More engrossing than a trampoline full of naked women! (Commandos (PC))

Member Name: Judgee

Product:	Commandos (PC)
Date:	27/02/02 (347 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Addictive fun

Disadvantages: Tricky Controls

Yes indeed, a game to hook you in an instant and have you drooling down your shirt in anticipation of your next victim. At least that's how I found it! Yes it's an old game now and the graphics will hardly astound you, but it has the addiction factor that so many now lack in a sacrifice for superior visuals. That certain something that only games like Championship manager and the Sims seem to find, where time has no meaning and you are constantly late for work. Where you forget that personal hygiene is required in order to blend in with the rest of the human race. I bought Commandos from a bargain bucket bin and boy was it worth it!


>The Scenario<

During the Second World War an elite unit was created, trained and equipped to deal with certain military operations. They were known as the Commandos and were to make a significant impact on the outcome of the war. Your job is to lead an elite group of soldiers through various scenarios using their individual skills. Stealth is more often the order of the day, sneaking around in order to achieve your objectives. Failure is not an option!


>Your Team<

Green Beret - Often seen as the leader in your group, he is strong and lethal with a knife, particularly when used in conjuction with his decoy noise maker. He is also able to scale walls and move barrels about (moving barrels is more useful than you might think!) He also has the advantage of being able to bury himself in sand or snow and blend in with his surroundings.

Sniper - Stating the obvious perhaps but he is an expert marksman and the only member of your team equipped with a rifle. (very handy for taking out guards in awkward situations (that's shooting them not taking them out for a drink!))

Diver - The only member of your team that is equipped with diving gear and therefore the only one that can swim underwater. Often (but not always) equipped with an inflatable dingy, he can sometimes
help to transport the rest of your team across water. The only member (other than Green Beret) that is deadly with a knife, but probably more effective with his harpoon gun giving you the option of slightly ranged yet silent attacks.

Sapper - Your explosives expert capable of blowing up virtually everything in his path. Able to use timed explosives and grenades but equally deadly with his mantrap, enabling silent kills whilst being safely tucked out of harms way himself.

Driver - Again, perhaps slightly obvious but this member of your team can drive vehicles. Often armed with a machine gun (but not always) he is probably at his deadliest when you sneak him into an enemy tank, where he can effectively wipe out half a town.

Spy - My personal favourite! If you can get him an enemy uniform he can move within the enemy ranks, distracting guards and silently killing enemy soldiers with his syringe full of poison.

>The missions<

They vary greatly from assassinating generals to blowing up bridges. The manual will tell you that there are 26 missions but this is not entirely true. Really there are only 20 missions and 6 training missions. Call me picky but I thought this was a bit of a con. I enjoyed all the missions and they vary in difficulty. Unlike most games, they did not seem to get progressively more difficult but tended to jump about a bit ie mission 1 hard, mission 2 easy, mission 3 very hard, etc. Still, I rather like this idea and it made a nice change.


>Controls<

Strictly for people who prefer to shuffle a mouse rather than waggle a joystick. Basically because this game is solely mouse control with the exception of a couple of keyboard keys.


>Sound<

Repetitive to say the least, but adequate. Tempting, as it was to turn the sound off, you really need the sound on to hear if the enemy has sounded the alarm. The usual bangs for guns, big bangs for explosions however
you do hear a satisfying "argh" when you stab an enemy soldier!


>Cut scenes<

There is a cut scene and mission briefing in between each mission. Often from old film footage, often interesting and they really added to the atmosphere of the game. Big thumbs up to the programmers for a job well done in this area.


>Multi-player<

This game will enable you to play multi-player games online with up to 6 other people (I have not used this feature though!)


>Overall view<

I absolutely loved this game, it is very very addictive. The controls are very fiddly to start off with but get easier with time and practice. The graphics are dated now but you can clearly see what is going on. I did find the game frustrating in places and particularly disliked the pause feature. This was because when paused, you could do nothing. Unlike other games where pausing will enable you to click on people or objects and then carry out your orders as soon as the action starts again. Quite often I found my men were walking when they should have been running and trying to control several of my soldiers in combined actions was incredibly difficult. Another gripe I have with the game is the team selection. Basically you can't choose. For each mission you are given a set selection of men from your team and I would have liked to be able to choose the members for each mission myself. I can understand why they have done this though, I guess some missions would have been really easy if you could select your own team. So I guess I can forgive them for that. Despite it's faults I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who is not really interested in the first person shooter games but still likes a bit of combat action. It will have you hooked!


>Minimum Requirements<

Pentium 100
4x CD ROM
16Mb Ram
Soundblaster sound card (or compatible)

Oooooh and a 1 month brea
k from society to complete it!

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