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Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Review
Noel Brady
00/12/0000
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
You are the commander of an elite Allied commando unit in World War II. Your squad consists of six men, each of whom has been selected for certain talents which only they possess. In your first mission, you have access only to a Green Beret who is adept at close quarters killing and feats of strength, a Marine who can use scuba gear to pass undetected beneath the water and kills quietly with his spear-gun, and a Driver who is expert both at piloting whatever vehicles you find and at mowing down enemies with his sub-machinegun.
Over the various missions, you will control a Green Beret, sniper, sapper, driver, spy and marine. Your men come from various countries and each has a speciality vital to particular missions. Set against isometric levels, your men have to achieve the objective, ideally without being spotted, heard, captured or shot. Objectives include demolition, demolition, destruction and more demolition but the majority of the game is about stealth, cunning and the odd well aimed knife blow or bullet. You move your men around the level individually, taking advantage of natural and artificial cover to avoid detection. Each move has to be thought out in advance and executed perfectly, quite often you are controlling three or four men in each action, this is not a game for the faint hearted.
Using your mouse or the provided hot-keys, you move each one of your men through the levels with a point-and-click interface that isn't really all that different from games like StarCraft or Command and Conquer. As you move each character around the screen, their individual backpack shows up in the bottom corner of the screen and acts as a menu for the actions that are specific to that soldier. The idea behind most of the missions is to sneak into a heavily guarded enemy compound and to then destroy something inside. While killing the guards is always an option, it's usually a really bad one. Each of the guards has their own line of sight and movement patterns, and if they get a look at you, or if they spot a dead comrade, they come looking for you, usually screaming for their friends the whole time.
Planning is everything in this game, the initial briefing helps out but the fine details need working out as you go. Not only must you complete the objective but escape as well. From the snow of Norway to the Deserts of Africa, your men have to faces massive challenges against huge odds. The gameplay is precise and intuitive with well thought out mouse control throughout. The tension of the game can make you make fatal mistakes from time to time, but it is usually your fault. Commando's graphics are excellently detailed with precise period recreations of actual vehicles and installations. The sound is reasonable throughout with dramatic and foreboding tunes and realistic effects.
Enemy soldiers feature fascinating AIs, and try to capture or shoot you based on their passivity level and whether or not they have seen you hurt any of their friends. If you select the eye icon at the top of the screen and then click on one of the soldiers, a two-toned green cone shows light in front of the trooper. The lighter green area closer to the soldier is the area in which he can see directly. Unless you're camouflaged, or an object blocks the soldier's view, you can be sure that he calls out an alert if you wander into this zone. The dark green zone is a semi-safe zone. If you are lying prone, the soldier walks by you without noticing, but if you are standing in this area, you are seen. Soldiers can also hear. If you fire a weapon that makes sound within earshot, they come running to investigate.
Action fans probably aren't going to like Commandos. Although the game is very fast paced, it doesn't satisfy the urge for wanton destruction, and there's an awful lot of sitting around waiting for the right moment to act. But if you're into strategy games, own an attention span, and are looking for something that's a lot different than anything we've seen since Cannon Fodder. It is certainly one of the toughest games of all time that will really test your gaming skills as well as your brain.
