Commandos: Origins Review: Is It Worth Playing?

What is Commandos: Origins?

Commandos: Origins is a real-time tactics game and a prequel to the seminal Commandos series. It is developed by Claymore Game Studios and published by Kalypso Media. The game takes players back to the early days of World War II to witness the formation of the elite special operations unit.

The premise follows the original squad — Green Beret, Sniper, Driver, Marine, Sapper, and Spy — as they are brought together for their first missions. It establishes the camaraderie and brutal efficiency that defined the original games.

This is a deliberate return to the series' roots. It eschews modern reinterpretations in favour of the pure, isometric-view stealth and tactics that veterans will remember. The game aims to recapture the magic of the late 90s and early 2000s classics, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and Commandos 2: Men of Courage, by directly appealing to the fanbase that has longed for a faithful successor.

Gameplay

The core gameplay is a faithful and unapologetic revival of the punishing, methodical real-time tactics the series is known for. You control a small squad of commandos, each with a unique and vital set of skills.

• The Green Beret eliminates enemies up close and carries heavy objects.
• The Sniper provides long-range cover.
• The Driver operates vehicles.
• The Marine swims and uses a rubber boat.
• The Sapper handles explosives.
• The Spy can disguise himself and pick locks.

Success hinges on mastering these individual abilities and combining them in precise, often simultaneous, actions. The game is played from an isometric perspective, with a heavy emphasis on line-of-sight, enemy patrol patterns, and environmental interaction.

Feel of play

The feel of play is one of intense, chess-like calculation punctuated by moments of frantic crisis management. A single mistake — a guard spotting a corpse, a mis-timed whistle, a character stepping into a cone of vision — can trigger alarms that turn a meticulously planned infiltration into a desperate and usually fatal firefight.

The learning curve is steep, arguably steeper than many modern players will be accustomed to. The game does not hold your hand; it expects you to learn through failure, observation, and patience. There is a deep satisfaction in finally executing a complex plan after multiple reloads, but this loop will be deeply frustrating to those lacking the temperament for it.

The depth is immense. Later missions offer sprawling, multi-objective maps that require you to split your team and manage multiple fronts, a true test of strategic foresight and micromanagement.

Who is Commandos: Origins for?

Commandos: Origins is unequivocally for a specific, hardcore audience. It is for solo players who relish a deep, single-player challenge and possess significant patience and strategic thinking.

It is first and foremost for veterans of the original Commandos games and similar titles like Desperados III or Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Fans of those modern 'immersive sim' tactics games will find the DNA here, but should be warned that Origins is often more rigid and less forgiving in its systems.

It is not for casual players seeking a light strategy experience or action-oriented combat. The pace is slow, deliberate, and punishing.

Co-operative mode

The game features a co-operative multiplayer mode, allowing players to share the burden of controlling the squad. This can be a fantastic way to tackle the game's toughest challenges, distributing roles and planning together. However, the core experience is built as a solitary test of skill.

If you found the recent Desperados III to be the perfect level of challenge, Commandos: Origins will feel like a step up in austerity and difficulty. If you have no nostalgia for the pixel-hunting and strict rules of late-90s PC gaming, its design may feel archaic rather than classic.

Graphics and performance

Commandos: Origins employs a modern 3D graphical style while meticulously preserving the fixed isometric perspective and visual clarity of the originals. The character models are detailed, and the environments are rich with period-appropriate clutter. Weather effects like snow or rain add atmosphere.

The visual style successfully bridges the old and new. It offers crisp, readable visuals that are essential for gameplay, where identifying a tiny enemy in a bush or spotting a tripwire can mean mission success or failure. The art direction is sober and grounded, fitting the wartime setting perfectly.

Technical performance

The game is generally well-optimised for PC. On a mid-range modern system, it runs at a stable high frame rate at 1440p resolution. We encountered no major bugs, crashes, or performance hiccups during review.

The controls have been thoughtfully adapted for modern systems. Context-sensitive cursors and a control scheme that, while complex, is manageable after the initial learning period. The user interface is clean and provides all necessary information without cluttering the detailed battlefields.

Value for money

The game's value proposition hinges entirely on your appetite for its specific brand of challenge. The campaign features a substantial number of missions, each of which can take anywhere from one to several hours to complete depending on your skill and thoroughness.

For a player who engages with the trial-and-error gameplay and seeks to complete all objectives perfectly, the playtime can easily extend beyond 30-40 hours. There is little in the way of ancillary content or procedural generation; the value is in the crafted, hand-made missions and the satisfaction of conquering them.

At its standard launch price, Commandos: Origins sits in the mid-tier for PC strategy games. For the dedicated fan of the genre or the series, the price is justified by the depth, challenge, and sheer volume of content. It is a premium, niche product.

For the curious but uninitiated, the high barrier to entry and lack of difficulty concessions make it a risky purchase at full price. We would strongly recommend trying a demo or watching extensive gameplay to gauge your tolerance for its mechanics before committing.

Verdict

Commandos: Origins is the authentic, demanding Commandos experience rebuilt with modern technology — a specialist's game, and for that specialist, an excellent return to form.

Commandos: Origins is a successful and deliberate archaeological dig, resurrecting a hardcore genre classic with respect and minimal compromise. It is not a reimagining or a casual-friendly simplification; it is the authentic, demanding Commandos experience rebuilt with modern technology.

We recommend it wholeheartedly to veterans of the series and hardened tactics aficionados who have been waiting for a true successor. The depth of planning, the tension of execution, and the triumph of success are all present and potent.

However, we cannot recommend it to players new to the genre or those with low frustration thresholds. Its steep learning curve and punitive design are core to its identity, but will be legitimate barriers for many.

Claymore Game Studios has accomplished its mission: to deliver Commandos as it was, for the audience that never stopped wanting it.