Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines was first introduced to the world in the much-missed era of the 1990’s, when the world made sense and films were good. Ostensibly a stealth-oriented real-time tactics game, the Commandos series has really always been about solving puzzles. You have a series of unique tools – your Commando squad, consisting of Sapper, Green Berret, Driver, etc – that must combine their individual abilities in a variety of interesting ways to crack the riddle posed by complex arrangements of Nazi and their assorted view cones. The franchise was a big-hit and a huge-seller, but despite a few remakes, has remained mostly dormant since 2006. Possibly for good reason as, after an initially promising sequel, the various follow-ups failed to deliver the winning combination of brains and brawn that the original offered.
Seeking to reverse the franchises fortunes are Kalypso Media, who purchased Commandos back in 2020 and immediately announced a completely new entry in the series. That game, Commandos: Origins, is fast-approaching release. Developed by Claymore Game Studios, we were lucky enough to be invited to see some new gameplay and, boy-oh-boy, based on current evidence Commandos fans are in for a treat; Commandos Origins looks excellent!
Starting in an Allied Prison, deep in Africa, the demo immediately introduces us to the Green Beret – as big and burly as ever – who is freed from his imprisonment by the Sapper, speaking with an unbelievably clipped English accent that is absolutely joyous to hear. Played from the classic top-down perspective, the two heroes make their way out of the Prison complex, each utilising their unique abilities to help the other to their objective. The stealth mechanics appear reliable and accessible, with obvious viewing cones showing what your foes can see, allowing the Commandos to slip past unnoticed. The game even depicts visual sound waves, so you know exactly who will be alerted if you opt for a noisy takedown.
So far, so prescriptive stealth game. Things get way more interesting when the Germans invade the prison. Tanks smash through walls, soldiers shoot it out on the streets, and captured Allied soldiers are held at gunpoint; rather than escape, it’s up to the Commandos to save their comrades. Suddenly, the game becomes open and free-form, numerous possibilities to proceed presenting themselves. Do you sneak past the tank, then double back to destroy it with a bomb? Perhaps knocking some loose masonry on an unsuspecting Nazi’s head is the way to go? Maybe you should help a squad of Allied soldiers pinned down by taking out a sniper for them? Or just pull out your machine gun and go wild? Possible strategies are interesting and varied, and many objectives, it seems, are entirely optional.
Visually, this is gorgeous stuff; vehicles, uniforms, and weapons are all impeccably researched and immaculately detailed, yet with the charming larger-than-life aesthetic of a Hollywood war film. There’s something akin to playing with your GI JOEs here, chunky player characters with smooth animation crawling through debris, kicking down doors, or garrotting Nazis. Talking of successfully garrotting Nazis, you can pause the game at any point and issue each Commando with a series of orders, then unpause and watch your perfectly conceived plan carried out to, well, perfection. In a later snow-covered level, we see the Sniper eliminate a German Official, whilst the iconic radio left by the Green Beret lures another solider to their doom; all carried out with precise military efficiency.
Levels in general are going to be humongous, with a veritable army of goons to sneak past and assassinate. Indeed, we are promised levels that take several hours to fully complete (and not just because of save-scumming your way through tricky encounters). There’s some interesting verticality to the environment too, as we see the Green Beret clamber across a telephone wire to sneak past an electrified fence; how such a thin wire could support the weight of this hunk of man is beyond us, but he certainly looked cool doing it.
All of the iconic Commandos return, a highlight seems to be the spy, who can impersonate German Offices – and other characters – to move freely round the map. Though the Driver promises to provide much merriment, thanks to his ability to take control of German hardware, so surely blowing up some troopers with their own Panzer will be an option?
To our mind, the only question mark remains the quality of the controls on console. When quizzed on how they approached implementing the controller into a game that is best suited for mouse and keyboard, Jürgen Reusswig, Studio Director of Claymore Game Studios, stated that there were challenges but remained tight-lipped over the solution.
Still, there was plenty of Commandos brilliance on display in our all too brief time checking out the game, leaving us salivating for the chance to try Commandos: Origins ourselves. Thankfully, with the game launching on 9th April, we don’t have long to wait to do so.
