Music By Elia Cmiral. One of the most memorable themes of the game. It plays in the final battle and the coop menu. It is labeled as "No Values" in the games files.
They're both different genres cod mw is a classic fun first-person-shooter that focuses on multiplayer while Spec Ops the line is a third person psychological horror shooter game which focused on the single player more than cod mw did
@@Yeahimman32MW used to be ( around the same time as Spec Ops) a powerhouse in storytelling rather than multiplayer focused like their competitior, Battlefield.
Incorrect comparison imo Spec ops the line is an art house installation that mimics third person shooter And cod mimics nothing, it IS straightforward shooter
“There were over 5,000 people alive in Dubai, before the day you arrived. How many are alive today, I wonder? How many will be alive tomorrow? I thought my duty was to protect this city from the storm. I was wrong. I have to protect it from you.” -John Konrad
I think what makes this quote so much better is since Konrad has long since been dead before the Spec Ops team arrived, it’s Walker’s mind going against Walker himself. Saying I am a killer and monster, so I must stop myself before I end everyone in Dubai. At least, that’s the way I see it.
You know, in the beta version of the game, there were options to have Walker obey orders to leave Dubai at the start or even fight without using the white phosphorus, but too many beta testers took those options. So the developers had to take those choices out because it ruined the stupid narrative.
@@Mark-fc7tu Did you know? That Mark346533243 is so pathetic he copies and pastes this exact comment on every spec ops video he finds? Over 30+ videos and counting. Anyone with that with that high a pretentious viewpoint has no credibility the second they copy the same post. And so now I’ll do the same to everyone of his posts to let people know how pathetic he is.
@@CYB3RxPRO Did you know? That Neon Phantom is so pathetic he copies and pastes this exact comment on every spec ops video he finds? Over 30+ videos and counting. Anyone with that with that high a pretentious viewpoint has no credibility the second they copy the same post. And so now I’ll do the same to everyone of his posts to let people know how pathetic he is. :D
This game is probably the best piece of anti-war media I have ever seen. The game sends chills down my spine just thinking about it. Jesus this is the most immersed I've ever been in a game
+EC87 The 33rd : The Christ died hen he was 33 Konrad : "There were 5000 people living in Dubaï before you arrived" : The Christ fed 5000 people multiplying the bread Konrad : " Your orders killed 47 innocent people" 47 is the equivalent of JESUS in the gematria A soldier you hear talking : " Shit!... forgive them, they don't know what they're doing" These are the words pronouced by the Christ when he was crucified. The woman with her baby on Konrad's painting looks a lot like the "Sister madonna", painted by Raphaël and showing Marie holding little Jesus. There must be others I don't remember now. Someone taught me all. In a general way, the game can be viewed from a catholic point of view, because it is full of christianism, you just need to know very well this religion and I don't, Someone taught me all the references.
+EC87 Well it is, the fact is that the game, the story has many levels of interpretation : war ethics, shooter games in general, colonialism (Vietnam war) , mythology, religion, environment, etc. That richness makes it the best military shooter game ever. But the ignorance by the majority of players, critics and even 2K has made it SO UNDER-RATED.
"Home? We can't go home. There's a line men like us have to cross. If we're lucky, we do what's necessary, then we die. No ... all I really want Captain is peace."
The perfect song for realizing that people don't see you as a knight in shining armor, but as a broken, darkened embodiment of death. National colors faded and scorched. The smell of burning flesh and chemicals following you. The land around you invisibly burning with the writhing forms of ghosts.
That point when the man is gone, and only a monster remains. One of the under-appreciated gems of our generation, a game that kicks the ass of every other war shooter by showing us that there is no glory in the blood, only scars and broken people.
Do you remember when shooters were about killing demons from hell? Those were good days. Perhaps this is an inevitable part of gaming growing up, as our childish fantasies are torn from us and we are forced to confront consequences in an unfair, uncaring and unavoidable world of hatred, misery and death.
