Commandos Strike Force

 PC
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 73 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 73
  2. Mixed: 31 out of 73
  3. Negative: 9 out of 73
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  1. keefbaker
    Oct 27, 2013
    6
    Yeah, this is from back in the day when everyone though everything had to be first person... Thank god we've moved on from that idea back to allowing a myriad of genres to exist. It's not awful, it's just not great.
  2. Ordish
    Nov 26, 2012
    5
    Not great...nowhere near great but overall the game is mildly entertaining. The mechanics of the game offer an endless supply of brainless A.I. bots if you do not move fast enough. Story driven, it can be a fast paced game that is often unforgiving. Not the best title in the Commandos series by far.
  3. RaqR.
    Apr 17, 2006
    7
    I like to play this games
  4. Heisenberg93
    Oct 20, 2020
    7
    I'll have to be honest: I've never played a "Commandos" video game prior to 2006's Strike Force. I've learned about the series with this game, ever since it was previewed/reviewed in mid-2000s PC gaming magazines and only recently I had the opportunity to get it and finish it. Let's see how it went.

    Game's plot take place in 1942, in Nazi occupied France and Norway, until the autumn of    I'll have to be honest: I've never played a "Commandos" video game prior to 2006's Strike Force. I've learned about the series with this game, ever since it was previewed/reviewed in mid-2000s PC gaming magazines and only recently I had the opportunity to get it and finish it. Let's see how it went.

    Game's plot take place in 1942, in Nazi occupied France and Norway, until the autumn of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union and follows the events lived by three skilled soldiers: George Brown (the spy), William Hawkins (the sniper) and Francis O'Brien (US green beret). So the game doesn't just give context, it also takes the liberty of telling the more personal story of these three heroes. Unfortunately the result is barely acceptable: the plot tries to give itself a serious tone but the writing does not hold up and only a few times it manages to look serious, usually it just looks even a bit laughable. Developers tried to add dynamism to the plot, with the expedient of "a mole in the team that collaborates with the Germans", but it doesn't work very well. In short, those whom made the habit to really well-written plots will quickly forget this.

    Strike Force is a first-person shooter which however has some interesting peculiarities compared to its contemporaries. The three available soldiers allow for different play roles: the spy is suited for stealth and silent killing, and has the unique ability of disguise. Even the sniper can do stealth, with throwing knives, but he specializes in long range shooting. The green beret can carry and use more firearms, both lighter and heavier. The spy offered the gameplay experience that I enjoyed the most; sniper and green beret basically on same level. In the different missions it's possible to complete both primary and secondary objectives, which will affect the overall score at the end of the mission. Some areas of the game are enough big and allow a relatively good freedom of movement to choose various approaches with the soldier on duty. I really enjoyed especially mission 5, 7 and 9 to 13 (on the Stalingrad front, Strike Force offers the best of the game experience).

    Strike Force's stronger point, which catalyzes in the role of the spy, is the military rank-based disguise system, meaning that only an enemy of the same rank as the player, or worse if a higher rank, can blow up his cover. Soldier, sub-officer, officer, general and "Gestapo" are the available ranks and the system is simple but immediate, easy to recognize ranks and uniforms, above all it gives a satisfying sense of fun when disguised everything goes according to plan. Furthermore, the rank-based system is not limited to disguise: even as the sniper or the green beret, killing higher-ranking soldiers results in a better score at the end of the mission. Well done and well implemented, a system that should teach to others.

    The bad: it's not possible to aim down sight with automatic weapons and pistols which I found annoying, to begin with. The "ammo in magazine/magazines left" interface (opposite to "ammo in magazine/total ammo left") is not immediate and it's a bit misleading. But Strike Force's weakest point is in fact the soldier's switching: most of the time it's just chaotic, annoying and confusing. Also, the soldier not in use will be basically inactive, generally he will be wounded and need constant medic aid. A system that did not convince me from the beginning and much less convinced me at the end of the game, during the final mission in which I had to pay attention on too many objectives and too many German soldiers coming from too many directions, annoyingly switching between the sniper and the green beret, if one of the two was not dying. The system had to work better than this or probably, even better, it had to be omitted altogether.

    Strike Force is graphically older than a decade, but RenderWare engine has been well optimized and gives the game a good visual appearance even today, especially in environmental rendering (Stalingrad in ruins has great impact), especially at higher settings.

    Strike Force is a good game but nothing more. We had better and more important European productions. Its gameplay strengths are re-balanced by the weaknesses and the plot is nothing special. It's still a game that remains recommended for WWII shooters fans.    … Expand
  5. Bonzo3671
    Jan 5, 2007
    6
    Very disappointing - having followed the rest of the Commandos series. This is the "new" Pyros lame duck, it's their Star Wars: Episode I, if you like. Some nice touches but with so many better immersive WWII FPS out there to compete with why did they dump a very successful formula for this 2nd rate effort?
  6. GeodottoD.
    Apr 28, 2006
    5
    Just so people know. The two people responsible for the best of the series of Commandos, are no longer in Pyro, maybe that's the reason why the old spirit doesn't live anymore in this new game. The went to set up another company, Arvirago Technologies and they'll be soon releasing a new game "Lord of the creatures".

Awards & Rankings

78
#78 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
21
#21 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 20
  3. Negative: 4 out of 20
  1. PC Format
    84
    A silent and deadly change from the usual WW2 percussion. Refreshing. [Mar 2006, p.98]
  2. Eurogamer
    70
    There have been several crucial moments that made me laugh out loud, and others that made me feel a sense of cerebral accomplishment - feelings that are all-too rare when playing an FPS.
    Read full review
  3. games(TM)
    40
    The game is so immensely frustrating and linear that moments of fun are few and far between. [Apr 2006, p.124]
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