2003. The world saw the first Call of Duty, which in 2004 was awarded the title of Game of the Year, beating out even Max Payne 2 in this field. In another decade, absolutely any game about the Second World War will be compared to this series. There was no exception to this rule Commandos: Strike Force.
The game was released in March 2006, six months after the release of Call of Duty 2 and six months before the release of Call of Duty 3. Naturally, this first-person shooter in the scenery of the Second World War inevitably began to be compared with its more famous neighbor in the genre. But the interesting thing is that she is dissatisfied with the brainchild of the Spaniards from Pyro Studios There was not only a large fan base of CoD players, but also fans of previous games in the Commandos series. You see what the point is… Pyro Studios made a daring attack on the territory of its competitors, changing the very concept of Commandos, which, in fact, upset the fans. But CoD was unable to make a worthy competitor in the eyes of fans: everyone criticized the game for its outdated graphics, narrow-minded AI, lack of any respect for the laws of physics and uninteresting plot. Well, strong statements, let’s figure out what’s what!
Before breaking down the entire game into its components, proceeding directly to the review, I would like to clarify some points. To be honest, I never had any love for witchcraft, and I didn’t consider myself a fan of it. Quite the contrary, I always treated it somewhat condescendingly, like a cheap shooting range where you are given a choice of an air gun or an air rifle and sent to shoot at bunnies and eagle owls. Having barely even made it through the first part, I immediately forgot about it. But I finished Commandos: Strike Force at one time and returned to it more than once until I lost the game disc from one of my friends. I was really captivated by its variability in completing levels and the tactical possibilities the game provided – during the reign of Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, even such variability in a first-person shooter was something truly incredible. And for the sake of this review, I replayed it again.
In general, the Commandos https://jettbetcasino.org/mobile-app/ series was originally a real-time strategy, and this is largely why fans turned away from the series with the release of the shooter. Now the game did not provide the same tactical freedom that before, only three came to replace the six different types of infantry from the last part of the series, the story campaign itself felt much shorter… compared to its predecessors, it was a complete failure, I must admit. But I hasten to note that I came here to compare SF with CoD, and not with the previous parts of the series, and in this regard the game is really impressive.
Let’s start with controversial aspects, for starters. Really, graphics in the 2006 game was already, to put it mildly, outdated. The picture looks especially comical if you remember the fact that Half-Life 2 was released in 2007. But at the same time, I want to note that the evolution of graphics just in the period 2006-2008 was simply colossal. For example: Prey was released in 2006, Orange Box was released in 2007, and Crysis was released in 2008. Neither developers nor PC gamers could keep up with new trends, whose hardware inexorably remained out of use. As they say, “we survived as best we could”. And besides, the graphics are even nicer than in the game of that time, the bodies have their own “rag” physics of falling, and I can also note the staging of cutscenes, which at least are here.
But then let’s remember about AI. Remember that cunning intelligence from CoD, which constantly hid in shelters, did not get under bullets, constantly went behind your back… in general, showed signs of higher intelligence? No? Strange, me too. This whole farce is just for comparison, of course, but there is some truth in it – the CoD AI never sparkled with intelligence, it had a simple script, thanks to which the enemies simply crushed you in numbers if you behaved too impudently and pretended to be Rambo. In Commandos, thanks to stealth and the social system, the AI looks much more alive. But in battle he behaves just as ridiculously as in Call of Duty. The paradox emerges, the clock lies, but goes, as they say. The AI is especially stupid during missions based on the principle of holding back a siege: the bots walk straight along the path they have laid out, from point A to point B, without noticing anything around them at all. Only a bullet can shake their will. But outside of hostilities, everyone goes about their own business, creating the effect of presence and immersion in the “life” of the Krauts, at least for this the developers can really be praised.
And here we gradually touch upon plot. He’s quite hackneyed and unremarkable. From the very beginning of the game, we are introduced to the situation with a short introduction. Like, there is Shock Squad, whom the entire Third Reich fears, and who throughout the game successfully helps the Allied forces bring the war closer to victory. Of three people, yes, but which ones?! Green Beret – a typical shooting warrior, always with a gloomy face and bouts of mistrust in the most unexpected situations. He always has something to treat the Krauts to, because this guy is absolutely incapable of stealth, even though he carries a pretentious hunting knife with him, and almost every mission for him is a pure action movie with tank explosions, machine gun fire and grenades – “kalovdyutshchina”, albeit pleasant. Sniper – such a good-natured hard worker, with whom you can drink beer at war or in a bar. He knows his worth, because he has a “gift from God”, and in his presence you can always hear something like “one shot – one corpse” or “be silent, be deadly”. But, to be honest, it’s a real pleasure to play for him, this guy can show all the Germans Kuzka’s mother from a high bell tower, and cut off an entire border post with the most dangerous knives ever. And finally, the star of the game, the one for whom you will constantly wait to play and with enviable impatience – Spy. Oooh, this little devil shamelessly steals every minute of the game for him: cold, calculating, unforgiving, purposeful… Aryan. But German philosophy was not to his liking, and he became a spy for the other side. And this, by the way, is the only character who is written so deeply. In general, it feels like the game was made almost exclusively for him alone, but somewhere in the middle of development the guys realized that, in fact, they needed to throw in more heroes for the canon of the series, well, they threw them in, wrote them a couple of average missions with shooting enemies – and that’s it. Our Stirlitz is excellent at using a noose and coins, and it is also not at all difficult for him to put on someone else’s uniform and flaunt it wherever he pleases..
But here my praises sharply turn into gameplay. And this is why I returned to this game over and over again. Compared to the “one-button” shooters of those times, Commandos was like a breath of fresh air and something truly new. A mixture of a vigorous shooter with sniper activity… and what, games with snipers can even now be counted on one hand. and working as it should with stealth. Not as great or challenging as Thief, but closer to Hitman. And all this in one game! Yes, it even has side quests that you can safely skip or complete at your discretion! I understand that now all this sounds, to put it mildly, ridiculous, against the background of the same Far Cry 5, but almost everything the same was in the game ten years ago. I still remember with bated breath the first time I passed through a French city that was busy with the Germans as a spy, it was one of the first missions for it. And there was such a scope of opportunities to complete, side quests and all that other stuff that my eyes still run wild when I enter! You can strangle the first non-commissioned officer you come across and go through all the missions in this suit, wisely avoiding officers and the Gestapo. But the first thing you can do is go and catch some Gestapo man and show off in his uniform wherever you want. Or you can use an ordinary soldier to strangle every Fritz you come across. Well, or as a last resort, play Rambo and shoot the whole city with an MP40 at the ready, fortunately there is definitely enough cartridge for this, and shooting here is quite pleasant. In general, complete freedom in choosing the style of passage, as well as in choosing both the sequence of completing tasks, and in choosing to complete them in general. This is how the game really captivates everyone and draws them into what is happening.
Summing up result, I want to say that no matter how bad this game is in the eyes of true fans of the series, it doesn’t matter even more so how bad it is in the eyes of CoD fans – this is a different game, and that’s it, you need to accept it for what it is, abstracting from everything superfluous and unnecessary and enjoying the game, and not a continuation of the series or another clone of the sorcerer. And then, perhaps, you too will find in it that zest that I found for myself ten years ago, and which I still see..
Afterword: This time I listened to the voice of the people and chose not such a hype topic or game, but decided to show something new and unfamiliar to many, and possibly forgotten. As always, I will be glad to receive any criticism addressed to me and am ready to shake my head, thank you for your attention!
