Game Review - by StormDaemon
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty is the stand-alone sequel to Commandos: Behind Enemy that has 8 new and very challenging missions that lead the 6 commandos and 2 newbies behind the German lines and into missions that could turn the tide of World War II. Featuring new items, weapons, and things to do, this installment of Commandos is a worthy sequel to its predecessor.

Features:
Beyond the Call of Duty uses the same game engine as Behind Enemy Lines but with some major additions that increases the gameplay value tremendously. The two most notable features are rocks and cigarettes. Both can be used to distract soldiers, which was not an easy thing to do in the original, and with the addition of those items, the game has become even more complex. Also featured are two new guides to help you behind the German lines, a Yugoslavian officer and a lady in the Dutch resistance. This sequel features eight brand new missions that are extended, challenging, and a lot of fun. Some of the more notable missions are at a Luftwaffe base and a zoo. Additional features are new Panzer and Luftwaffe units to use, and increased texture resolution, making the graphics look even better than they did the first time around.

Gameplay:
Commandos offers unparalleled strategic gameplay that will put even the most hardcore gamers to the test in 8 missions filled with intelligent and diligent Nazi troopers. Cunning, planning, and split-second timing are the three main requirements of this action filled game. This isn't a shoot-'em-up type game, but rather this is the kind of game where a good head will always prevail over a quick trigger finger, though it does come in handy sometimes to have both.

Each mission involves several objectives that must be completed, all the while keeping all of your commandos alive and covert. Nazis fill each level and cover just about every part of the map you could think of, making it very difficult to even start off getting to the objectives. Adding a great deal of depth to the gameplay, even the lowest difficulty setting worth playing. Once you get inside of the area, getting to the objectives takes a while because you can't charge into the base with guns blazing; that will just get your commandos slaughtered real fast. Rather you'll have to use very sneaky ways of moving about, diverting attention, and taking out enemy troops. Thankfully, this sequel has two new items to help in the distraction of troops because otherwise it would very difficult indeed to even get 10 feet.

Another great aspect of the game is that every single member of the team for the mission must be used, usually in collaboration with others, so that the objectives can be achieved. You may find yourself using a single person, such as Tiny, for getting throughout most of the map, but in the end, he will be of little use when you need to blow something up or snipe a soldier who is far away and guarding your escape route. All of the commandos have their own specialty and have many items to play with in order to get past the Nazis. Teamwork is a definite must because a single commando has no hope to get through a level alone.

Graphics:
The graphics are generally the same as the original Commandos, but with increased texture resolution that helps to make everything look good and somewhat realistic. All of the maps are extremely detailed and are rather large in size, so there is always something to look at with buildings and machines located everywhere. The enemy soldiers look pretty much the same, but that doesn't matter at the regular viewing distance because it is far enough away not to really notice too much individual detail if there was any. As for the commandos under your control, they are all individual and look very different, helping to give each their own distinct personality. The item detail is just as great as everything else, with every weapon looking as authentic as possible. The only downfall to the entire graphical portion of the game is the zooming. When you zoom, everything becomes much more pixilated and there is a great loss of resolution, which pretty much eliminates the need for zooming. Besides that, everything else looked excellent.

Sound FX:
Commandos contains both an excellent musical score and a great set of sound effects. The music has a great military theme to it, and is the kind of music you'd expect to hear from those great old war movies. Not all of the music is the military patriotic type, but generally just good music that keeps the mood of the game without interfering with the player's attention. The menu music is soft yet barely noticeable.

The sound effects are detailed and authentic, even down the German and British accents for the soldiers. The environment is fully simulated as well, with bird calls and the splashing of waves against rocks. The weapons sound authentic which is another great plus. The voice effects are numerous but repetitive after a while even though they usually go unnoticed.

Overall:
Beyond the Call of Duty is a worthy sequel to Behind Enemy Lines and is one of those games that you'll be remembering for a long time if you are brave enough to take the challenge of playing. Anyone who loves covert military tactics and extreme strategy will love this game because of incredible amount of timing, planning, bravery, and split-second thinking that must be used in order to even hope to finish a mission. The graphics and sounds completely compliment the game. Though the game is tough, even in easy mode, it is a very satisfying game that makes for a lot of fun when a strategy is executed perfectly in a mission. The bottom line is that this is a rare and wonderful game.