During the European Game Developer’s Conference going on at the present time, the creative director of Yager Development (the studio behind Spec Ops: The Line) elaborated on the future of the team’s endeavors. Anybody who is clamoring for another Spec Ops game to follow up The Line may be sorely disappointed.
Apparently, the team is beginning work on a brand new game of unknown description, other than the fact that it is NOT another Spec Ops game. The game reportedly hasn’t met sales expectations, which isn’t surprising because when you color outside of the lines, no pun intended, you don’t normally make a profit for trying something new unless it is incredibly mind blowing. Spec Ops: The Line was certainly a bold step forward for the shooter genre, and a damn decent game, but it was not an instant classic. It also wasn’t marketed to the typical bro-shooter crowd, although oddly included an out of place multiplayer mode along with the unique campaign. I have yet to really hear anyone talk about this, at all, so I guess that’s a fair sign no one played it.
It’s sad, but by no means on any planet could it be considered surprising. They also specified that they were disappointed with how the requirement for Xbox 360 retail games as far as achievements go tended to sour what they had planned for the effect of their morality system based on in-game decisions. They claim they wish they hadn’t made achievements that pertained to these choices, but honestly, I can’t help but point the finger at Microsoft before crying foul at the developer. Seriously, I love my gamerscore and achievements are fun, but the fact that they are NEEDED I feel is an egregious demand. I feel like games should have achievements that make sense, therefore the developer should be allowed to choose whether or not they want to do them, and if they reach a limit and don’t want to force more than they have, so be it. In the end, moral choices in the game had less impact because players were compelled just to go back and do all of them just to squeeze out those cheevos. I’m not going to lie, I did just that, but still enjoyed the game, but if not for the achievements, I may have just lived with my choices. Imagine that?
Regardless, it seems that we’ll all have to live with the fact that Spec Ops’ 15 minutes of fame has passed, while Microsoft lives with its inevitable choice to “be all about those points, son!”
Spec Ops: The Line sequel unlikely, Yager making a new game [Joystiq]
