Spec Ops: The Line First Look
Discover a world of death and destruction in 2K's latest.
January 5, 2010 - If there's one thing we learned from 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum, it's that it doesn't take a marquee game development studio to produce pure videogame gold. Yager, a small game developer out of Berlin, Germany, is trying to follow the model used by Rocksteady to make one of 2010's best shooters. Their project (in development since 2007) is called Spec Ops: The Line and it, much like Batman, is using Unreal Engine 3 to give new life to a somewhat familiar world.
The setting of Spec Ops is Dubai... sort of. The Dubai being crafted by Yager has been ravaged by terrible sandstorms that have rendered the city totally useless, lest you count the feeble street urchins that are confined to dilapidated shelters within the hollow interiors of a once proud and majestic building. Within this hellish depiction of one of the world's most revered cities we find our main character, Captain Martin Walker of Delta Force. His mission is to find Colonel John Konrad who has gone certifiably nuts during his attempts to evacuate the population of Dubai. He's already killed a team of Deltas who were sent to retrieve him, now it's up to you and your team to bring him home.
![[IMG]](http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/105/1058123/spec-ops-the-line-20100105084015532.jpg)
During the time I spent at Yager, basically every discussion I had with the development team was about the single-player campaign and the provocative story that they're trying to create. They mentioned branching storylines and different decisions that players would be allowed to make but became a bit hesitant when I mentioned multiple endings. I will say that the potential is certainly there for a riveting tale, and with Nolan North (Nathan Drake in Uncharted) lending his voice to the main character, there's really no telling how intricate a web Yager plans to weave.
The gameplay in Spec Ops looks to be very standard fare from what little I've seen of the game. Everything is presented through a third-person viewpoint and the numerous gun fights are all stop-and-pop affairs. There are two distinct differentiations from Gears of War: the squad mechanics and the element of sand.
Unlike Epic's shooter, The Line allows you to send the other two members of your squad wherever you want on the battlefield. You can tell them to advance or come to you or take cover behind certain objects. Here's hoping that the pathfinding works properly and that the two other deltas will be able to fend for themselves when not under your watchful eye. Sand is another question mark for Spec Ops, but it has the potential to truly change the way you approach a situation. With a well-placed shot players can use the "dynamic sand" to kill enemies, create avalanches or build bridges to new areas in a level. If Yager can add enough variation to the use of sand so that it feels truly dynamic, then The Line could begin to pleasantly differentiate itself from the pack.
I was shown several different scenarios where sand played a significant role. At one such point, and you can check this out for yourself in the trailer, sand actually begins to fall from under your feet, sending your character reeling into a pit of darkness. But not before hanging from a ledge and picking off guys with your trusty M16 -- one-handed -- of course. In another instance players can elect to shoot a wall of glass that's holding back hundreds of pounds of sand in order to kill a group of enemies. As long as players aren't constantly forced to use the sand around them, I think it could remain a cool element to The Line.
The gameplay, at least as far as the single-player storyline goes, has the potential to go one of two ways. It could be a straight Gears of War clone (it does have Roadie Run, after all) or it could branch out to become something really special through its inventive setting and provocative narrative. It's too early to tell which side Spec Ops is going to land on, but here's hoping it tries to change the paradigm from the throngs of other Gears of War clones that are already out there.
![[IMG]](http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/105/1058123/spec-ops-the-line-20100105083946767-000.jpg) Battles promise to be intense and sandy.
Other than aiming for a compelling storyline and its core gameplay mechanics, little is known about Spec Ops: The Line. The trailers look cool, but the gameplay is certainly reminiscent of other titles. Multiplayer presents an interesting opportunity to branch out, but Yager gave out few details when pressed on the subject. They did say that there would be co-op in some fashion and that multiple Horde- or Firefight-esque modes would be included, but beyond that there was very little to talk about.
There's no question that Spec Ops: The Line has potential and, when I spoke at length with the team at Yager, they're clearly impassioned about the project they've been slaving over for years. I'm just hoping that all of that passion doesn't stifle their ambition to reach out and try new things with The Line and not stick to what we've seen from the genre before. If they can manage to do that, Spec Ops: The Line could be a must-own when it hits in fall 2010 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
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