Commandos: Origins looks to revive the classic stealth-tactics series in 2024
With returning crew and online co-op
The Commandos series is due to return sometime next year with Commandos: Origins, a new game from a new developer. It returns the series to its stealth-tactics routes to tell the story of how the squad of sneaky, rope-shimmying Nazi-shivvers first came together in the early days of World War 2. There's an announcement trailer below.
If you never played it, the original Commandos was one of the early progenitors of the stealth-tactics genre, in which you methodically infiltrated heavily-guarded enemy encampments using the unique abilities of a small squad of experts. Six of those experts are returning in this prequel, including Jack O’Hara “the Green Beret”, Thomas “the Sapper” Hancock, Francis T. “the Sniper” Woolridge, Samuel “the Driver” Brooklyn, James “the Marine” Blackwood, and Rene “the Spy” Duchamp.
It looks to hew closely to the original formula, with the promise of a better UI for initiating simultaneous actions, many methods of tackling more than ten mission, and a two-player co-op mode playable online or in split-screen.
Publishers Kalypso began recruiting at a new internal studio back in 2019, with the express intent that this studio would produce a new Commandos game. In the meantime there have been HD remasters of the original stealth-tactics trilogy, with some buggy launches but overall strong results.
These have been salad days for the stealth tactics genre thanks mostly to the work of Mimimi, who more-or-less singlehandedly revived the genre with Shadow Tactics, soldified its return with modern classic Desperados 3, and then seemingly bested themselves with last months Shadow Gambit. The future looks less rosy, however, considering Mimimi announced they were closing down just two weeks after Shadow Gambit's release. Here's hoping Comamndos: Origins picks up the mantle.