The Commandos series from Spanish developer Pyro Studios grows and becomes more impressive with each subsequent release. Expectation is high for Commandos 3: Destination Berlin and with this in mind Derek dela Fuente spoke with Ignacio Pérez Dolset, Studio Director and Lead Designer on the title, to find out all the new concepts and ideas that will capture the imagination.<br><br>Eidos’s fanfare is: ‘Get ready for the most deadly mission yet as you venture deep into enemy territory’.<br><br>Already this ground breaking tactical strategy series has sold more than three million copies worldwide and who knows how many more there will be. Once you have a winning formula, why stop?<br><br>Many members of the Pyro team are avid World War II fans and after 7 years working on the Commandos games they have become experts on this subject matter. They now can boast of having accumulated and read hundreds of books, watched movies, and endless documentaries, etc. This kind of meticulous researching ensures the right amount of authenticity, the correct look and, above all, perfect game play which has resulted in them being perceived as experts in producing strategy war games.<br><br>Many improvements have been made and one that will intrigue gamers is the fact that the presentation and graphical look of the game has been one of the focuses. If there are any areas of the game which may have suffered more than most, it is this, although many will say that is unfair because gameplay is always the challenge and Igancia also felt this comment was unfair. <i>"I do not agree with this statement as the feedback we have had on Commandos games graphics has been outstanding. Many people agree that Commandos 2 was a benchmark for graphical quality. A different thing would be those expecting 3D graphics, as Commandos makes a limited usage of 3D graphics. Anyway I believe that Commandos 3 will again reach a new quality benchmark for PC games using 2D and 3D graphics. We have put a lot of effort into this with a team of graphic artists of 20 people working over two years on the game."</i><br><br>Other important aspects within the game have also had a makeover. Commandos 3 features a new interior engine that enables you to rotate the detailed environments and zoom in and out but this is merely one of many extended area of technical enhancement. With a comprehensive list of improvements and redesigns you could easily think the whole essence of what is the perfect formula for a strategic game could be being tinkered within unnecessarily but Iganica commented. <i>"Commandos 3 is a very new game compared to Commandos 2. I would say that more than 75% of the technology is brand new. The game has a full new engine for building interiors, as mentioned, and many enhancements on the outdoor engine. We are also incorporating within Commandos 3, for the first time, the usage of 3D cards which has allowed us to bring into the game lots of new graphic improvements."</i><br><br><i>"Commandos 3: Destination Berlin features more detailed, smaller maps providing more action orientated missions that form part of an overall campaign. A strong narrative drives the story via cinematic briefing screens. The gameplay will also incorporate completely new gaming situations including ambushes, assaults, level bosses, as well as classic Commandos gameplay. It will also be more accessible than previous games in the series." </i><br><br>One of the main aims for the team is to ensure that the player is totally immersed and at no time will tedium set in. Whereas Commandos 2 could have been seen as a somewhat linear experience, Commandos 3 has been meticulously designed. Surprise, intrigue and plenty of variety top the Pryro list. Ignacio stated:<i>“Mission design is completely different. Only 20% of the missions will feature a traditional Commandos gameplay style. The rest, although with the same rules of Commandos games, will have to be played a different way.”</i><br><br>Commandos 3 has three main campaigns: Stalingrad, Central Europe and Normandy, where your elite band of six squadees will dare to venture. (There will be fewer characters in the game than in Commandos 2. Six characters this time but with more skills and possibilities than characters in previous Commandos games.) Each of the campaigns encompasses many different tactical situations and they can be played in any order. It will feature scenarios unseen in previous Commandos games taking you to the Stalingrad battlefields of the Eastern Front, the heart of the Reich in the Gestapo headquarters in Berlin and the D-Day assault at Omaha Beach. For the first time ever in the series, there will be a deathmatch multiplayer mode for up to eight players where you can use your tactical skills to play online or across LAN.<br><br>There will be aprox. 20 missions encompassing timed missions, ambushes, assaults, seek and destroy missions or purely defending an area.<br><br>The AI has not been overlooked. <i>"The effort we have put into this area has been on improving the intelligence of the enemies in the game, but also in creating new enemies with new behaviours and some very clever level bosses which will be quite difficult to eliminate."</i><br><br>Answering about the other changes Ignacio was even more candid! <i>”There will be substantial differences between Commandos 3 and the previous games in the series. Although keeping the tactical approach that has made Commandos such a popular game, there will be more action in the game. There will be new situations, new ways to play, etc. Regarding the structure of the missions, this is the aspect of the game where we can say that more effort is being put to guarantee a fresh, rewarding and new gaming experience. There will be lots more different mission goals!”</i><br><br>There was will also be plenty of new weapons, vehicles, and skills this time: big machine guns, antitank, sidecars, etc.<br><br>Ignacio ended on a philosophical note when talking generally on recent PC strategy games. <i>"Regarding your question on new releases, I believe that the most important thing is the experience the player gets and how much he enjoys playing a game. If somebody does not enjoy a game, whether it is a sequel or not, something has obviously been done wrong. But if somebody enjoys the game he is playing it means that the team has succeeded in its objective. I do not have the secret formula for that but obviously you cannot cheat the consumer giving him a game which is only 50% value. You have to give the consumer a high production value not just cosmetic improvements."</i><br><br>Commandos 3: Destination Berlin may sound like every area of the game has been improved but optimization would be a better description. The Commandos series has had its plaudits for the way it has believable events, which are highly detailed and move through intricate and well thought out scripts. This all remains the same with sorties on trains, in dark and moody towns, etc. with loads of thoughtful and intense events waiting to unfold. In all honesty, this can’t fail!