Spec Ops: The Line's PTSD Commentary And The Power Of Games
Monday, August 5, 2013 at 8:00AM 
"Do You Feel Like A Hero?" -- A loading screen from Spec Ops: The Line
I’ve been actively trying to promote the power of games and with that the many conversations they can stir. I’ll never never play Spec Ops: The Line again, but I want you to. This game really accomplished it’s underlying goal of horrifying me. I feel, based on the game’s ‘totally bad ass military shooter cover’, it is almost trying to trick an implied demographic. There are so many games out there telling the player that killing can be without conscience and is often better that way. What happens when a game like Spec Ops: The Line comments on soldiers sent to wars they weren’t mentally equipped to fight? What happens when we acknowledge the long-term, and often -- immediate, effects of killing in the name of country and how can a game, effectively, pull that off?
