8 Video Games That Are Just Not That Deep

Spec-Ops: The Line is often held up as a shining example of the storytelling depth that video games can provide and which other artistic mediums simply can't.

After all, it was widely praised for using a seemingly familiar war shooter setup to pass commentary on the notions of player agency and "free will," forcing players along an increasingly perilous, horrifying path which they could avoid by... just not playing the game.

It was certainly an interesting take in 2012, when the market was flooded with blandly generic shooters trying to reheat Call of Duty's nachos. But how deep was it really?

Effectively, the game's big twist is heavily inspired by Fight Club, it's not really saying anything new about the horrors of war, and even its metanarrative aspect seems less impressive nowadays, in a cultural era where fourth wall-breaking storytelling is all the rage.

But even if you defend Spec-Ops as an innovative title for its time, the nuts and bolts of its gameplay are still those of a thunderously forgettable cover shooter, and there's no getting away from that.