Today is Valentine’s Day. So I would like to take a moment
and profess my undying love for something incredibly important to me. These people
have changed my life. Thanks to them I now have a deeper understanding of
myself and those around me. I have seen the worst that mankind has to offer so
now I can see the true beauty. I would like to take this moment and say that I
love Spec Ops: The Line.
I have written before about why this game deserves to be
played and I will not bore you all with that again. (If you haven’t read it
yet, then read this In
Depth – Spec Ops: the Line). What I would like to do here is just explain
my undying love for perhaps the best game I ever played. Even better than the
original God of War. That means a lot seeing as how until now that was my
previous favorite game of all time. It now stands as my second. I’m sorry
Kratos. You have been replaced.
Never before has a game given my such a visceral reaction,
never has it made me care so much about not only the characters I played as or
with but the people on the other side of the gun as well. Spec Ops is an exquisite
example of videogames as an art form. The story is strong enough to stand on its
own and the gameplay although not tight overall is enough to have sold. But the
art forms of written word and interactivity have been around for a while now.
Movies are also accepted as an art form, but what makes videogames unique is
their ability to bring all these parts together and create something brand new.
Spec Ops uses what we know and understand about all the previous forms of art
to guide us on a journey down the heart of the human soul. The way the desert
sand is ever present in Dubai, a reminder of the unavoidable destruction of
even the greatest of human endeavors. How Walker’s dialogue slowly devolves to
that of a manic. The music ques driving us forward whether we wanted to or not.
The patience testing and anger inducing grind sequences meant to place in
Walker’s increasingly disturbed mindset. How the difference between a fade to
white and a fade to black can mean everything. Spec Ops uses all these familiar
elements and combines them to a sum much greater than its parts.
When it becomes legal for man or woman and videogame to get
married I am going to marry Spec Ops: The Line.
That simple. Nothing more. I want to go to bed every night
and lay down gazing into the fiercely blue eyes of Captain Walker. I want Sergeant
Lugo to wake me in the mornings with a quick funny but ultimately meaningful
line. I want Lieutenant Adams to be there every day with his strong and
securing stair. I want Colonel Konrad to
ask me the tough questions. I want The Radioman to DJ my life.
Happy Valentine’s day. I love you, Spec Ops: The Line.
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