his water-filled backpack becomes torn and empty.
***** Yes, that's the thing I was talking about, the stare.
You can also hear the difference, not only in the music that seems to get darker, but also in what the squadron say when they kill an enemy (especially with Walker and sometimes with Adams). At the beginning, it's very professional, and at the end, you fell only hatred. It goes from "Tango down" in the first missions to "Got that traitor/fucker!". And you can see it too in the way the executions are made.
"None of this would've happen if you just stopped. But on you marched--and for what?"
Anyone else notice during the countdown, Walker goes through the 5 stages of Grief?
Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
***** This ending made me question everything I know about video games. We as gamers only kill mindlessly, not taking in casualties that may have happened. The things we do never phase us truly. What if each game we play, every character we take control of, is really deluding themselves into thinking that they are the hero of their story. What if everything's just a lie
As I've already said here, it just shows how Spec Ops: The Line's message goes *way beyond* just being a commentary on the "modern military" shooter trend of the era-it's totally applicable to ALL games down to the most family-friendly ones. We'll realize that using this mindset solidifies the notion that, for example, Mario is a murderous fuck all along (there are theories regarding that online), and so on.
I know I've said this so many times elsewhere, but another more-or-less perfect example would be the Chrono games. In Chrono Trigger you soon discover that their world was to be destroyed by Lavos in the future, and you suddenly go on a quest traveling through time to prevent the catastrophe from happening. After a long, complicated journey, you eventually defeat Lavos, and "YAY!", you saved the world, the future looks brighter now, you are celebrated as the champions of time, and things wrap up in a generally happy and light-hearted, feel-good, heart-warming note.
And then there comes Chrono Cross. This time, things aren't that simple and child's play. You are forced to confront the end result of what you've done before in CT, and it's not for the positive. You realize that by your time-traveling _interventionism_ (hint hint) in history to save the day, you only made things much worse-your efforts were all in vain and the Lavos you were supposed to defeat only become stronger as the Time Devourer: intent on not just destroying their world, but also all of the universe. Your beloved childhood heroes you used in your journey in CT have paid or are paying the terrible price as a result. And you are to fix this complete mess by the means of the individual who is the product of the consequences of what you did in CT. And it also concludes in a fashion that's pretty much designed to keep you wondering for long time, to make you ask yourself what you did before and what about now.
Basically, one big aspect of CC is a thought-provoking examination of CT's fairy tale adventures, deconstructing it as an unrealistic, misguided hero fantasy, where it shows how the road to hell can be indeed paved with good intentions, especially if one doesn't study first the situation beforehand. See how the decision to begin the quest to save the future in CT draws a connection with Walker taking matters into his own hands early on in SO:TL and the consequences it followed? And Konrad's messages are totally applicable in Chrono: "You were never meant to come here", "None of this would've happened if you'd just stopped", and "You wanted to be like something you're not, a hero."
Putting Chrono Cross's treatment of Chrono Trigger under SO:TL's perspective totally changed the way I look at CT forever; it was definitely a childhood-ruining, but ultimately humbling, maturing, and enlightening experience.
Miss me with that nihilism, nigga.
@@benjaminparent4115 "None of this would have happened if you had just stopped"
Because we know that in shooter games, the enemies we kill aren't real people, it's fictional, they were meant to be fun & enjoyable, so you can enjoy them without worrying about it.
The frightening thing about this game is that Walker stumbled into being a war criminal. Not everyone who does something terrible means or even wants to do it.
At first I wondered why I loved this game's story so much, and then I realized it was Silent Hill 2 in Call of Duty form. Both games have protagonists who enter a surreal city under dubious pretenses, commit atrocities they didn't think they were capable of or wanted to be capable of, and encounter other people driven mad by their surroundings. Both games end when the protagonists realize that the real villain is themselves, or rather the part of themselves that can't accept what they've done, and only by confronting themselves coming to grips with the darker aspects of their humanity can they hope to move on.
...Huh. I honestly had never considered a comparison with Silent Hill 2, but when you explain it like that it really does seem a reasonable one. Having never played Silent Hill 2, I can't really speak for the characters (the little exposure to the characters that I do have has mainly been James and the various monsters), but the endings certainly fit thematically, as do the protagonist's uncertain motives, though James' seems shrouded in mystery while Walker's is more straight-laced, albeit subverted later on.
