Commandos: Origins Review

Commandos: Origins is both a new start for the series and a tribute to the original series, which began in 1998. It will come out in 2025. Developed by Claymore Game Studios and published by Kalypso Media, it aims to bring back the series' slow-burning, stealth-heavy strategy style, though hopefully with fewer gritty details and more modern polish.

The story doesn't try anything new; you're thrown back into the chaos of World War II and given charge of a group of Allied agents with very specific skills. What's the plan? Sabotage, chaos, infiltration, and plain old sneaky violence against the Nazi government. It's not a deep, changing story with a lot of heavy emotional beats, but it stays true to what the franchise is known for.

Commandos: Origins features mission-based stories where goals, settings, and tension drive the plot more than dialogue ever could. You're the underdog team working behind enemy lines to destroy fuel depots, sneak into airbases, blow up planes, and then disappear like a ghost. It's easy to use, works well, and stays true to its tactical roots.

Similar to all the Commandos titles, you are in charge of a small group of specialists and are dropped into big, complex maps where each mission takes place. It's up to you to do everything from killing guards to destroying infrastructure. Because stealth is the name of the game, you'll be lying down in the grass more than walking straight. 

You have to be patient. When you get caught, guards don't just slap you on the wrist; they swarm you, shoot you, and kill you almost right away. So, it's very important to plan your route, time your moves, and know when to be dangerous and when to be sneaky.

You can do different things with each character you control. They have grenades, explosives, and a whistle to get the attention of guards. The sniper has a quiet, powerful rifle that can kill several enemies with a single shot. The "main guy", Green Beret, doesn't seem to get much attention. Besides being able to pick up grenades and climb up cracked or icy walls, he usually stays on the bench unless the level calls for it.

There are both main and optional goals in each mission. If you want the full experience, you should definitely do the optional goals. On one level, you might have to destroy an entire airplane. In another scenario, you might be sent behind enemy lines to destroy water supplies or take apart machine gun nests. These goals give you satisfying moments of chaos and tension, especially when your well-thought-out plans work.

The combat is mostly about stealth, but you can use melee and ranged weapons depending on your character and loadout. Using melee, you can either kill the other player or take them down without killing them. The non-lethal ones are quieter, but enemies will wake up and let everyone know you're there unless you drag their unconscious bodies to a nearby bush. Enemies who have been killed won't come back to blow your cover.

Guns don't come up very often. Your arsenal isn't very big—you can only carry a certain amount of ammunition, and some weapons are on the map when you first start the game, not in your inventory. When it comes to weapons, the sniper rifle stands out. It is silent and deadly, and the bullet shells can be used in a strangely effective way to lead other enemies to their deaths.

There are also different ways to play the game. To flank or distract, you can split up your team and send each member on a different path. You can also take the long way around and sneak to your goal in the safest way possible. You can also turn up the volume, throw grenades into a barrack, and watch the fireworks. You make the call. With many paths, sight lines, and hiding spots, the levels are made to work with both strategies.

The best thing about this mix of stealth and combat is how good it feels when your plan works. For stealth fans, the best part is getting a guard to leave his post, killing him, hiding the body, and then ghosting past a dozen enemies. And when you do get to blow something up, like a fuel depot or a bridge, the game really delivers with big explosions and all the chaos that follows.

Still, there are a few problems. AI isn't always reliable. Sometimes, they patrol as planned, and other times, they walk into a wall or just stop to rest in front of a bush. Animations for things like climbing ladders or touching objects can also go wrong, causing characters to float or freeze in the middle of an action. Things like these can quickly pull you out of a game where timing and stealth are very important.

The way the controls are set up also doesn't help. The developers suggest a certain layout in which you move the camera with the arrow keys and drive with WASD. But that is wrong. You can't use the arrow keys to move the camera up or down in straight lines. 

Instead, you have to move it diagonally or switch to WASD, which makes it harder to control. The camera also stutters and lags when rotating, especially when you hold down Alt to get a better view. This lag is especially noticeable and annoying when things are tense.

Commandos: Origins is different because it doesn't require you to grind experience points or upgrade your character. There is no way to keep track of your inventory, no way to keep gear between missions, and no way to level up. When you pick up a grenade or other item, you either use it right away or add it to your temporary toolkit for that mission. 

It doesn't take away from tactics or moment-to-moment gameplay, but it does take away some of the deeper strategic planning that genre veterans might miss. Not having any long-term progression also takes away any reason to go back to older missions with new tools, since there aren't any.

It looks like the game is still pretty good. It's not cutting-edge technology that will blow your mind, but it's clean, consistent, and has a nice atmosphere. Each map has its own feel, from the snowy levels to the dense forest camps to the sandy desert bases. Good lighting that adds tension and style is especially helpful for missions that take place at night. The environments are well-thought-out and have lots of places to hide, take different paths, and climb. 

The sandbox you're supposed to sneak through looks like it was built with a lot of care. However, when it comes to visual polish, the game still needs much improvement. Things float around. Things can disappear at times. Also, the camera shaking and frame drops during cutscenes can make you worry that your computer is about to crash.

It sounds good, and your footsteps will sound different depending on what you're walking on. That little detail makes it feel more real when you're crawling through snow and then stepping on gravel. Gunshots sound powerful, explosions have a heavy bass, and sneaking through a quiet base makes every takedown sound powerful.

Voice acting isn't always good—some of it sounds like B-movie cheese like the Green Beret's one-liners and the over-the-top Nazi guard yells—but it fits the game's cheesy vibe. But don't expect as much emotion as in The Last of Us. It works for what Commandos: Origins is trying to be.

Commandos: Origins has a lot of different parts, but that's not a bad thing. You will notice the flaws if you expect a polished, up-to-date retelling of the series. If you think of it as a tribute to old-school tactical stealth games, though, it mostly hits the mark. The level design is great. When the game works, it's exciting, smart, and very satisfying to play. Unfortunately, the game has slowdowns, bad animations, a confusing control scheme, and AI that can't figure out the best way to move.

It could be better, and if you're going to pay full price, you might want to wait for a patch or two. But what about Game Pass? There's no question. It's always cool to sneak into a Nazi base, kill the guards one by one, blow up their equipment, and then sneak out without being seen. This place is fun if you're patient and quick on your feet when it comes to saving.