One thing about the limited ammo in The Line, you can argue it ties into the story and themes of the game since pulling off executions grants you more ammo. Not only is it enticing the player to play more aggressively but it show how as you go through the chapters Walker becomes more and more unhinged with the executions going from simple headshots to Walker caving in the enemies skull with the butt end of his gun.
that's a good observation! Also Walker's commands change over the course of the game, at the start he uses "professional" language like "eliminate the target" but towards the end he's screaming "kill that motherfucker!".
Honestly the subtlety of some of the subject along with the overall story theme. and the little detail most people probably missed the 1st 2 time it is a brilliant story game. this that went over most heads everyone just went in with thinking gears of war and shoot but probably didn't pay attention to their character actions the voice. which changes tone the execution and even the writing on the loading screen giving hints and changing accordingly. to the general overall theme and by the time you reach the end for the multiple endings it just hits you hard underrated story game this
Most of that stuff is plenty obvious and honestly so on the nose at times, it's not really this inellectual masterpiece people like to paint it as. It's an alright game but it feels that people elevate it way beyond what it is just because of the subversion of the usual call of duty themes.
When I was in the Marines, I guy I knew who had seen a ton of combat killed himself. He happened to be one of my instructors in my school before I got to my unit. I remember thinking this guy was the coolest badass I'd ever seen. I was in awe of this guy. When he killed himself, no one seemed to see it coming. I wasn't tight with him or anything, but close enough to feel it hard when he died. The scene in this game where the Bjork song is playing (I think the level is called Nightmare), where all of the protagonists' guilt is crashing down on top of him, made me feel like maybe I was in his heads pace. It was so upsetting I had to pause the game. It made me think about him for the first time in about two years. I don't know if he killed himself because of some combat-realted guilt or what, but he had been going through some shit before he killed himself, so *something* was up. All of this to say is that I've never had a game make me feel or think that way, and is why this game is so important to me and, in my opinion, the game industry as a whole, especially given how heavily it leans into turning armed combat into a theme park ride. Don't get me wrong - I fucking love these games and don't want them to go anywhere. But I think we truly need games like this to keep things in perspective.
this along with binary domain and inversion were honestly the best of their time, but this one, that one shot of the mother shielding they eyes of her daughter while they are both dead.....it sticks with u, had it installed on steam since release date and i still didn't delete it.
Fun fact: the game's title doesn't refer to crossing the line when you shoot the WP at the civilians, it refers to the civilians in the last part after Lugo dies. Because there you actually do have a choice. Also one of the game devs implied that Walker and his team were dead the whole time and are in a sort of purgatory or personal hell reliving their actions. Because there's that chopper segment in the beginning, then the flashback, and when you play your way up to the "present day" in the chopper mission, Walker starts getting confused and says "no, we've done this part already", meaning there was no cut and Walker having this future knowledge is canon more or less. Because every time when you reach the end, it resets and they go through the torture again. A very literal interpretation of "war is hell"
I played the game in one sitting a couple months ago. I got the achievement for "holding the line" by not shooting the civilians. I wanted to, since they murdered my teammate. But we were responsible for their predicament by destroying their water supply. Games like this are art. It's brutal, and kept me off FPS games for a week.
I know I'm late to the party, but its also veeeeery important to note that you're always going down in the game. There are hardly any moments where you climb upwards, you're always descending deeper into hell.
"no we've done this part already" is a line that the director puts in as a shitpost to 2k for forcing the helo scene to be in the beginning. Its a meta 4th wall breaking joke
I kinda liked the scarcity of ammo, made for an additional challenge when you didn't have quite enough bullets left to kill all the bad guys in the room and had to improvise.
I just beat it today and I always went into a battle with a magazine of M4A1 usually maybe a bit more if I was lucking, had to ration grenades and bullets, find a way to get more ammo with out switching guns. It’s a great system great game. Terrifying though.
@@scphdaxc You can "persuade" downed enemies to give you more ammo. Sometimes you even can get a grenade out of it. Basically that's what happened to me during FUBAR playthrough, I went from being resereved, "professional" and headshoting anything that moved to just wild spraying, grenade abusing bastard finishing tangos off after the fight. Or during one. Which made sence to me since Cap Walker wasn't doing so well.
For me, the game was less about how war is bad, and more about how war portrayed in games CAN be bad, mainly through their jingoism and their efforts used to make player one feel good, and not make them ask questions about what they’re doing. The game uses scenes like the white phosphorus and confronting loading screen tips to make the player actually think about what they’ve done, and ask themselves if what they’re doing is right, something war shooters regularly never ask. I think this quote from the dead general at the end of the game sums this up pretty well: “You came here to be something you aren’t, a hero”. He wasn’t just talking to the player character, but the player themselves.
