Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines is an innovative real-time tactics video game developed by Pyro Studios and published to the public by Eidos Interactive. While many other RTS games provide players with the chance to control armies of units that can be controlled on large battlefields, this game turns this entire popular concept into a new form.

 In Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, players are given control over the small team of infiltration specialists who must navigate numerous environmental and equipment challenges to fulfill their goals behind enemy lines in WW2 Europe, and Africa.

The entire roster of playable characters consists of six Allied Commandos that must use their expertise in small unit tactics to free captured  Allied soldiers, eliminate Axis leaderships, bomb various targets, and more. Each of the characters can contribute in their own way, such as the green beret, spy, sniper, demolition expert, and others. The campaign of the game consists of twenty very varied missions that feature extensive pre-operation briefings and numerous surprises that can suddenly appear mid-mission.

Each of the missions is set in an incredibly realistic environment, with multiple levels, obstacles, dynamic elements, and of course, enemy soldiers that impede our heroes.  While many of the games available in the late 1990s featured simplified visuals to show larger levels, this game is focused on incredibly detailed small levels that are densely packed with details. Even today, more than two decades after its original release, Commandos Behind Enemy Lines manages to surprise with its eye-catching visuals and attention to detail.

Enemies are separated into regular soldiers and officers, and all are represented on the screen with a rigid cone of vision that Commandos have to evade to not be spotted. To succeed in their mission, Commandos will have to use all of their skills, gear, and ammunition to clear or manipulate enemies. The extremely limited resources transform this game from a free-flowing real-time strategy game into a highly tactical game that promotes the use of caution, precise planning, and skillful execution. Due to this approach to gameplay, each mission can be viewed as a highly intricate logic puzzle.

Because of the success of this game, the Commandos franchise was quickly expanded with numerous sequels and expansion packs. Today, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines can be played on almost every PC you can find around you. Since it has truly minimal system requirements, it can even be easily played on modern laptops that don’t have a standalone GPU.