The original Commandos was one of the smartest, best looking and most innovative games of its time. Back in 1998, there was practically nothing like it, but in the nearly thirty years that have followed, various remakes and remasters of Commandos have failed to keep pace with other genre entries like Desperados 3, Shadow Tactics and more. Commandos Origins is a brand new game that looks to set the record straight — and I have to say, I’m excited that it might just have done so.
Set before the events of the original game, Commando’s Origins begins with our sapper Sgt. Hancock (a popular and ever present member of the team) recruiting other members of the team as part of a tutorial mission. This introduces us to the new control scheme which, I must say, is a little bit complicated and takes some getting used to. There was always a lot of nuance to the controls in Commandos so this isn’t a massive surprise, but a bit of streamlining for modern consoles would have been nice.
Also immediately apparent from the very start is the significant graphical upgrade. Commandos was always a very detailed game, with environments that looked incredible back in 1998, but which have suffered in the subsequent re-releases. This time, environments are as detailed as you’d expect in 2025, and the camera can pan and zoom with complete freedom, allowing the player to explore the environment fully.
Whilst I really do approve of the visuals when static, and I appreciate the ability to explore the environments in any way and from any angle, I will say that in this relatively early release (and played on Xbox Series X) Commando’s Origins suffers from quite a lot of screen tearing and judder when panning. This rarely affected gameplay, but considering how similar, older games (like Desperados 3) run more smoothly, I would hope and expect that this is resolved fairly soon.
During your initial setup, the player can choose from various difficulty levels and visual options which enable anything from a relatively “modern” style to one that favours immersion. In the more modern style, environmental objects such as interactive doors, barrels and enemies can be highlighted, whilst in the fully immersive variant, the HUD is removed completely. Personally, I chose the option in between these, which the game suggests is close to the original experience.
As you may already have guessed from what I’ve described, Commandos Origins follows the style of the original game. This means that it is a largely top down, real time tactics game that tasks the player (or players, via cooperative play) with completing various sandbox missions in increasingly dangerous Axis controlled locations. These range in style from sand and snow, to forested, coastal and city based locations that offer good variety — in particular in terms of how the challenge increases from one mission to the next.
Later levels introduce larger numbers of enemies and more complex patrol patterns that you will absolutely need to observe and work around. In earlier levels, you can often get away with a sloppy kill or a poorly hidden body. Later, this simply won’t work and the larger numbers of more alert enemies will quickly overwhelm you. Thankfully, and as became popular in this genre long after the original Commandos, a planning mode allows solo players to execute multiple moves at the same time.
When entering planning mode, the player is able to coordinate actions across multiple team members in order to execute a specific outcome. This might mean (for example) that two team members execute stealth attacks on a couple of overwatching guards, whilst a third member takes out a light, shoots a third guard or does something else that might otherwise draw a terminal level of attention.
In the spirit of Commandos: Origins being quite difficult, saving is more or less entirely manual throughout each complete mission. I can’t recall more than a handful of checkpoint style saves, so this means that you’ll need to decide on your own whether you’ve made sufficient and sustainable progress to make a save. I like this, and it’s a puzzle in itself to get into the headspace where you now know that the three or four guards you’ve just killed and hidden, or the fence you’ve just cut won’t be discovered and a save is worthwhile.
This aligns to the general difficulty level in Commandos: Origins, which broadly speaking, is hard. Early missions do a decent job of introducing the concepts of the game, including use of items and weapons, the different skills of team members and the control scheme. I am sure this is entirely intuitive on a mouse and keyboard, but on a controller, it’s less than perfect. Movement and camera use is fine, as is selection of team members and use of items, but more complex features like use of the visibility marker is hampered by the lack of pinpoint control that a mouse would usually give you. It’s less than perfect, but still entirely playable.
Commandos: Origins is also playable cooperatively via the internet, and there’s no doubt that having a second human player will make things a little easier. The Command Mode is well-executed, enabling a solo player to execute complex commands in two different places with accurate timing, but a second human coordinating via voice comms will always be better. This is perhaps going to be Commandos: Origins’ standout feature over time, especially if additional map packs and potentially even procedurally generated content becomes available later.
As a fan of the original game and the concept of tactical stealth action games in general, I think Commandos: Origins is a success. With the exception of a few minor visual issues, it looks attractive and modern whilst still retaining the original style, and the gameplay is just as tough and cerebral as it ever was. Minor control issues are present but never intrude too much on gameplay, and no doubt if you play the game on PC you’ll have no such trouble. Overall then, Commandos: Origins is a very worthy successor to an absolute classic. If you’re a fan of the genre, then this is a must-buy.
Commandos: Origins is available now for PC, Xbox Series X/S & PS5.
