Xbox

Commandos 2: Men of Courage

This is truly a kick ass game. If you’re ready for an extremely challenging mission based combat game that will stress your mind as much as your fingers, then we Recommend you check Commandos 2: Men of Courage out!

Während die PS2-Fassung von Commandos 2 teils mit eklatanten technischen Unzulänglichkeiten zu kämpfen hatte, präsentiert sich die Xbox-Umsetzung des ein Jahr alten PC-Hits diesbezüglich ohne Fehl und Tadel. Zwar ist die Joypad-Steuerung nach wie vor etwas umständlich und zeitraubend, aber zu fatalen Verzögerungen kommt es dank der leistungsfähigeren Grafik-Engine nun weitaus seltener. Auch die kritisierten Ladezeiten fallen auf der Microsoft-Konsole deutlich kürzer aus, was dem Spielspaß genau so zugute kommt, wie die realistischeren Blickfeldanzeigen der Gegner und andere Detailverbesserungen. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad ist allerdings nach wie vor extrem hoch und die deutsche Version zwar perfekt lokalisiert, aber leider auch etwas eigenwillig geschnitten. Genre-Fans ohne PC sollten sich diesen Leckerbissen jedoch keineswegs entgehen lassen.

I was once, believe it or not, a general of great renown. Armies of action figures clashed against the seemingly invincible Lego Empire, and epic battles tore across the playgrounds and backyards that comprised my small universe at the time. This promising military career came to a sudden halt once I discovered the Nintendo Entertainment System, a wonderful device that dished out comparable thrills without the hassle of actually having to use my own imagination. Still, something was missing. Missing, that is, until Commandos 2.

In the end, Commandos 2 is a pretty decent game. The game's strategic gameplay is too die for, and it's only made better by the game's awesome audio and array of characters. The game is held back however, by some super-difficult to grasp controls. If you're a console RTS fan, and you think you can deal with some really unintuitive controls, go ahead and pick up Commandos 2. Just remember, it's not going to be a walk in the park.

Commandos 2 arrives on the XBOX and visually improves upon the PS2 version. Awkward controls take time to learn but once you have you'll grow to love the game. If you have a PC though, and prefer point 'n' click to multiple button presses then you would be better off with the PC version because it is far easier to control.

Xbox owners looking for a genuinely tough, original game should check out Commandos 2. In Commandos 2: Men of Courage, you're charged with commanding a small group of elite Allied operatives deep behind enemy lines during World War II. The direct approach isn't always the best approach, and at every turn, your commandos will be avoiding the patrols of German or Japanese forces. In this respect, Commandos 2 is quite a bit like its predecessor, the innovative 1998 real-time tactical combat game that mixed elements of stealth, action, and puzzle solving.

I'm going to come clean with it right from the outset: this is one of the most difficult reviews I've ever had to pen in my professional career. A strategy and action fanatic to be sure, I would have thought going in that talking about a simple hybrid of the two genres would have been a walk in the park. After all, I've been doing this for quite some time now, and weighing the good aspects with the bad has slowly become a natural process I undertake the second I play anything -- regardless of its beginnings.

Un jeu excellent sur PC, qui ne fera pourtant pas le bonheur des joueurs consoles à cause des lourdeurs de gameplay et du challenge surhumain qui y est proposé. On passe presque plus de temps à réfléchir sur les contrôles de jeu que sur les tactiques de missions, et l'on ne profite même plus de la richesse du soft. Le portage Xbox n'apporte rien de plus que la version PS2.

Born on the PC, the Commandos series has earned itself a healthy following by combining a complex stealth and combat core with deep missions and a 'real-time strategy' flare. With the computer market already won over, Eidos and Pyro Studios have now moved their well-received Commandos 2 over to the world of the consoles. The question, of course, is whether or not a game so deeply trenched in PC techniques and styles can be successfully translated over to the Xbox.

Unfortunately, I really feel the bad outweighs the good in this console port. Some games just don’t transfer well when they lose the ability to use a keyboard and mouse. This version of Commandos 2 is recommended for only the most serious of strategy fans and even then only if you don’t own a PC.

A console port of one of the most well-received PC strategy puzzlers of all time, Men of Courage has all the complex, stealth-based gameplay of its PC original. It?s smart, challenging, and an almost-exact duplicate of the popular PC title.