So in that sense, I get why people hate Spec Ops: The Line. I liked the game. Like you said, it was interesting at the time. At the same time, I think I've maybe replayed it once, and even then I'm not positive I finished it when I did. And when I do see big essays about how important it is it just reminds me, and I hate to even say this because now I sound like some pseudo intellectual reddit fag but it really is the truth, how fucking infantile and sheltered most of these types of gamers must be.
Like I get a 13 year old thinking this shit is deep or profound or something, but like...it's just fucking Fight Club and Heart of Darkness. It's not ground breaking writing. Nobody should be having some sort of life altering event over it.
Yeah, it is literally Heart of Darkness transplanted into a game. Interesting idea, but not worth bellowing its name from the rooftops.
I think a lot of the crowd who were desperate to prove that games are art were butthurt about Roger Ebert's comments that video games could never be art. They never considered how Roger Ebert is just one voice that happened to get propped up by the media, and how a lot of his tastes in movies were questionable as-is. I remember people throwing around Silent Hill 2, and how it's absolutely art because it does a great job reflecting James' depression, and how he's handling his secrets. One of the endings is one where
James drives himself into the lake to commit suicide, and you can get this by keeping your health near critical for too long. Implying that James wanted to die, and didn't care too much about healing himself. It's an interesting, original way to trigger that ending.
Sure, games can be art. Problem is, most games aren't art at all. So many just don't make you think about life outside the box. Especially all those pretentious propaganda games, which are designed to funnel you towards one line of thought. There's nothing to discuss there, so it's not art at all. That's what propaganda is. Spec Ops: The Line's twist and ending rub so many of us the wrong way because it tells you exactly what to think, and railroads you into it. It's so close to being an interesting art piece, but falls flat because they want to force that twist down your throat so badly.
I know it's trite to bring up Undertale, especially in this context, but it at least had completely different end-game sequences based on whether or not you killed the monsters you fought. Even though just about anyone playing blind would end up with the "some killed, some didn't" result, because the game doesn't hammer into your head that the two big endings are achieved by giving mercy to absolutely everyone, or killing absolutely everyone.
Just make something fun, for fuck's sake. That is what video games are for.
"If your game's not fun, kill yourself." - Reggie Fils-Amie