The best mainstream military games can do is "children are non-combatants" when a baby gets involved. I actually like that detail but i loved the roughness horrible truth of spec ops and i wish more games had It.
The game that got me into The Black Angels. When those tracks hit the game gets so much more exciting especially with bad vibrations during the inside outside part
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 They'd need to watch a lot of CNN, and then bash their temples in with a hammer hard enough to get brain damage so they get the dumb idea of leaving political posts on a gaming channel.
This game is a great example of how you can make a game into something profound and disturbing, whilst also being very satisfying and enjoyable to play. Not many developers can manage to do that, so you really gotta give credit to these guys.
You don't need to be enjoyable to have a good profound and artistic experience, having every developer be expected to make their game fun times impedes artistic visions
@drakep.5857 You're wrong. Video games are inherently meant to be enjoyed, not just gazed upon or thought about. In the words of Reggie: "If the game's not fun, then why bother?" Video games can be many things and should aspire to reach greater artistic heights, but they at least need to be enjoyable.
I was researching The Heart of Darkness, which is the novel that Apocalypse Now is based on, and it's worth noting that this game was supposed to be a modernized take of the same story. Aka, the soldier's soul getting darker, along with the deeds, the further "up river" they go. How the soldier deals with it. How who is good or bad largely depends on the view as well as the military industrial complex in general. I haven't played the game yet, but might get it when on sale.
@@visassess8607 Then there was absolutely no need for you to say anything! But you decided to anyway, love that for you. Does it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to be condescending and rude to strangers?
Local man realizes that pretentious game is not nearly as deep or compelling as it thinks it is, because the goal of art is not to make the artist look clever.
@@bud389 I think it says more about you than it does the artists that you just assume their only goal was to seem smugly clever rather than convey any kind of message or provide any kind of genuine experience. When you go out of your way to look for shallowness and insincerity, you'll always find it.
@@juliagoetia How about the fact that the writer said the only way to win was by not playing the game, thus defeating the purpose of making the game in the first place?
Most games that are actually competent at conveying their message through good writing don't need to taunt you in the loading screens for playing the game to try and make you feel bad. No I didn't feel bad for not making the choice to not play the product I paid for, I just think the dev is a bit of a bozo.
@@Gio954 The game doesn't just use the loading screens to make you feel bad, it uses the story itself to. The game itself is a criticism of how war-related game developers at the time would use the concept to make the player feel good while ignoring the rest, and a criticism of the player itself for seeking for such satisfaction.
@@bruh-ux1ns I know what the game is, this isn't exactly some complex puzzle and the message isn't exactly new. We all know the gung-ho blind patriotism and glorification of violence in first person shooters is stupid. Thing is the manner this game delivers criticism is bad, and it isn't just about the loading screens. The premise is unrealistic, the characters are poorly developed, the enemies are just masked goons with no personality who shoot at you no matter what so there's never even a choice of a peaceful solution, the civilians have no humanisation whatsoever, they're fodder npcs that you're expected to feel bad for just because the game wants you to. The game works under the premise that you're ignorant enough to not know the obvious, but if you do know it, it completely loses any punch it might have had. "Feel like a hero yet?" No my guy, I feel bored is all. If you're going to criticise your audience it better be at least done properly. The message itself isn't the problem, but the way the game delivers it is childish and shallow.
During the americas Vietnam vscation, Charlie was used as a short name for Vietcong. First it was Victor charlie , then VC , then charlie Tango is used as the T for Target. Alpha, bravo, charlie ecc. Are used instead of your Aiii, bee cee, dee 's so the listener can differentiate letters over the radio, which might not have the greatest dignal, through gunfire , tinitus, ecc.
I remember grabbing this game for free on Humble Bundle back in like 2018 and for a brief couple of weeks the multiplayer was quite populated and I have to admit, it was a blast. As generic as it may be, it was really fun and kept me entertained
It focuses more on how war, constant violence, ego, and a lack of mental health can deteriorate a person. Nothing is truly original anyway and this game doesn’t hide where it got inspiration from, the plots literally a more grim retelling of Apocalypse now.
@@brandonbarrett8928 3 months later yes it is! gameplay is average at best just tpp cod, but story... oh boy its been 10 years and people still make vids breaking it down and speculate what it was rly about
@@Haydoss11 u said amazed feeling, i wouldnt call it lile this :D i was more like horrified haha it leaves a mark on player forever. this game should end with plain text "congratulations, you became a war criminal" :D
One thing I’ll say is that, while this game is very obviously flipping the bird at the Call Of Duty series, calling them little more than jingoistic power fantasies and the like, the Modern Warfare series at least is actually very much a deconstruction and subversion of that type of game, albeit not to the same degree as SOTL. Need I remind you all of the nuke that kills 30,000 Americans and makes the country’s efforts in the Middle-Eastern section all for nothing in the first game? Or how about the main villain of the second being an American general who wants to drum up a war filled with patriots, with you spending the last few levels against American troops? Even the third ends with the NATO countries in disarray, Russia not shown as an evil enemy, and nearly all the heroes dead, purely to stop a war that was started because of ultra-nationalists on both sides. It’s just that SOTL goes about it’s deconstructive elements in a much less subtle and more mean-spirited manner. Especially given how much it obviously hates people who enjoy military shooters.
