He can also use a shovel to dig under certain terrain and vanish in a blink of an eye. The most violent of all characters, Butcher is great in combat and using brute strength to help him in tricky situations. The main man (who is plastered on all the Commando series boxes) is clearly the tough as nails Green Beret known as Butcher. The game lets you take control of up to six different commandos, each with their own little personalities, skills and traits. The game hasn’t aged at all badly and I feel the graphics still hold up today, over 20 years later! The character animations are also well done and feel right up at home. Even with the view being very zoomed out, you can appreciate all the lovely touches such as the detail of each building, shrub, vehicle and landscape. The environments you find yourself in look so real and grab your attention straight away. The top down view (similar to the view taken by Cannon Fodder) is so well drawn and animated. The first thing that impressed me so many years ago and even today is the amazing graphics. These missions can range from destructing key buildings, assassinating key personnel, rescuing captured allies and lots more in-between. There are 20 missions in total, each offering a slightly different set of objectives to overcome. It is worth listening carefully to each briefing as I couldn’t find a way to repeat the set objectives once the mission had started. Each mission starts with a briefing and a quick overview of the map and key points found throughout. The game is set around World War II and with the help of your team of elite Commandos you must traverse through various missions all involved in taking down the Third Reich. With a mixture of strategy, stealth combat, tactics and clever puzzle elements you are in for a real treat. In truth, on paper at least, you can attempt to complete missions with a Rambo, shoot everything that moves strategy, but you will last about as long as Babylon Zoo in the music charts! Commandos is a very original game (especially at the time of release) that combines a few genres that helped turn this underdog title into one of the bestselling and well-respected PC games of the late 90’s. Give the game five minutes of your time and I can guarantee you will look at this classy PC title in a different light.

At first glance, you would rightfully be forgiven if you thought Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines was an all action, guns ablazin’ Cannon Fodder style affair.

Commandos: behind enemy lines