It took my breath away when this theme was playing while during the executions, I noticed something interesting. The soldiers you knocked down actually start displaying more fear of you. One execution I had when knocking down a Zulu SQD member had him begging and holding out his hand saying, “Wait, no, please!” Before Walker just shot him down in cold blood. Perfect transition from the professional soldier he was initially at the beginning to a cold blooded, ruthless murderer that wanted nothing more than blind vengeance and the death of his enemy after losing everything. Truly a great portrayal of what war can do to a person, especially those that partake in the conflict. Magnificent.
Far Cry 2 had something similar with their 'Reputation System'. such a crying shame that modern day games do not implement this system in place and perfect it. Such potential.
@@esothetics Far Cry 3 had it too. At the beginning, every execution and animal killing would always displease Jason where he would say nothing but an occasional "Eghh" or Eww", and even breathe heavily when engaging the enemies because he is afraid. As the game progresses, you start to notice how more and more enemies go from the usual "Oh, enemy, kill him!" to "SHIT IT IS JASON!" but yeah, such a shame how modern games don't tend to implement such changes with the character, they all feel like emotionless robots on a mission to kill everyone and everything.
***** i guess thats the Point: if you make a game with these themes, it has to be offensive and slap the Viewer in the face, cause the target Group probably isnt sensible enough for the subtile so that the message gets lost....
gar nichts True. I mean how many people don't realize that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's story was about the dangers of nationalisim gone too far when the game had Michael Bay-esque setpieces in almost every mission.
Pingevin1 even tho i understood the game, i still enjoyed it, and still id like to see more games with a sense behind everything, something that goes beyond everything shown before, and i clearly dont want the same cod clone bullsh*t again and again and ...
Andriykobin when I reached that part, this soldier on the mic made me more determined to finish off the 33rd but the part that really broke me was when Adams sacrificed his life to save Walker despite his hatred towards him because this is the definition of a true soldier because he never bucked orders.
@@thebatman6781 and that's his greatest sin. He just followed orders. He didn't stop Walker in his tracks and say, 'bro, we just Willie Pete'd 47 civilians and a US company, and now you're talking to two hanging corpses.' Instead he felt safer letting someone else take the wheel.
@@judyhopps9380 the ones who are idle are just as guilty as the criminals who committed the crime, following an objective without question, simply following the yellow line on the minimap without question on why you're doing it.
Spec Ops did more than just frighten me, it angered me at times. There are parts of the game where it's legitimately self-defense and in those moments, you realize that any conceptions of morality you may have had were pointless, caught up in the gunfire and death. And then you're haunted by those horrific murals throughout the city of eyeless children. And in almost every level, you're always descending- but is it into madness, or base human nature? It's impossible to divine what purpose there was in all of it, only that by the end we knew that we couldn't keep carrying on... because we had crossed the line. And we can never go back.
+darkfireslide That white phosphorous scene, That wasn't self-defense now, was it? You could just choose to end it, to stop going forward, Leave, but you didn't. "You marched on". This game makes you wonder upon the fact that if you were given the same choice, you'd enjoy killing people, I enjoyed blasting people with the mortar , I felt so sick , I didn't play the game for hours. Even when I knew this game would make me feel guilty, It did more than that.
It compares players desire to slaughter rest of 33rd and finish the game, and enjoyment he gets out of the carnage, to Walker's own descent into madness all to end up a hero. He will save Dubai, even if he has to burn it, kill everyone in it and destroy it. It puts the mentality of a shooter player into a real military prospect, how would continuous slaughter end up eventually.
That is the point of the game. The game developers wanted you to see them as Walker sees Conrad. "I didn't want to shoot WP all over the civilians. But I had to do it. The game developers made me do it. It's all their fault". I have to admit, the moment I realized that, the game became about a 100 % more awesome for me.
