The third-person shooter game paradigm isn’t exactly new, but Spec Ops: The Line shows that there is still some potential in the massively popular game format. While there is little in the core game that will surprise veteran players, the location of the action in a Dubai city setting during an ongoing sandstorm is definitely a novelty touch.

First ambush

The game begins six months after the first hit of the sandstorm, and your mission is to lead a squad of three soldiers into the city in search of other soldiers left behind in the chaos. Things suddenly take a turn for the worse when the city’s myriad refugees mistake your team for baddies and set up an ambush. From this point on, the action gets pretty intense, and you have to fight your way through the storm and various other obstacles on your way to hopefully rescue the other soldiers, who may or may not be alive!

From the start of the action, Spec Ops: The Line exhibits a familiar feel. Players have the ability to crouch, gain more health points, and even command other soldiers to shoot different enemies. Even the button layout looks a lot like the controls in other shooting games.

The New Desert Scene

What really sets Spec Ops: The Line apart from all other shooters is the uniqueness of the setting. The initial ambush takes place on a road littered with broken cars and corpses, with sand dunes and the scorching sun overhead giving the game a surprisingly vivid appearance, in stark contrast to the shooters’ often grimy and dark environments. typical. Players will also have to shoot over towering skyscrapers from time to time, and this again puts an interesting and unique twist on the family shooting action. When the sandstorm begins to kick in again, the game becomes even more challenging, with visibility severely affected by the billowing sand clouds.

Unfortunately, the action in the other settings is pretty typical, and there’s not much that separates Spec Ops: The Line from all the other shooters when you’re not fighting in a skyscraper or in the middle of a sandstorm. In these settings, Spec Ops: The Line is very much like any other ghastly style game, although it has enough features to make it one of the best representatives of the games category.

True-to-life game action

Fortunately, there are a few other details that give the game a more unique feel. One particularly interesting aspect is the inclusion of stages in which you will be given a choice between standard weapons or a weapon that will brutally annihilate your opponents. Choosing the latter will reveal the consequences of your decision and the subsequent action, giving the game a more realistic feel. With this aspect of the game, you will have to weigh the merits of a quick end to the battle against the cost in human lives. Pretty heavy stuff for a shooter, but it’s touches like these that make Spec Ops: The Line stand out from the rest.

Another detail that adds to the realism is the fact that players start out with as much firepower and ability as the other players. This gives even new players a chance to rack up a few kills rather than being mercilessly eliminated before they can earn weapons.

Spec Ops: The Line is a familiar but enjoyable enough version of the classic shooter game. With all the added keys and the eye-catching environment, this should be enjoyable for both new and veteran players.

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