Light in both action and strategy but together an interesting style of gameplay (long review).
One thing I should point out is to call it a strategy in the vein of most, notably the real-time strategy is somewhat of a stretch. Yes you do collect resources and yes you do produce units but its far from the assembly line RTS's of yore a la' Age of Empires and WarCraft. The simple premise is you take control of one or more clans (up to three) where you can only build one full squad per clan… so that's a possible three… doesn't sound like much to be strategy. Well that's what I thought but when you consider the action element I will explain later, it's a good enough if not unique premise.
The story (which we all know is the campaign mode) is set in the remote part of WhateverClichéFantasyWorldThisIs-ia where a human sorcerer named Fraziel one decided to create hordes of goblins to build what is referred to as "The Great Machine". Being the lazy SOB that he is he creates five; Stonekrusher, Hellfire, Stormbringer, Plaguespitter and Nighthorde(erer). Each has a head clan leader that is completely loyal to their human master of which if you think about it appears like a form of slavery… hmm? Anyway we are quickly given the command of the Stonekrusher clan and their leader Grommel (by this time my spellchecker is on the fritz) who is the focus and protagonist of this goblin based fable. After another hostile day of mining *cough*tutorial*cough* the Great Machine goes haywire and BOOM! Fraziel dies but points the finger at one of the other clan leaders as responsible. Grommel thus goes on a crusade to find out the reason behind this sad sad event… although while not spoiling anything, you'll probably know who and why before the end but don't try as you'll ruin Grommel's moment of glory. And boy is he craving for some, as it appears no one trusts anyone meaning Grommel ends up going through a slog of missions for each clan. As you progress you gain access to the other clans to do your biding, which brings up another point, the game is entitled Goblin COMMANDER yet it appear Grommel is the commander of this side of the civil war so its more Goblin Commander of Goblins. The story has enough meat on the bones given most RTS games have little to zero with most outlined in in-between missions via on-screen scripts. This time however it's via some sort of crazy dialogue that's supposed to be a fictional Goblin language. It's a charming feature and does put emphasis on the fantasy setting, however my problem with it is that the same fictional mumbo jumbo is used for almost any line. For example what sounds like "artaysit" is translated as "yes leader" and "we've found it" and "they're attacking" AND "what are your orders" etc etc… and these are the ones I remember. But then again it didn't grow as irritating as I'm making it out to be as it does shaft to English language that as we know is spoken by the worst voice actors in most eastern made games. The campaign missions themselves vary in the build up but usually lead to destroy the main base. Sub missions usually come in the form of harvest so and so amount, destroy outpost, ambush coming horde or capture siege weapon that help in the final assault. Locations also vary between clans, your battle again the Hellfire takes place in a dense forest where the clan have set up sawmills whereas the Stormbringer clan are in a snowy mountain peak with ice temples and the elements for each do set the mood. There are about 25 missions in total, with time taking 30mins to over an hour so you should get your moneys worth in playtime and most of them are challenging enough with an epic climax each time.
Now by this time I should probably mention what other modes there are, well just a skirmish mode that its only slit screen multiplayer. While a good enough feature, this is still technically a RTS so being able to see base conduct of your opponent and vice versa makes fights more of a race than a battle of wits. It clearly would have been better if you could play against AI or even both. I could complain about the lack of online support but given it being released in 2003 and also on the then "onlineless" PS2 and Game Cube isn't much of a shocker, unless you're a diehard fan of the Xbox that did have online support back then. However the fact you're playing a strategy game on a console seems to highlight you A – you don't play games on the PC so you won't care about online or B – You have enough online PC games already. Throughout both these modes the resources aspect is present as little as possible. There are two resources: souls and gold. You harvest souls from Soul Shrines that only require capturing as they themselves do the rest. Gold on the other hand more scattered, either in a heap casually lying there with what might as well by a giant "come and get it" sign on top or by destroying objects, mostly old ruins and terrain, ruins that delightfully fall apart as you take a whack at them. With both you recruit goblins from their clan base and use the gold to upgrade them or build automatic fire turrets. As you gain more goblins from for example, Hellfire you can only use all Hellfire units as one horde that moves and fights with each other so balance is needed for each horde in battle against your foe. Units range from basic, medium and heavy melee or ranged and each with a special (like a healer or scout), with some hordes having certain units instead of others like heavy melee but not heavy ranged for Stonekrusher. Along with units there is also magic at your disposal, like raining fire, slowing time or even turning foes into sheep. These come from the Obseratory, alos a captured buidling and with magic you can turn the tide of battle... if not get a cheap laugh or two. All
Now here is the more action-orientated element. While you can just set way points for your hordes, you could also directly control them in a third person and command there attacks with the buttons at your disposal. Not quite like Kingdom Under Fire where you hack and slash with one units amongst the rest but it still throws you in the mix. You can however control Titans in this way. Titans are built at the originally named "Hall of Titans" that are large formidable opponents where you can only build and control one at a time (although it is possible in some campaign missions to control two). Each clan has their own with differing styles of attack such as the Nighthorde's Battle Ball that does most of the work rolling over foes whereas the Stonekrusher Stone Ogre can swat away at entire groups or the Hellfire War Pig fires with a mounted catapult. They're fun units to control and while they help they aren't to hard to beat meaning its not game over when you encounter one. The titan and horde mechanics are an interesting gameplay twist, even by today's standards, but as an RTS it is technically strategy light as you only manage a small group each time with who can attack first being the unofficial primary objective.
In terms of soundtrack, it's quite for the most part but when things get going it's a real battle drum riff. The main menu alone has a great soundtrack that sets the mood perfectly. The sound effects are also numerous given the different play styles of each clan that include chain saws, rifles, lightening staffs, slings, clubs etc that upon killing another foe cause it to cry out in pain but oddly enough in a more comical way… sometimes given being turned into a green splat! Humour isn't the focus like the game Overlord's goblin minions but their design is creative and varied and as said before charming. You can't help but grow to like most of them, including the main man Grommel despite his vocabulary of six lines. Now of course it being a 2003 game the graphics are noticeable dated, but by all means it's not bad to look at, unless the only games you've played are in the seventh generation.
All in all Goblin Commander was and still is a solid enough game. It throws in varied units and charming characters into the mix. For it to be recommendable on the other hand, I'd have to ask one not to think of it as a RTS in the vein of most PC titles for it is not up to those standards at all. Instead it's more of a mish mash of action and strategy with both being action and strategy light when compared to most games of both genres, but together they make the game an enjoyable one. If you like both genres then by all means give it a try but if your action or strategy heavy, be cautious. But then again if you play mostly just action or RTS games, your choice is limited enough for you not to be interested in most games, let alone reading this review for this game… if you think that fits your description then I didn't waste your time, you did muhahahahahaaa!
Pros:
- Plenty of missions
- Great soundtrack
- Variety in goblins and clans
- Titans are a blast to play with
- Charming art style
Cons:
- Action and strategy light
- Fictional goblin language repetitive
- Skirmish mode is more of a side feature
- …plus its only co-op…