We liked Spec Ops: The Line quite a bit. However, while the campaign was a deep, enthralling experience, the multiplayer component has come to be regarded as a black mark on an otherwise great game. In fact, even The Line's developers aren't happy with how it turned out.
Cory Davis, lead designer on Spec Ops: The Line, feels that game should have been single-player only. However, publisher 2K Games insisted on including an online component, after financial predictions said multiplayer was necessary.
This news comes from an interview Davis and other Yager/2K staff did with Polygon, during which it was also revealed that The Line's multiplayer was developed by an outside studio. 2K outsourced the job to developer Darkside Studios -- a move that Davis was none to happy with. Davis expressed his displeasure by referring to The Line's online mode as a "cancerous growth" and a "low-quality Call of Duty clone in third-person."
"The multiplayer game's tone is entirely different, the game mechanics were raped to make it happen, and it was a waste of money. No one is playing it, and I don't even feel like it's part of the overall package – it's another game rammed onto the disk like a cancerous growth, threatening to destroy the best things about the experience that the team at Yager put their heart and souls into creating."
That being said, Davis does not mean to take away from the work Darkside Studios put into The Line's multiplayer. While Davis does have his problems with the mode, the now ex-Yager employee took to Twitter to clarify his statements, saying that the team at Darkside Studios did the best they could with what they were given.
Statement about MP in Spec Ops: The Line is not directed at Darkside Game Studios. MP passed to multiple studios, was troubled throughout.
– Cory Davis (@Snak3Fist) August 29, 2012
Darkside Games did a great job with the time / resources they were given. They finalized and shipped a historically troubled Multiplayer.
– Cory Davis (@Snak3Fist) August 29, 2012
While Davis may not be happy with the decision to include multiplayer, he still thinks highly of 2K Games, acknowledging the risks the publisher took with Spec Ops: The Line.
"They took a hell of a lot of risk with the project that other publishers would not have had the balls to take. I'm proud of what we were able to achieve, and it was not easy."
Continuing to clarify his statements over Twitter, Davis refers to 2K as "daring" and "quality focused."
2K is the best, most daring and most quality focused publisher I know of. They had the balls to greenlight and publish Spec Ops: The Line.
– Cory Davis (@Snak3Fist) August 29, 2012
When it comes to single-player games, 2K has recently shown much to be admired in a publisher, allowing developers to take plenty of creative risks. However, this isn't the first time 2K has tried to incorporate multiplayer into what should have been a single-player only experience. A similar situation arose during development of BioShock 2, including hiring a second studio to craft that game's online component and widespread criticism of the finished product. Thankfully multiplayer won't be appearing in BioShock: Infinite, so we can rest easy hoping 2K and other publishers are beginning to realize that a sub-par multiplayer experience isn't going to boost sales.
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Source: Polygon, Cory Davis