Spec Ops: The Line (for the PC)

Wow.  When I play a 'Shooter',  I like to think that I'm not shooting real people...or to obscure this in favor of focusing on the adventure.  You have to believe that the enemy is just the enemy and that is all there is to it to really enjoy the experience.  It doesn't relate to anything real.  The concept that there is a group of people that we would collectively like to shoot in real life...but we can't do that, so we do it in a game....is ludicrous.

'Spec Ops: The Line'  is a thought provoking, emotionally charged roller coaster through hell and madness.  It is a 'Shooter' you will want to play just once.  Based on a novel by Joseph Conrad called "The Heart of Darkness".  Other media productions have tried to capture the essence of this novel; "Apocalypse Now", Far Cry 2 ... but this game nails it.  It captures the descent into madness through conflict, horror and fatal choices better than anything I've ever seen.  It is not for the weak of stomach and will bum you the fuck out if you are not completely devoid of empathy.  I enjoyed it like I enjoy great art...it was thought provoking and it made me feel a variety of emotions.  The voice acting is excellent.

Mechanically there are too few buttons to do too many things.  You'll know this when you are attempting to stabilize a sniper rifle from behind cover...it can't be done.  Your 2 pals are tough as hell but often have little situational awareness...which means they are often down in a position that kills you too when you try to rescue them.  You can, however, order one of your team to heal the other member.  Ammo becomes a real issue.  There is almost never enough.  Picking up dropped weapons becomes a priority issue since nothing is more useless in a firefight than a gun without bullets.  You can interact with the environment (by way of shooting it) to help you out.  Glass can be shot out from under someone standing on it.  Explosives can be shot.  Glass with sand above it can be shot to drop the sand on your enemy.  There are a variety of circumstances you can find yourself in...so things don't get too repetitive (Looking at you...Far Cry 2).  

This game is good for what it was - a Story.  There is, however, no replay value and not enough functionality to allow for variation of play.   Too few buttons made some functions unattainable.  Finally it's a linear shooter.  Sorry Yahtzee...but this game isn't more than a 7/10 to me. 

Black Mesa

In 1998, Valve and Gearbox came out with 'Half-Life'.  A FPS with plenty of movement traps.  A massive secret science installation in the New Mexico Desert.  You play as an employee in one of the many labs.  There is an accident in your group which causes a "Resonance cascade" (Basically hostile aliens port into the base all over).  The Army is called in to "Clean up" the situation (which also involves 'silencing' any potential witnesses).   You spend most of the game in the installation trying to make your way to some colleagues who have figured a way of stabilizing the problem. 

Black Mesa is a remake of the original game that takes place around the Black Mesa facility.  It does NOT include Xen (The alien world you get teleported to in order to help stabilize the problem).  It's too bad that I didn't know this when I started playing it.  I was really looking forward to how they recreated THAT place.  I remember going to Xen back when I played the original.  That place -  Completely alien...technologically...physically.  I remember feeling both amazed and disturbed;  It was more than an FPS at that point...it was interactive art...and it made you feel.

Lets face it though; Valve is amazing.   Progression puzzles aren't my thing anymore.  I honestly find them annoying now...especially when the graphics are so good that the 'Interactables'  become hard to spot.  It's like what I have been saying; sometimes better graphics needs accounting for in regards to gameplay.

For me, Half-Life 2 was my favorite game from them.  ID Games were coming out with Doom3 crowding down grey dark interiors facing mostly predictable enemies with a SMG that seems to fire spit balls for all the damage it does.  HL2 had an open world feel with Killer Helicopter chases ... scary head crab zombie towns and epic Super-Sized battles with HUGE alien walkers!!!  It was YEARS ahead of its time and still would be a contender if it was released today...10 YEARS LATER!!! 

HL1 does have a following of devoted fans.  The problem with being a fan is that you tend to be a little biased.  Great for them...but HL1 is just not complete without Xen.  It is like eating a cake before the icing gets put on...or having the icing after you eat the cake.