Spec Ops: The Line for Xbox, PlayStation3

Spec Ops: The Line takes place in Dubai six months after it has been demolished by an apocalyptic sandstorm. Its luxury hotels and skyscrapers have been abandoned or even toppled. Only a few refugees remain, along with a U.S. Army infantry unit and its leader, Col. John Konrad. After receiving a distress call from inside Dubai, your three-man commando team is sent to investigate.

Konrad's name is a giveaway to anyone who passed high-school English lit: Spec Ops is a take on Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," by way of Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War adaptation, "Apocalypse Now." The parallels to the film are deliberate: The diary of the game's protagonist, Capt. Walker, is reminiscent of Capt. Willard's narration in the movie. A game character called Radioman channels Dennis Hopper's photojournalist. As your team approaches the sand-choked outskirts of Dubai, you're greeted by refugees who try (with gunfire) to stop your mission. But as you venture farther into the city's decadent palaces and casinos, you stumble into a war between CIA agents and Konrad's "Damned 33rd" infantry. The enemies here aren't terrorists, drug lords or aliens. They're your fellow Americans.

The audacious storytelling keeps you moving. It's as gory as any shooter of the past decade, but dares to question the gamer's enjoyment of such violence: Near the end it flashes the question, "How many Americans have you killed today?"

RATING M for Mature

PLOT A flashback to "Apocalypse Now"

DETAILS Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, $59.99

BOTTOM LINE Thought-

provoking (no, really)