Very interesting stuff, thanks for the thoughts.
Tfw you shot yourself because you realise it was all your fault.
In my first playthrough I skipped the WP civilian scene out of guilt, I knew what *I* did but didn't want to see it or believe it, so I fed into Walkers dissonance, it wasn't my fault, it was Konrad's - until Konrad shoved it in my face at the end and my "eyes were opened for the first time". I deserved to die at the end. I just sat there in silence for 15 minutes absolutely crushed lol
"...In the end, you can still go home, lucky you" hit so hard
Spec Ops: The Line is possibly my favorite military shooter due to its unique themes, subversion of expectations, etc. I highly doubt we will ever get another game like Spec Ops: The Line, and honestly I don't have a problem with that. It tells its story and overall finishes its job, no sequel needed. At most, I'd want a modern remaster/remake, but the game still holds up well even after all these years. Playing the game on FUBAR was quite the experience on its own, makes me feel like I really am in this sort of hell for Walker, and that continuing will bring nothing but further pain upon others.
I think the direction the intelligent ones in the video game industry should take going forward is that there should be a Spec Ops: The Line for every genre possible.
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Chrono Cross, Braid, and the Drakengard/Nier series were a good start (all predating SO:TL), but there is a lot more ground to cover to fulfill said vision.
These days they would ban a game like spec ops the line
"This is all in my head!" "Are you sure? Maybe its in mine?"
i just realized that it’s not walker who says “i’m sorry.” it’s you. goddamn
"No matter how hard I tried, I never could've escaped the reality of what happened here. That was my downfall."
It just hit me, that's Walker talking to himself, isn't it?
That's one way of looking at it. Another common view is that it's Walker's projection of Konrad, and how he must have felt at the failed evacuation that took place before the events of The Line.
My personal view, and one that is shared by many, is that it's a break of the fourth wall; Walker, Konrad or even Yager Development are speaking directly to the player, about how pathetic they are for wanting to play "the hero" in a game exclusively about murdering human beings. Notice how often the conversation involves playing, reality or similar subjects.
"...I never could *escape the reality*..."
"I'm done *playing games*, John." "I assure you, *this is no game...*"
+TamiyaGuy
I respectfully disagree.
Many people, myself included, do not play a game(any game) to be a 'hero' of some description.
In fact, there exist many a game in which you portray less than heroic individuals.
We play to be entertained. That entertainment may come solely from the gameplay or the story.
Sometimes it may come from both.
That's the purpose of a game, in my book.
Entertain, via the means provided by the medium.
That's a perfectly valid point. Particularly nowadays, there are plenty of games where you play at best humdrum characters (The Stanley Parable, The Graveyard, Amnesia etc) and at worst some really quite unlikable people. Entertainment is, indeed, what a lot of people seek, and I admit that in certain games my analogy of wanting to "be the hero" kind of breaks down (racing sims come to mind, since there is more a focus on the skill involved in a clean race, rather than winning outright).
Could you not say though, that particularly in developers' minds, there is still some desire to give the player power and agency over their actions (hero-like in a sense)? Thinking about games such as Call of Duty, Skyrim, Half-Life 2, Hitman etc, the main character is often hailed, through game mechanics, as someone who is in control of their destiny and can have an impact on the world around them. The Line, in quite a cruel fashion, shows that you're only able to do what the game has programmed you to do, but that your complacency in what happens shows choice on your part.
Apologies that this is a bit of a slap-dash response. I hope we can agree, though, that any game that is able to spark conversations like this is one worthy of note. And on an unrelated note, holy fuck. Respectful disagreement on a UA-cam comment thread. I never thought I'd see the day.
***** We can agree on that indeed.
One of the comments I read often about the game that I disagree entirely is that there's choice in the game.
The 'you can turn the game off' defense that some people have used in the past is a bit silly, in my opinion.
It might've worked if they didn't ask money for the game.
+Andrew Pliakis (Valkaar) It might seem that the "option" to stop playing the game is a copout, but to just dismiss it as an option would be missing the point of the game. To proceed further on, Captain Walker becomes more and more of a monster, and you, the player, are complicit in his actions, which the game boderline breaks the fourth wall to call you (the player) out on in this scene.
