Beyond
the Call of Duty ends up feeling like a shadow of its former self,
being both shorter and more frustrating than the original.
Just
about every good game gets an expansion pack or a sequel, not just
because it's profitable, but because it's easy. The good idea's already
there, and the existing technology can be recycled to make a game that
feels comfortably familiar but with new and exciting content. Recent
expansion packs like Starcraft: Brood War, as well as sequels like Myth
II and Fallout 2, all bettered their predecessors. But Commandos:
Beyond the Call of Duty, a standalone expansion to Behind Enemy Lines,
ends up feeling like a shadow of its former self, being both shorter and
more frustrating than the original.
The
original Commandos was a surprise hit. It cleverly combined strategy,
puzzle, and action elements with great graphics and an all-too-apt
subject matter, and while there was some debate over just what kind of
game it was trying to be, most found its demand for planning and
precision to be both unusual and exciting.
At
a glance, Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty is more of the same, with a
few new bells and whistles. But the fact is, you can have too much of a
good thing. The original Commandos was a great game because each member
of the squad was highly specialized. A couple of them, the Green Beret
and the spy, ended up doing most of the work, but that was OK, because
the others like the marine and the sapper got their moments in the
spotlight. In Beyond the Call of Duty, though, each character gains the
ability to throw a stone or toss a pack of cigarettes as a means of
distracting the unassuming enemy. Likewise, every commando can now force
a captured nazi to do his bidding, so long as the hostage remains
within the range of the commando's sidearm. The hostage can be used to
distract his comrades, so that one of your squad can sneak past or sneak
in for the kill. These new abilities are fairly interesting, but the
fact that every commando has them clouds the sense that your soldiers
are working as unique and complementary components of some perfectly
tuned machine. The commandos' roles become less clear, and with that,
some of the game's appeal slips away.
It
also doesn't help that the game is even more difficult than the first.
It's tempting to justify the excessive difficulty by the fact that the
game contains only eight missions (the original had more than twice as
many), but that would be a solution to the wrong problem. Besides,
nobody complained that the original Commandos was too easy - all of its
missions were difficult, though some were far more difficult than
others. Nevertheless, all its missions could eventually be completed so
long as you were patient, and the game didn't get too frustrating
because each mission could be reduced to a series of smaller situations,
and you'd rarely get stuck at any one point for too long. On the other
hand, Beyond the Call of Duty starts out frustrating and just stays
there. These missions don't just seem difficult, but downright unfair.
In the first mission, if you don't save a sniper rifle round until the
very last point, you probably won't be able to clear the minefield and
escape; and there's no real way to anticipate this eventuality, so if
somebody didn't warn you, you'd end up having to restart.
At
other times, there are so many enemy troops patrolling an area that it
doesn't seem like there's an appropriate way of resolving the situation.
You'll wonder what would happen if maybe you threw the cigarettes, the
stone, and used the decoy all at the same time, while a hostage
distracted everybody.... But unfortunately, much like the first game,
Beyond the Call of Duty's interface doesn't easily lend itself to
multitasking, since the commandos are slow to respond and need to be
micromanaged. You absolutely must coordinate your troops in this game,
but it isn't any easier than before, no thanks to the fact that all the
keyboard hotkeys were shifted around. (While the new layout is a little
more logical than the original's, it's inexplicable why the designers
didn't just let you customize the keyboard layout.) So the control feels
more cumbersome than before, since you need especially impeccable
timing and coordination, but the interface won't allow it. And even when
you finally get through a mission, you won't feel very good about it
since you won't be able to shake the feeling that you've figured out
something the designers didn't expect you to. The original Commandos was
satisfying because its puzzle-like situations had specific solutions.
These missions feel clumsier by comparison, requiring at least as much
luck as finesse, although the maps themselves all look distinctly
beautiful.
On
the other hand, maybe the problem is the awful new voice-acting. The
original Commandos had a problem with repetitive speech, and that
problem lingers in Beyond the Call of Duty. Only now, not only does
every one of your troops say the same thing over and over, but every
last one of them sounds ridiculous. At least there's good musical
accompaniment during each mission, of the appropriate symphonic military
variety. Meanwhile, the game's packaging gives top billing to a new
female commando "seductress," whose inclusion raises numerous concerns,
not the least of which is the fact that she is touted as a key feature
yet doesn't even play a significant role in the game.
In
spite of everything, it's inaccurate to say that Beyond the Call of
Duty is far worse than the original. If anything, the two games are
difficult to distinguish, so fans of the original will enjoy Beyond the
Call of Duty because of its inherent similarity to its predecessor. And
to be fair, there are certain subtle new twists to this game that add
strategic depth, such as the spy's ability to wear several types of
uniforms. But at the same time, most of the subtle changes have adverse
effects and make Beyond the Call of Duty feel like more of the same in
the worst kind of way.
Codes
During Gameplay type gonzoopera then enter the following code:
CHEAT Effect
Ctrl + F9 Debug Info
Ctrl + Shift + X Destroy Everything
Shift + E Edit Mission
Ctrl + L Invincibility
Ctrl + I Invisibility
Alt + I Picte Interface
Shift + X Pointer on Selected Commandos
Ctrl + Shift + N Skip Current Mission
F9 Terrain Info
Shift + V User Traces
Shift + F1 View Video Mode 1
Shift + F2 View Video Mode 2
Shift + F3 View Video Mode 3
Shift + F4 View Video Mode 4
Alt + Shift + L Write Info in "memlin.dat"
Mission Passwords
PASSWORD Effect
H239Z 01 - The Ashphalt Jungle
IR291 02 - Dropped Out of The Sky
NGAY7 03 - Thor's Hammer
6S5TL 04 - Guess Who's Coming Tonight
VND2R 05 - Eagles Nest
BUK2L 06 - The Great Escape
LL42X 07 - Dangerous Friendships
Processor= 733MHz
RAM= 128MB
Graphics= 32MB
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