Commandos 3: Destination Berlin

Last updated
Commandos 3: Destination Berlin
Commandos 3 - Destination Berlin Coverart.png
Developer(s) Pyro Studios [lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s) Eidos Interactive [lower-alpha 2]
Designer(s) Ignacio Pérez Dolset
Series Commandos
Platform(s) Windows
Mac OS X
Nintendo Switch
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Release
October 14, 2003
  • Windows
    • NA: October 14, 2003
    • EU: October 24, 2003
    • AU: October 31, 2003
  • Mac OS X
    • WW: June 3, 2005
  • HD Remaster
  • Windows, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
    • WW: August 30, 2022
Genre(s) Real-time tactics
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Commandos 3: Destination Berlin is a real-time tactics video game and the third installment of the Commandos series. It was developed by Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in October 2003 for Windows, with a Mac OS X port releasing in June 2005 via publisher Feral Interactive. The game is the first in the series to use a true 3D engine as well as introduce deathmatch multiplayer mode.

Contents

A remaster of the game was released in August 2022 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Gameplay

The player controls a group of Commandos that are used to complete missions. Destination Berlin marks the first installment of the Commandos series not to feature the Driver, who was part of the original Commandos team. Natasha (aka "Lips"), who was introduced in Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty , is also absent. The only available Commandos characters are the Green Beret, the Sniper, the Marine, the Sapper, the Spy, and the Thief.

The gameplay is similar to the previous games, allowing the player to see all enemies on the map and using a "point and click" control scheme, but it has fewer hotkeys compared to the previous installment, and the user must press buttons on the action bar.

Gameplay experience and strategy differ from the previous games of the series, particularly around addition of an assault rifle, a weapon less powerful than a rifle but more powerful than a pistol. Additionally, all units can use weapons such as the grenade, rather than just the Sapper as in previous games.

The previous "knapsack" setup, simply showing a picture of all the items the currently selected commando has in his possession, has been abandoned in favor of a "box" system. When searching enemy bodies or supply crates, a smaller box is shown for their capacity. Commandos such as the Green Beret or Spy, who were only armed with pistols in previous installments, can now use all small arms except for the sniper rifle.

The new "cover mode" ability allows the player to leave Commandos waiting at a door or behind cover, ready to shoot at any enemy that comes within range, often more accurately than when controlled manually. This gives the option of ambushes and more defensive tactics.

Commandos 3 is broken down into three campaigns: Central Europe, Normandy, and Stalingrad. Each campaign uses different characters. Most missions are on a time limit.

Plot

The tutorial begins with Jack O'Hara clearing out a bunker, Sir Francis T. Woolridge killing a few German soldiers with his sniper rifle and Thomas Hancock destroying a Panzer III tank with explosives. The game then shifts to 21 February 1939, where René Duchamp and Paul Toledo infiltrate the German Embassy in London and steal documents from a safe.

In the Battle of Stalingrad, Woolridge kills an elite German sniper, lifting the siege of a Soviet command post at the Barmaley Fountain. General Franklin O'Donnell then arrives for a meeting with Soviet personnel, accompanied by Hancock and O'Hara. A massive German airstrike ensues followed by airdrops of the Fallschirmjäger. In an effort to protect the General, the commandos repulse waves of infantry attacks including a 7.5 cm Pak 40 anti-tank gun. When the meeting ends, O'Donnell crosses behind German lines and boards a Junkers Ju 52, much to the commandos' confusion. When they too enter the aircraft, O'Donnell orders the Germans to arrest them.

While in an underground prison cell, O'Hara subdues a jail guard and frees Woolridge and Hancock, telling them of O'Donnell's betrayal. When they make their way through the sewers, they run into René Duchamp, who informs them that O'Donnell plans to reveal top-secret information to the Germans. Unknown to the three, Duchamp tells them they are in Berlin. The player is given three tactical ways to kill O'Donnell before a timer initiates, after which he would appear. After O'Donnell's assassination, the four commandos enter a Kübelwagen and escape the capital.

In Saint-Avold, René Duchamp and Paul Toledo board an armoured train carrying stolen artwork but are discovered. The Germans warn the next station and they try to derail the train using explosives. Jack O'Hara discovers this and he single-handedly clears the area before boarding the train just as it passes. Together with Duchamp and Toledo, the three take control of the train. The Germans, however, destroy an incoming railroad bridge, forcing O'Hara to stop the locomotive. Duchamp and Toledo are captured and loaded onto a truck along with the artwork, while O'Hara hides in the back of another truck.

With the German convoy scheduled to pass through a small town in Forbach, Sir Francis T. Woolridge and Thomas Hancock eliminate the town of all German resistance, allowing American soldiers to fortify the area and prepare for their arrival. The convoy arrives escorted by Tiger I tanks but is ambushed as they enter the town. The trucks carrying Duchamp and Toledo are freed and the artwork is recovered.

