"Do you feel like a hero yet?" This story-focused game will have your stomach tying knots.
The story begins in Dubai after Colonel John Konrad and the entire 33rd Infantry go missing after a seemingly failed evacuation attempt. Captain Martin Walker and his typical squad buddies - Lugo and Adams - are sent in to observe and report on the situation. And, in typical war-game style, things go very bad, very fast.
Without spoilers, suffice to say that Walker and pals are thrown into a dilemma that none of them want to be in, in a conflict that none of them expected to find. Caught between the mission of finding Konrad and saving the trapped dying of Dubai, the events quickly escalate into a situation comparable to the novels and movies that influenced the story - Lord of the Flies, Apocalypse Now, Heart of Darkness, for starters.
In that respect, the game excels. The characters of Lugo and Adams constantly conflict and/or support the views of the player, Walker, which makes it hard to distinguish the right choice from the wrong. Not that there really is one, anyway.
Every choice in Spec Ops: The Line is difficult. There is a heavy tone of moral grayness throughout, and it gets progressively worse as the 7-hour campaign continues. These choices unfortunately have little impact on the ending, but this does not reduce their effectiveness in making the player squirm as they arise.
What does reduce the effectiveness is the LACK of choice in some parts. There is a major event that takes place in the game that lays the groundwork for the continuation of the narrative. The problem is, this choice is NOT a choice - I sat there wondering for the longest time "Wait, I have to do this? There's no other way?" It's quite a shock after such control over the previous situations. It feels cheap, almost. As if the game is using this event to prod the player forward, saying: "We made you do this. Now feel bad! I SAID FEEL BAD, DAMMIT!"
However, as the story continues, it redeems itself. This is mostly due to the attention to detail. There is an obvious "turning point" - you can see where the squad makes the change from "Good Ol' US Military Operatives" to "A Rag-Tag Bunch of Sinners with Guns" so quickly that it almost gives you whiplash.
One moment the squad is shouting combat orders efficiently - "Target down!" and "Contact spotted!", and the next, "F**k you!", "Get the target yourself!", and goodies such as "F**kin' die, motherf**ker!"
Ah, the glories of war.
These little changes in the way the squad interacts is fantastic though, all joking aside. The little breathy remarks Walker makes is only further enhanced by Nolan North's superb voice-acting (you can truly feel the character of Walker going insane as the game progresses). By the end, the squad you start with is most certainly not the one you end with.
Speaking of which, the endings are quite possibly the best I've ever seen in a war game. Hard to watch, hard to accept, and none of them good - at all.
There is no "happy ending" in Spec Ops: The Line - all four available endings are tough and preach a common theme - "War survives; a man's soul does not", among others. Without spoilers, also let it suffice to say that you will want to play this game through at least twice for the full experience. Trust me.
All this story-goodness isn't to say Spec Ops: The Line is getting off the hook, though. Clunky controls that don't agree with you, sometimes-dumb enemies, and rather bland gameplay of "Pop up, shoot, pop up, throw grenade" lower the score (and while the gunplay is stale, it is not totally bad - you can get some fun out of it, surely). Thankfully, while annoying, these problems can be suffered through in order to see what horrible war choice is next to make.
What cannot be excused, however, is the extremely bland and tacked-on multiplayer. It isn't bad, per se, it's just unnecessary. The story is the drive in Spec Ops - take that away, and, well...
The sloppy controls hurt even more in this regard, where twitch fingers are needed to survive other players. There is also a great plethora of unlocks, but it's unlikely you'll stick to the game enough to see them all through.
All in all, don't buy this game for the multiplayer. Ignore it. If you do that, you will find an intense and immersive singleplayer experience - one that will have you thinking about it long after its end.
Until you make a second playthrough, that is.