A generic plot with surface level ideas isn't "a deconstruction and subversion". The good guys not instantly winning is not enough for a compelling deconstruction. SOTL makes an effort, while cod is content with one dimensional plots.
@@olivercharles2930 You’re not looking deeper. The games very much have anti-nationalist themes and subtext to them. They’re just not as in your face about it.
I 100%'d this game. Honestly I feel like the game was intended to be played on FUBAR difficulty, but publisher intervention caused it to be locked behind beating the game, and having to create the other difficulty settings. FUBAR just fits the game.
Even Hard difficulty gives a lot of challenge, can't imagine what FUBAR feels like, never dared to try it. You'd probably have a 100% synchronization with Walker's anger lmao
@@glibchubik4090 Yeah, there was a section after Lugo died where I was getting a bit pissed with the game. It's also at that point that the game would regularly ask me to lower the difficulty since i was dying so much. Honestly I wish the message for that changed on FUBAR, like it had several messages it could go through.
@@MarkMightBeBetter it gets way way too preachy at parts, I would have been fine if the game made war out like a necessary evil as I haven't seen a game do that
lol, what, it feels like everyone talks about this game, I'd say it's overrated by this point. It's like The Witcher 3 of military shooters for how hyped it is.
@@channel45853 It's definitely overrated. It's the Stanley Parable of generic third person shooters. No matter what you do the game tries to throw it back in your face to say "See how terrible you are!?" It completely falls apart if you think about any of it, even moreso if you replay it.
@@JZStudiosonline One of the most overrated there is at the moment at least. "Hmm they don't look like military targets, I won't shoot." *game doesn't proceed until I shoot the jeep right next to the civilians* Game: "OH MY GOSH, YOU SHOT CIVILIANS!!! FEEL BAD!!!""
I played this game in one sitting through the night. It's very intense and haunting. Some of those scenes stick. It really put me off playing COD for a bit. I love those dumb games, but Spec Ops should be required playing to put things in perspective.
I'm currently going through your old videos... I saw this on my home page and thought "wait. A few hours ago?? I just watched this. It's 3 years old..."
I would say this is one of the few games that it requires a very specific mind set. You need to be an unsuspecting american Call of Dutty fanboy to really get the full experience. If you already know what the game is actually is, it is no longer subversive, it plays exactly how you expect and at times it feels cringe how hard the game tries to make you feel bad. Especially if you are NOT american, then "OMG you killing fellow americans" miss you completely and the whole "american military did bad things in other nations" is a big "I know, I am the other nation".
Even me who's not an American get shocked by this game. It feels disturbing. After i play this game and play another horor game this still haunt me. Weird.
even Oboes forced commentary can't ruin this game for me. I was ready to get into generic 3rd person shooty game but this one turned out so much better.
I have 100% completion on PC/Steam and I still have PTSD from trying to play this game on FUBAR with the janky keyboard controls and (sometimes) unresponsive cover button, you could literally get fucked within entering a combat zone for just half a second
i'm really glad you told people to actually get the game. i played this when i was 16 and edgy. so the game left an impression. even though i haven't played it since, i still really like it.
Spec Ops looks pretty quaint nowadays, but in 2012 when US military worship had just started dropping from "psychotic" to "fanatical", anything that was willing to give up dod money and say "this us army soldier (who could be any of your neighbors or family) is a piece of shit, and those people he dropped bombs on didn't deserve it" was taking a serious economic risk. If it had come out in 2004 it would have probably been rated AO and banned from in-store advertisement. Americans used to freak the fuck out if you didn't agree that the sun shined out of some jarhead's ass
I would agree that it was significant not for being super profound but rather finally a game during the war on terror era risked it. I heard they kind of misled the publisher to get it approved but I wonder if thats true lore
One thing about the limited ammo in The Line, you can argue it ties into the story and themes of the game since pulling off executions grants you more ammo. Not only is it enticing the player to play more aggressively but it show how as you go through the chapters Walker becomes more and more unhinged with the executions going from simple headshots to Walker caving in the enemies skull with the butt end of his gun.
that's a good observation! Also Walker's commands change over the course of the game, at the start he uses "professional" language like "eliminate the target" but towards the end he's screaming "kill that motherfucker!".