On June 6, 1944, the night before the Normandy landings, Hancock and Toledo infiltrate a German encampment serving as reinforcements near Caen. They destroy a fuel depot, munitions building and as many Tiger I tanks, Schwerer Panzerspähwagen armored cars and Sd.Kfz. 251 half-tracks. At daybreak, James Blackwood infiltrates a port in Le Havre, disabling two German E-boats using mines. As the landings commence, O'Hara joins the Americans as they converge on Omaha Beach. Together, they take out the coastal artillery and clear the bunkers of all German troops.

Release

Commandos 3: Destination Berlin was released for Windows in October 2003 for North American, [1] European, [2] and Australian markets. [3]

Developed by Zonic, a Mac OS X port of the game was released on June 3, 2005, by publisher Feral Interactive along with the Commandos 2: Men of Courage as part of the Commandos Battle Pack. [4] [5] Developed by Raylight Games, a remastered version of the game subtitled HD Remaster was released on August 30, 2022, via publisher Kalypso Media for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. [6]

Reception

Commandos 3 received a "Gold" award from the Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento (aDeSe), for more than 40,000 sales in Spain during its first 12 months. [20]

Commandos 3 received "average" reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic. [7] The game was criticized for being difficult to play on account of having fewer hotkeys than its predecessors and being locked at an 800x600 resolution [15] which was low-end at the time of release.

Notes

  1. ↑ Ported to Mac OS X by Zonic. Remastered version developed by Raylight Games.
  2. ↑ Mac OS X version published by Feral Interactive. Remastered version published by Kalypso Media.

Related Research Articles

Commandos is a stealth-oriented real-time tactics video game series. The five games released between 1998 and 2006 are all set during World War II and follow the adventures of a fictional Allied commando unit. Each mission is loosely based on historical events during World War II to carry the plot. The series was developed by the Spanish developer Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. The series has sold a total of 3.3 million copies and generated $41 million of revenue at retail.

<i>Battlefield 1942</i> 2002 video game

Battlefield 1942 is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game can be played in single-player mode against the video game AI or in multiplayer mode against players on the Internet or in a local area network. It is a popular platform for mod developers, with many released modifications that alter the gameplay and theme.

Hitman is a stealth game franchise created by Danish developer IO Interactive. The player controls the contract killer Agent 47, who travels the world to assassinate various targets who are assigned to him.

<i>Starsiege: Tribes</i> 1998 video game

Starsiege: Tribes is a first-person shooter video game. It is the first of the Tribes video game series and follows the story from Metaltech: Earthsiege and Starsiege. It was developed by Dynamix and published by Sierra On-Line in 1998. An expansion pack, Tribes Extreme, was cancelled; it was supposed to add single-player missions, multiplayer maps, and bot AI.

<i>Rome: Total War</i> 2004 video game

Rome: Total War is a strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and originally published by Activision; its publishing rights have since passed to Sega. The game was released for Microsoft Windows in 2004. The macOS version was released on February 5, 2010, by Feral Interactive, who also released the iPad version on November 10, 2016, the iPhone version on August 23, 2018, and the Android version on December 19, 2018. The game is the third title in The Creative Assembly's Total War series, following Shogun: Total War, and Medieval: Total War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyro Studios</span>

Pyro Mobile was a video game developer based in Madrid, Spain, established in 2012 as a merger between Play Wireless and Pyro Studios and eventually ceasing operations in the second half of 2017. It is mostly known for its real-time tactics games series, Commandos.

<i>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</i> (video game) 2003 video game

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a video game based on the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation television series. The game was developed by Radical Entertainment, published by Ubi Soft, and was released for the PC in 2003. It was also ported by EPCConnect, and published by Aspyr on the Macintosh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feral Interactive</span> British video game publisher

Feral Interactive Limited is a British video games developer and publisher for macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows platforms. It was founded in 1996 to bring games to Mac and specialises in porting games to different platforms.

<i>Commandos 2: Men of Courage</i> 2001 video game

Commandos 2: Men of Courage is a real-time tactics video game, developed by Pyro Studios, published by Eidos Interactive, and released on September 20, 2001. It is a sequel to Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and the second installment of the Commandos series, and is the only strategy game of the series to be designed not only for Microsoft Windows, but also for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game sees players taking control of a squad of commandos, along with various allied units, as they sneak behind enemy lines to accomplish various missions in World War II, between 1941 and 1944, that will help them to thwart the war efforts of the Germans and the Japanese. The game features several improvements to the gameplay from its predecessor, including the ability to use enemy weapons and explore interior locations, the inclusion of three new commandos, a number of new skills for the original six members along with their other abilities, and new pieces of equipment to help overcome the enemy.

<i>Praetorians</i> (video game) 2003 real-time tactics video game

Praetorians is a 3D real-time tactics video game developed by Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in 2003, based on Julius Caesar's historical campaigns in Gaul and Britain, Crassus' battles in Parthia, and the events of Caesar's Civil War during the 1st century BC. The player controls either the Roman Republic, the Ptolemaic Kingdom, or a generic barbarian tribe based on the Helvetii, Gauls, and Celts.

<i>Nancy Drew: Stay Tuned for Danger</i> 1999 video game

Stay Tuned for Danger is the second installment in the Nancy Drew point-and-click adventure game series by HeR Interactive. It was officially discontinued in 2011 before being re-released in 2016 after the company had transferred to their new gaming system. It has an ESRB rating of E for moments of mild violence and peril.

