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Nowadays, we don’t have the luxury of seeing a lot of stealth-oriented games. So, whenever a new one comes, it is expected to feel excited, especially if it is from a long-standing and beloved franchise. Commandos: Origins brings its core real-time tactics gameplay with a significant focus on stealth in a modern and easy-to-understand way. It also gives a lot of player agency to approach all missions and a lot of replayability. While all of that sounds fantastic, it also suffers from many notable issues that make this campaign a frustrating ordeal.
The Campaign That Started It All
If you’ve followed the Commandos series, then you should know that Origins is, as the name implies, the game that started it all chronologically. This new entry follows the Green Beret, the Sapper, the Sniper, the Driver, the Marine, and the Spy as they band together to fight the Nazi menace across the world. If you’re a fan of the franchise, you’ll love seeing these characters’ first steps. But if you aren’t, this is an excellent starting point. This becomes even better thanks to the modernized gameplay, but I’ll delve into that later.
In terms of missions, there are more than a dozen there, and each one is unique. You begin with only a couple of characters, but as you progress through the story, you’ll add more of these soldiers to your cause. While the playable roster is amazing, and each one feels highly different from the others, the missions are a dream come true for any sandbox fan who also likes RTS elements.
All of these assignments have unique gimmicks. Some will require you to infiltrate a place, drive a vehicle, sabotage a compound, and then exfiltrate. Others will require you to destroy structures while dodging the many types of enemies in the game. Everything is enhanced further thanks to the many options to approach and tackle a situation. You can go loud if you want to. Yet, it’s not the best or most recommended way. You can kill every single enemy in the area to get past them or sneak around to find a different way. Player agency is at the top of everything in Commandos: Origins, and it made me feel like I was always inside a tactical sandbox.
On top of that, there’s a lot of replayability due to the difficulty options. If you’re starting, the Recruit difficulty is ideal. Enemies take longer to detect you, which is great while you get the hang of controlling all your soldiers. But if you want to test your commanding and strategical skills, the highest difficulty is as engaging as it is challenging and one that may enthrall veterans of the series. While all of these comprise the campaign as a whole, the cherry on top of it all is the actual tactical gameplay.
Prime Tactical Gameplay
Commando: Origins does an excellent job of bringing top-notch real-time strategy and superb stealth mechanics. In addition, each character has unique gimmicks that let you approach everything differently. Frankly, this is what I enjoyed the most, and I often felt Commandos: Origins was a mix between Hitman and Sniper Elite. The only difference, however, is that most of the gameplay aspects are split between your roster.
Let’s talk about the soldiers first. Every member of this elite force has their own identity. The Green Beret is all about fast kills and brute strength. The Sapper excels at sabotage and can even open new paths for your other team members. The Sniper can kill two enemies with one shot and even share a few skills with the Green Beret. These are just the first three, but the remaining ones are equally great and unique.
When you add those different gameplay styles to a sandbox-like mission, you get almost endless opportunities. For instance, during the third mission, I had to infiltrate a compound to steal documents. There were many ways to approach the task. In my case, I decided to put the Sniper at the highest vantage points I could find. Then, I would shoot enemies and have the Green Beret hide the bodies. When I ran out of bullets, I had the Sniper move to a new location to loot ammunition and continue taking down enemies from afar. However, I also had the option to have both characters infiltrate and fight up close. Those are only two approaches to the missions, but there are many more if you take the time to analyze your surroundings.
Map design is another thing that enhances the core gameplay. All areas will always give you different paths to get to your main or side objectives. Some are stealth-oriented and work better when you send only one character. A few others will almost always require some sort of teamwork, with one member opening a path and the other clearing it from enemies. At the same time, all missions give you many things with which to interact. In one area, I was able to harness my inner Agent 47 and electrify a pool of water to take down three enemies at a time.
Lastly, one thing that helps Commandos: Origins greatly is how easy its gameplay is to understand. I played on a controller and wasn’t expecting it to work so well. There’s even a dedicated quick save button on it, which I was thankful for. Aside from that, however, understanding all gameplay concepts is extremely easy. Whether it is how to take down enemies, carry bodies around, or use a soldier’s skills, everything is easy to grasp and satisfying to pull off.
Commandos: Origins understands how to give true gameplay freedom to the player, and despite the hiccups, it is quite enjoyable when it works.
Tangled In a Barbed Wire
Sadly, it isn’t all shiny medals and praises for this elite squad. The gameplay, characters, and sandbox elements are superb. However, I felt frustrated halfway through the campaign due to the glaring technical issues. In many missions, enemy AI stopped working after reloading a save. Some foes would stop moving and ignore their patrol routes. In others, you were able to grab essential items across walls. The worst ones, however, pertained to optimization. Moving my camera fast across a map would tank my frames. Also, my PC had the fans working overtime, which certainly didn’t help.
Overall, Commandos: Origins nails every aspect of an engaging and addictive real-time strategy game with a heavy focus on stealth. Characters are unique, levels are challenging and full of sandbox elements, and the core gameplay is one of the best in the genre. Yet, its many issues will quickly eclipse every other significant aspect of the game. As first impressions go, Commandos: Origins was equally engaging and frustrating—unfortunately, a bit more of the latter. But if Claymore irons these issues out, I see myself jumping back into this highly replayable campaign that nails many of the things that have made this genre so cherished by many.
Commandos: Origins (PC Reviewed)
Commandos: Origins nails the real-time strategy aspects and enhances them by bringing excellent sandbox elements. Sadly, the many bugs and technical issues will frustrate even the most dedicated players out there.
Pros
- Superb real-time strategy gameplay
- Beginner-friendly systems
- Unique playable characters
Cons
- A plethora of bugs
- Poorly optimized
