''Commandos'' is a stealth-oriented

real-time tactics Real-time tactics (RTT)(Article at IGN discussing their perception of RTS and related genres as of 2006. RTT is discussed as a new and not yet established genre from the publisher's perspective, so currently all RTT possible titles are still con ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series. The five games released between 1998 and 2006 are all set during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and follow the adventures of a fictional

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

unit. Each mission is loosely based on historical events during World War II to carry the plot. The series was developed by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

developer

Pyro Studios Pyro Mobile was a video game developer based in Madrid, Spain, established in 2012 as a merger between Play Wireless and Pyro Studios and eventually ceasing operations in the second half of 2017. It is mostly known for its real-time tactics games ...

and published by

Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned ''Tomb Raider'', which was in ...

. The series has sold a total of 3.3 million copies and generated $41 million of revenue at retail.

Games

There are five games in the series, which are listed here in the order they were released:

''Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines''

''Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines'' (CBEL) was released on 1 July 1998. It was published by

, and developed by

. It features 20 missions. The view is isometric with tactical gameplay. A Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version of ''Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines'', with the first 5 missions, was also made by Russian homebrew programmers, but lacked sound and certain other features of the PC version.

''Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty''

''Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty'', a set of new Commandos missions issued as a standalone game, was released on 31 March 1999. Despite it being much shorter than ''Behind Enemy Lines'', it is a much more difficult game containing levels on a far greater scale to the extent of being comparable to those that were to be seen in ''Commandos 2''. It has 8 missions, with locations including Yugoslavia and Greece.

''Commandos 2: Men of Courage''

A full sequel, released in 2001, was rebuilt with a 3D engine, more interactive environments, more skills for the commandos, and new characters. Like its predecessor, it drew heavily from

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

s and titled its levels in reference to such films as "

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the pl ...

" and "

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depictio ...

". The game received even greater praise. Several new characters were added to the series in this sequel: A thief called Paul "Lupin" Toledo, a dog called

Whiskey Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...

and ''Wilson'', a shot-down pilot claiming to be from the ''Light Brigade''. A remastered version of the game, called ''Commandos 2 - HD Remaster'', was released in 2020 which was not well received by the audience.

''Commandos 3: Destination Berlin''

This is the third sequel in the series and was released in October 2003. In this game the mouse wheel can be used to rotate the player's vantage point. It was the first in the series to use a true 3D engine. However, the game has been criticized for its short missions and lack of hotkeys.

''Commandos: Strike Force''

Released during the first months of 2006, this game marks a diversion from the first three games. Although the missions are set up in a similar fashion (several different objectives, some to be achieved through stealth, others through use of force) and in most occasions the player is allowed to change between different characters, this is the first game in the series to apply a first-person perspective, like many ''

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

'' or ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'' games than to earlier entries of the series. ''Strike Force'' only has three Commandos, making it the only game in the series to have the least amount of playable characters. They are the Green Beret, The Sniper and The Spy but they are not the same characters from previous instalments; they each bear different appearances, names, and skills. The game attracted an overwhelmingly negative reaction, especially from fans of the earlier games in the series who saw this as a massive modification, concurrent with a great reduction in the series' trademark difficulty. Similarly, it was promoted as mixing elements of strategy from the past games with traditional first-person shooter game-play but instead only hinted at them whilst being predominantly action-oriented. As a result, both critics and fans felt it did little to distance itself from the recent flood of similar games.

Characters

The Commandos series is known to have different names for the characters. Depending on the region, each character's name and alias differs greatly. For example, the Green Beret's real name is either Jerry "Tiny" McHale or Jack "Butcher" O'Hara.

Cast

Music

The first ''Commandos'' game was composed by David Garcia-Morales Inés and other subsequent titles were done by Mateo Pascual. Each of the five soundtrack are made available on iTunes and Amazon.

Mods

Following the discontinuation of the series by

, a couple of mods have been developed by fans. ''Commandos: Strike in Narrow Path'' is a stand-alone expansion for ''Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines'' containing 9 missions and was released initially in 2010. ''Commandos 2: Destination Paris'' tweaks the gameplay of ''Commandos 2: Men Of Courage'' and adds over 100 missions to the base game.

Reception

Future

The series was acquired by

Kalypso Media Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Clay ...

which published a remastered version of Commandos 2: Men of Courage in 2020 and announced work on a new game in the series in April 2020.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commandos (Series) Eidos Interactive games Real-time tactics video games Stealth video games Video game franchises Video games developed in Spain Video games with isometric graphics World War II video games Video game franchises introduced in 1998