<i>Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines</i> 1998 video game

Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines is a 1998 real-time tactics video game developed by the Spanish company Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. The game sees players take control of a group of six Allied Commandos, who conduct a range of missions across wartime Europe and Africa, using small unit tactics. Each mission's objective varies, but ranges from sabotage, assassination or rescuing captured allied units, with players having a full view of a mission's map to plan their strategy and its execution in advance.

<i>Commandos: Strike Force</i> 2006 video game

Commandos: Strike Force is a first person tactical shooter video game and the fifth installment of the Commandos series. It is developed by Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive.

<i>Bionic Commando</i> (2009 video game) 2009 video game

Bionic Commando is a 2009 action-adventure video game, part of the Bionic Commando series. The game was developed by Swedish developer Grin and published by Capcom. The game is a sequel to the 1988 NES game Bionic Commando, with certain storyline elements taken from its 2008 remake Bionic Commando Rearmed. The game runs on Grin's Diesel engine.

<i>Rogue Trooper</i> (video game) 2006 video game

Rogue Trooper is a third-person shooter video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by Eidos Interactive. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006. The Wii version, entitled Rogue Trooper: Quartz Zone Massacre, was released in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalypso Media</span> German video game publisher

Kalypso Media Group is a German video game developer and publisher. Founded in 2006 in Worms, the group includes four companies, in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and has studios, Realmforge Studios, Gaming Minds Studios, Claymore Game Studios, and Nine Worlds Studios. Kalypso is best known for publishing Tropico, Sudden Strike, Dungeons and Railway Empire series.

<i>Sniper Elite V2</i> 2012 video game

Sniper Elite V2 is a 2012 third-person tactical shooter stealth video game developed and published by Rebellion Developments. It is the sequel to 2005's Sniper Elite, which takes place in the same timeframe and location—the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945—but with an altered narrative. The game's story follows an American OSS officer who must eliminate a group of scientists involved in the German V-2 rocket program before the Red Army captures them. A sequel named Sniper Elite III was released in 2014. A remastered version for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One was released on May 14, 2019.

<i>Worms W.M.D</i> 2016 video game

Worms W.M.D is a 2D artillery turn-based tactics video game developed and published by Team17. It is the nineteenth installment in the Worms series, and was released on 23 August 2016 for Linux, OS X, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Xbox One. It was later released on 23 November 2017 for Switch, and on 1 July 2022 for Stadia. Its gameplay resembles that of Worms Armageddon more than subsequent installments, while adding new features that range from interactive vehicles such as tanks, to buildings that the worms can enter for protection. It is also notable for being the first major redesign the worm characters have received since Worms 3D.

<i>Nemesis of the Roman Empire</i> 2003 video game

Nemesis of the Roman Empire is a real-time strategy role-playing video game developed by Haemimont Games and published by Enlight Software. The sequel to Celtic Kings: Rage of War, the game is set in the Punic Wars and allows the player to take control of one of four nations, as well as Hannibal the Great.

References

  1. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (October 14, 2003). "Commandos 3 ships". GameSpot . Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  2. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (October 24, 2003). "What's New?". Eurogamer . Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Commandos 3". Atari . Archived from the original on December 14, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Commandos Battle Pack is now shipping everywhere". Feral Interactive . June 3, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Commandos Battle Pack is now shipping everywhere". Feral Interactive . June 3, 2005. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Commandos 3 HD Remaster announced for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2022-07-10.
  7. 1 2 "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". Computer Games Magazine . theGlobe.com. January 2004. p. 67.
  9. ↑ Kapalka, Jason (January 2004). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 234. Ziff Davis. pp. 92–93. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ Edge staff (December 2003). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". Edge . No. 130. Future plc. Archived from the original on December 3, 2003. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  11. ↑ Taylor, Martin (October 20, 2003). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  12. ↑ Biessener, Adam (January 2004). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". Game Informer . No. 129. GameStop. p. 157. Archived from the original on October 2, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  13. ↑ Vicious Sid (October 29, 2003). "Commando[s] 3 Destination Berlin Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro . IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  14. ↑ Mr. Tickle (November 2003). "Commandos 3 [Destination Berlin] Review". Game Revolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  15. 1 2 Parker, Sam (October 20, 2003). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin Review". GameSpot . CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  16. ↑ Dy, Bernard (November 23, 2003). "GameSpy: Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". GameSpy . IGN Entertainment.
  17. ↑ Wrentmore, John (November 2, 2003). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  18. ↑ Butts, Steve (October 15, 2003). "Commandos 3: Destination Berlin". IGN . Ziff Davis. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  19. ↑ Poole, Stephen (December 25, 2003). "Commandos 3 [Destination Berlin]". PC Gamer . Vol. 10, no. 13. Future US. p. 118. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  20. ↑ Dossier de prensa Galardones aDeSe 2004 (PDF) (Report) (in Spanish). Asociación Española de Distribuidores y Editores de Software de Entretenimiento. March 2004. pp. 5, 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2005.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.