Why Spec Ops: The Line Is Still Impressive

Anybody who knows me well knows the games I’ve been playing lately are out of my usual wheelhouse. I’ve always got a JRPG or action-adventure game in rotation, but currently I’ve been in a shooter mood. After Vanquish and the first two Gears of War games, I decided it was time to play a more peculiar pick.

I say “peculiar” not only because Spec Ops: The Line has always had the reputation of a cult classic, but because of some unfortunate news that came to us earlier this year. In January of 2024, the game was taken off all digital storefronts. Luckily, being the curious person I am, I bought Spec Ops: The Line over a year ago just to try it out. I didn’t get too far, but I finally went back and played it from start to finish.

It’s important to remember the gaming landscape this title was released in. This was the era of Call of Duty, Battlefield, Gears of War, Army of Two, and the last good Halo games. I remember walking into GameStop and seeing the Xbox 360 section looking like a gray and black wall. On this “wall” were countless dudes shooting their guns. So much box art from that era was just “guy with gun”. You couldn’t go very long without a new shooter coming out. And maybe it’s because of the yearly nature of CoD and Battlefield, but we were used to moving on from shooters fairly fast.

But Spec Ops: The Line is still spoken about highly. It’s a title that deceives you in the first chapter. It feels like a typical third person shooter starring a cast vanilla army-men. But it’s Chapter 2 that instantly hooked me. There’s this amazing moment where Hush by Deep Purple plays on speakers inside of a building. You and your two comrades are assaulted, and a gunfight ensues. Not only is it playing for you the player, but your characters hear it too. It becomes this weird barrage to your senses. Bullets are being shot everywhere. Glass is shattering all around you. People are screaming. All while this classic tune is playing. This is also when the plot starts getting interesting. For no explicable reason, American soldiers are shooting at you. So you have no reason but to shoot back. I’m no shooter aficionado, so I might be wrong in saying this; I can’t think of any other shooter that stars American vs American soldiers.

Shortly after this cool moment, other noteworthy ideas were presented to me. Because the game takes place in Dubai, there is a lot of sand trapped behind windows and glass. If you shoot said glass, the sand will collapse and can take out multiple enemies at once. There’s a level that takes place in a mall with these colorful glass ornaments hanging from the ceiling. You can shatter those too, and watch the bits go everywhere. Speaking of colors, the game isn’t afraid to use them (which is rare for this genre at the time). I couldn’t help but notice the bright blues and reds in the sky. Or the yellow of the sand. The game never shies away from reminding you of the grisly nature of war. Theres a few moments during your gunfights where random innocent NPCs will scream for their lives and run, and if you shoot too fast, you’ll kill them by mistake. I love how the artists here chose not to paint a gruesome war scene with the typical colors we always see. They chose a wide color palette.

There’s a thoughtfulness to the art of the game that clashes brilliantly with the horrid nature of the content matter.

I won’t be going in depth with the story or characters. Rather, I just want to point out that after playing three third-person shooters before Spec Ops: The Line, this one stuck out the most to me. But it’s not because of the gameplay. Vanquish and Gears of War 2 easily trounce this game in terms of smooth fluid gameplay. If you saw a minute of gameplay from Spec Ops: The Line, you’d justifiably think it was nothing special. But it works just fine. You have your typical guns and grenades, and I like how you can issue commands out to your two comrades. They can do things like stealth kill unaware enemies or take out snipers. But again, it’s not the gameplay that makes this title a gem.

After doing some light digging on information regarding the story of the game, it’s clear that Walt Williams (who has writing credits on such titles as Bioshock 2 and Mafia 2) put a lot of love into this games story. The game plays tricks on both the protagonists mind and the players. There’s multiple different endings too. I’m usually not the biggest fan of that sort of thing, but after seeing what Williams has sad about them, I find the story extra fascinating.

It’s been about six months since the games been delisted. There’s been no word of a remaster or remake yet. Hush by Deep Purple isn’t the only licensed song in the game; so it’s no wonder why it got delisted. The licenses for the music probably expired long ago. We live in a strangely great era for things like this though. Who would’ve expected a Tomba! 1 & 2 remaster? Almost nobody. And yet, they arrive soon to our consoles! I’m sure we’ll see Spec Ops: The Line again.

I looked into Yager Studios briefly, and honestly, I don’t see a lot of noteworthy stuff in their catalogue of games. Spec Ops: The Line remains their standout title. It’s one of those games that is well known online, but nobody outside the core gaming circle really speaks of. And it deserves more. I’m not going to act like its one of the greatest game of all time. It’s not. But it’s damn interesting. And I’m sure a remake or remaster would bring the standard yet functional gameplay to a higher level.

And for its unique take on a war story, I do it comes back one day.