Posted October 06, 2009
Based upon a few good reviews when it was released I bought this game.
It draw me in rightaway.
Some missions are easy to complete, other missions are plain hard and take a lot of time researching enemy movements and planning your next move.
Depending on the mission, the mission goal and the location you have certain characters available.
There are 6 characters:
Green Beret - Jerry McHale
Sniper - Sir Francis T. Woolridge
Marine - James Blackwood
Sapper - Thomas Hancock
Driver - Sid Perkins
Spy - Rene Duchamp
All 6 have their own specialities and their own special equipment and come with their own bio (check the manual).
The green beret:
- an acoustic decoy to distract enemies
- a shovel to bury holes in the ground to hide in
- climbing axe for climbing walls
- can carry and therefore hide bodies
- has a knife, pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The sniper:
- carries first aid kit
- has as sniper rifle
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The marine:
- carries an inflatable boat
- carries scuba gear
- has a harpoon
- has a knife (not sure if he can throw with it or if that's only in Commandos 2)
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The sapper:
- can plant (remotely detonated) bombs
- can remove mines
- has pliers
- can throw grenades
- can plant a beartrap
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The driver:
- can drive vehicles and use their weapons, this includes tanks
- can use heavy weaponry
- has a first aid kit
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The spy:
- has a first aid kit
- can use poison
- can wear enemy uniforms, but will be recognized by enemies with an equal or higher rank
- distract enemy soldiers
- can hide bodies
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
Your goal is to finish the mission succesfully any way you can.
To get to that you need distract and killl enemies, which can be done in several ways.
Some of these ways depend on the unit(s) you're using.
The missions take place in various locations on various continents and with various mixtures of characters.
Some missions are easy to finish.
Others are quite hard and take a lot of following enemy movement, checking enemy lines of sight and require some serious planning of movement and actions.
In order to finish the mission, you'll have to kill a lot of enemies without sounding the alarm.
Enemies have a line of sight in which they can either always see you or only if you're standing.
That depends on range.
Enemies can also see your footsteps in the snow, although they fade out in time.
Last but not least, you have to be careful when moving, cause enemies can hear you too if you run or fire a weapon.
The trick is to kill enemies when other enemies can't see it.
Often that means you have to lure enemies away with sigarets, audio decoy or use the spy to have them look the other way.
You can hide the bodies in buildings, behind walls, throw them in water or in barrels.
If you're spotted and the alarm is sounded, enemies will come running out of buildings.
If you manage to hide without getting spotted, you will notice that enemy patrols have been increased.
So don't get spotted as it makes the mission a whole lot harder.
Every map can be finished withouth help by studying it.
You can see the whole map and all enemy movements and line of sights.
You can few everything from different angels.
Identify threads and opportunities and calculate your every move.
Even the commandos available and the mission briefing can be of assistence.
So what makes this a great game?
The fact that killing the enemy isn't the fun of the game.
The fun is watching the enemy and find their weak spots.
Base your plans on that and start going.
A good planning is very satisfactory if everything turns out according to plan.
Take out those that stand in your way without anyone noticing.
Often this requires you to be prepared and act very quickly.
Wrong timing can cause the mission to fail so think before you act and have your people ready.
Luckily you can save whenever you want.
This is not so much a strategy game, it's a tactical game.
You're forced to think about your moves and plan ahead.
The reward is found in finishing the mission succesfully.
Are there any downsides?
Yes there are, but they're minor in my opinion:
- driving vehicles isn't smooth
- interface might take a little while to get used to
- you might get stuck not knowing what move to plan next
In the last case, browse the map and look for another possibility.
It draw me in rightaway.
Some missions are easy to complete, other missions are plain hard and take a lot of time researching enemy movements and planning your next move.
Depending on the mission, the mission goal and the location you have certain characters available.
There are 6 characters:
Green Beret - Jerry McHale
Sniper - Sir Francis T. Woolridge
Marine - James Blackwood
Sapper - Thomas Hancock
Driver - Sid Perkins
Spy - Rene Duchamp
All 6 have their own specialities and their own special equipment and come with their own bio (check the manual).
The green beret:
- an acoustic decoy to distract enemies
- a shovel to bury holes in the ground to hide in
- climbing axe for climbing walls
- can carry and therefore hide bodies
- has a knife, pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The sniper:
- carries first aid kit
- has as sniper rifle
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The marine:
- carries an inflatable boat
- carries scuba gear
- has a harpoon
- has a knife (not sure if he can throw with it or if that's only in Commandos 2)
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The sapper:
- can plant (remotely detonated) bombs
- can remove mines
- has pliers
- can throw grenades
- can plant a beartrap
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The driver:
- can drive vehicles and use their weapons, this includes tanks
- can use heavy weaponry
- has a first aid kit
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
The spy:
- has a first aid kit
- can use poison
- can wear enemy uniforms, but will be recognized by enemies with an equal or higher rank
- distract enemy soldiers
- can hide bodies
- has a pistol and can use various (enemy) weapons
Your goal is to finish the mission succesfully any way you can.
To get to that you need distract and killl enemies, which can be done in several ways.
Some of these ways depend on the unit(s) you're using.
The missions take place in various locations on various continents and with various mixtures of characters.
Some missions are easy to finish.
Others are quite hard and take a lot of following enemy movement, checking enemy lines of sight and require some serious planning of movement and actions.
In order to finish the mission, you'll have to kill a lot of enemies without sounding the alarm.
Enemies have a line of sight in which they can either always see you or only if you're standing.
That depends on range.
Enemies can also see your footsteps in the snow, although they fade out in time.
Last but not least, you have to be careful when moving, cause enemies can hear you too if you run or fire a weapon.
The trick is to kill enemies when other enemies can't see it.
Often that means you have to lure enemies away with sigarets, audio decoy or use the spy to have them look the other way.
You can hide the bodies in buildings, behind walls, throw them in water or in barrels.
If you're spotted and the alarm is sounded, enemies will come running out of buildings.
If you manage to hide without getting spotted, you will notice that enemy patrols have been increased.
So don't get spotted as it makes the mission a whole lot harder.
Every map can be finished withouth help by studying it.
You can see the whole map and all enemy movements and line of sights.
You can few everything from different angels.
Identify threads and opportunities and calculate your every move.
Even the commandos available and the mission briefing can be of assistence.
So what makes this a great game?
The fact that killing the enemy isn't the fun of the game.
The fun is watching the enemy and find their weak spots.
Base your plans on that and start going.
A good planning is very satisfactory if everything turns out according to plan.
Take out those that stand in your way without anyone noticing.
Often this requires you to be prepared and act very quickly.
Wrong timing can cause the mission to fail so think before you act and have your people ready.
Luckily you can save whenever you want.
This is not so much a strategy game, it's a tactical game.
You're forced to think about your moves and plan ahead.
The reward is found in finishing the mission succesfully.
Are there any downsides?
Yes there are, but they're minor in my opinion:
- driving vehicles isn't smooth
- interface might take a little while to get used to
- you might get stuck not knowing what move to plan next
In the last case, browse the map and look for another possibility.