Heart of Darkness: Dubai
Revisiting Spec Ops: The Line
Recently I had the pleasure of replaying Spec Ops: The Line, a third-person shooter created by German studio Yager Development. I’d not heard much about it before playing it the first time, beyond that it was set in a destroyed Dubai and revolved around using your environment to assist your squad and impede your adversaries. What I encountered was something that was actually a tribute to the Polish writer Joseph Conrad’s flagship work, Heart of Darkness and its famous homage, Apocalypse Now.
Perhaps pleasure was the wrong word. The game was heart-wrenching, turbulent, horrifying. But just like a well-plotted film or book, it kept me focused on it the whole way through on my first playthrough. I finished it in four days, playing after work and was constantly left guessing as to what was about to happen.
If you’ve any intention of playing this game…..stop reading now! It’s going to be spoiler heavy, and I’ll be attempting to analyse some of the more gripping parts in the game’s narrative, particularly the choices you’re given.
The Line opens up “in media res”, with a high speed helicopter chase before a…