Honestly the subtlety of some of the subject along with the overall story theme. and the little detail most people probably missed the 1st 2 time it is a brilliant story game. this that went over most heads everyone just went in with thinking gears of war and shoot but probably didn't pay attention to their character actions the voice. which changes tone the execution and even the writing on the loading screen giving hints and changing accordingly. to the general overall theme and by the time you reach the end for the multiple endings it just hits you hard underrated story game this
Most of that stuff is plenty obvious and honestly so on the nose at times, it's not really this inellectual masterpiece people like to paint it as. It's an alright game but it feels that people elevate it way beyond what it is just because of the subversion of the usual call of duty themes.
@@Gio954 can you tell me what’s the not obvious stuff?
I played through this first time today. I noticed how his tone changed. Instead of tango down it went into he is fucking dead
When I was in the Marines, I guy I knew who had seen a ton of combat killed himself. He happened to be one of my instructors in my school before I got to my unit. I remember thinking this guy was the coolest badass I'd ever seen. I was in awe of this guy. When he killed himself, no one seemed to see it coming. I wasn't tight with him or anything, but close enough to feel it hard when he died.
The scene in this game where the Bjork song is playing (I think the level is called Nightmare), where all of the protagonists' guilt is crashing down on top of him, made me feel like maybe I was in his heads pace. It was so upsetting I had to pause the game. It made me think about him for the first time in about two years. I don't know if he killed himself because of some combat-realted guilt or what, but he had been going through some shit before he killed himself, so *something* was up.
All of this to say is that I've never had a game make me feel or think that way, and is why this game is so important to me and, in my opinion, the game industry as a whole, especially given how heavily it leans into turning armed combat into a theme park ride. Don't get me wrong - I fucking love these games and don't want them to go anywhere. But I think we truly need games like this to keep things in perspective.
War's bad and stuff but I'd bet my boots it was a woman
@Tendies Offmyplate blame games for what?
@@solutionless123 Literally says "he" several times.
@@voltronimusprime3833 Whoosh
@@solutionless123 yeah, not how that works. Maybe 5% of the time that's the case, but killing people fucks you up way more than getting fucking dumped
this along with binary domain and inversion were honestly the best of their time, but this one, that one shot of the mother shielding they eyes of her daughter while they are both dead.....it sticks with u, had it installed on steam since release date and i still didn't delete it.
Binary Domain YES, inversion, meh idk
F in the chat for early 2010s shooters that were too subversive to find mainstream success
Bro i love binary domain holy sshitt
Binary domain 😄 glad to see another fan it was a blast to play i really do want a sequel or reboot but I prefer a sequel
I really enjoyed Binary Domain :) very underrated game
"War is bad, but blood textures are rad"
- This game
"Gory headshots and dismemberment are even radder"
-Also this game
Fun fact: the game's title doesn't refer to crossing the line when you shoot the WP at the civilians, it refers to the civilians in the last part after Lugo dies. Because there you actually do have a choice.
Also one of the game devs implied that Walker and his team were dead the whole time and are in a sort of purgatory or personal hell reliving their actions. Because there's that chopper segment in the beginning, then the flashback, and when you play your way up to the "present day" in the chopper mission, Walker starts getting confused and says "no, we've done this part already", meaning there was no cut and Walker having this future knowledge is canon more or less. Because every time when you reach the end, it resets and they go through the torture again. A very literal interpretation of "war is hell"
I played the game in one sitting a couple months ago. I got the achievement for "holding the line" by not shooting the civilians. I wanted to, since they murdered my teammate. But we were responsible for their predicament by destroying their water supply. Games like this are art. It's brutal, and kept me off FPS games for a week.
I know I'm late to the party, but its also veeeeery important to note that you're always going down in the game. There are hardly any moments where you climb upwards, you're always descending deeper into hell.
You could also interpret the line as the literal stop sign being crossed at the beginning, which triggers the whole campaign.
Смерть в вертолете не канон. А то что Уокер говорит "это не правильно, мы уже делали". Это лишь банальная шутка разрабов.
"no we've done this part already" is a line that the director puts in as a shitpost to 2k for forcing the helo scene to be in the beginning. Its a meta 4th wall breaking joke
This is one of the few games that really had me feeling bad. Not only for how impactful it is, but for how it fucks with you as a player.
yes
German quality at its best
Now if only we could get the dev of Spec ops The Line to make a Silent Hill game
I unironically have 100 hours in this game because i replay it every few months
But you can finish the game within 7hrs on hardest difficulty tho. The game is ok at best nothing special
@@bobsnow1620 shut up probably have 100 hours on fn let him enjoy shit damn
@@bobsnow1620 shut up
@@bobsnow1620 Judging games based on how long it takes for you to beat them is a pretty bad way to judge games.
@@bobsnow1620 everyone likes something more than another man taste may vary
I kinda liked the scarcity of ammo, made for an additional challenge when you didn't have quite enough bullets left to kill all the bad guys in the room and had to improvise.