+Ahmed Gulam _"That white phosphorous scene, That wasn't self-defense now, was it? You could just choose to end it, to stop going forward, Leave, but you didn't."_ Let's not kid ourselves. Even if you take the white phosphorus scene as a real life situation (which you *_shouldn't_*, no matter how much the game is asking you to suspend your disbelief - it's narrative-drven game after all, your experience matters), there's not much lee-way given. In-game, the game is literally programmed to not give you a choice. You can not move forward from the platform the mortar is on and you can't retreat, either (not like Walker could call for a "Time out!" if it was a real scenario, either). Enemies will spawn infinitely until you eventually die. *_You are meant from a narrative standpoint to use that mortar._* It's the same as turning a page in the book. The only way you can "choose" anything is to not play the game. I do not accept the argument that there is "choice" when in order to experience the story you have to do what the game forces you to do. Your option when you get to that scene is "continue as the game is scripted" or "uninstall/take a hammer to your game disk - wash hands of purchase." Realistically, I actually don't fault Walker's actions all that much. He gets a heap of shit thrown on him for using the white phosphorus when military targets were unknowingly embedded with civilians. He did nothing differently than what Russia, Turkey, America or about two dozen other countries do all the time with striking targets of opportunity and calling civilian casualties collateral damage. I don't think anyone could argue that Walker would have used the mortar had he known civilians were there. Governments wouldn't give a shit if it was a drone or an attack aircraft and would have just written off the civilian deaths.
As the ending suggests, Konrad explains how Walker wasn't even supposed to be in Dubai. If this was a real life situation, I'd retreat. Because there's a way, don't fight. Turn back. "None of this would have happened if you just stopped". But Walker wanted to do good in order to erase his bad, Be a hero. It was his fault. It was YOUR fault, it always will be. Don't get yourself involved in shit you can't handle.
"There were over five thousand people alive in Dubai, the day before you arrived. How many are alive today, I wonder? How many will be alive tomorrow?"
Remember when you first came here? To Dubai? It all seems like a distant memory now. Those two days, soon to be three, have taken their toll on your body and mind. How ironic that you imagined this to be a simple recon... it turned into a rescue mission at the drop of a hat. You are doing the right thing. These people, the insurgents, the Damned 33rd... they're the real villains in all of this. They aren't soldiers. They aren't human. They aren't fellow patriots like you. They turned their back on their homeland! They have no right to stand in your way! You have to finish this mission. You must find Konrad, and deliver justice for the deeds he forced you into doing. It was never your fault. That's what you've been telling yourself. Ever since the incident at the Gate. There was never a choice. Now look around you. Look at the destruction and death you have caused. Look at the wounds coating your body. The shell casings on the ground. The medical hypos and bandages you have applied time and time again to your bloodstained gashes. But it's a small price to pay. As long as you can find Konrad... as long as you can stop him, and make him pay for what the 33rd has done... you can still be a hero. That's what you are. The hero, here to save this ruined city by any means at your disposal. Remember when you first came here? To Dubai? I wonder what the 'you' from back then would say about what you're doing now.
War makes monsters of us all, molds us into machines that simultaneously feel empathy for other humans yet are capable of gouging out eachothers eyes and burning eachother alive at a simple becking call ir an order
There are 3 types of feelings you get playing this game. One - You do not like the things shown in this game, you feel guilty for what you did in the game. Even when you mow down an army of soldiers you feel like a dick. Two - You feel guilty for the bad things you did but you still have fun with the game. Three - You don't feel guilty, they're just AI bots and you just want to beat the game and kill Colonel Konrad or whatever. Infact, its enjoyable killing the enemies. One represents Lugo who does what he does because he has to Two represents Adams who puts his mission above his feelings but still has strong beliefs Three represents Walker who just wants to complete his mission, he doesn't care what he does so long as he does his job. The game puts you in the shoes of one of each character. Think about it. Spec Ops The Line and the Metal Gear Solid franchise are what real war games are. They do not glorify war but elaborate what impact war has on your well being and your philosophy. SOTL covers what war can do to your soul while MGS conveys how soldiers are pawns and tools in the hand of their treacherous government and that they should fight for their own ideologies, not their government's ideology.
I agree with everything you said until you mentioned MGS. MGS is nothing like a real war in any way shape or form. Its about as subtle with its themes as a freight train, and its premise is to outlandish to be taken all that seriously. There are some strong themes, but they are shown in a very overdramatic way. None of them are put forth as well as Spec Ops as well
On my third playthrough of the game. I actually managed to kill Lugo, even though i played it twice before and knew it was a Heavy Soldier, I still felt bad for killing him after hearing his final words. "The only villain here is you, Walker."
