Commandos 2: Men of Courage Preview

Oh, no, not WW2 again!

There is a great number of games I had a chance to play or see, and a relatively small number of them actually made an impression on me (what a horrible thing to say when you're a game critic ;).

Hmmm, good thing I can hide behind this elephant...

Pacific was too hot, this is too cold. Europe was the real thing.

Some two years ago the number of games that impressed me increased by one when I first loaded Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines. The thing that actually thrilled me was the simplicity of concepts and ideas used - nothing new, nothing revolutionary - still, brilliant. Pyro Studios created one logical, expected, game the market required. Haven't we all played "germans&allies" when we were kids?

Hence, Pyros Studios is to blame for the fact I spent the summer of 98 in front of my computer and that the rest of my household got used to hearing things like "Alarm, alarm!", "Cumin' righ' ov'r... Sir", "I'll be right there"... "Beyond the call of duty" appeared a bit later and even though it was just a mission pack a lot of people considered it to be the sequel. Fortunately, the real sequel is just about to appear pulling our "dirty half-a-dozen" through all the wonderful horrors of WW2 again.

Pyros studio listened to their fans' suggestions and made some constructive changes. The most important change that will positively affect playability is the newly introduced possibility of entering buildings. This will open some new tactical possibilities. There will be some less typical levels; for instance one level is set in a submarine, one in a POW camp (The Colditz mission). There should be altogether twelve missions set all throughout Europe, Asia, and islands in Pacific. The gameplay should prove somewhat quicker and more dynamic, but you will still have time to devise your strategy... It should take about sixty to seventy hours to complete the game, and the game includes a multiplayer mode that will allow you play all the single player missions with your friends.

One of the most important changes will be introducing the "fog of war".

As for the characters, things aren't quite clear yet. We only know that their capabilities won't be as different as they used to be: most of the commandos will be capable of performing most tasks. They will also be able to exchange weapons and objects, shoot out of the windows, and do almost anything to certain extent. They can also climb phone posts and swing from wires. The driver will be the only one capable of driving the tank, but he will need the sapper to fire the tank cannon... Enemy AI has been slightly enhanced too, so we can expect some harsher resistance from the crouts and japs. The developer announced some new allied characters: a dog (he should be a very important charismatic character), a thief named Paul Toledo - Lupin (in charge of breaking and entering enemy buildings and "acquiring" things) and finally a seductress. There should also be some ordinary troopers that will help you in some missions.

I sincerely hope that Pyro will, if not enhance the sound, than leave it as it was in BTEL. I can hardly wait to hear my parents shout: "Oh, no, not THAT game again!" when Tiny goes "Just leave it to me!" in his Scottish accent.

As for the technical specifications, Pyros developed a new engine, which makes full use of the new computer technology and uses a mixture of 2D and 3D graphics. The background is still in 2D, but it is highly detailed and absolutely beautiful (look at those trees and snow). So, the biggest novelties about the graphical engine are the 3D units and the occasional 3D effect (water effects). This combination looks OK, certainly much better than the old engine. You will be able to switch cameras, which will grant you a better feeling for space and action. I especially liked how the cameras work inside buildings. The maximum resolution is now 1024x768.

All we can do is wait for the end of the year and embrace the new commandos. I sincerely hope that Pyro doesn't disappoint us and that Commandos 2 take over all the glory of their predecessors (just to remind you: Commandos: BEL sold 1.2 million copies, three times more than the authors expected). Oh, and don't forget to check out two more of their projects: strategy-adventure game "Heart of Stone" and tactical-combat "Praetorians"...