Commandos: Origins Preview - Not Revolution, Just a Tribute to the Genre and a Return to the Gold Past

Commandos: Origins is a return to the old formula, old solutions, even old characters! The fourth main installment of the series, as the subtitle suggests, tells the story of the origins of the special commando group from the first part. So, we will find out how they were recruited, how they met, and how they experienced their baptism of fire as renowned heroes: Green Beret, Sapper, Marine (Diver), Sniper, Driver, and Spy. The first game started in 1941, but in Origins we jump into the action in 1940. In the tutorial mission, we will even get to know the beginnings of the unit commander - the Green Beret.

Story of how the brave gentlemen met

The brave gentlemen from the British army are returning to once again slip behind the front line and operate in the enemy's rear. We will sabotage, eliminate, blow up, and steal information. Even before gamescom, I had the pleasure of watching Jurgen Reusswig, the head of Claymore Studio and the main director of the game, playing Commandos: Origins. I can already say that Commandos: Origins isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, it's not forcibly seeking a revolution, but rather faithfully represents the old genre, but in more fashionable, nicer clothes.

The maps have been created in full 3D, allowing us to freely rotate, zoom in, and zoom out, while still maintaining the characteristic top-down view of the series. By leveraging the advantages of modern game engines, we will finally be able to enter buildings without having to switch to a new map. In the original, this wasn't so obvious - any entrance to even the smallest shed caused a dimming of what was outside. I'm mentioning this fact because this time there are large buildings on the map that we can infiltrate. The graphics seem decent, or at least good enough for this genre. The developers, however, didn't try to move mountains here, just create a decent cover, which serves to showcase really big locations.

However, the devs kept in mind that Commandos players are often history and military fans, so all trucks, artillery, and equipment were crafted with a focus on realism. In the game, of course, we will visit various places and countries associated with World War II, so the biomes will change; the desert and winter landscape, for instance, will appear.

Big maps, tons of possibilities

Returning to the size of the maps - their size matters here. Similarly to the originals, we will have many ways to accomplish mission goals. In the fifth mission of the campaign presented to me, the main goal was to destroy radars. Whether we do it ourselves by sneaking through a large map, or focus on eliminating anti-aircraft guns and then call for an airstrike from a nearby radio station located in a heavily guarded building, it's up to us. Of course, there are several ways to "approach" a specific part of the map - we can go YOLO (not recommended), or sneak from the left, from the right, from the top, from the bottom, through the bushes, under the bridge, diving in the water, climbing on the wall, the roof or through the middle of the building - typical Commandos style! We will be doing what we did in old installments or games like Desperados, Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood, Shadow Tactics, or the relatively recent War Mongrels, i.e. distract attention, cut throats, move bodies, climb or hide from guards and, above all, observe patrol paths to solve the puzzle and approach the Germans without raising the alarm. Nothing groundbreaking, but good enough to satisfy fans of the genre.

Along with the old characters, their skills return - the Green Beret can dig himself in, to pop out at the least expected moment and slit the throat. He can also distract with a decoy and is the only one who can move bodies without detection, even within the sight of the guards. The field of view of the guards, as is often the case in this genre, is defined by a triangle divided into two parts - the one closer to the guard is the field of definitive detection, and the other, dashed, is the field of conditional vision. It is within this field that our character can move. The Diver, of course, swims (and shoots a harpoon), the Sniper takes down Germans from a large, safe distance, the Spy assumes the identity and uniform of a soldier to infiltrate the enemy base, and the Driver, as a Driver does, will drive vehicles (yes, we can actually drive a car). If you've played the original games, you'll already be familiar with these skills and can start experimenting right away. As I said - no revolution, just a tribute to the genre and a return to the gold past.

The new feature allows for the use of "non-lethal takedowns" for those who, uh, struggle with the idea of killing even a virtual Nazi (the unconsciousness will be temporary, not permanent), as well as the Command Mode, which enables us to plan actions with multiple soldiers and then execute them all at once upon command.

Jurgen Reusswig didn't want to reveal the exact number of missions, but during the presentation, he showed enough to say that there will be 14 of them. Missions have additional objectives spread across the map for those who enjoy exploring and finding different ways to overcome Nazi patrols.

No to censorship

Many of you are surely wondering if there will be censorship in the game. In the build that was presented to me, there were swastikas. Not iron crosses, but swastikas - this time you won't have to resort to the help of modders. For sensitive people, there is an option to disable symbols that have negative associations.

By the way, if we are talking about mods for Commandos, the devs don't foresee them at the moment, but they also do not say "no." The game's director said that this is due to their common-sense approach to the topic - Claymore Game Studios is a new team and Commandos: Origins will be their first game. So instead of promising pie in the sky, they focus on delivering a complete game.

At war, errors are normal

While watching the game, I noticed a few things that spoiled my good mood. I'm not talking about bugs - the build I was given wasn't ready and included numerous audio placeholders - that's normal, devs will deal with it before the premiere.

However, the AI of the opponents worried me. When we want to use a grenade, the game shows us a quite large circle that indicates how far the sound will carry – but it still raises my eyebrow when, in the heat of a world war, in the middle of a German base, you detonate something with a big bang and at most arouse the interest of a nearby guard. But okay, let's put it down to the need to adapt realism to the game's constraints. It's a shame, however, that enemies are still as stupid as they were in the 90s.

A clever technique is that we can eliminate a guard by using the interactive environment. For instance, drop a log or a crate on him. Then the rest of the guards, who notice this, don't raise the alarm, because, as you know, accidents happen. Great, right? In one of the examples, I witnessed a guard standing in a puddle getting shocked by the electricity we turned on (flowing through a severed cable). The rest of the Germans gathered, muttered something, and then returned to their patrols and idle animations, not only leaving the corpse in a puddle (which is typical for games) but also failing to turn off the power. In other words, this corpse in the deadly puddle will lie there until the end of the mission, and the Germans will be strolling around, even though the cable next to them is still lethally electrified. I understand that occupational health and safety may not have been a thing during World War II, but these kinds of details just ruin the immersion.

I have a similar remark about explosive charges. We can plant a bomb on the anti-aircraft battery next to the guard's feet. Even though he will be staring at the bomb, he won't notice it until we detonate it right in his face. I really hope that all of this was due to the early build of the game and that the release version will be more polished.

I'm waiting

I'm waiting for Commandos: Origins. I won't lie, with hope, because I miss my childhood and old games. I believe that the new studio will manage to restore Commandos in at least a satisfactory condition. I'm happy that the devs aren't experimenting and trying to revolutionize the genre forcefully, although it's a bit of a shame that Commandos: Origins seems like just an old king in slightly new clothes. The graphics, as mentioned, are good, but they won't amaze us, won't captivate us, won't make us want to rotate the camera to see real models of historical, war vehicles. Commandos' publisher, Kalypso, releases games that are at best good, and most often correct, but never great. Despite my fear that Commandos: Origins will meet the same fate as Port Royale 4, I have faith that it will succeed this time. This genre deserves to be remembered.