We didn’t know a lot about 2K’s in-development title Spec Ops: The Line from German developer Yager, so I was anticipating my behind-closed-doors look at the first glimpses of the title at E3. And while what we saw was still relatively early in development, the live playthrough I got to watch was quite impressive.

Spec Ops: The Line is a 3rd person military shooter set in lovely Dubai, UAE. And by lovely, I mean ravaged by a series of cataclysmic sandstorms that have left the city half-buried under millions of tons of sand, rendering it basically uninhabitable. This same sand will play a large part in how you play the game, and can be both a helpful and hindering force. There’s some neat stuff you can do with it, like take out a retaining wall to bury a half-dozen enemies in sand, for example.

However, instead of being just another military shooter, Spec Ops: The Line is more of an action-oriented adventure title. Watching the playthrough, it felt like I was watching a more frantic and less movie-like Uncharted. There’s also a larger narrative going on here, as the game focuses on Captain Martin Walker (voiced by Nolan North, maybe that’s why it really had the Uncharted vibe going for it) and his journey into Dubai with an elite Delta Force team in their search for Colonel John Konrad, who stayed behind with his team to help those stranded by the storms who couldn’t get out. Of course, as Walker and his team work their way through Dubai, dealing with sandstorms and outlaws, they start to see that maybe all is not what it seems, and perhaps there was more to Colonel Konrad’s decision to stay behind. Along the way, you’re also going to be put into some morally challenging situations where you’ll be forced to make some difficult, and almost uncomfortable, decisions which will, of course, affect how the story progresses.

The build we saw looked really good, and I hope that the developers can keep this level of quality for the final product. There were some neat touches to combat that we saw, including the aforementioned sand, cover-based shooting (including a sweet no-look over the head shot from behind cover), and the ability to issue commands to your squad. You don’t have to issue commands, since these are Delta Force guys, so if you want, they can just provide support. We were told the game will use a regenerative health system, including for your teammates, who can die, though you will have the ability to try and rescue them if possible.

Spec Ops: The Line looks to be a very interesting title, and we’re looking forward to seeing more of it. There will, of course, be multiplayer in the finished product, both co-op and team-based, and a beta will be coming Xbox Live sometime in the near future. The game is scheduled to release sometime in 2011 on 360, PS3, and PC.