Spec Ops: The Line is a 2012 third-person shooter video game developed by the German studio Yager Development and published by 2K. It is the tenth title, as well as a reboot, of the Spec Ops series. In the game, players can hide behind cover, vault over obstacles, and shoot enemies while utilizing a variety of gadgets. Included with the game is an online multiplayer mode, developed separately by Darkside Game Studios, allowing players to engage in both cooperative and competitive gameplay. The player controls Captain Martin Walker, who is sent into a post-catastrophe Dubai with an elite Delta Force team on a recon mission. As the story progresses, Walker's sanity begins to deteriorate as he begins to experience hallucinations and slowly realize the horror of war.
Yager started the game's development in 2007, taking inspiration for the setting and story framework from various media, including Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness and the 1979 film Apocalypse Now. The game was designed to be "physically opposing", causing players to question their thoughts about treating war in a video game as entertainment, and tasks players to make a variety of morally ambiguous decisions. The game suffered from multiple delays, and the development team used this time to refine the story and increase the gameplay's pace. The game's soundtrack is a mix of licensed music and original music composed by Elia Cmíral. The game was banned in the United Arab Emirates for its depiction of Dubai in a state of destruction.
Announced in December 2009, the game was released internationally in June 2012 for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Spec Ops: The Line received generally positive reviews from critics with praise given for the narrative and its themes, while criticism was targeted at the online multiplayer and aspects of the gameplay. It was also awarded and nominated for several end-of-the-year accolades, particularly for its story, and has garnered a cult following in the years after its release. Despite this, the game was a commercial failure, which led to the announcement that there would not be a sequel to the game, effectively ending the Spec Ops series.
