Back at Gamescom we were able to Claymore Game Studios about the upcoming
Commandos Origins, and what it meant to be working on a franchise like this.
Fast Forward to last week, and we were invited down to London to a preview event to see
how the game was doing just 4 weeks before launch, talk to the developers and play a few
levels.
I’m not going to blow smoke and tell you I live and bleed Commandos, I don’t, but I have
played the originals, and can vaguely remember them as Commandos Behind Enemy Lines
only came out… Twenty Seven Years ago… That can’t be right… Why does my back hurt.
Commandos Behind Enemy Lines was one of the first games I played on my own terms
away from the family computer. I found a copy for sale at a charity thing for a few quid, and
thought it looked neat… And then spent hours trying to figure out now not to die while angry
German’s yelled at me. It taught me all the German I needed to know to survive, like when
I’d set off an alarm.
Talking to Studio Director Juergen Reusswig about the upcoming game there was
excitement in his voice being this close to release. We spoke about how fitting it was for a
new studio, just starting at it’s origin point, to decide to add to this franchise by going back to
the beginning and focusing on the origins of the characters we came to know and love.
It was great to get some insight in to the design approach of the game. Talking about the
fundamentals of the game, and how nailing the feel of the viewpoint functionality and
detection has to be just right to build that tension and balance Commandos players are
expecting. As well as talking about historical accuracy and getting the little details and
locations to feel authentic helps build a solid base for the game.
There’s a lot of nostalgia flying around with remakes and remasters recently and
Commandos deserves to share in that, and while of course you can’t judge a game by a 30
minute play session, what we saw did leave us looking forward to more.
Let loose with the game we were able to pick and choose which of the 14 missions we
wanted to take on. This footage is straight up better than our performance, and also on a
different map. The magic of B-Roll making you look better than you are. We chose to stick
with the radar mission we’d seen at Gamescom, and promptly failed it several times at
different points. These aren’t easy levels even if some players are going to breeze through
them with no issue. Planning, preparation and watching patrol routes are going to be key
here, all those tools at your disposal are going to come in very handy. The commando mode
allowing you to utilize multiple instructions at the same time is key to succeeding in taking
down groups of soldiers, but don’t forget to check those patrol routes as well. There were
several times during our short play session where we thought we’d executed a plan perfectly,
only to have a patrol turn up, ruin everything and get gunned down.
It’s hard to say if two games played over twenty years apart feel the same. Even if you load
up Commandos now, it wouldn’t replicate that feeling back then, you’ve played so many
games between those points. What we got to play though, instantly brought back memories
of lighthouses and zoos. Trying to figure out how exactly you were going to take out so many
guys, and Commandos Origins does capture that feeling. I don’t think it’s going to blow
anyone away with revolutionary new ideas, but it looks to be creating a faithful addition to a
franchise, and as a fan of a few smaller franchises, I’d love to see them get such an entry
these days.
There’s more I’d like to see with Commandos and spending a longer time with it. See if it
becomes infuriating or of the satisfaction is there when you feel smart and everything falls in
to place. That will come in time of course this is just a little preview after all, and it’s always
great to see how things are going under the hood on a game. We’ll have something more
concise and filled with footage of our own failed attempts at a mission around review time.
Until then, if you’re a Commandos fan, feel free to ask questions below and we’ll try and
answer them, and if you didn’t know this game was coming out, now you do!
