spec-ops-the-line posts

Publisher Take Two Interactive's latest financial results are now available for the company's quarter that ended on December 31, 2010. The company exceeded its own guidence with revenues of $334.3 million, slightly lower than the revenues of $360.4 million for the same period a year ago. Take Two had a profit of $40.86 million for the time period, which is slightly higher than the profit of $37.92 million for the same period a year ago.

The company's press release had no major changes to its release scheduled other than today's addition of 2K Games' The Darkness II for fall 2011. Duke Nukem Forever is still due for release on May 3. Spec Ops The Line and XCom have a more vague release window of "Fiscal 2012" which means anytime between April, 1 2011 and March 3, 2012. Finally BioShock Infinite is still scheduled for release in the calendar year of 2012. The long awaited Max Payne 3 still does not have a release date although the publisher has confirmed the game is still in the works.

On Sunday we began our multi-part feature on Big Download's most anticipated PC games due (at least at the moment) for release in 2011 with the first person shooter genre. Today we continue our series with all of the action games we are excited to get our hands on the next year that don't have the first person perspective as its main viewpoint.

This next 12 months will see quite a few pure action games on the horizon including a reboot of one of the biggest game series of all time, a return appearance by a certain Dark Knight detective and a game where all of the action is happening inside your comatose mind. Really. Here's our action game list for 2011, in order of the games' expected release.

Helicopters crashing into buildings. Blind fire from behind cover. Destruction of a once bustling metropolis. Things are looking relatively average in this Spec Ops: The Line trailer, which doesn't exactly impress with its usage of stereotyped shooter genre conventions. Still, this is the first Spec Ops game in seven years, so we're willing to cut it a little slack. It's a series that has been long absent, after all.

Download HD Spec Ops: The Line E3 2010 Trailer (133MB)
Check out all Spec Ops: The Line downloads

Long before the Call of Duty games, before the Medal of Honor franchise and even one month before the release of the first Rainbow Six game, the first game in the Spec Ops franchise of military tactical first person shooters was released in 1998. First developed by Zombie and first published by the now defunct Ripcord Games, the series has been in limbo for almost a decade by its current owner Take Two Interactive.

Now Take Two Interactive's 2K Games brand is bringing Spec Ops back to life, most likely due in part to the massive success of the Call of Duty/Modern Warfare franchise from Activision. This time the tactical first person shooter action viewpoint is out and third person over the shoulder action is in with Spec Ops: The Line, developed by German-based Yager Development. We got to see a hands-off but live demo of the game at E3 2010.

It looks like Medal of Honor isn't the only first person shooter that's going to get a beta test in the near future. Our sister site Joystiq reports that another such game, Spec Ops: The Line from developer Yager and publisher 2K Games is due to get its own beta test in the near future. The info was learned while the site checked out the game's E3 2010 demo.

Details about the beta have yet to be revealed but it sound like we should learn something about the publisher's plans in the very near future. The revival of the once dormant shooter franchise was first announced in December.

Yesterday we started our multi-part 2010 PC game preview with the first part of our two part action-first person shooter overview. Today we conclude our look at that genre with a number of games that we think might actually be released this year, including one or two that have yet to be officially announced (but we know they are being made).

Once again, release dates can and usually do change so if some of these titles don't make a 2010 release, please don't blame us. We are just the messenger.

Click on the image above to continue reading 2010 PC Game Preview - Action-FPS Games Part 2

2K Games recently announced Spec Ops: The Line, an upcoming cinematic action game that will test players' sense of morality as they face life-or-death choices while journeying to the heart of darkness. Players take the role of Captain Martin Walker, the leader of a Delta Force team tasked with infiltrating a treacherous region to bring in US Army Colonel John Konrad. The setting is the luxurious city of Dubai, destroyed by the most devastating sandstorm in recorded history. Judging from this short trailer, the game is looking a lot like Modern Warfare 2 meets Apocalypse Now.

Download HD Spec Ops: The Line Teaser Trailer (66 MB)

2K Games has now issued their official press release announcing Spec Ops: The Line, their revival of the military shooter series from developer Yager. The press release offers up some actual storyline details for the first time, confirming that the game takes place in the city state of Dubai where for some unknown reason a massive series of sandstorms has devastated the region.

Your player character in the game is U.S. Army Captain Martin Walker. He leads a team of Delta Squad members into the city to try to rescue U.S. Army Colonel John Konrad and his squad who stayed behind to protect those who could not escape the sandstorms. Judging from the trailer shown on the Video Game Awards on Saturday night that rescue attempt does not go well. In addition to the game's single player campaign there will also be some kind of multiplayer element for Spec Ops: The Line although details are not mentioned. The game itself is not due for release until sometime in parent company Take Two Interactive's 2011 fiscal year which begins on November 1, 2010.

While the trailer for Spec Ops: The Line that was shown during the Spike TV Video Game Awards got cut off, we now know that a teaser web site for the third person shooter was shown at the very end. That web site finally reveals the development team for the third person military shooter revival from publisher 2K Games.

That developer happens to be German based Yager Development. It's last game was the futuristic flying action game that was also called Yager and was released here in the US way back in 2003. There's still no word on when Spec Ops The Line will be released in the US but the teaser site does reveal it is scheduled for a PC release. You can check out the GameTrailers.com VGA debut trailer, which shows a mix of CGI and gameplay footage, after the jump:

As previously reported, 2K Games officially announced a new entry in the Spec Ops shooter series after an absence of several years. Titled Spec Ops: The Line, the game was officially announced at this evening's Spike TV Video Game Awards. A new trailer was also shown which depicts the title as a third person action shooter around the lines of Gears of War.

There's still no word as to who is developing the title which is set in the Middle Eastern city-state of Dubai. The area has been hit with an unexplained and massive sand storm that has devastated the massive skyscrapers. Your character has to deal with some hostiles who are also in the city. Hopefully we will get more info on Spec Ops: The Line soon.