Spec Ops: The Line

Spec Ops: The Line looks at first glance like another third-person military shooter, but it's actually the sharpest critique the genre ever received from a major publisher. A trio of American soldiers enters Dubai, buried under sand after devastating storms, to find a lost battalion and its commander. The story loosely draws on Heart of Darkness, and with each mission it shifts from a reconnaissance operation to the disintegration of Captain Walker, who gradually loses track of who he's actually saving and who he's killing, a shift the game signals through changing character lines and appearance.

The gameplay itself is deliberately conventional, meaning cover, moving between cover, and commands to two squadmates who can mark a target or throw a grenade. But the environment plays an active role: glass walls can be shot out to bury enemies under an avalanche of sand, and sandstorms reduce visibility and change the course of firefights. The game is strongest where it leads the player into decisions whose consequences can't be undone, then shows them without mercy. The white phosphorus sequence is one of the most discussed scenes in video games and remains a textbook example of turning the player's own routine against them.

On PlayStation 3 the production is solid, and what stands out most is the art direction of the buried luxury city, where skyscrapers, shopping malls, and swimming pools push up through the sand. At the time the game sold poorly, but critics praised its narrative and courage, and its reputation has grown considerably in the years since. Today Spec Ops: The Line is referenced as a key title in the debate over violence in games. The shooting has aged averagely, but as a statement the game remains uncomfortably effective. Its short length is actually an advantage here, because the whole holds together as one tight downward spiral you can't step out of before the final revelation.