StaceyPowers

Just finished Spec Ops: The Line. I loved it. SPOILERS BELOW **************************************** So, what really happened in this game? I think the most straightforward theory is that they died in the crash at the start, and everything after that is Walker's dying hallucinations recounting the events leading up to the crash + his imaginings afterwards or a purgatorial trip to the afterlife. I also am trying to figure out if he already had PTSD when he arrived in Dubai, from whatever passed before on his previous tour with Konrad. Curious what choice people made at the end. I had him kill himself the first time, but that was because I thought it'd wake him up, and that shooting Konrad's reflection would just bury his mind. Didn't work the way I thought, and I didn't want him to just get oblivion, so I went back and shot Konrad's reflection and sent him "home." I hope he gets a chance at redemption/healing. Incidentally, I liked the overall lack of player agency in this game. It felt more "real" to me than games where the world revolves around my choices and they usually work out. Also, what a soundtrack! Been playing it on loop since I finished.

I could imagine a true believer monster killing themselves to annihilate what they perceived of as a blight (insane to us sane folks, but surely heroic in the mind of some biogted arse). And yeah, it's even weirder when you think about it that if you played a good guy, you probably have Charon or Fawkes with you, and both are immune, so why the heck wouldn't you have them do it? It's like sending them to the spa. If Charon walked in there with a headache, he probably walked out feeling great, lol.

Wow ... amazing I can play through almost the entirety of RDR and only just be learning this.

D&D was banned in our household growing up by conservative parents who bought lock, stock and barrel into that crazy stuff in the 80s where people thought that playing paper and dice games would lead to you selling your soul to the devil etc. etc. That actually was what prompted me to find some kind of RP I could do in secret, which led me to online gaming ^_^

What games have hooked your attention right from the start? I think the only game I remember being invested within minutes with was TLOU.

How many hours?

Just finished Spec Ops: The Line the other night (twice, because I found the first ending I got unacceptable). Definitely $6 extremely well spent, and the game deserves all the recommendations I received to play it.

THIS is exactly one of the things which shakes me every time I am playing this game--how strange and ironic it is that I only get to learn and grow from these amazing characters through a medium which is not available to them to enjoy and grow through in their post-apocalyptic world. I have deja'vu reading this, like I read your analysis before somewhere else a while ago. It's clearly a labor of love, so thank you for posting it here.

Spec Ops: The Line. Took me a few weeks as I was playing just a couple checkpoints at a time most nights.

I honestly don't know. Whatever the default is for my monitor I guess?

What annoyed me most about Fallout 3's ending is that I did the logical thing and sent Charon in to do the job because he is a GHOUL he is IMMUNE to radiation and in fact HEALED by it, and he acted like I was a monster and then the end slides were like "The lone wanderer was totally awesome and heroic until the last minute when he was EVIL and sent his friend into the reactor." So passive aggressive, judgy, and also just ... wrong about my actions.

That's so much more nuance than the original RDR, where the lasso always just settles the same way and never kills the victim, plus you can run into people at a full gallop without so much as a "Hey, watch it!" from them, lol. I am very uncoordinated while riding, so I guess a lot of horse trampling fatalities are in my future.

Most creative way you've killed someone in RDR2?

I have dreamt incessantly about every FPS game I have ever played, and often ones that have never existed, and I love it. Last night thought I dreamt literally all night I was trying to fix the botched decision I made at the end of Spec Ops: The Line.

If you can't perceive the timeless brilliance of Tetris' plot and characters, you just aren't paying attention. The L-shape is my favourite, out to destroy every attempt to construct greatness. A mastermind villain. And poor zigzag always tries to help--but it's too little, too late =D

Yes, no spoilers please, but now I’m curious and I wonder if I will be able to guess the moment when I eventually get to play it.

I don't think I've seen you around here before; welcome (if you're new, and nice to meet you otherwise). TLOU is one of the most amazing games I have ever played, and one of the best-written stories I've ever experienced, full stop.

Welcome to the forum. Like some of the others here, I also don’t really get into achievements, but I can understand why some gamers find them compelling.

Why don't you like the Fallout franchise?

Actually, I think TLOU might resonate with you. I think you’d get Joel and his ultimate decision, and wouldn’t have any ethical issues with what he does.

I nominate @Alexander. , who rapidly has become a core participant with thoughtful comments and questions.

What games have you played that change how you feel about most other games you play? For example, I’m playing Spec Ops: The Line right now, and it has made me realize just how strange it is that we “shoot first, ask questions never” with most enemies in the vast majority of the games we play.

What genre of games do you think has evolved and changed most noticeably over the years you have been gaming, and in what ways? For me, I would say that FPS games have changed the most; when I was a kid, they had only the most bare-bones plots, but now, games like BioShock and Spec Ops: The Line have amazed me with their solid narratives underpinning the action.

How many hours do you need to put into a game before you feel emotionally invested in it? For me, it can vary anywhere from a couple hours to twenty or more, depending on how long it takes for something in-game to grab me (although with TLOU, it was just minutes).

After you buy your next generation console, be it a PS5 or Xbox Series X, what do you think will be the very first games you purchase? I’m assuming PS5 will play almost all PS4 games, so for me it will be catching up on PS4 games I’ve missed, likely starting with The Outer Worlds, TLOU II, and RDR2.