The last proper Commandos game we had (not counting the recent HD remasters) was Commandos 3 back in 2003. That’s a long time for this series to lie dormant. Though thankfully the real-time tactics genre hasn’t been as quiet, seeing resurrections across various games in the last decade. Commandos: Origins inserts itself quite nicely into the fold, thanks to the new internal development studio to Kalypso in Claymore Game Studios. Commandos: Origins is a faithful prequel feels like a fitting return full of challenging missions that will exercise the trial-and-error gameplay that feels like a modern classic.
As the title of the game implies, this is an origin story for the Commandos games that came before. It tells the formative stories of the iconic World War II special forces unit, and you work on assembling the team. They will get into some hairy situations that you have to carefully maneuver them through. Think of it as a puzzle box wrapped in a tense wartime scenario, where every move must be calculated, every shadow exploited, and every enemy patrol meticulously observed. There’s a cleverly made tutorial that transitions into the main missions that serves as a great introduction.
The core gameplay remains largely faithful to the series’ roots, which means you’ll have be quicksaving and quickloading often. The game will remind you after two minutes of not saving that you should probably save. With the press of a button, you can quicksave and try something to see if it works or not. If not, then you can go back right before you made that decision without losing a lot of progression. The game prioritizes stealth and espionage over direct combat. With Commandos: Origins, you either are prone or standing, there’s no option to crouch. You can select members of the squad through number keys that they are assigned, or can drag-select to move multiple at once. There’s really no surprises here, but you can fully customize how this plays with re-assigning each press for different types of actions, so you can feel comfortable with your real-time tactics actions.
You’ll be controlling the Green Beret, Sniper, Driver, Marine, Sapper, and Spy, each with their distinct abilities. The Green Beret, as always, is your close-quarters combat powerhouse, capable of dragging bodies and taking down foes silently. The Sniper, with his trusty rifle, provides crucial long-range elimination. The Driver handles vehicles, a welcome addition that expands tactical possibilities. The Marine, adept in water and with a harpoon gun, opens up naval infiltration routes. The Sapper is your explosives expert, capable of setting charges and disabling enemy equipment. And the Spy, the master of disguise, can blend in with the enemy ranks, gather intel, and create crucial openings. All characters are capable of lethal or non-lethal attacks, but given the Nazi presence, there’s no reason to leave any of them alive.
What Origins gets absolutely right is the feeling of being outnumbered and outgunned. Charging in guns blazing is a recipe for a swift and brutal game over. Success hinges on meticulous planning, synchronizing actions, and exploiting the environment to your advantage. Setting up ambushes, utilizing distractions, and silently dispatching guards are the bread and butter of the experience. The level design is intricate and demands careful observation. Even moving in the snow, you’ll leave behind footprints and drag marks that can make an enemy suspicious. Enemy patrol routes, sight cones, and environmental hazards all need to be factored into your strategy. One wrong move can alert the entire base, turning your carefully laid plans into a desperate scramble for survival.
Furthermore, while the AI is generally competent in spotting and reacting to your presence, there are occasional moments of inconsistency. Sometimes, guards seem oblivious to blatant breaches in security, while at other times, they possess an almost supernatural awareness. Fine-tuning the AI’s consistency would contribute to a more immersive and believable experience.
fully zoomed out identifies enemies
There’s twelve operations or missions to complete, taking you to various destinations such as Africa, the Arctic, Europe, and many more. There’s so many different biomes to experience and experiment with, you’ll never feel like you’ve experienced the same place twice. Each mission takes at least an hour to complete, with later missions taking nearly two hours, you’re looking at a campaign that will last you up to 30 hours.
Aside from just completing the missions, there are collectibles to find and higher difficulties to complete them in. So there’s incentive to replay missions to challenge yourself. Perhaps the most exciting thing is that Commandos: Origins can be played entirely in co-op with one friend. It’s a great way to experience the game, and share the duties of the entire squad.
I did find the game to have a clumsy UI, where at the end of the mission doesn’t have a “Continue” or “Next Mission”, first. You must click “Stats” and then “Next Mission”. Reloading a previous save when I first started the game or subsequent retries often created buggy outlines or selections that even the AI would attack. This would be fixed by deselecting them properly, but not ideal.
Commandos: Origins is a gorgeous game, and really offers bright and colorful locales to explore and traverse. The game’s graphical options are rather standard, and do offer supersampling through DLSS or FSR. Without either enabled, I was able to get 90fps with all settings set to Ultra. It’s a well-performing game that should run on many systems without trouble.
My PC Specs:
– Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
– Intel Core i9 13900K @ 5.8GHz
– ASUS ROG RYUJIN II 360 ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
– G.SKILL TRIDENT Z5 6000MHZ 64GB (32×2) DDR5 RAM
– ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4080 16GB GDDR6X
– WD_BLACK SN850X M.2 (4 TB)
– LG UltraGear 34GP950B-G (21:9 Ultrawide @ 3440×1440)
Commandos: Origins is an exciting return for the venerable series. It introduces new players to the world and the genre, and returning players will find a lot new and experience everything the series is known for. It delivers the challenging and rewarding gameplay you remember with a modern polish. Commandos: Origins brings old faces to new places for an exciting real-time tactics game that sits in its throne once again.
A Steam code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
