Spec Ops: The Line

Story:

First of all, every story moment of this game should be experienced firsthand. So all I can do without ruining that experience is set up a scene:

Before the events of the game, a series of dust storms, the worst in recorded history, started to ravage Dubai (UAE). Politicians and the wealthy elite left the city in secret and left countless citizens behind.

At the same time, Colonel John Konrad and his battalion of the US Army volunteered to help the relief efforts and then refused the US government orders to abandon the city and its citizens, thus becoming deserters. With the dust storms becoming more and more intense, a massive storm wall covered Dubai, preventing all communications, air travel, and even satellite surveillance. After numerous reports of martial law being declared and one last attempt to evacuate failed, all communications stopped completely, prompting the US government to covertly send in a three-man Delta Force team to carry out reconnaissance. Our team consists of Captain Walker, Lieutenant Adams, and Sergeant Lugo, and our task is to confirm the status of Konrad and any survivors, then radio for extraction.

So now, as Walker and his team, it's our job to get through ravaged Dubai to learn the truth of the events transpiring inside what once was a tourist mecca and business hub.

If you read the novel or watched the movie this game inspired by, you can imagine what path story is going to take. But it doesn't mean that there's no surprising twists and turns.

Without getting into spoiler territory, I'd say that game story does a great job in making you care about your actions and decisions and also does a great job of showing the effects of war, especially PTSD.

Gameplay:

1) Combat system

Being a typical third-person shooter, it provides everything you expect it to: you can hide behind cover, aim, shoot, throw grenades. However, there's a heavy emphasis on tactics and utilizing the environment. Since we're in the sand-covered Dubai and its glass-made skyscrapers, there will be many times you can shoot glass to create sand avalanches or even shoot the glass so enemies will fall to their deaths. 
The cover is important too, I'd even say that it's more important than in other games, especially on higher difficulties. Also, in some parts of the game, you're given a choice of stealth approach, which provides a welcome change.

2) Weapons

The game has a solid selection of different guns: from pistols and SMGs to sniper rifles RPGs, so it's safe to say that you'll find something to like.

3) Team tactics

Since Delta Team is a three-man squad - they can carry out command orders. You can order them to cover you, change position, or attack a particular enemy, which helps in combat. If you don't want to bother with giving orders, AI is competent enough to do its own thing, but on higher difficulties will drop like flies, if you're not careful. When dealt enough damage, squadmates will enter the near-death state and you will have a limited amount of time to revive them, otherwise get ready to see that Game Over screen more often than you would like to.

4) Choices

During the playthrough, you will have to make some tough decisions (including moral ones). It's not just about how to kill enemies, but how to make a split-second decision and react to the consequences of your actions. The choices usually lead to unexpected outcomes, making some story parts especially gut-punching.
The gameplay goes through a lot of psychological challenges. You don't just shoot enemies, but observe the moral consequences of certain actions, both players and other characters. Sure, most of the time you're engaged in "fun" shooting, but more often than not there's this lingering question pops up in the back of your mind: “Am I doing the right thing?”

5) Multiplayer

I honestly can't say much about the multiplayer portion of the game, since in my memory it was pretty much DOA with no one to play with. 

Graphics:

When the game first launched in 2012, it was a bit of a surprise to see how well it looked, given that it was more of a mid-tier release at the time. It didn't have the insane budget or hype of some AAA titles, but it still stood out in a few key ways.

Deserted, sandstorm-ravaged Dubai and the environment design is a huge part of what makes the graphics stand out. The city’s once grandiose architecture is now falling apart, with half-sunken buildings, wrecked luxury cars, and the harsh desert sands creeping through every crack and corner. The city feels both abandoned and eerily alive in its decay. The sandstorms also add a unique touch, often changing how you experience the world—sometimes the visibility is almost zero, which can create a tense atmosphere. The visuals of the sand overtaking everything were quite impressive for its time.

Character models hold up decently, though they can obviously look a bit aged compared to more modern games. The main characters have a fair amount of detail, but their facial animations can feel somewhat stiff, especially in cutscenes. Although I can't say for sure if this is NOT a stylistic and narrative choice. Beyond that, the protagonist, Martin Walker, and his team look rugged and worn by their experiences, which fits the grim tone of the story, but his facial expressions aren’t as fluid as you’d expect from more recent games. That said, the animations during combat, like taking cover, firing weapons, or even executions, are pretty solid.

While the textures are generally good, they’re not groundbreaking by today’s standards. (On the plus side, the game doesn't take half of your SSD because of uncompressed textures.) The game’s focus on destruction and ruin means there are lots of surfaces that are scratched, chipped, or worn down, which adds to the visual atmosphere. The sandstorms sometimes obscure fine details, but that was part of the charm - it keeps the visuals from becoming too clean or polished, which is perfect for the gritty, almost nihilistic tone of the game.

The graphics also help tell the story in subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) ways. For example, there are a lot of visual cues in the environment that hint at or outright show the atrocities that have taken place in Dubai. Broken windows abandoned military equipment, and even the bodies you find scattered throughout the city all contribute to the atmosphere. These visual elements do a lot of the heavy lifting without needing long dialogue or exposition. There's plenty of dialogue and exposition, don't get me wrong. It comes in the way of a conversation between our team or intel files we can pick up along the way (which sheds some light on Konrad's way of seeing things.) But I'd say that the game strikes a perfect balance between "show don't tell" and "tell don't show".

It's safe to say that the game's visuals fit its overall mood. The washed-out color palette (lots of sandy browns and grays, which is unsurprising, since the 2010s were these colors kind of era) gives everything a bleak, oppressive feel. There’s mostly very little color to lift the mood, which is a direct reflection of the heavy emotional toll the story takes on the protagonist (and subsequently the player).

Audio:

The game blends a gritty original score by Elia Cmíral with licensed classic rock tracks like Jimi Hendrix’s "All Along the Watchtower," Deep Purple and others (don't forget Hendrix's rendition of Star Spangled Banner playing in the main menu) further helping in creating a surreal atmosphere. Music often plays during combat, contrasting the violence with almost cinematic flair. 

Howling sandstorms, distant explosions, and creaking ruins pull you into the devastated Dubai setting. Combat sounds are crisp and intense, with distinct punchy weapon noises, impactful explosions, and dynamic enemy chatter adding realism to firefights.

Voice acting is exceptional. In 2025, Nolan North is a household name loved by millions. Fresh of reprising his Nathan's Drake role in 2012 "Uncharted: Golden Abyss", Nolan North delivers a standout performance as Captain Walker, perfectly capturing his emotional descent. His squadmates, Adams and Lugo, add depth with their shifting dynamics, while the eerie "Radioman" taunts through surreal broadcasts, amplifying the game’s unsettling mood.

Radioman's voiceovers, mixed with music and propaganda, are truly something. They give you the feeling that you’re constantly being watched and judged. His quirky, almost playful tone contrasts sharply with the game’s dark themes, making his broadcasts memorable.

I'd go as far as saying that silence is just as powerful, often giving you time to reflect after intense scenes. Together, the sound design, music, and voice work create an unforgettable audio experience that immensely helps the game gain even more psychological and emotional weight.

What once was perceived as "another one shooter game" became a cult classic loved by many. Sadly, too little too late, because the series died due to poor sales and we will never see another impactful story-driven shooter like this one. To rub even more salt into the wound, the game was pulled from digital storefronts, so if you want to play it, Steam is not an option anymore.