I just beat it today and I always went into a battle with a magazine of M4A1 usually maybe a bit more if I was lucking, had to ration grenades and bullets, find a way to get more ammo with out switching guns. It’s a great system great game. Terrifying though.
@@scphdaxc You can "persuade" downed enemies to give you more ammo. Sometimes you even can get a grenade out of it. Basically that's what happened to me during FUBAR playthrough, I went from being resereved, "professional" and headshoting anything that moved to just wild spraying, grenade abusing bastard finishing tangos off after the fight. Or during one. Which made sence to me since Cap Walker wasn't doing so well.
For me, the game was less about how war is bad, and more about how war portrayed in games CAN be bad, mainly through their jingoism and their efforts used to make player one feel good, and not make them ask questions about what they’re doing. The game uses scenes like the white phosphorus and confronting loading screen tips to make the player actually think about what they’ve done, and ask themselves if what they’re doing is right, something war shooters regularly never ask. I think this quote from the dead general at the end of the game sums this up pretty well: “You came here to be something you aren’t, a hero”. He wasn’t just talking to the player character, but the player themselves.
The best mainstream military games can do is "children are non-combatants" when a baby gets involved. I actually like that detail but i loved the roughness horrible truth of spec ops and i wish more games had It.
So basically war is bad
@@steelbear2063 war is bad planes are rad
And people complain about games nowadays being "woke" lol
@@Jormyyy
I don't see the connection between what you said and what anyone else said
The sight on the m4 is just an ironsight put in the middle of the rail and turned backwards
I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that 😂😂
That's just how Delta Force does it IRL
@@CombatCat1
Wait, for real?
@@032_m.alfathcirrus5 ye the guys in the game are Delta
@@foxtrotsierraproductions8626
Nah I mean, does Delta Force really set up their M4s like that irl?
The game that got me into The Black Angels. When those tracks hit the game gets so much more exciting especially with bad vibrations during the inside outside part
It was the Fable 2 trailer for me.
@@Mumblingmind honestly that fable trailer was awesome too lol but hearing first Vietnam war for the first time on a level was something else lol
Ayyyyy The Black Angels are fuckin’ dope!
lol I went to go see them a a few weeks ago thanks to this game
@@Mumblingmind there's a fable 2 trailer featured in the game? Where?
Raising the flag upside down is a signal of distress. It basically means everything's gone to shit.
Why weren't the flags raised upside down when trump took office in 2016?
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 because your unoriginality doesn't justify it.
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 They'd need to watch a lot of CNN, and then bash their temples in with a hammer hard enough to get brain damage so they get the dumb idea of leaving political posts on a gaming channel.
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716
Because Hillary lost, so the crisis was averted
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716
Judging by your comment history you are a troll. At least I hope you are
*slaps roof of enemy*
These enemies can fit so much blood effects inside of them
Underrated comment
"Talk fast? You got it!" IMMEDIATELY breaks into Hardware Store, that's the reason I subbed.
This game is a great example of how you can make a game into something profound and disturbing, whilst also being very satisfying and enjoyable to play. Not many developers can manage to do that, so you really gotta give credit to these guys.
You don't need to be enjoyable to have a good profound and artistic experience, having every developer be expected to make their game fun times impedes artistic visions
@drakep.5857 You're wrong. Video games are inherently meant to be enjoyed, not just gazed upon or thought about. In the words of Reggie: "If the game's not fun, then why bother?"
Video games can be many things and should aspire to reach greater artistic heights, but they at least need to be enjoyable.
@@drakep.5857 Expecting every developer to make a statement or have an artistic vision in their game impedes on its enjoyability.
Making your game not fun to play usually results in less copies being sold.
@@visassess8607 Good thing that's not the argument the person you're responding to was making lol
I was researching The Heart of Darkness, which is the novel that Apocalypse Now is based on, and it's worth noting that this game was supposed to be a modernized take of the same story. Aka, the soldier's soul getting darker, along with the deeds, the further "up river" they go. How the soldier deals with it. How who is good or bad largely depends on the view as well as the military industrial complex in general. I haven't played the game yet, but might get it when on sale.
Yes, we all understand the point
@@visassess8607 Then there was absolutely no need for you to say anything! But you decided to anyway, love that for you. Does it just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside to be condescending and rude to strangers?
@@juliagoetia Yes, especially when those people act like they are more enlightened for holding that opinion
@@juliagoetia "be condescending and rude to strangers" the absolute irony in this statement is insane-
"I would actually rather be shot in the chest than have sand in my socks"-Anakin Oboeshoeswalker
'Gentlemen, welcome to Dubai.'
One of my favourite stories in a video game. Might have to go and replay it again now I've seen this!
