I might as well get my main Commandos: Origins criticisms in early (Playing games before castigating them is so passé). I miss inventories and Lupin the Thief more than I thought I would, and I wish Claymore Game Studios had drawn inspiration from Spellbound’s back catalogue as well as Pyro’s and Mimimi’s.
Desperados 2: Cooper’s Revenge (2006) features some of the genre’s least helpful shrubs and worst audio (Doc sounds like Marge Simpson in doubtful/disapproving mode, and some of the ambient wavs are downright bizarre) but returning to it recently after an absence of around a decade, it wasn’t the impenetrable bushes or the ropey voice acting that struck me most forcibly, it was the over-the-shoulder alternative camera that the German devs thoughtfully provided.
What looks, at first glance, like a pointless gimmick is actually, I would argue, a feature that really ought to come as standard in all modern ‘stealth strategy’ titles.
However diverse their casts and interesting their levels, Commandos-likes can be wearying and repetitive when played for lengthy periods. Personally, I find brief bursts of third-person action a near-perfect antidote to this genre flaw.
Why do cagey infiltrations and time-sensitive sprints feel more exciting when viewed from eye level and executed with WASD keys? Why is topping a sentry who fills the screen more thrilling than topping one who’s no bigger than a jelly baby? You’d have to ask a psychologist, but I’m sure biometric tests would prove it to be true.
Even if you only ever switch cameras to soak up atmosphere, Desperados 2’s low lens earns its keep.
Another lesson Claymore probably should have learnt from D2 (and D3, now I come to think about it) is “Sometimes it pays to revisit familiar locales”. Handsome, detailed, and pretty faithful, the fully rotatable version of Eagle’s Nest in Desperados 2 is a joy to behold, explore, and de-bandit. The pleasure that comes from seeing a familiar place from fresh angles shouldn’t be under-estimated.
As many Commandos: Origins buyers are likely to be fans of earlier instalments, a loving recreation of a classic C2 venue – ideally with an ingenious twist – would, I suspect, have proved popular.
