Commandos 2 Men Of Courage has literally sucked the hours out of my life. The
gameplay is like sheer crack addiction folks. The squad based strategy genre has
had a coming out party lately with recent titles like Star Trek Away Team, and
Desperados. If you compare these games to Commandos 2, it’s like comparing The
Empire Strikes Back to The Phantom Menace. Phantom had a lot of cool ideas, and
the Jedi duel at the end was unforgettable, but Empire is the greatest film ever
made. So if you enjoyed Away Team, or Desperados then you can stop reading this
review right now. Commandos 2 will kick you in the pants so go buy it.
It is World War 2, and Hitler is providing the Allies with a Blitzkrieg type
ass whipping. It’s your job to command a team of elite fighters behind enemy
lines to wreak havoc on the Nazi war machine. Each commando has his own special
attributes that will be invaluable to complete your objectives. For instance
call in the explosives expert when you need to disarm a mine. I took my first
German tank down with this guy by planting a mine in the middle of a road. In
moments of stealth timing is critical. Neutralizing the enemy is essential. Stun
the guard with a fist, or silence him forever with a knife.
You can pick up weapons, and supplies through out the course of each mission.
Each character can hold a certain amount of items with a grid like backpack
resembling Diablo. Machine-guns, grenades, med-kits, rifles, uniforms,
cigarettes, wire cutters all of these items are at your disposal. Your
characters will run through a brief plan of action before each level. That way
the player can get a sense of what to do. This also makes you feel like part of
the team, and helps draw you into the action. Of course the plan they come up
with is always very vague so you must devise a serious strategy to find any
success.
Everything can be accessed from the interface on the right side of the
screen. Each action or piece of equipment has its very own hot key as well. This
is where we run into the first issue that could mar a perfectly exceptional
game. While everything can be done by using the mouse to click on the interface
this just is not possible. When you are controlling more than one character
there just isn’t enough time. The learning curve to memorize the hotkeys is like
jumping off a cliff naked. The training missions don’t really help, because they
are just missions. There is no guidance that trains the player on gameplay. The
manual does list the hotkeys, but there is no quick reference guide.
Yes some gamers will find this annoying. I say get over it. By the third
mission, you will be familiar with the keyboard anyway. The learning curve is
very high, but well worth it. Trust me. For those of you who need it. The
quicksave, and quickload hotkeys are control s, and control l. You will need
them, because this game is frickin’ hard. It’s not impossible just hard. Now
don’t panic. All this means is that it’s that much more rewarding when you beat
a level without using a cheat code. So plan your strategy, and go get it done.
Install: Easy
Put the disc in and let ‘er rip. It’s called autorun.
Gameplay: 8.5
Engrossing and highly detailed. Many options, and equipment to achieve
objectives. Quick load times. Be forewarned, there is a high learning curve, but
once you master the control this game will be thoroughly satisfying.
Graphics: 9
Beautiful high-resolution in-game graphics engine. Cool character
animations, and diverse locale settings. The tanks just look frickin’ cool. The
zoom feature is rather weak, and blocky.
Sound: 8
My only complaint is that the commandos reply gets a bit repetitive at
times. I’m ready sir. I’m ready sir. I’m ready sir. I’m ready sir.
Difficulty: 9
This sucker is hard, but oh so satisfying when you labor to defeat a
mission, and finally do so.
Concept: 10
World War 2. Any questions? I didn’t think so. The only thing better is Star
Wars, which is actually World War 2 in space.
Multiplayer: 8
Co-op play so you need some buddies to play with.
Overall: 9
This is a great game that requires patience to learn, but rewards with
fantastic, detailed gameplay once the learning is done.
