Commandos: Origins review: Courageous, dutiful, glorious basterds

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Way back before the new millennium, I stumbled upon an innovative type of strategy game known as Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines. This game let me command a small team of commandos through various missions, accomplishing objectives and taking down Nazis. The series had a few sequels that were well-received, but eventually fell silent. That was until now. Just like one of the original commandos, Claymore Game Studios has emerged from the shadows to bring us Commandos: Origins. It delivers the same nail-biting real-time stealth strategy as the originals, a toolkit full of riches, and smoothens out any rough edges while keeping that classic devilishly challenging difficulty level.

Before they were familiar faces

In the 1940s, during the ascension of the Nazi regime, we find the game titled “Commandos: Origins.” This prequel takes us back to the early days of the commando squad, revealing their origins (a play on words). Initially, this team wasn’t the tight-knit group that fans of the original series were fond of; instead, they were a diverse assembly, personally chosen by Thomas Hancock (the Sapper), to execute perilous and top-secret missions.

At the outset of the well-known World War 2 tale, a fresh group of commandos join the team. Among them is Jack O’Hara, a grumpy Green Beret skilled in close combat who was previously held captive by the British. Shortly after, the Sniper joins, followed by the Marine, Spy, and Driver.

Since World War 2 has been extensively chronicled, Commandos: Origins primarily emphasizes the exploits of these commandos and the challenges they encounter as they transform into an elite squad. You’ll gather tidbits about the commandos through their casual conversations during missions, receive briefings before a mission starts, and glean historical context from collectible postcards. While it may not provide extensive details, this information serves to establish the setting and prepare the player for the gameplay experience. Despite its serious backdrop, Commandos: Origins prioritizes gameplay over story, offering a playground filled with engaging tools to experiment with.

Toy soldiers for adults

When I was young, I had numerous toy soldiers with different military roles in my imaginary battlescape. The figure with the stick of pretend dynamite was in command of explosives, the one with a sniper rifle stood high above overseeing the fictional battlefield, and the one with the walkie-talkie likely served as the commander, giving orders. Each toy soldier was crucial to mission success. Playing Commandos: Origins brings back those childhood memories, letting me arrange my troops, strategize epic battles, and coordinate tactics that span across the battlefield.

In Origins, you’ll find six of the main operatives to handle throughout over a dozen campaign missions. The game gradually introduces them, starting with two commandos before increasing the team in later missions. This gradual progression allows you to understand each commando’s abilities, their strengths and weaknesses, and also keeps the challenge engaging by constantly changing the dynamics.

Initially, I encounter the character known as the Sapper while he’s enlisting a Green Beret who is currently in prison. If he desires to become a commando, he must demonstrate his abilities: successfully escape from prison, evade the guards, and link up with the Sapper by the road. This scene serves as an effective introduction, functioning as a tutorial to introduce the game’s mechanics, which are numerous.

In Commandos: Origins, a tactical strategy game with a stealthy twist, you navigate the battlefield by understanding and utilizing the enemy’s line of sight. The solid part of an enemy’s vision cone signals danger; moving through it will likely make you visible instantly. However, if you stay within the outlined section of the cone, which represents a crawling space, you can sneak past guards without being detected – as long as you don’t rise up.

The hurdles stem from dealing with numerous security personnel, their intersecting lines of sight, illumination sources during covert operations exposing your position, and a goal or door positioned beyond these impediments. This is where the open-ended aspect of the scenario becomes relevant.

A Green Beret could set up remote-controlled radios, which when triggered, attract nearby guards, making them leave their posts or alter their course for investigation. One might conceal oneself behind some bushes, placing the radio on the ground close by, or use a shovel to dig a hidden trench, emerging suddenly like the Fremen from Dune.

As I pondered over what to do next with the Green Beret, I ordered the Sapper to slice through some razor-sharp wire, set a bear trap around a blind corner, and whistle loudly to catch the guard’s ear. Before I knew it, I was honing my craft by combining their abilities in unique ways – integrating a whistle into a radio lure, triggering a bear trap, and leaping from the ground with my trusty knife in hand. It was like setting up a series of intricate dominos or a complex Rube Goldberg machine, eagerly anticipating the satisfying outcome of all my planning and preparation.

