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| Commandos 2 |
Commandos 2 Beyond the Call of Duty:
Beyond the Call of Duty ends up feeling like a shadow of its former self, being both shorter and more frustrating than the original.
Just about every good game gets an expansion
pack or a sequel, not just because it's profitable, but because it's easy. The
good idea's already there, and the existing technology can be recycled to make
a game that feels comfortably familiar but with new and exciting content.
Recent expansion packs like Starcraft: Brood War, as well as sequels like Myth
II and Fallout 2, all bettered their predecessors. But Commandos: Beyond the
Call of Duty, a standalone expansion to Behind Enemy Lines, ends up feeling like
a shadow of its former self, being both shorter and more frustrating than the
original.
The
original Commandos was a surprise hit. It cleverly combined strategy, puzzle,
and action elements with great graphics and an all-too-apt subject matter, and
while there was some debate over just what kind of game it was trying to be,
most found its demand for planning and precision to be both unusual and
exciting.
At a
glance, Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty is more of the same, with a few new
bells and whistles. But the fact is, you can have too much of a good thing. The
original Commandos was a great game because each member of the squad was highly
specialized. A couple of them, the Green Beret and the spy, ended up doing most
of the work, but that was OK, because the others like the marine and the sapper
got their moments in the spotlight. In Beyond the Call of Duty, though, each
character gains the ability to throw a stone or toss a pack of cigarettes as a
means of distracting the unassuming enemy. Likewise, every commando can now
force a captured nazi to do his bidding, so long as the hostage remains within
the range of the commando's sidearm. The hostage can be used to distract his
comrades, so that one of your squad can sneak past or sneak in for the kill.
These new abilities are fairly interesting, but the fact that every commando
has them clouds the sense that your soldiers are working as unique and
complementary components of some perfectly tuned machine. The commandos' roles
become less clear, and with that, some of the game's appeal slips away.
It also
doesn't help that the game is even more difficult than the first. It's tempting
to justify the excessive difficulty by the fact that the game contains only
eight missions (the original had more than twice as many), but that would be a
solution to the wrong problem. Besides, nobody complained that the original
Commandos was too easy - all of its missions were difficult, though some were
far more difficult than others. Nevertheless, all its missions could eventually
be completed so long as you were patient, and the game didn't get too frustrating
because each mission could be reduced to a series of smaller situations, and
you'd rarely get stuck at any one point for too long. On the other hand, Beyond
the Call of Duty starts out frustrating and just stays there. These missions
don't just seem difficult, but downright unfair. In the first mission, if you
don't save a sniper rifle round until the very last point, you probably won't
be able to clear the minefield and escape; and there's no real way to
anticipate this eventuality, so if somebody didn't warn you, you'd end up
having to restart.
At other
times, there are so many enemy troops patrolling an area that it doesn't seem
like there's an appropriate way of resolving the situation. You'll wonder what
would happen if maybe you threw the cigarettes, the stone, and used the decoy
all at the same time, while a hostage distracted everybody.... But
unfortunately, much like the first game, Beyond the Call of Duty's interface
doesn't easily lend itself to multitasking, since the commandos are slow to respond
and need to be micromanaged. You absolutely must coordinate your troops in this
game, but it isn't any easier than before, no thanks to the fact that all the
keyboard hotkeys were shifted around. (While the new layout is a little more
logical than the original's, it's inexplicable why the designers didn't just
let you customize the keyboard layout.) So the control feels more cumbersome
than before, since you need especially impeccable timing and coordination, but
the interface won't allow it. And even when you finally get through a mission,
you won't feel very good about it since you won't be able to shake the feeling
that you've figured out something the designers didn't expect you to. The
original Commandos was satisfying because its puzzle-like situations had
specific solutions. These missions feel clumsier by comparison, requiring at
least as much luck as finesse, although the maps themselves all look distinctly
beautiful.
On the
other hand, maybe the problem is the awful new voice-acting. The original
Commandos had a problem with repetitive speech, and that problem lingers in
Beyond the Call of Duty. Only now, not only does every one of your troops say
the same thing over and over, but every last one of them sounds ridiculous. At
least there's good musical accompaniment during each mission, of the
appropriate symphonic military variety. Meanwhile, the game's packaging gives
top billing to a new female commando "seductress," whose inclusion
raises numerous concerns, not the least of which is the fact that she is touted
as a key feature yet doesn't even play a significant role in the game.
In spite
of everything, it's inaccurate to say that Beyond the Call of Duty is far worse
than the original. If anything, the two games are difficult to distinguish, so
fans of the original will enjoy Beyond the Call of Duty because of its inherent
similarity to its predecessor. And to be fair, there are certain subtle new
twists to this game that add strategic depth, such as the spy's ability to wear
several types of uniforms. But at the same time, most of the subtle changes
have adverse effects and make Beyond the Call of Duty feel like more of the
same in the worst kind of way.
Codes
During
Gameplay type gonzoopera then enter the following code:
CHEAT Effect
Ctrl + F9 Debug Info
Ctrl +
Shift + X Destroy Everything
Shift + E Edit Mission
Ctrl + L Invincibility
Ctrl + I Invisibility
Alt + I Picte Interface
Shift + X Pointer on Selected Commandos
Ctrl +
Shift + N Skip Current Mission
F9 Terrain Info
Shift + V User Traces
Shift + F1 View Video Mode 1
Shift + F2 View Video Mode 2
Shift + F3 View Video Mode 3
Shift + F4 View Video Mode 4
Alt +
Shift + L Write Info in
"memlin.dat"
Mission Passwords
PASSWORD Effect
H239Z 01 - The Ashphalt Jungle
IR291 02 - Dropped Out of The Sky
NGAY7 03 - Thor's Hammer
6S5TL 04 - Guess Who's Coming Tonight
VND2R 05 - Eagles Nest
BUK2L 06 - The Great Escape
LL42X 07 - Dangerous Friendships
Trailer
System Requirement
Processor= 733MHz
RAM= 128MB
Graphics= 32MB
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