Spec Ops: The Line is a videogame that should be mandatory to play at least once in your life. An excellent commentary about mindless violence in shooters for the sake of a heroic fantasy, with interesting meta commentary. It has a bleak atmosphere and a gripping story where small and large decisions will weigh on your mind long after you stop playing. Graphically it holds up nicely and has a good soundtrack. Gameplay is dull but maybe thats the point. It’s almost like the game is asking the player why do they persist in playing a mediocre shooter for glory that doesn’t exist. “Feel like a hero yet”?

Yeah this game is almost as crap as everyone says. Honestly I feel bad for Sonic Team having less manpower and time than was needed in order to finish the game before the deadline on top of their producer leaving mid-project. It has neat ideas and a good ost but the ridiculous story, abundant glitches, mediocre level design, and jank-ass physics make the game simultaneously a chore to play and an absolute treasure, it wraps around to being so bad it’s good. The game is bad but not too awful up until the last story, then it becomes miserable. Play it to see how not to make a videogame and why deadlines, appropriate time management, budget, and staff are all important to game dev. I commend Sonic Team for attempting to stick to a vision even though this project became more doomed as development went on and this game ended up irrevocably changing how Sonic is perceived by the internet and even gaming communities at large.