10-Jan-2006 Pyro's explosive shooter continues in the finest Commandos' tradition, this time as an FPS World War II, Nazis, World War II, Hitler, Hitler, reference the moustache, make a joke about holidaying in Poland, World War II, small amount of peas, Hitler, Nazis, reference the goose-step, Fantastic Four, optional Fawlty Towers quote and there's your intro.
Commandos Strike Force is, in the simplest sense, an attempt to drag the Commandos series out of the isometric strategy-based WWII gameplay of old and into a full-on first-person shooter, balancing both the stealthy tactics of the original games with the all-out action we've come to expect from the FPS genre.
Almost every element from the past three games has been included, from silently murdering the Nazi hordes with nothing but light feet and sharp daggers to stealing enemy uniforms and tossing endless amounts of coins to distract guards. Even the series' character-swapping antics are present, with the ability to switch between your spy, sniper and Green Beret with nothing more than a deft slap of a key, the game's AI grabbing the reins whenever you're not around. Obviously, the success of such a feature depends on just how competent the AI will be - whether or not your spy starts garroting your sniper and flicking coins at sheep the moment you're not looking is something this game might very well hinge upon.
With some missions requiring you to remain undetected and others placing you in the middle of huge skirmishes (aided not only by the Green Beret's bullet absorbing American charm, but also by the sniper's ability to momentarily slow down time, cough), it's unclear how well the two gameplay styles will sit together, or whether the original's features will merely feel tacked-on. But one thing's for sure: Hitler; Hitler; World War II; didn't see a banana until 1950; Hitler.
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