Seeing Heavy Lugo made me sick to the stomach. It was a _terrible_ moment, even worse than when he was hanged and I spent half a minute staring at the civilian survivors that killed him before sweeping them with LMG fire from right to left, because that's what I figured Walker would do. Only five managed to escape because I ran dry. Silly me thinking I wouldn't be even more broken by the game...
I was like, "You're not Lugo. You're just a phantasm!" I was unprepared for the actual Heavy so I had to redo that part, and the illusion wasn't there.
Steven Ford I guess I got lucky, I cowered behind cover the whole time while Adams wailed away at the Lugo-Heavy with his machine gun. Went down in my first playthrough without me having to fire a shot.
What makes this game so good, is that no one can copy the emotional torture this game brought. The psychological pain this game had, which a game like this being as small as it is. Is sorta a good thing cause other gaming companies will try to copy this but fail because you cant just copy and paste a psychological gut punch that this game has, the game was and still is my favorite of all time. No triple A game will compete with this type of story telling, for awhile a long time... Which is sad because some of us want to see a new game like this but the public won’t understand.
One of the most complex and compelling video games ever made, disguised as a simple third-person shooter. It made you upset, angry, bloodthirsty even... and then guilty. And the developer simply asks: "Well, how did you think immersing yourself in an intense military shooter was going to make you feel? Happy?" Brilliantly done.
First, you're horrified. Witnessing these atrocities fills you with heroic resolve. They forgot their purpose, they must be put down. Then, you're in shock.You couldn't have possibly done that. There is no way. You're angry. This is unfair; how could you have known any of this? This is their fault. You break. Everything you learned to care about is being forcefully stripped. A line, crossed. You stop caring. Your hatred is what keeps your going. Deep down you just want this to end. Maybe, if you kill him, things will finally turn better. But that's not really what you came for, is it? Just like them, you've also forgot your purpose. You just want him to die. You desperately want to take his life. Yet you're late. Two weeks too late. The final stage, acceptance? It's up to you. You've got the solution in your hand and a lie that refuses to keep existing. It's time to make a choice. Are you a strong man? Will you keep denying what's in front of you? Perhaps chase the Road to Glory? Or will you accept your part in all of this? Finally give a Farewell to Arms? Whatever you choose, the game has achieved it's goal. You have become Walker, and you feel the same emotions he felt throughout the game, even if they're aimed at different things.
I think the devs tryharded their storytelling ...damn that was a great story and message at the end...i literally felt thr depth of this game instead of playing it as a generic third person shooter
@@stevenpotts2752 After what Walker did, there is no living with himself. If he returns ro society he returns as a broken shell of a man. He would most likely retire on the spot and have to re-integrate into society. He wouldn’t last long.
@@leatherlass6730 He would defintely leave the military, but if he had a family to support, or or years of therapy. He would survive. The crew of the Enola gay lived with themselves. He could find a way too.
I love this game so incredibly much. No game has ever hit me so hard so fast. No game, by the end of it, has made me sickened with myself. I wanted to cry, I wanted to vomit. I wanted to curl up into a ball and stop existing. It's a hell of a ride. Beat it in one caffiene-fueled night, took a break for maybe fifteen minutes between two roughly 4 hour play sessions. And honestly? There could've been no better way to experience the game. I loved it from the second I booted it up. The artstyle, the HUD, the sounds. But I never knew what I was getting into. To this day, I still think about this game. It haunts my memories. Nolan North did an amazing job voicing Walker. There could have been no better. And as the game progresses, in addition to a more beaten and bruised model of Walker, his lines get more frantic, more angry, guttural, and desperate. Walker is clinging to his sanity by a thin line. And then he loses it. Months later, I still listen to this song. It still brings tears to my eyes. I can still feel myself trying not to be sick. The filthy, angry echoes of the electric guitar coupled with the somber twanging of an acoustic will never cease to melt me inside. This song is harsh, it's filthy. There's no comfort in it. This is not only the best song from Spec Ops: The Line, but my favorite game song of all time. It perfectly fits the entire theme of the game, all the events leading up to and after it. There are no happy endings. Even the "Good" ending of Walker returning home terrified me. I felt so awful. Now every time I play, I have him shoot himself. It's such a strange yet fitting option to give him. After all those atrocities, all the war crimes. Everything he's done. There isn't a redemption, but at least the world will be rid of a monster like Walker. I could keep gushing about just how amazing this game is. I really could. But I'll leave with this: I wish I had actually payed for the game. I got it free from Humble Bundle. I would sell mine and the remaining fragments of Walker's soul to re-experience this game.
