Spec Ops: The Line is a weird game

So I've been wanting to play this game since I played the demo earlier this year. It was a pretty fun shooter game, with an interesting style. I finally picked it up on sale on Steam last week and got around to playing it this evening. It's a very short game, as I managed to beat it in one night. It's also a very weird game.

I'll start off by saying the game is overall pretty good. It's got great visuals, and a very cool soundtrack. I've never really gotten into music with lyrics as the backdrop to action in films and games, but it works really well in this. The gameplay mechanics are 100% straightforward military 3rd person shooter faire, so it's nothing to write home about. It feels solid, plays solid, same old-same old.

Where this game strays from the beaten path is how the game plays out. I read a little blurb on Kotaku that summed it up pretty well (and I generally do not like Kotaku's articles):

"At the end of it all, you didn't feel all-powerful or even like you always did the right thing. You just felt wrung out. A lot more like real war-and real life-than other action games."

At times in the game, I didn't like what I was doing. There were some decisions you have to make that are tough to make and I didn't like the outcome of either. I understand why this game does what it does, and that is to give a glimpse at what actual war is like. I also understand that it is impossible to capture what actual war is like within a video game, but I'm fairly sure that war isn't fun and at the end of it you definitely don't feel like celebrating.

I suggest you give this game a whirl, though. It's not too terribly difficult, and only takes a few hours to complete. It's full of some memorable moments, but be warned there are some fucked up things you do in the game and like I said previously I wasn't comfortable with a lot of it. But that is the feeling the game is supposed to invoke and I believe it's worth it just to experience the game for what it is: an experience.

Gaming Resolutions 2013

I've compiled a list of my gaming resolutions for 2013. These include playing or beating games I haven't played or beaten, to increasing the size of my collection.

1.) Beat Final Fantasy III - I have this weird thing where I don't like playing ports of games, and classic RPGs are a genre I prefer on their original consoles. I've had FF3 for quite a while for my SNES, I just never got around to playing it. Well to be fair I got about 15 hours into the game and for whatever reason I just stopped playing.

2.) Actually Play Resident Evil 6 - I bought this game to play with my friend Bryan, and we just haven't had a chance to play it together yet. The newer generation of RE games are multiplayer-centric games, so it's best to play with a friend. I'm not sure if I will like the game, so we shall see. As I've mentioned before, RE is my absolute favorite game franchise so I hold each games to a very high standard.

3.) Resist breaking the Halo 4 disc - I need to beat this fucking game. I am playing on Legendary and I am too stubborn to knock it down a peg to Heroic. I'm stuck on a part that is just absolutely insane, and I'm not really stoked about it. Multiplayer is pretty fuckin' fun when Ier am on a roll.

4.) Finally play Max Payne 3 - I've never actually played the first Max Payne game, but I beat Max Payne 2 and loved it. I've been waiting for this game for a long while, and finally nabbed it for $15 on Steam. Can't wait to dig into this thing!

5.) Fear Alma a third time in FEAR 3 / F3AR / F34R /Whatever - I loved  the first two Fear games, and I was waiting for this game to be had for peanuts on Steam and I grabbed it for $5. Hopefully it's as good as the first two, because I really liked both of those games.

6.) Break my mouse clicking shit in Torchligh II - I need to actually finish this thing! TII is an incredibly fun 'click-on-stuff-til-it-dies' game that I can't recommend enough! I am quite a ways into it, I just need to hunker down and do the damn thing!

7.) Beat Skyrim...eventually - I still haven't completed this thing yet, and it is old! It really hasn't hit me as much as Oblivion and I don't really know why I am so indifferent to beating it at this point. Still need to see it through. I did scoop up Morrowind for like $4 on Steam recently, and I want to give it a whirl. I need to look up some mods for it.

8.) Get level 50 in Borderlands 2 - I fucking love this game. I beat it tonight, well I completed the Story and unlocked True Vault Hunter mode. I'm level 33 right now, but I really want to get level 50 and get the DLC. BL2 is such a solid fucking game, I don't really have any qualms with it. It's challenging and a boat load of fun. Things get incredibly hard at some points, but you just hunker down, blast some bandits and have a ball. Can't wait to play through the DLCs.

9.) Not cry about the lack of future Professor Layton games - I won't be able to pull this one off.

10.) Get a Super Famicom - So I can play Shutokou Battle 94. That is seriously the only reason I really want one. Oh yeah and Japanese Super Metroid.

11.) Get an Atari or Intellivision - I need to get into collecting for vintage consoles, the oldest system I collect for is the NES.

12.) Figure out how to make YouTube videos without looking like a tool - Still have no idea what sort of format to make video game videos. I definitely want to do it.

That's really all I got so far. Right now I'm really looking forward to more Borderlands 2 and finally getting a crack at Final Fantasy 3.