Give yourself a chance to adjust to the complex controls for the xbox and you will be rewarded!
User Rating: 8.5 | Commandos 2: Men of Courage XBOX
Immediately upon beginning this game you will realize that it is a game best played on PC, however, if you devote enough time to adjust to the very complex control set-up for the XBOX (thanks in large part to the extensive tutorial) you will be rewarded with a very fun (yet very frustrating) real-time action/strategy/stealth game. I am reminded of the movie "Kelly's Heroes" when playing this game. You control a group of off-beat characters, each with his/her/it's own abilities and equipment and can select any character (or multiple characters) on the fly to guide them through missions. Characters include a Green Beret, a spy, a thief, a sniper, an explosive expert, a diver/special service agent, a seductress, a dog, and a driver. The game view is from a ¾ overhead angle and the screen can be rotated by 90 degree angles and zoomed in and out. It can be disorienting at first to suddenly switch between angles of view but you will get accustomed to it quickly. A large part of the fun in this game lies in taking one's time observing the movement of enemy troops and figuring out the best method of carrying out one's mission undetected. The mission levels of this game are very large and include the interior of buildings and contain MANY enemy troops who often cover one another extensively. Often you must find the hole in the enemy's armor in the form of a single troop that you can take out without being detected. When I first played this game I gave up in frustration as it is very difficult to remember the complex controls in order to quickly switch between team members but once you figure it out via the tutorials you will begin enjoying the game very much. I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys strategy games with an emphasis on stealth and patience. I am reminded of Splinter Cell when playing this game and I find it amusing to picture my squad as a group of miniature Sam Fishers crawling their way through the underbrush. I am amazed by the huge assortment of available moves which can be performed by various members of your squad. Some of the more unique moves include a grappling hook for scaling walls (which can also be used as a trip-wire,) using a pet mouse to distract enemies, using one's physical appearance to distract the attention of guards (reserved for female members only,) burying oneself in the dirt to become invisible, using your dog to cart items between members of your group through enemy territory by blowing a dog whistle, drugging bottles of wine and pieces of meat to knock out humans and guard dogs, trailing someone and pick pocketing them, using fish food to attract schools of fish to disguise yourself as you swim through water in enemy sight, detecting and deactivating enemy mines in order to use them yourself, punching out guards and then making the moral choice of either killing them or tying them up to silence them, getting the spy to use the uniform of a high ranking soldier in order to distract enemy troops by giving them false orders, and many more!