Not gonna lie. Lit them the fuck up and would have irl too in that situation, and I say that as a combat vet. No way you can wear the civilian shield after hanging one of my own right in front of me, regardless of whatever their reasoning might have been. Coulda been you hung like an animal, after all. They made themselves a part of the fight and paid the price
@@RestlessBogatyrNow without remaster it is forever legally gone. You can't buy it in Steam or any other marketplace. Tally-ho lads, warcrimes are still available at green seas!
The worst form of PTSD: No words can describe it and no amount of time given or granted can ever be able to process or rationalise all that had happened.
Only game that made a comeback during the PS1 era and taunt you for playing and gave a new perspective about the atmosphere of the military shooter genre.
I enjoy how the music seems to reflect Walker's, Lugo's, and Adam's state of mind. It starts off slow, almost tired, trying to take a breath and recuperate before the other instruments really kick in and it's back into the fight, knee-deep in death and sand. They can't stop until they complete their mission, because those 47 charred bodies would've died for nothing, Konrad has to die, even if it means they die too, but they'll take the entire Damned 33rd with them if that's what it takes.
This is probably one of the greatest depictions of a personl hell. The world in flames, the sand filled with corpses of people that either hate you, that you dissapointed, that you crush them for being in your way without even wanting to, you being alone as the failure you are. But the worst part is that not only you created this all by yourself, but when you are just tired to keep looking at it you can't just drop and joing the corpses in the sand. You have to keep looking at what you did, until you look at everything and you say to yourself: "I did this."
If there's one good saying that perfectly describes this game (especially this scene in particular irony), then it's this. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"
Thinking about the ending still gives me chills and makes me think about all of the theroies about this game's story, that is truely amazing considering I finished it 4 times and got the platinum trophy over a year ago and I still think about this game and all it represents. Masterpiece.
This game is one of the most accurate and realistic depiction of war in entertainment media history. It starts off like any military action shooter but overtime it turns into a horrifying experience. It's a masterpiece.
The idea of a harsh , brutal desert where people are clutching onto the symbols of their army while fighting to simply survive kind of reminds me of the Divide from New Vegas.
And the Courier reminds me of Walker, both unknowingly doomed these places with their actions. Walker more so murdered the city after the storm, while the courier launched the original nuke and then another one. Dooming it even worse than before. Both end up making things worse in the long run
After awhile, the game became so difficult, that the phrases the loading screen tries to use to guilt you feels less like the game is judging you and more like the game is mocking you for sucking.
The bridge is my most favourite level in the whole of my days of gaming just the feeling of two men Vs a whole army who are afraid of how evil you are is the most badass thing ever because you are unstoppable because you are pure evil
I played this song while I played through the ending of Far Cry 5 when all of the nuclear bomb are going off and everything is getting torched around you. This song just fits in that ending.
*"Shit, another fucking heavy! Take cover, goddammit!"* *"LUGO?"* *"You outta your fuckin' mind?!"* *"YOU LEFT ME TO DIE!!!"* *"Shit, open fire!!"* *"DON'T YOU GET IT? IT'S ALL A LIE!!!"* *"NO!"* *"YOU'RE NO FUCKIN' HERO!!!"* *"I tried to save you!"* *"YOU CAN'T SAVE ANYONE!!!"* *"I TRIED!!!"* *"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! YOURS!!!"* *"JUST FUCKIN' DIE!"* *"The only villain here is you, Walker. There's only you..."*
I like shooters and play a lot of them. I got Spec Ops the Line on a Steam sale during the holidays in 2012. After playing it, I felt like an asshole and I swear I could not play shooters for a very long time. The mature, dark, and provocative story in the game made me question an entire genre. I don't think any game I've ever played had that kind of impact on me. Even now, Konrad's speech in the final chapter is stuck in my head. He was not only speaking to Walker, but me the player, questioning why I play these kinds of games and what I think I'm getting out of them. The only wishes I had for the game was that it wasn't saddled with an unnecessary multiplayer mode and the most generic of names: Spec Ops. Who knows maybe it would've sold a few more copies if the name stood out more on store shelves. I almost wish it were a Silent Hill game, as it can be viewed a psychological horror.
