Killing Is Harmless: A Critical Reading of Spec Ops: The Line

Videogames have come into their own as an art form when they can generate criticism like Killing is Harmless. Chapter by chapter, Keogh explores Spec Ops: The Line as a ‘high noon’ moment, where shooters as a genre become aware of themselves, and begin to comment on their tropes. Every inch of the game, and its links to other works (Call of Duty, Apocalypse Now, Bioshock…) is covered in detail. Fortunately, Keogh doesn’t pretend to have answers about the causes or consequences of violence in video games, but he is right to note that the game has opened up those questions.