The moral of the story actually is: It doesn't matter whether it's right or wrong. Committing war crimes is kinda fun
A little trolling
Finna commit arson on a orphanage
Advanced Vibe Check Not Condoned By Geneva Suggestions
Or an AVCNCBGS
Local man uses humor to cope with realities of war: the youtube video
Local man realizes that pretentious game is not nearly as deep or compelling as it thinks it is, because the goal of art is not to make the artist look clever.
@@bud389🤡 is as much of a reaction as your bad take deserves
@@bud389 I think it says more about you than it does the artists that you just assume their only goal was to seem smugly clever rather than convey any kind of message or provide any kind of genuine experience. When you go out of your way to look for shallowness and insincerity, you'll always find it.
@@juliagoetia How about the fact that the writer said the only way to win was by not playing the game, thus defeating the purpose of making the game in the first place?
@@bud389 for real,this game has a corny fanbase
A game that deliberately tells you not to play it, tries to make you feel like shit for playing it, and it makes people want to play it even more.
Most games that are actually competent at conveying their message through good writing don't need to taunt you in the loading screens for playing the game to try and make you feel bad. No I didn't feel bad for not making the choice to not play the product I paid for, I just think the dev is a bit of a bozo.
@@Gio954 the devs just got a little silly
@@Gio954 The game doesn't just use the loading screens to make you feel bad, it uses the story itself to. The game itself is a criticism of how war-related game developers at the time would use the concept to make the player feel good while ignoring the rest, and a criticism of the player itself for seeking for such satisfaction.
@@bruh-ux1ns I know what the game is, this isn't exactly some complex puzzle and the message isn't exactly new. We all know the gung-ho blind patriotism and glorification of violence in first person shooters is stupid. Thing is the manner this game delivers criticism is bad, and it isn't just about the loading screens. The premise is unrealistic, the characters are poorly developed, the enemies are just masked goons with no personality who shoot at you no matter what so there's never even a choice of a peaceful solution, the civilians have no humanisation whatsoever, they're fodder npcs that you're expected to feel bad for just because the game wants you to. The game works under the premise that you're ignorant enough to not know the obvious, but if you do know it, it completely loses any punch it might have had. "Feel like a hero yet?" No my guy, I feel bored is all. If you're going to criticise your audience it better be at least done properly. The message itself isn't the problem, but the way the game delivers it is childish and shallow.
@@Gio954 when the person youre not rooting for in the daily internet argument makes a good point
During the americas Vietnam vscation, Charlie was used as a short name for Vietcong. First it was Victor charlie , then VC , then charlie
Tango is used as the T for Target.
Alpha, bravo, charlie ecc. Are used instead of your Aiii, bee cee, dee 's so the listener can differentiate letters over the radio, which might not have the greatest dignal, through gunfire , tinitus, ecc.
I remember grabbing this game for free on Humble Bundle back in like 2018 and for a brief couple of weeks the multiplayer was quite populated and I have to admit, it was a blast. As generic as it may be, it was really fun and kept me entertained
That was probably when raycevick made a video about it is my guess
I love watching oboe, he plays like me. Kill and shoot everything and anything. And that roast.
"What, I can't kill the hostage?" Spoken like a based Fuse main.
"Lets rate their death pose" hahahahahaha err yeah that was good
A "Hardware Store" reference, in my Oboeshoesgames video? It's more likely than you think!
>"war bad"
wow stunning and brave, truly groundbreaking
Considering it’s a decade old video game
Yes
@@joshk2533 World at War did it before, and better.
Checks out the window towards Russia/Ukraine
Yeah, when people don’t listen to the message, it will eternally be stunning and brave
It focuses more on how war, constant violence, ego, and a lack of mental health can deteriorate a person. Nothing is truly original anyway and this game doesn’t hide where it got inspiration from, the plots literally a more grim retelling of Apocalypse now.
Anime pfp being a disingenious clown... how groundbreaking.
Did not expect a Gorkamorka reference. A man of culture i see
I wish I could forget the story of this game so I can replay it all over again and have a amazed feeling again
This game is really that good? Just got for 3 bucks
@@brandonbarrett8928 month late but how was it? You tell me bro
@@brandonbarrett8928 3 months later yes it is! gameplay is average at best just tpp cod, but story... oh boy its been 10 years and people still make vids breaking it down and speculate what it was rly about
@@Haydoss11 u said amazed feeling, i wouldnt call it lile this :D i was more like horrified haha it leaves a mark on player forever. this game should end with plain text "congratulations, you became a war criminal" :D
@@sirrus6666 I've played it on release. Still remember that game.
One thing I’ll say is that, while this game is very obviously flipping the bird at the Call Of Duty series, calling them little more than jingoistic power fantasies and the like, the Modern Warfare series at least is actually very much a deconstruction and subversion of that type of game, albeit not to the same degree as SOTL.
