Interview: Commandos strikes back

Back in October last year Eidos released first official details on Commandos Strike Force, Pyro Studios' FPS spin-off from its WWII tactical strategy series pitting Allied special forces against the Nazi war machine. Gone is the top-down, god-like view to be replaced by a up close and personal experience as players leap into the combat boots of the Green Beret, Sniper and Spy and employ each characters' unique skills and abilities in operations behind enemy lines.

Commandos Strike Force's project leader José Manuel Garcià tells us more...

Tell us how Commandos Strike Force came about then - we are all massive fans of the original game...

Garcià: I'm really glad you liked the PC game. From our point of view the Commandos saga was a nice challenge to many players, and we could easily talk for long hours about the different missions and the ways of solving them.

Going back to your question, I think it was the logical step after Commandos 3: Destination Berlin [on PC], which as you know, was the end of the saga. We could have added a few more things to the game in order to develop a Commandos 4, but on one hand we were not sure if that would justify a Commandos 4, and on the other hand we didn't want to be out of the console world with another strategy game. So we are very happy working on a development that will allow us to take a different perspective and also to bring the Commandos to the console world.

We found with Commandos 2 that huge amounts of patience and forward thinking were required. Will we still have to be just as patient or is the game now much more of a shooter?

Garcià: Commandos 2 was a huge game, and there were parts of the game where players got frustrated because of the time that was needed to fulfil certain objectives, that is true. We have learned a lot from the previous Commandos thanks to the fans. In this case, Commandos Strike Force is a different type of game; it is a shooter, and although it is not the type of shooter where you just need to care about shooting anything that moves on the screen, it will not be as hard and as difficult as the previous Commandos were.

Here, on many occasions the player will choose the pace of the game, and if he decides to do some planning, he will be rewarded. Our aim is to develop a game with many challenges, and is therefore fun to play. Also we want to reward the players that take some additional efforts or challenges. To give you an easy example of this, it will not be the same taking care of an enemy with a heavy machine-gun as with a knife, and we will acknowledge that.

What has turning the series into a first-person game allowed you to accomplish with regards to gameplay? For example, new features, new modes of play etc.?

Garcià: Changing to a first-person perspective has a lot of implications, but we have also changed the genre of the game. From strategy we have moved to a first-person shooter, so now we are playing in a different world. We are also using a third-person camera to show some special moments. The different modes of play will come with the different abilities of each of the Commandos.

Has the gameplay changed dramatically now the series has gone three dimensional?

Garcià: Yes it has, especially because we have moved from a top down strategy game to a first-person shooter. So now you will not be giving orders to your Commandos, but executing the actions with each one of them. That is going to be a big change.

The levels of the previous title were huge - will these new ones be just as sprawling and difficult to move through?

Garcià: Well, Strike Force is a console-oriented game, and that means that the approach will be completely different to a PC game. In some missions we will have urban scenarios while others will be wide open. We will try to avoid frustrating players with immense maps, but that does not mean that it will be an easy game.

How many levels will there be, and over what time period? Are they going to be based on real-world events?

Garcià: Commandos Strike Force will feature three different campaigns, located in France, Stalingrad and Norway, with a different number of levels in each campaign. The action takes place during the Second World War, and although we are using some real scenarios, the actions are not based on historical missions.

Will we have to use decoys, plant bombs, and wear disguises as before?

Garcià: Yes, people who have played any Commandos games before will find several elements from the previous releases, like the possibility of using cigarettes or the ability of the spy to change uniforms in order to talk to the enemies and distract them. Obviously Strike Force will feature some brand new elements too.

Tell us a little about the characters. A lot of us warmed to the previous bunch - will these lot be just as engaging?

Garcià: We hope they will. We will be playing with a spy, a Green Beret and a sniper. There will be time to find out how these guys got involved in the Commandos team and what the abilities are for each one of them. I think that one of the big differences will be that we will be solving different parts of the game with all of them, sometimes playing with two commandos at the same time. This means that we will be using the potential of the three, and we will not be trying to solve all the missions with the same one.

Any cameos from the original? Will Whiskey the dog be in there, for example?

Garcià: Well, we are not final on this yet, but there could be a surprise.

Will Strike Force be as unforgiving as the previous title? A lot of us like a really big challenge, it'd be great to have that element back again.

Garcià: Our intention is to propose many challenges but with three different levels of difficulty in the game, it will be more for the player to decide the level of challenge he is going to go for. If you asked me to synthesise the concept of the game in just one word, I would use 'choice', so hopefully we will not disappoint you.

Will we be getting Xbox Live/online play this time around, and if so, what kind of features can we expect to see?

Garcià: Yes, there is going to be an important online part in Commandos Strike Force. Up to eight players will be able to play four different multiplayer modes. We will, of course, have the classic Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch modes, but also two additional multiplayer modes completely different to anything that has been done before. I'm sure you will understand that at this point we cannot go into many more details.

What is your favourite aspect of the new game?

Garcià: The possibility of playing with characters that have different and interesting abilities.

Tell us something you haven't told anyone else about Commandos Strike Force.

Garcià: Hmmm, nice question. Okay, Commandos Strike Force will not be an isolated game, but part of something else.

Our thanks to our colleagues on Official Xbox Magazine for this interview

CVG Staff