Do you really know Spec Ops: The Line ?

Hello,

I am Aurélien, the creator of Icarus, an independant video game magazine I run alone. My last issue was about Spec Ops: The Line. I chose that game for many reasons. But the idea that drove me was  religion. How come nobody saw that this game is filled with religion ? Neither players or journalists.

There were a few elements during my first run that I found pretty bizarre. The first was the tag on a wall, saying "God help us". That's nothing big but that was the first thing I noticed. Then, during an infiltration phase, I heard a soldier say: " Forgive them, for they know not what they do" (supplication of Jesus / New Testament).
I continued to play and I saw more and more vending machines called "Paradise Splash" and "Spirit Cola". Very ironic. Then I used white phosphorus that I shot from a lounge called Lux Aeterna. These are the first words of the communion prayer told during the Requiem mass: (Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in æternum..). It could have been some coincience but this is far more than that.

Spec Ops: The Line is like a religious puzzle you need to solve. The fact is that there is a religious speech, well hidden in the game. Sometimes, you noticed it through the dialogues or some symbols. Sometimes, through very discrete parallels.For example, the painting of John Konrad (the Nemesis of the game) is the horrific mirror of The Sistine Madonna created by Raphaël (confirmed by Mathias Wiese, the art director of Spec Ops).

 

There are maybe a hundred religious elements in the game proving that you are in Hell, being punished for Vanity. And everything is linked to the catholic theology. The fact that nobody saw that christian dimension is very disturbing. Why ?

Because it was really discrete and because Spec Ops is so subtle that the game is misunderstood on practically every level. But if you don't believe me, just rewatch that trailer and look at the tv screens on the sides (it begins between 0,54 to the end).



If you want to know more about the religion in Spec Ops, you should check out that article : https://fr.scribd.com/doc/315127793/The-Religion-Under-the-Sand

And if you want to know more about Spec Ops, you should support my kickstarter : https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/982706071/icarus-special-spec-ops-the-line

ps: Next time, I will talk about the gameplay of Spec Ops and the main problem of video game criticism : journalist should play on hard difficulty.