Commandos Strike Force

Though I'd like to follow up with something a little more intimidating, the reality of this game is that there isn't much reality. Survival isn't as much about clever thinking as it is about cracking the code laid out for you. Missions are based on unclear goals, unclear requirements, and a fair amount of experimentation. On the upside these goals are generally easier to complete than they sound. Experimenting can be fun and lead to interesting success stories. Getting easy kills, however, isn't a welcome addition. I'd rather have clearer mission goals with harder and more intricate challenges. 

Mixing elements of stealth, action, and team-based shooters, Strike Force lets you sneak up on your enemies for a painful strangle move. All you do, in pretty much every circumstance, is walk up to the enemy (from behind) and press the X button. That's it. No button-mashing. No enemy struggle. Just a simple, do-as-the-game-says action that practically executes itself.

There are essentially two kinds of enemies you'll have the opportunity to strangle: the sleepers and the pacers. The sleepers are enemy soldiers saddled with guard duty. They're bored, lifeless, and are in no hurry to take action. They can't hear your footsteps, no matter how fast you run (an element Metal Gear Solid and its many clones picked up on eight years ago. In MGS you must walk slowly to avoid detection). Sleepers tend to yawn and stretch their arms, and will not be able to see you if you're standing at their side. Granted, the same may be true for a guard in real-life – I suppose not every soldier would catch someone in his blind spot. Nonetheless, sleepers are the easiest to kill. Just walk up and, once you're standing behind him, follow the on-screen directions ("press X").

Pacers are a little different. They pace the area searching for…now that I think about it I'm not quite sure. Their field of vision isn't too great, especially if you're wearing a disguise. Disguises may be obtained from certain enemies after killing them. Once again the X button is an all-access pass to game progress. You take the enemy's uniform in the same way you strangled him, except this time you must have the camera pointed down. 

Pacers can be killed almost as easily as the sleepers. Wait for them to turn around and walk the other way, then go for the kill. There is a risk of being spotted by other nearby enemies, which is where the game gets somewhat interesting. You can plan your attack to kill the enemy in seclusion, assuming that he walks to an area where he can't be seen. His comrades won't miss him if he doesn't return, but I suppose I shouldn't expect them to when guards don't even notice the sound of my feet hitting the ground.

There are times when it seems you have no choice but to stealthily kill an enemy being watched by others. This will alert them of your presence, and they'll eventually sound the alarm. Meanwhile you double-check the mission objectives (hold the left directional button) and are reminded that you can’t let that happen. The enemies here are supposed to be killed with stealth. You could switch to the sniper up in the tower – he could take out a few guys for certain. But then they'd be aware of your presence.

In this scenario I ended up performing as many stealth kills as possible. When I knew no more could be had without being spotted, I drew my weapon and dove in. Though I could've switched to my sniper for safe kills from afar, I stuck with the spy and killed every enemy with a handgun before they could sound the alarm. I then freed the prisoners and won the mission.

Had this moment lasted longer, and had the frame rate and gameplay not been so slow, this probably would have made Strike Force a winner. 

The reality, as I said before, is that this isn't a realistic game. Intensity is lost when soldiers can barely run. Enemy AI is pretty weak, and I was repeatedly bothered by the weapon change function. It's not a huge problem, primarily due to the lack of objective variety (the game is mostly about finding objects and killing enemies). But to change my weapon I have to press down on the D-pad. Big deal, right? It is – until I'm running. How can I place my thumb on the left analog stick to run and strafe and press the D-pad at the same time? I can bend my index finger inward to accomplish this task, but it's not very comfortable. The controller wasn't designed to be used that way – no game controller has been.

Gameplay: 5.9
Brief moments of excitement aren’t enough to spice up the slow gameplay. Real-time story sequences introduce each mission. When you see the poor visuals and listen to the horrendous voice-overs, you'll be glad there's a skip button. Arrows litter your radar, telling you where enemies are (useful) and where you need to go to complete the next objective. I dislike radar systems of this design because I always end up walking in circles. The arrows are a general guide, and with levels that have similar rooms, buildings, and other repetitive structures, it’s not hard to mistake a new area for one you’ve been to. Or vice versa.

This is one of many boring elements that detract from the rare moments of excitement. Commandos: Strike Force was a nice idea, but it needs a lot more speed (and more variety) to overcome its weaknesses, neither of which it received.

Graphics: 4
Strike Force has some of the most unrealistic background elements seen in a new PS2 game. The textures look like they were designed with the ancient computer program Paint – or by someone like me who lacks the patience to apply the detail necessary to make a building come to life. Bland color splotches drench the walls, doors, ground, trees, vehicles, etc. Nearly everything you come in contact with. Bullets do not add color to the scene, let alone a permanent mark that scars the wall till the mission's end. Windows break, but only on the rarest of occasions. Not all windows are breakable. Zero doors are destructible. Walls/structures cannot be breached unless you absolutely must breach them.

Sound: 4
A war game with bad sound? What gives? I can deal with bad voice acting if the music is top-tier, but neither element left a lasting impression.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 5
I like the idea of being able to switch between three different characters, but I’m not too fond of the way the game restricts them. Not only that, but since when can’t soldiers multi-task? Wouldn’t it have made more sense if they could all snipe, spy, perform stealth kills, etc., to some degree? Maybe that wouldn’t have been the most realistic way to tackle this game, but if Strike Force is going to worry about realism, it needs to re-think its enemy AI first. It would also need to re-think its world physics, enemy reactions, and make stealth kills more challenging, etc.

Multiplayer: 5
Online monotony for up eight players. If a game is slow and sub-par offline, why bother going online to play it?

Overall: 5.9
Nowhere near the commando king. Commandos: Strike Force lacks the forcefulness of its predecessors and of other first-person shooters. It’s cool to see a franchise try new things, but the finished product doesn’t live up to the standards of the series.