Two years after its release, we get around to discussing Spec Ops: The Line on the podcast.
I hadn’t played it before we decided to finally do Spec Ops. I owned it and I knew, as a critic, it would be important to play, but there was always something keeping me from doing so. I hadn’t read Brendan’s book on it either. So in a very short amount of time, I both played the game and read Killing is Harmless in preparation of the podcast.
I make note at the end of the podcast that we didn’t get around to talking about even half of the stuff in the game. For instance, we left out almost all discussion about the Radio Man, only briefly mention the water stealing mission and its consequences, Walker falling out of a skyscraper, the helicopter gunship sequence and so much more. And this is one of our longer podcasts.
Spec Ops: The Line has an in-game timer that shows how long you’ve been playing. Though it’s a little inaccurate since it only counts successful attempts to move forward and not all of your deaths. I beat it in 4 and half hours. It’s a really short game and filled with so much stuff. After playing it, I understand why Brendan said he felt like he had to write the book. The game has an aura that practically insists you talk about it.
If you have played Spec Ops: The Line, give our podcast a listen.
“The truth, Walker, is that you’re here because you wanted to feel like something you’re not: a hero.”