Sneaking around a German compound during WW2 is no easy feat. In fact, it feels almost impossible. Faced with what feels like hundreds of enemy soldiers pacing around open spaces, guarding every inch of their base with rifles and an iron fist, there’s no way you’re going to get past them. That’s how it feels at the start of every mission in Commandos: Origins. Yes, it does feel like you’ll never succeed, but in the end, despite the overwhelming challenge, you reach your goal, leaving a trail of bodies in your wake.
Commandos: Origins takes it right back to the beginning. As Jack O’ Hara, the famous Green Beret, you and you five colleagues must devise a plan to deconstruct the Nazi war machine from the inside. It is real-time strategy at its core, and the struggle is something that never goes away. It is a difficult game, but with strong planning and perfect timing, watching the fruits of your labour come to life through excellent strategical prowess is something that makes success feel as euphoric as any defeat of a Dark Souls boss.
The reason games like Hitman and Sniper Elite are so good is the freedom they give you to complete your mission. There’s a direct approach, but changing up ideas on the fly and adapting to any given situation is where they are at their most fun. This is no different. An unexpected encounter can throw everything out of the window. Having multiple ways to succeed, watching your spontaneous planning work, pulling off the unexpected. Knowing you have complete freedom is why I loved playing Commandos: Origins.
Most of the time, you’re trying to take down soldiers in silence. Each enemy has a field of vision that needs to be stayed away from. There periphery is awful, and as long as you attack from the sides, you’ll be able to take them down. That’s all well and good, but you approach most of them face on. Sneaking behind walls or across the floor, jumping into foliage and avoiding being spotted, and finding yourself in a position to knock them out can be a daunting task, especially when most areas feature more than one soldier walking around.
Commandos: Origins opens up dramatically when you have more than one ally at your disposal. Each character has a different skill that can be utilised for any given situation. You can pause the game, issue commands, then watch your plan come to fruition upon returning to the action. Of course, you don’t always succeed, and having failure as a common theme does become frustrating. The key to success is making incremental steps across each of the missions that can take several hours to complete.
Saving is your friend. You can quick save often, allowing you to pull of large strategical feats and retry is it goes awry. Stealth is always an option, using your silenced weapon or sneaking behind an enemy to take them out. Using sound devices to trigger an inspection by a nearby guard, only to lead them into a trap, or just going hell for leather with a machine gun offer just a few ways to succeed. Watching how all of these characters interact is part of the fun, but it does take a bit of time to get used to each skill.
The isometric viewpoint gives you a great view of the map. A huge problem when playing Commandos: Origins is trying to do anything with a controller. Playing with a keyboard and mouse should be the only way to play, but with it appearing on console, camera controls are so awkward. You can’t just look around the map or turn in a circular way and zoom in or out. Holding the right trigger, then pressing new prompts gives you the best view of the area, it’s just a lot of work trying to succeed with seeing things from the best vantage point.
Playing on PC is the best way to experience Commandos: Origins. If you can overcome the messy controls on console, there’s a lot to love. The strategical element of each level gives you freedom to create memorable moments in the battle against the Nazis, and pulling off tremendous feats of skill against all the odds provide a high level of satisfaction. It’s fun to go back to basics with the Commandos series, and if you want a challenge while being pushed to the limit, this is one you should definitely try.
