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Commandos 1: Behind
Enemy Lines, A genuinely
original game of tactics, planning, and precision
The premise of
Commandos is a model for the game itself: Just as the heroes of this game
prevail in dangerous military operations through unorthodox yet undeniably
effective means, so too is Commandos a successful real-time strategy game
because of its refusal to adhere to the genre's conventions. Pyro Studios has
produced a genuinely original game of tactics, planning, and precision, one
with impressive visuals and slick production values and one that will surely
please fans of strategic combat, puzzle-solving, and World War II-era warfare
alike. Its isometric
perspective recalls any number of real-time strategy games that came before it,
but a closer inspection reveals Commandos' striking attention to detail.
The prerendered 2D maps all look different, beautiful, and realistic, and accurately depict Nazi-occupied regions in Norway, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
The prerendered 2D maps all look different, beautiful, and realistic, and accurately depict Nazi-occupied regions in Norway, North Africa, and Eastern Europe.
You'll never find a scenario that looks boring; enemy barracks, tanks,
electric fences, river dams, and much more all serve to make every mission
dynamic and different. You even get some nice eye candy for good measure -
enemy vehicles and structures go out in glorious pyrotechnics at the hands of
your demolitions expert. And not only can you set the screen resolution to your
liking, but you can zoom the screen in and out, set up split-screen cameras to
keep tabs on isolated commandos, or set tracking cameras to follow enemy
patrols.
Your six Commandos
are all unique in appearance and attitude. They move smoothly whether they're
walking, crawling, running, or plying any of their deadly skills, and you can
learn all about them through a fast and friendly in-game tutorial that focuses
on each of their individual skills. They're a charismatic bunch and will
quickly grow on you, although their German enemies look rather boring by
comparison. There isn't much music to speak of in Commandos, and the sound,
though authentic, is sparse. And though the commandos sound great and become
immediately distinguishable through their speech, they have disappointingly few
speaking lines. The Germans don't have a lot to say either.
An unobtrusive and
clever interface borders the screen, showing the various tools in the selected
commando's knapsack, any of which can be selected with the click of a mouse.
However, this interface is mostly for show; it's quicker just to hit the
appropriate keyboard hotkey to select your green beret's combat knife for
example - and in Commandos, every moment counts. Moving your men is as simple
as clicking the desired destination or double-clicking to make the commando
run. You need to micromanage everybody, and no one will move an inch without
your express orders. This isn't a problem; just keep your idle men hidden at
all times and you'll be OK.
To be sure,
Commandos is a good strategy game not so much because of its fine look and
interface, but because it makes you think. You needn't worry about real-time
strategy protocol like fog of war and resources or having to restart from
scratch every time you mess up (you can save whenever you like). Instead, you
get a select group of specialists at your disposal, along with a concise yet
informative mission briefing that clearly defines your task. You have nearly
limitless reconnaissance data at your disposal; you can scroll all around the
map, identify all enemy patrols, and even see each enemy's field of vision
represented onscreen through a sweeping colored cone.
And so, you'll
always have your work cut out for you - what you need to do is figure out
exactly how to get the job done. Thus you need to develop a long-term plan, not
unlike the skilled chess player facing an equally competent opponent.
Essentially, you must figure out how to eliminate every enemy who stands in
your way without any of the other enemies noticing. This will never prove an
easy task, as the odds are always awful. But then again, the elements of
stealth and surprise are always on your side. Guards cannot hear your men
moving, nor can they hear their fellows die by your silent weapons. But if they
see any of your men, or witness anything suspicious, they'll get riled up and
you'll be in serious trouble.
To succeed, you
must coordinate your troops. For instance, the marine is an adept killer, able
to emerge from underwater instantly, armed and ready with knife and harpoon gun
- but he needs the green beret's brawn to dispose of the bodies. And if the spy
can find an enemy uniform and distract the enemy, then the driver will be able
to sneak past and steal a parked tank. The combinations aren't always binary;
solving certain situations in Commandos can be very complex and challenging but
always logical and predictable. You cannot slow the game down or speed it up,
and so you'll occasionally need to employ a little dexterity and good timing.
But these action elements only amplify the game's visceral appeal and do not detract
from its strategic core. You'll also run into the occasional pathing problem
trying to operate a large vehicle, but aside from that, Commandos controls just
fine.
Commandos contains
a single linear campaign composed of 20 big missions. The linearity isn't
problematic; while there exists a best way to win each scenario, you always get
plenty of room to be especially creative or just a little reckless. And because
they're well designed and open-ended, you'll want to play most of them more
than once. Any of these missions can be attempted cooperatively with up to five
other players, each responsible for at least a single troop. However, the true
pleasure in this game is coordinating the entire squad single-handedly,
anticipating how a situation will transpire and watching it go according to
plan or successfully improvising when things don't go your way. And what a
pleasure - after you navigate your team through or past some 50-odd nonchalant
German guards, destroy a vital enemy installation, and hijack a means of
escape, you may well find Commandos sneaking its way to the top of your list.
System Requirements:
Processor= 233MHz
RAM= 64MB
Graphics= 16MB
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