On my mark…

In this game, the feeling of setting things up and then reaping rewards is consistently experienced across numerous extensive missions. Frequently, you’ll stumble upon a new arrangement of soldiers every few steps. You’ll spend a good deal of your time assessing their positions, movements, and vantage points to decide the best way to guide your commandos, whether it be sneaking past or stealthily eliminating the Nazis – often as simple as three guards.

More often than not, you can manage with the regular play speed, but certain situations call for the game’s Command Mode which simplifies things and adds a cool factor. By pressing a single button, time will freeze, allowing you to assign a specific action to each commando. You have the option to execute all these actions simultaneously or activate them individually in any order by pressing the corresponding buttons.

At a certain moment, there were three Nazis engaged in conversation within a confined space. I disguised one of my agents as a guard and let him engage one of them in dialogue, while my Marine and Sniper stealthily entered the room undetected and hid behind the other two Nazis. I froze time, delegated tasks to my agent – he was to neutralize one with a silenced gun, the Marine to hurl his knife at another, and the Sniper to impale the last one with a stealthy attack. After pressing the Enter key, three Nazi corpses fell to the floor, paving my path towards the next room where I could continue my Inglourious Basterds-style conquest towards victory.

Sour Krauts

In Commandos: Origins, the game manages to keep things engaging even when completing a mission may take some time. A significant part of this is due to the variety in missions, the inclusion of optional goals, hunting for hidden items, and the freedom given to players to solve problems creatively within the boundaries of each mission.

In this scenario, it’s important to note that not every commando will be present for each mission. For instance, the Green Beret who was crucial in luring guards with his radio in one mission may not be there next time. This means you’ll have to adapt your tactics based on the soldiers available and the specific layout of the current environment. For example, dealing with three soldiers on a roadside might call for one approach, while handling them around a checkpoint could require an entirely different strategy.

Beyond that, the settings are breathtakingly beautiful, filled with intricate details even in seemingly insignificant parts. For instance, the train station mission boasts a cargo yard with tarps flapping gently, pipes releasing steam, and birds chirping from the trees. The arctic airfield presents a snowy paradise where your footsteps can be traced by the soldiers. These locations are accentuated by a soundtrack that enhances the ambiance without overwhelming it or becoming annoyingly loud as you wait for the levels to load quickly, trying to master a series of kills.

In this game, everything blends seamlessly to offer an immersive experience that is both thrilling and swift, yet thoughtfully designed for strategy and stealth. Commandos: Origins provides a delicate balance between success and failure, offering numerous tools and mechanics for you to adapt your luck on the fly. It’s a constant dance of planning and reward, with an element of unpredictability added in for good measure.

Although Commandos: Origins largely stays faithful to its source, I found myself yearning for some features that were left out. For instance, the Spy can’t make guards move elsewhere, the Sniper can’t fire from atop utility poles, and there’s no option to pass items between team members. So, you really need to plan strategically about who should grab that health pack or grenade.

Additionally, I encountered several minor issues during gameplay, such as faulty animations, misleading mission conclusion screens, and distorted object visuals following rapid saves and loads. These problems are significant, but they didn’t hinder my ability to play the game significantly, nor did they diminish my overall enjoyment of it.

Setting an example

Claymore Game Studios recognized the essence that made the original Commandos games stand out, kept the core spirit alive, and smoothed away any rough edges. Commandos: Origins is essentially a heartfelt tribute to its predecessors in every aspect. Its mechanic-rich sandbox gameplay, distinctive team of commandos, stunning landscapes, and level design come together to create an experience that is both thoughtful and intense. It’s a brilliantly challenging strategy game, and there’s something incredibly satisfying about taking down Nazis.

This assessment derives from a Steam version given by the game’s developer. The tactical game, Commandos: Origins, will be playable on computers, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 starting on April 11, 2025.

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2025-04-09 10:31