3 ms·

Recommend "Why Spec Ops: The Line Mattered" by Game Makers Toolkit[1] if you are unsure why this game gets the praise it does. I first played it when it was a

Recommend "Why Spec Ops: The Line Mattered" by Game Makers Toolkit[1] if you are unsure why this game gets the praise it does. I first played it when it was a free PS+ game years ago thinking it looked like a fun, if not generic, Modern Warfare clone. Which it is, until it isn't. I haven't played a military shooter since. 1. https://youtu.be/tYk0BS84ItY https://youtu.be/tYk0BS84ItY

crooked-v 3y ago
It's one of those cases where something leans so hard into the satire that, at first, it's not obvious it isn't just the same thing it's satirizing.
- pests 3y ago
  I feel this is what happened to /r/The_Donald
bno1 3y ago
Errant Signal's analysis is also really good: https://youtu.be/wlBrenhzMZI https://youtu.be/wlBrenhzMZI
as1mov 3y ago
It's a pretty good game fwiw, though I never got the reverence it receives from the internet. Maybe it's a symptom of shoddy writing in videogames that anything that strays from the norm gets praise. I always felt the story was told in a really hamfisted way, not to mention the cheap twist at the end sours the experience. There's another game which came out roughly at the same time and tried to tackle similar themes - Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, but with less in your face commentary. It was loathed both by critics and players for it's aesthetics and frustrating gameplay, but I've always loved it for what it attempted to do (and imo, did it better than Spec Ops). I wonder how both would be received if they were released today.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  I really loved the ethical angle but yes the gameplay was just another call of duty knock-off. The story was what made it special. I think it deserves some praise for that but not as much as it gets.
- Uehreka 3y ago
  > Maybe it's a symptom of shoddy writing in videogames that anything that strays from the norm gets praise. I think it’s this, combined with the fact that the funniest and most forceful video game reviewer of the time (Yahtzee) was super polarized on both those games. I’m not gonna necessarily accuse GP of this, but I do feel like I often see people seem to regurgitate Yahtzee’s opinions without having anything deeper to say than what he said in his video.

crooked-v 3y ago

It's one of those cases where something leans so hard into the satire that, at first, it's not obvious it isn't just the same thing it's satirizing.

pests 3y ago
I feel this is what happened to /r/The_Donald

bno1 3y ago

Errant Signal's analysis is also really good: https://youtu.be/wlBrenhzMZI https://youtu.be/wlBrenhzMZI

as1mov 3y ago

It's a pretty good game fwiw, though I never got the reverence it receives from the internet. Maybe it's a symptom of shoddy writing in videogames that anything that strays from the norm gets praise. I always felt the story was told in a really hamfisted way, not to mention the cheap twist at the end sours the experience. There's another game which came out roughly at the same time and tried to tackle similar themes - Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, but with less in your face commentary. It was loathed both by critics and players for it's aesthetics and frustrating gameplay, but I've always loved it for what it attempted to do (and imo, did it better than Spec Ops). I wonder how both would be received if they were released today.

wkat4242 3y ago
I really loved the ethical angle but yes the gameplay was just another call of duty knock-off. The story was what made it special. I think it deserves some praise for that but not as much as it gets.
Uehreka 3y ago
> Maybe it's a symptom of shoddy writing in videogames that anything that strays from the norm gets praise. I think it’s this, combined with the fact that the funniest and most forceful video game reviewer of the time (Yahtzee) was super polarized on both those games. I’m not gonna necessarily accuse GP of this, but I do feel like I often see people seem to regurgitate Yahtzee’s opinions without having anything deeper to say than what he said in his video.