Bit of an explanation as to what prompted me to make this post: I recently played through Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 1 and 2 and I just felt off. I’ve slaughtered hundreds of innocents for my amusement in games like Fallout and TES, I play through No Russian with a grin, but for some reason, I refrain from killing bad guys in SGW? The first one has you hunt down Russian oligarchs and war criminals, while the second one is about Middle Eastern terrorists and this is the game where I feel bad about killing? There’s just something about the soldiers talking about their daily problems like making no money, uncomfortable boots and sweating too much, or showing eachother pictures of their dogs, not to mention the absolute horror when you’ve got a knife against their throat or when they find a body. I hope this isn’t weird, but I’ve never experienced remorse for killing a video game enemy, and I’ve played a lot of different games. I’d like to hear about your experiences, and which games do a good job humanising common enemies, the concept intrigues me.
Spec Ops: The Line goes to a dark place that played on my mind for a while after
If there’s one game I want to see remastered in, say, Unreal Engine 5.2 with modern graphics, its this game.
It would make it far more horrifying.
Is that the part with the Willie Pete? I believe that was based on a “Shake and Bake” fire mission back in Fallujah in 04’.
One of the most underrated games of all time
I bought it solely because I liked the gameplay in the demo, not knowing what I was getting myself into
I’m surprised I had to search so far for this game. Nothing makes you feel worse than thinking you’re a hero and then seeing the consequences of your actions
“To kill for yourself is murder. To kill for your country is heroic. To kill for entertainment is harmless” - spec ops loading screen.
I think this would be higher if more people had played this game.
Unfortunately the game play was not very good. If it was better I think more people would have played it
I’ve never played this game but from what I remember, it was marketed like any other shooter. Sure must have blindsided a lot of people
Which is incredibly clever, because it starts off like a run of the mill shooter too. The twist relies entirely on being completely coldcocked by it.
Very artfully done. People are still talking about it years later for a reason
The aftermath of the white phosphorus attack haunts me to this day.
Yeah F that part…
Also, a subtle touch they added during the attack is that you can see your character’s reflection in the drone screen, forcing you to look yourself in the face while carrying out the attack.
Uff, that game is a trip. When we gased the civilians … Fuck me…
That was the whole point of that game, and they nailed it masterfully. Also, Heart of Darkness in video game form!
Is this the ultimate answer to this question? I haven’t played Spec Ops but based on what I’ve heard about it I can’t think of a game where killing has more emotional baggage.
got through the phosphorus scene just fine, but what tore me up was the fella you sneak up behind while he’s talking with a buddy on overwatch. he’s talking about what he’d do when it’s all over or something, describing his favorite memory of home: staring out at a field watching fireflies.
it happened right before a hard fight, so I had to keep sneaking up on these guys and shooting them in the back. at some point, I started listening to their entire conversation every time, letting them share a happy memory before it all suddenly went black