10. Spec Ops: The Line (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, OS X, Linux) – 2012

Spec Ops: The Line gameplay trailer

(Contains story spoilers)

Arguably the most thought-provoking – story-wise speaking – of all the games listed here, Spec Ops: The Line is a third-person shooter developed by relatively unknown Yager Development and widely distributed by 2K Games. It was in development for roughly five years and takes inspiration from the setting and framework of various media, most notably Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and its subsequent loose retelling, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, a major motion picture. The game has a very dedicated cult following, mostly due to the fact that Spec Ops tells a very gripping and harrowing story of the mental and emotional degradation of soldiers during combat.

The gameplay allows for squad-based tactics in addition to regular third-person shooting mechanics, as well as environmental hazards caused by the game’s setting, a bleak sandstorm-ridden Dubai. Additionally, the game features moral decisions to be made at certain points, determining the fates of everyone involved in the story.

Similar to MGSV in that: the narrative is harrowing and amazingly haunting, while still providing solid gameplay.

Better than MGSV in that: it tells its story more consistently, and often will impact you in ways that you will definitely feel.

Squad-Based Combat: Spec Ops features squad-based tactical gameplay, which allows you to give orders to your teammates, First Lieutenant Alphonso Adams and Staff Sergeant John Lugo.

Discover the very ‘Heart of Darkness’: In Spec Ops, you play as Martin Walker, captain of an elite three-man Delta Force team sent to Dubai. During the course of the game, Walker continually loses his grip on sanity while at the same time tries to keep himself and his teammates alive, all the while trying to keep the mission intact.

Harrowing Look at the Effects of War: In one of the game’s most iconic scenes, Delta Team discovers the remains of civilians that fell victim to their own white phosphorus attack.