Commandos 1 is one of my fav pc games, I have played it numerous times and I guarantee you I kick ass, but Commandos 2 is a completely different case - I have tried playing it several times and the last time on the PS2 - I just can't progress in this game! And yet it seems that almost everyone loves C2 more than C1, but do you at least agree that C2 is a very different game? It bugs me because I would like to play it but I just can't get past even the intro mission. No actually I got past it on the PS2 but that was it - I was hopeless in the following mission. I swear I tried every option/strategy/weapon/item. And I'm not the kind who looks up walkthroughs at the beginning of the game, that just ruins the whole point of gaming - having fun.

I recently rediscovered Commandos2 and am greatly enjoying it.
For the first few missions at least, you can almost always knock the enemies out. Use the spy to tie up one of them, throw some cigarettes somewhere, or just find someone who is not covered by someone else, and knock em out... rinse and repeat. You can also use the spy to make them look at a pack of cigarettes (or a bottle of wine).
I'm not sure what you tried - did you try shooting your way through?

Despite being similar (in name, if nothing else), it is true that Commandos 2 is quite different from Commandos: BEL and the expansion. For lack of a better way to say, one main difference is that Commandos 2 has a lot more weight behind it in terms of controlling your commandos. No longer can you sprint up behind enemies, kill them, and then rush off. Everyone moves much more slowly and deliberately, and this means strategies must be adjusted accordingly.

Is it better than Commandos: BEL? I wouldn't say that. To be honest, they are quite different, and Commandos 2 just night not "click" with you. My dad is the same way. He loved Commandos: BEL, but he couldn't pass the tutorial missions in Commandos 2. Something about it just didn't work for him.

I, personally, love them both, but I have trouble playing them back-to-back. Sometimes I get the urge to play one of them, but not the other, which, at least for me, is unusual for playing a game series. I typically like to play from the first game to the last, even if I really only want to play one of them. Not so with the Commandos games.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Don't worry if you can't get into Commandos 2. The games are quite different, and Commandos 2 just might not be for you. There's nothing wrong with that.

I can't even imagine trying to play any Commandos game on a console, it would be beyond impossible. Could that have anything to do with it?

Very nice summary. You may have noticed I'm a Comm freak and I couldn't have done that better myself only to add that C3 does tend to feature a bit more in the way of time and wanton mass shooting which I'm not fond of (in this series) but I still dig it.

As for the difficulty of BEL some of those missions are downright impossible without some help, ESPECIALLY the Butcher one. I used a walkthrough for that and still BARELY got through it. The save anywhere helps and the multiple ways to solve 99% of any dilemma makes it worth the toil.

Shit I could sit and talk about these games all day! :D

It's been so long I don't remember which mission it was that I got stuck in. I had so crappy internet connection at the time that I didn't even think of searching for a walkthrough online :D

Now I really need to play this again, damn GOG sales :D