Need I remind you all of the nuke that kills 30,000 Americans and makes the country’s efforts in the Middle-Eastern section all for nothing in the first game? Or how about the main villain of the second being an American general who wants to drum up a war filled with patriots, with you spending the last few levels against American troops? Even the third ends with the NATO countries in disarray, Russia not shown as an evil enemy, and nearly all the heroes dead, purely to stop a war that was started because of ultra-nationalists on both sides.
It’s just that SOTL goes about it’s deconstructive elements in a much less subtle and more mean-spirited manner. Especially given how much it obviously hates people who enjoy military shooters.
only cod 4 and mw19
Mw19 was not at all hold left trigger to deescalate remember that?
A generic plot with surface level ideas isn't "a deconstruction and subversion".
The good guys not instantly winning is not enough for a compelling deconstruction.
SOTL makes an effort, while cod is content with one dimensional plots.
@@olivercharles2930 You’re not looking deeper. The games very much have anti-nationalist themes and subtext to them.
They’re just not as in your face about it.
I was actually replaying it on PC not long ago. Oboe is clearly watching me.
The only few games that show what us forces really is
The song from Mogwai used in this game is fantastic. Post-rock is some good stuff.
>GorkaMorka
Oboe once again proves he is a man of immesureable kultur
I 100%'d this game. Honestly I feel like the game was intended to be played on FUBAR difficulty, but publisher intervention caused it to be locked behind beating the game, and having to create the other difficulty settings. FUBAR just fits the game.
this the onlyn game where i want to play the harder diffcultys
Even Hard difficulty gives a lot of challenge, can't imagine what FUBAR feels like, never dared to try it. You'd probably have a 100% synchronization with Walker's anger lmao
@@glibchubik4090 Yeah, there was a section after Lugo died where I was getting a bit pissed with the game. It's also at that point that the game would regularly ask me to lower the difficulty since i was dying so much. Honestly I wish the message for that changed on FUBAR, like it had several messages it could go through.
FUBAR gives you the authentic ptsd experience, I regretted nothing.
FUBAR is the true Captain Walker experience
This game is a work of art, and crazy fun to boot!
Spec Ops telling you "war are bad" is like a stripper preaching the glory of abstinence while giving you a lapdance
I feel like a stripper would be being sarcastic if they did
i dont think its an anti war game, and more of a game satirizing modern military shooters.
@@MarkMightBeBetter it gets way way too preachy at parts, I would have been fine if the game made war out like a necessary evil as I haven't seen a game do that
@@007megaoof eh I disagree but respect your opinion, its less of "war bad" and more of "war makes people bad". But that's just my opinion.
@@MarkMightBeBetter I did forget the game was about that.
"get it..... But get it cheap" a true gamer
I have all achievement in this game, it's one of my most favorite shooters. Also love the story.
if you can avoid all spoilers, spec ops the line is easily one of the most underrated & overlooked games of the last decade
lol, what, it feels like everyone talks about this game, I'd say it's overrated by this point. It's like The Witcher 3 of military shooters for how hyped it is.
@@channel45853 It's definitely overrated. It's the Stanley Parable of generic third person shooters. No matter what you do the game tries to throw it back in your face to say "See how terrible you are!?" It completely falls apart if you think about any of it, even moreso if you replay it.
@@JZStudiosonline One of the most overrated there is at the moment at least. "Hmm they don't look like military targets, I won't shoot." *game doesn't proceed until I shoot the jeep right next to the civilians* Game: "OH MY GOSH, YOU SHOT CIVILIANS!!! FEEL BAD!!!""
@@JZStudiosonline well the game kinda flopped,everyone is talking about it rn but it wasn't that popular when it came out
@@StephPurry Because it sucked.
shooting guy bad? no, shoot good
Happy ten years spec ops the line
The developers recently released their first shooter since this game… it’s a free-to-play battle royale, and it’s really bad apparently!
You either die a single player focused hero or live long enough to become soulless evil free to play trash.
its not really a battle royale, more like tarkov with microtransactions
Well it's a battle royale so what do you expect?
i mean, tencent bought them, so yea no hope
This is one of my annual playthrough games. Best sleeper hit ever made!
Don't forget to add sleeping dogs and binary domain and a few other to the list for various reasons
Sleeper hit because it puts me to fucking sleep
@@altcenter4944 Yeah, because you have narcolepsy.
I fucking love this game, though the gameplay can be repetitive. The gold I think is in the storytelling.
Take notes Jesse Stern,this is how you make a war story.
"We're playing gorkamorka go away"
I played this game in one sitting through the night. It's very intense and haunting. Some of those scenes stick. It really put me off playing COD for a bit. I love those dumb games, but Spec Ops should be required playing to put things in perspective.
Please tell me how COD games are 'dumb' compared to this
@@lukaszspychaj9210 no.
