Title: “Spec Ops: The Line”Format: Xbox 360, PS3, PCPrice:  $49.99-$59.99Publisher: 2K GamesDeveloper: YagerESRB Rating: M (Mature 17 and up)

The grade: A

What is it? A third-person shooter set in Dubai after the city has been decimated by a series of disastrous sandstorms. Players take on the role of Captain Martin Walker (voiced by the gaming industry’s most famous leading man, Nolan North) who, along with a two teammates, fights his way through the city while looking for a missing battalion and its commander.

The good: Fantastic game presentation. The visual and audio presentation in “Spec Ops” provides a completely immersive experience. Dubai has never looked worse, and I mean that in the best way possible in gaming terms. I’d frequently stop what I was doing just to stare in awe at the glistening skyscrapers battered by sand and peer at all the vehicles – from airplanes to buses – in ruins. Sand is everywhere, and can frequently be used against your enemy in environmental attacks: It is masterfully used throughout the game. The voice work, led by the always excellent North, does a great job of moving the story along.

A smooth amalgamation: For most fans of the shooter genre, “Spec Ops” will feel very familiar. The controls are straightforward and it has some gameplay elements similar to other franchises. “Spec Ops” Attack Commands, where players control the actions and movements of their two squad mates, gives the game a touch of “Ghost Recon.” The action sequences will remind many of the epic scenes found in many “Call of Duty” games. And the deep story, surprising for a shooter, provides the game with an “Uncharted”-lite feel (The plot is based on Joseph Conrad’s novella “Heart of Darkness” which in turn inspired “Apocalypse Now,” which gamers are more likely to recognize elements of in “Spec Ops”). But make no mistake; this is not a copycat game. “Spec Ops” just does a good job of taking all these elements and putting its own unique spin on them to provide an engrossing experience.

Perfect timing: Most of the big name shooters gamers are looking forward to will come out in the fall. “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2” and “Halo 4?” You’ll have to wait until the holidays for those. A summer release gives “Spec Ops,” a game lacking the name recognition of some of its contemporaries; a good chance to get the attention it might not receive later. By now, eight months after the last “Call of Duty,” a solid shooter like “Spec Ops” in the middle of the summer is just what gamers, and the game itself, need.

The bad: There are moments where you have to make some difficult choices in “Spec Ops,” leading to some moral issues that come into play later in the game. The importance of these moments isn’t really evident when they occur. I wish this morality aspect was a bit more fleshed out because it adds a lot to the game, giving “Spec Ops” a much more serious feel than a “Call of Duty” title.

The verdict: It’s very likely that most videogame fans won’t remember the series of “Spec Ops” games that came out in the late ’90s and early 2000s (there were nine of them). It makes sense because they were poorly received. This latest iteration feels like a new IP and shooter fans are the beneficiaries. With a fresh story, a unique environment and with most of the big name shooters months from release, “Spec Ops: The Line” is a great way to get your trigger finger primed for this fall.

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Gazette Media Columnist Terry Terrones is a veteran video game journalist. He has written for numerous publications including GamePro, PC World, GameZone, and Official Xbox Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/terryterrones.