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General discussion (archive)Why I just bought Spec: Ops the Line(165 posts)(165 posts)
(165 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 12, 2012
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SimonG: snip
Thanks for your answer, Simon. As I suspected, it's been very interesting to read. I feel that playing The Line is an eminently non-transferrable experience*, though, so I'm now looking forward to trying it for myself.

* This is obviously true for most videogames, but seems to be especially relevant with this one.

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grviper: As a sidenote, it seems like another Blade Runner trilogy. Book-Film-Game. All share the same basic ideas, but have different stories, with the game borrowing from both predecessors. All use the strong points of their medium (inner monologue-visual language-choices), staying within established genres. Fuck, yeah.
Like Roadside Picnic - Stalker - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl?

Alright, alright, I'll have to keep my eyes on the retail stores in my area to see if I can find it at a nice price. I hope my system can cope with it, but it's a bit worse than yours: Athlon X64 5400+ and a GF9600GT. 2GB of RAM as well.
Post edited July 12, 2012 by YogSo
Posted July 12, 2012
What I just noticed, while playing the FUBAR difficulty (holyfsckisthathard), the loading screens for dying are also important for the story progression. Apart from the occasional "Press A to fire" hints (which stop after the first level). They drop hints about he backstory and play friggin mindgames with the player.

So it is actually good to die. And you will die a lot in that game. At least I do ...
Posted July 12, 2012
As someone who hasn't read Heart of Darkness or watched Apocalypse Now, I really liked this game. Mechanically it's woefully generic but the story and ambition of the game is really incredible and it should be applauded for this. Definitely worth picking up, so far it's my game of the year. Also...

"This is all your fault."
Post edited July 12, 2012 by evilguy12
Posted July 12, 2012
Huh, the game has provisions for DLC. Silly hats? Bat country? I hope, it's MP only and skippable.
Posted July 12, 2012
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grviper: Huh, the game has provisions for DLC. Silly hats? Bat country? I hope, it's MP only and skippable.
There will be a coop MP DLC (free) later this year.
Posted July 13, 2012
In my neverending quest to push this game, another post.

In Germany this game is gathering a lot of attention in the "liberal main stream media" for the unique approach it takes. Even in those "artsy fartsy" radio programms I listen to. The comparison to Apocalypse Now is also drawn quite clearly and positively. Maybe there is still some hope left for a commercial success...

Although, I seriously hope there won't be a sequel. I mean, it's not like there is an "Apocalypse Now II, Apocalypse Nower".
Posted July 13, 2012
Aw, crap, once a few missions and reloads is crashes my video driver. Covered all the ground shown in the demo already despite that.
Posted July 13, 2012
Mortar section is a masterpiece.
Post edited July 13, 2012 by grviper
Posted July 13, 2012
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SimonG: snip
The only way I could see a sequel to justify is something about the fallout off what happened after the Dubai incident, when all the shit comes out about Konrad, Walker, and that massacre that was committed.*

However that could be easily done in a sequel.

*You know a game is taking a player fully in when you nearly say "that massacre that you committed.
Posted July 13, 2012
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YogSo: I should probably abstain from commenting in this thread, since I haven't played the game nor tried the demo. But I read everything RPS posted about it (interviews, hands-on impressions and more, watched the developers' diaries, etc), and there's one thing that interests me about your stance, Simon.

This is quite a hard question to answer, I know, but I think it would be interesting if you tried to: Do you think the fact that you came to the game completely blind has coloured, for the better, your opinion of it? I've noticed in one of your first posts you intentionally avoided mentioning the name of that Konrad character. From your point of view, having no idea about what the game was 'really' about, I'm sure that was a very intriguing hint and a significative spoiler. But for someone like me, that learned it was 'loosely inspired' by Heart of Darkness almost since the first time I heard about the game, that was a pretty innocuous bit of common knowledge.

What I'm trying to get at is this: I'm under the impression that if you'd knew beforehand that The Line isn't supposed to be your thread-of-the-mill military shooter, the storyline wouldn't have wowed you to the same high levels. Not even close.