Sand storms feel like tiny pieces of glass pelting any exposed skin, lemme through it with my eyes wide open though
oh, the bad guy's last name is Konrad, like Joseph Conrad who wrote Heart of Darkness, very clever game, very clever
this was honestly one of my favorite games ive played
I'm currently going through your old videos... I saw this on my home page and thought "wait. A few hours ago?? I just watched this. It's 3 years old..."
You should play the Mad Max game, I didn’t expect it to be as good as I thought.
This game reminds me how good MGS2's story was.
MGS stories were never good
@@steelbear2063 Why?
That clip from your old review was actually really clever and funny
0:54 I seriously thought He was singing Comcast song.
This game was the shit I remember when my dad came home with this game for me
Reading the title of this one while remembering the game…..
War crime flashbacks
I’m disappointed you didn’t do the other ending
This game is a certified good classic
Hey, you brought back THE DEAD SPEAK! Yay.
This game had a kick ass ost.
10/10, would commit warcrimes again.
Lol "yall playing 40k, nah we playing gorkamorka"
I would say this is one of the few games that it requires a very specific mind set. You need to be an unsuspecting american Call of Dutty fanboy to really get the full experience. If you already know what the game is actually is, it is no longer subversive, it plays exactly how you expect and at times it feels cringe how hard the game tries to make you feel bad. Especially if you are NOT american, then "OMG you killing fellow americans" miss you completely and the whole "american military did bad things in other nations" is a big "I know, I am the other nation".
Even me who's not an American get shocked by this game. It feels disturbing. After i play this game and play another horor game this still haunt me. Weird.
Fun fact this is how nestle acquires water
Proceeds to kill indictmently
even Oboes forced commentary can't ruin this game for me. I was ready to get into generic 3rd person shooty game but this one turned out so much better.
@nunca
He was pretty clear
this game's trash,sorry.
@@Professor_Genki7 Contrarian.
i kinda wished you would have shown all the endings obo
GorkaMorka? You'z a lad of kultur!
snammmy boag
I WAS NEVER EXPECTING THE DEAD SPEAK
This game takes place in a desert? I don't like sand. It's course and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere
One of my favorite games. This video had me replay it again
I love the fact that nobody in this comment section bothered to actually watch the video :)
UA-camr covers spec ops? Must be praise let me pre comment lol
I have 100% completion on PC/Steam and I still have PTSD from trying to play this game on FUBAR with the janky keyboard controls and (sometimes) unresponsive cover button, you could literally get fucked within entering a combat zone for just half a second
A 40k AND Gorkamorka reference? Nice!
I'm here for the weird Al and 40k content
I played it once and surprisingly didn’t hate it
The DelMarVa peninsula has been destroyed, I am writing this comment from the rubble of the state formerly known as Delaware.
The last thing I expected when I turned this video on was hearing weird als hardware store
i'm really glad you told people to actually get the game. i played this when i was 16 and edgy. so the game left an impression. even though i haven't played it since, i still really like it.
I remember the UA-cam advertising for this game with generic titles like "fun new shooter" to Rickroll kids into playing it
I like how he has the rear iron sight aperture so far up on his gun.
The hardest difficulty is absolutely brutal, but it feels appropriate within the narative context.
Few games give this feeling.
Just found your channel and I swear I see these videos recommended are in order same time I played them back in the day lmao
This game is a Master Piece. I'm glad you made a review this funny.
Was not expecting to hear a warhammer reference in spec ops the line, let alone gorka morka of all things
Yeah I was honestly blown away by that display of culture
Obligatory "I hate sand" line.
This setting would be hell for anakin skywalker
Aye weird al music reference!
Spec Ops looks pretty quaint nowadays, but in 2012 when US military worship had just started dropping from "psychotic" to "fanatical", anything that was willing to give up dod money and say "this us army soldier (who could be any of your neighbors or family) is a piece of shit, and those people he dropped bombs on didn't deserve it" was taking a serious economic risk. If it had come out in 2004 it would have probably been rated AO and banned from in-store advertisement. Americans used to freak the fuck out if you didn't agree that the sun shined out of some jarhead's ass
I would agree that it was significant not for being super profound but rather finally a game during the war on terror era risked it. I heard they kind of misled the publisher to get it approved but I wonder if thats true lore
Everyone says this game is sooo underrated but it's sooo fucking talk about honest its a tradition to come back to this masterpiece of a game
4:59 sorry humvee No Quarter means No Quarter
Good to know you've had the Ghost voice locked down for like a decade
this IS how nestle does their water
You feel like a Héroe yet
Nice warhammer reference. What army do you collect?
The main menu screen tells a story throughout the game,hell even the version of star spangled banner and the upside down American flag are symbolic
Throwback nostalgia when u started rapping Hardware Store - Weird Al
this game passed the bottle shooting test which already makes it much better than The Order 1886
First time I’ve heard someone utter the existence of the Delmarva peninsula