Spec Ops follows a very tight narrative, and if you continue to play the game out, then you continue to either directly commit or take part in horrific act after horrific act, and then the game confronts you with this by telling you that you "were never meant to come here" and that "none of this would have happened if you just stopped. But on you marched - and for what?"
As far as having your choices not affect the outcome in any meaningful way, I'm ok with that, because The Line is not your story - it's Captain Walker's story. Walker is a fully fledged character, and he's not simply a blank slate meant to be a stand-in for the player-character in the same way that Commander Sheppard from Mass Effect is. You're just along for the ride, and you can choose to either take part in his story, making you complicit in whatever he does, or you can walk away as soon as you see that there's obviously something very wrong with Walker and that shit is seriously fucked in Dubai. The game gives you ample opportunity to recognize that something is very, very wrong long before even the WP scene, and by the time you're destroying the city's water supply, you should already know that things are not going to end well.
I love how you edited the music to keep going after...'it' happened
The way it suddenly cuts out in the game always felt a bit wrong to me
Also "I'm sorry" - you somehow made the ending more dramatic and I love that
Okay, so it's taken me an entire year to get to this, but I needed to respond to your comment. Thank you _so much_ for noticing that I tweaked the music slightly to fit in with the cutscene, it took a surprising amount of effort to do and, without wanting to sound a little narcissistic, I was fairly proud of how it came out. I've always had a fondness for actions & themes fitting to music, and the idea of synchronising the final beat of the utterly haunting _Truth Revealed_ to Walker's (and my) final act was too tempting to pass up.
I have to agree - even though it may well have been technically unreasonable to marry the music and the player's action, the way the music seems to end so dramatically when relatively little is actually happening on-screen in-game felt a little jarring. Again, thank you for being able to confirm that the efforts to right that little nitpick of mine were well-founded.
＂Im sorry＂
The pain and remorse in the way you said it shows how much it can effect people.
Absolutely love these lines piercing player and Walker alike:
"What happened here was out of my control (linearity)" - "None of this would have happened if you just stopped"
"You're here because you wanted to feel like someone you're not - a hero"
Especially that last one because it's implied Walker's drive to save the civilians himself (instead of going back), his road to hell, comes from the heroic event in Kabul he wanted to reenact so badly he even let his hero fall. Beautiful tragedy.
check the first thing you see in the entire game. the flag is a distress signal. the first thing after you begin? a stop sign. pointed at you.
i got this game on a discount and i thought, 'huh, i like the division, maybe this'll be fun' without reading anything or knowing about it but that one clip where you shoot a window and the enemies go down in a sand avalanche.
needless to say i came out a different man after playing this game
I... I hadn't noticed how it's Walker himself that says the "it takes a strong man to deny what's right in front of him". Your TF2 SFM brought that to my attention.
I never cease to be amazed at this game. Or to shed tears to it.
I truly hope that it's a game that will be remembered by history. It asks a lot of quite damning questions about just _what_ it is we're enjoying when we play these games, in a sincere and intelligent way that respects the player. Even now, four years later, I'm still discovering things about The Line, and in my view that's a sign of a truly great game.
Hear hear.
2019. Still watching this and crying. Best ending ever
I've said it before but I do think it bears repeating: _Spec Ops: The Line_ is one of the only games I have ever played that has fundamentally changed my view on why we play video games, on the sense of agency that we seek from them. Even six years later, even with games like DOOM that revel in the childish glory of the power fantasy, there's still a niggling little thought in the back of my mind, reminding me that this is all a bit sadistic. It was _The Line_ that planted that seed, and I am very much thankful for it.
@@TamiyaGuy123 You could always give Life is Strange (and LiS: Before the Storm) a try. Not the same thing, not as good, but still... makes you /feel/.
i love how the game feels prepared to answer the question "but the game made me do that to continue! i had to do it!" guess who thinks the same bud? captain martin walker. you both were prosecuting konrad, both NEEDED to reach the ending, both needed to be the hero, its obviosuy not in the same scale, but it really works to put you in the shoes of someone who feels the need to do inmoral acts to "see what happens, or how the game ends", its kinda the same with undertales genocide route, its a horrible grim route where youre a monster, why did you do it? "because you could, and because you can, you have to."