2K forced Yager studios to put the competitive multiplayer mode into the game. There's also a co-op mode that improves upon all the gameplay of the singleplayer, though it only has 4 loosely connected levels as opposed to a campaign/coherent story, which sucks, I was hoping for a co-op version of the campaign where player 1 controls Walker and player 2 has thier choice of playing as either Lugo or Adams with the scene with the civilians playing out differently if player 2 chose to play as Lugo, or perhaps even it's own campaign entirely. Modders, please make this happen.
So the year is 2020. Self isolation and etc, I was alone at home, surfing steam. I bought spec ops with some crazy discount like 90% or something. I actually remember this game, I’ve seen trailer back in 2012, but I haven’t played it. So I grab this game, start playing. I thought I just gonna play a few hours at this Friday evening and will go to sleep. But damn, I finished the game in one take, found myself at 3 of the night smoking cigarette after cigarette while staring at the monitor.
It's funny actually. I played this game and thoroughly enjoyed it. I got the majority of the messages that were implemented here. But I was not emotionally distraught like (apparently) most that played this game. And I'm not here to judge either. These dark themes are in the game for a reason. To provoke an emotional response from the player and get them to think. But even as I was doing "unspeakable" things in the game, I felt the way I do most times with any game I play: completely desensitized. Like one of the tips in the game's loading screens' reads: "The US Military does not condone the killing of innocent civilians. But this isn't real. So why should you care?" I don't. I didn't care. I don't think I ever will care when I slaughter people in a video game. Maybe I'm a monster to you. Maybe I don't fully allow myself to be immersed or emotionally invested in a piece of (albeit, great) fiction because I've played so many violent video games and have grown numb to the violence. Maybe I see the world more in black and white than in shades of grey. Who knows? All in all: great game! Good voice acting. Solid game mechanics (The shooting, the melee, the executions and how they grew more and more vicious as Walker plummeted into savagery, etc.). And a very good story. Most certainly not what you'd expect in a modern military shooter these days.
something is wrong in this game, character models, fucking great, aim, ehh not so good, but the fucking eyes are black, they are not even white near that NO IT'S A FULLY BLACK FUCKING EYE
My cognitive dissonance started much earlier, when I realized that this was Walker's story, not necessarily mine. In the first level, I tried to go back and radio Walker's superiors. The game does not let you.
The game is practically telling us to think outside the box, it's not going to reward us an alternate ending or anything for "leaving Dubai early"-we gotta go beyond the game.
Well one interpretation of the game is that Walker died in the opening scene in the helicopter and what plays out after is him reliving past events repeatedly in a kind of purgatory. So because Walker chose not to follow orders and leave Dubai as soon as he encountered survivors in real life, that option is closed to you the player as well. All that remains is the descent. Only when he chooses to relinquish his weapon in the end can he escape his purgatory and move on to the next stage of his existence.
Yeah, like people say it's kinda meta narrative. It is really Walker's story. You might say there was really no choice for you. So said Walker but there is always was the choice. It just wasn't obvious for you at the moment, nor it was for him. Since you felt dissociation, you could just stop "but on you marched". You could never start that journey and never really care, but you were already too involved, in the middle of it. You might have felt disgust for you action. But it wasn't you, right? It was Walker, who left you no choice, it was his fault all along! Like it was Conrad for him. There are a lot of games i paid for and abandoned or even never played. And it was like I wanted to get worth of my money when i kept playing Spec Ops. I was genuinely enjoying it. "What happened here was out of my control" and "None of this is real". So, are we that different in the end?
I remember the time I first heard about this game. It was some top 10 plot twist in video games by watch mojo, and Spec Ops was on the list. I thought it looked cool, so I decided to give it a go and bought the game. I wasn't ready...
