Fast-moving melee specialists, heavy gunners, and grenadiers force you to stay mobile and risk exposure. Sometimes sandstorms, sunshine, or objects obscure your vision. The Line introduces new variables in each fight. He’s vulnerable and his enemies are aggressive, which encourages intelligent tactical combat. Walker is just a man, and bullets rip him to pieces. The battles on the way to each one strengthens The Line's constant tension. On the other side of every door and dune are conspiracies, betrayals, and mysteries waiting for Walker. He makes the inevitable bad call and deals with it, nothing more.
Choice changes what it means to be this man. In fact, the finale has a greater effect on the six hours leading up to it. Deciding which of the bickering, increasingly angry teammates to side with, or who lives and dies, doesn’t affect the outcome of your rescue mission. You project their meaning and importance onto your character without seeing substantial in-game consequence. Morality isn’t a feature or mechanic in Spec Ops: The Line - each ethical quandary Walker confronts are subtle story beats dealt with by in-game action rather than a separate yes/no mechanism. In your mission to save civilians and make contact with a former commander, you’ll make tough decisions that aren’t like other video game choices. As Walker, you’ll discover dark and disturbing things about Dubai and the people stuck within it. Dubai hosts a civil war between multiple factions trying not to die. The city is a wasteland, the environment is as hostile as the refugees, and surviving requires aggressive self-defense. Rogue American soldiers who’ve abandoned their duty in Dubai attack on sight, and not without reason. The Line puts them in the precarious position of fighting their brethren.