Commandos: Origins Review: Interesting stealth, but dull level design

Have you also noticed that over the past few years, developers have increasingly turned to cult series? While we often encounter coupon clipping, some gems bring tears to our eyes, bringing to mind childhood memories.

Devs from Claymore Game Studios, who created a new installment of the series, decided to tap into the emotions of players who grew up with the Commandos series. Thanks to Commandos: Origins, we are once more immersed in the whirlwind of World War II events, and as we gradually complete each mission, we assemble a renowned and cherished legendary team of soldiers. Is this a successful comeback, and have the developers managed to restore the spirit of the classics, or is it perhaps an unsuccessful cash grab?

There were six of them against the army

As the game's title suggests, Commandos: Origins tells the story of the beginnings of a special team for seemingly impossible tasks. Already during the tutorial, we can control two members - a sapper and probably the most recognizable of them all, the green beret. A sniper, driver, diver, and spy will join the team only as the next missions are completed.

As we can easily guess, each of them is characterized by unique abilities. For instance, a green beret is a typical strongman, useful not only for carrying heavy loads but also for delivering a powerful blow to the opponent, causing them to instantly fall asleep. Of course, to complete the mission, you need to use the abilities of all characters. I must admit, combining them together brought quite a lot of joy.

For each mission, it's important to remember that Commandos: Origins is a stealth game, and engaging in open combat usually results in death, which also means game over. That's why you need to plan your next moves at every step and maximize the use of your commandos.

When you thought something was impossible, they show up

Previous games from the series are known to this day for their fairly high level of difficulty. I remember that some missions required quite a bit of effort, but the satisfaction from completing them was immense. I must sadly admit that with Commandos: Origins, this feeling rarely appeared.

Don't get me wrong, the tasks can be engaging. I often found myself so absorbed in my subordinates' actions that I forgot to save the game. Of course, I regretted it a moment later, because I had to load a save from 10-15 minutes ago. In most cases, this wasn't because of the challenges posed by the opponents, but rather the obstacles the devs themselves kept placing in my path.

While playing Commandos: Origins, I constantly had the irresistible impression that the creators aimed to annoy me as much as possible. The number of strange solutions and shortcomings is downright terrifying. I can't forgive them for not implementing solutions that would have improved the overall experience of the game.

What I probably missed the most was the option to queue actions of my soldiers. I understand that it would work best with an active space, and adding it might compromise the essence of the series. However, it's important to remember that updating the game involves more than just improving graphics and altering the interface. I have a feeling that the lack of some solutions may make players bounce back from Commandos: Origins.

Relating to the events shown on the screen is also made difficult by the specific nature of the stages. I have noticed many times that characters have trouble climbing ladders, and sometimes they get stuck on a path with no obstacles.

Not all maps are equal

Since the release of the first and second installments of the series, 27 and 24 years have passed this year, respectively. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and Commandos: Men of Courage were characterized by excellently designed stages. As luck would have it, just before getting Commandos: Origins for playing, I had finished the mentioned classics. I remember missions such as D-Day Kick Off, Castle Colditz, or Target: Burma, even many years after first playing the first two full-fledged parts of the legendary series.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same about the stages prepared for Commandos: Origins. I finished the game a few days ago, but I can't recall wanting to praise it for any stage. Unfortunately, they are quite dull and none of them stands out with any element.

The games in the Commandos series, or at least the classic ones, used to have a non-linear approach, which meant that some stages could be passed in different ways. Thanks to this, players were encouraged to play them again. Can the same be said about Commandos: Origins?

Unfortunately, no, the most disappointing aspect is that some are quite linear, and while playing them, I felt like I was walking through a corridor. All you had to do was go ahead, kill the opponents appearing along the way and that's all. Stage completed. However, where is the fun in this, where are the emotions associated with beating the challenge?

Quick save is a commando's best friend

I really don't remember the last game in which I used the quick save key so often. However, as I mentioned above, in most cases it is not due to the game's difficulty level. It remains high, and some missions can make us sweat from effort and nerves, but the vast number of my characters' deaths resulted primarily from the not very good technical condition of the game.

Problems with climbing a ladder, getting stuck in a passage, poor pathfinding or not executing selected commands are just some of the bugs I encountered during the game. I realize that the review is based on a version of the game before the first patches, which I hope will solve these problems.

The frames are dropping, welcome to 2025

I also have a lot of reservations about the technical condition of the game. It's the year 2025, we have seen the subsequent generations of graphics cards, which introduce ever newer improvements aimed at increasing the number of frames per second. And I still have the impression that DLSS and FSR are one of the biggest problems of the modern video game market.

According to the developers' announcements, several-year-old processors and graphics cards should be enough to run the game smoothly. Unfortunately, that's not the case. My desktop computer is not exactly a performance demon. However, I have an irresistible impression that the isometric strategy with not very dynamic action should not be such a big challenge for Ryzen 5 5500, RTX 2060, and 32 GB of RAM. Commandos: Origins proved to me at every step how much one can be wrong about certain issues. I can count on one hand the moments when the game didn't drop frames. Frame rate drops? Check. Animation hiccups? Check. Screen freezing? It's all there.

That's why, after the release, the game should be properly optimized. Commandos: Origins doesn't have photorealistic graphics, but it has more technical issues than many titles that look much better. The gentlemen from Claymore Game Studios deserve a huge con, but I hope that after the launch it will turn into a pro.

Is it really that bad? Not necessarily

Most of the time, you could read my complaints about Commandos: Origins. You might think that this is a tragic game, which is not even worth sitting down to. However, I will reassure you, because it's not all bad.

Commandos: Origins is good at what it should be - being a stealth game. Searching for ways to get to the further part of the map gives you a lot of pleasure. The very use of the unique abilities of team members, and inventing new ways to eliminate enemies brings a smile to the face.

The stealth is quite impressive, showing how refined the artificial intelligence of the enemies and the level design itself is, especially when it comes to the guards remembering which of their comrades is nearby, and showing tracks in the snow where they shouldn't be. Although I usually tried to move cautiously, I valued those moments when I managed to effectively surprise the enemy.

That's why it's hard for me to rate Commandos: Origins. I had quite high expectations for this game. I wasn't disappointed in the most important aspect - it's a good stealth game, in which quietly eliminating enemies is rewarded and even desired. However, I cannot turn a blind eye to the archaisms and poor technical aspects of the game. If only the number of bugs was smaller, we could talk about a quite good game. With a heavy heart, I must admit that Commandos: Origins is just a typical, mediocre game, which you will probably forget shortly after finishing it. It's a shame, because this legendary series deserves something more.