And I'm not saying the game is mediocre or bad or anything like that. As I've said, I haven't played it, so I can hardly judge it, even if I've always felt more possitive towards it than most people that were dismissing it like 'another third-person cover shooter'. But the calls you are making ("best gaming storyline since PS:T") are indeed very big, and I'm honestly under the impression that what is happenning here is the reverse effect of hype dissapointment: a game isn't the worst game in history because it failed to live to the hype surrounding it; but also, a game is not the best game in history because everybody expected it to suck* and it ends up being quite good.

*Or, in this case, because you had no expectations, either good or bad, about it.
I'll just step in here, I had "heard" about this game before I bought it and I still think it's fucking awesome. Trust me, what you are thinking is the journey is not the journey. The best, light spoiler explanation I've seen so far is Zero Punctuation (and yes, I believe Yahtzee when he said he was trying not to vomit) and this http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/spec-ops-the-line-ditches-faux-heroism-for-a-harrowing-look-at-how-war-make (the article is better).

No, the fact you're "surprised" by the story or not should have very little bearing on enjoying it. I recommend you not reading a bunch beforehand, there are some surprises that should not be spoiled, but the foreshadowing of Konrad and what kind of person he probably is is not one of them.
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bazilisek: …I hate you guys.

Now I just hope it shows up in the Steam sale so I can stop thinking about it and just buy it.
The Amazon copy just gives you a Steam key, just insert key and play.
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grviper: ...
Delete that now please. I agree with you, but you need to delete that.
Post edited July 13, 2012 by orcishgamer
Posted July 13, 2012
:Sceptic 3rd world kid:

So you finished the game you bought for 25EUR in three days and you're still satisfied by it?
Posted July 13, 2012
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keeveek: :Sceptic 3rd world kid:

So you finished the game you bought for 25EUR in three days and you're still satisfied by it?
Yes, some games aren't measured by how many hours you put into them. Fucking with the story to get more hours out of it would have been a tragedy.
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MrWilli: yeah the demo is a pretty bad example of the games storyline really.
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SimonG: I don't think you could make a good demo. As everything is connected in the game, picking a level at random hardly works.
The problem with this game is they almost can't properly advertise it, they're relying on what's happening in the press and among gamers right now to sell it. Seriously man, fuck the demo, it's not representative because it can't be. That opening level is a set piece, it's only game play to engage you as the player, to let you know you're going into a fucked situation and you basically may have no hope.
Post edited July 13, 2012 by orcishgamer
Posted July 13, 2012
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orcishgamer: The Amazon copy just gives you a Steam key, just insert key and play.
Oh, it's a Steam exclusive? Very well then. Moral standards can step aside for a while.
Posted July 13, 2012
Well, for me "I value my time" phrase goes both ways, so I am never going to spend more than 5 bucks for 7-8 hours of entertainment if it's a video game.
Posted July 13, 2012
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SimonG: But I want to read! I honestly can't stand video "reviews".
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bazilisek: Well, that's just his spiel, and he's more or less locked into it by now by his audience, for better or worse. Each Tuesday, he also follows up the previous video with an "Extra Punctuation" column, which is a more in-depth analysis of something he found interesting about the game and often a very good read.
That's actually some of the most praise he's ever given a game, Infamous is the last one I recall him really praising to that level.
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keeveek: Well, for me "I value my time" phrase goes both ways, so I am never going to spend more than 5 bucks for 7-8 hours of entertainment if it's a video game.
I won't spend more than 10 bucks on a cheap bottle of alcohol, but 12 year scotch costs what 12 year scotch costs. That's what I'm trying to point out. If you just don't want 12 year scotch, that's fine, I'm just pointing out you're using the wrong metric to judge it.
Post edited July 13, 2012 by orcishgamer
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussion (archive)Why I just bought Spec: Ops the Line(165 posts)(165 posts)
(165 posts)