I just happened upon this particular video, wanting to re-listen to this speech now and again because of how amazing it is, and I just have to say, not expecting it to feature a face cam, I was struck by how you reacted. I was worried at first you were going to take the piss and just joke your way through a serious scene, but you were right there with Walker. I could see the realizations hitting you the way they hit the character, and as someone who has never really watched anyone else playing this game at all, it added to the experience of watching a video of this part of the game in a way I did not expect, especially when your hand went to your face at the end...I empathized.
Maybe comes off a bit corny, but I felt compelled to leave this comment. I swear this isn't a long setup for an ad for my channel (especially as I've basically quit doing Let's Plays at this point), but if you were to happen to watch the last episode or two of my Let's Play of the Walking Dead Season One, you can see that we're the same type of player, when it comes to video game plots. I never used a cam, but you can hear my voice wavering during the commentary, and I am not ashamed of that.
So, though the moment you felt during this video is probably long forgotten these years later...thanks for sharing.
First off, thanks for the comment. I really think that, if one plays through the entire game and "absorbs" themselves into the story, it's virtually impossible to be jokey by that point. I sort of feel that, barring (possibly) Konrad's death, the ending isn't that big a reveal - You know that Walker (and, by extension, you) have been the bad guy for a long time, this just feels like the final nail in the coffin. So, with that slowly dawning and by now overpowering feeling, I just... I dunno. I suppose that last sentence also goes some way to explaining the choice I made in the end.
It's nice to know that others are also, well, affected by a good narrative as much as I am - sometimes I ask myself if I'm taking things a bit too literally, seeing too much of the real world in these kinds of stories (particularly regarding morality).
And that last sentence is very interesting - I couldn't differ more. I've hailed Spec Ops: The Line as one of the best video games I've ever played (I hesitate to use the word "favourite", because that implies it was fun) because, to this day, The Line has fundamentally changed the way I look at video games, about what their narratives, subtexts and mechanics mean, and what they say about the player. A few months after finishing the game a few mates invited me over for a few rounds of Call of Duty. After twenty minutes, I just felt sick, and genuinely couldn't play any more.
wow, just wow, i remember the feel when i finished the game, for the first time i let him die too, because i didn't know i had an option because i thought it was all a cut scene. made me think about how sometimes i let things happen because i didn't think i had a choice. this game is full of metaphors that i didn't notice until i saw someone else face.
Playing this game on the hardest difficulty, I FELT how Walker looked by the end. Those firefights when your squad is gone, and its just Walker by himself, were some of the most intense moments of any third person shooter Ive ever played besides maybe Max Payne 3 on Hardcore.
The absolutely insane, near-insurmountable odds up against Walker in those moments in the latter half of the game made me feel totally desensitized and inhuman by the time I was done.
His commands and executions getting more and more deranged and unhinged as the game goes on just adds to the whole experience.
Absolutely amazing attention to detail. One of the most underrated third person shooter’s in my opinion.
You whispering "I'm sorry" at the end kind of makes Walker's decision hit a little different. I wish he had said that in the game
Video game Logic: The storm hit the dubai, everything was gone, including water, food, and resources....
Elevator still working
To be fair, the game's lead writer Walt Williams has said before that he believes that the helicopter crash that happens twice in-game actually killed Walker, and that what happens afterwards is essentially his purgatory. With all of the shit he hallucinates at the time, like the soldiers, Konrad, or all of the stuff shown in his flashbacks here, it wouldn't surprise me if the entire tower or at least the elevator was part of some afterlife of his, and doesn't actually exist in the way he thinks. Honestly, it makes more than a bit of sense considering even Walker himself has a weird bit of Deja Vu when you do the helicopter sequence for a second time, saying:
Walker: "Wait. Wait, this isn't right!"
Lugo: "Well, it's too late now!"
Walker: "Nah... I mean... we did this already!"
He was already slowly falling apart before the helicopter crash, but the incident with the white phosphorus just totally shattered him, and sent him off the deep end, blaming Konrad for everything that happened. With all that he did, and his inability to accept his role in what went on, he had to find some larger villain to pin it all to, leading him to continue the warpath he was cutting through the decimated remains of Dubai at the expense of the lives of the survivors and his own team.
10 years later, this game is such an underrated fps masterpiece.
10
TPS.
“How about a nice game of chess?”