:Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
{{Short description|1998 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
| image = Commandos Behind Enemy Lines.jpg
| developer = Pyro Studios
| publisher = Eidos Interactive (retail)
Kalypso Media (digital)
| director =
| producer =
| designer = Gonzalo Suárez
Ignacio Pérez Dolset
| programmer =
| artist = Jorge Blanco
| writer =
| composer =
| series = Commandos
| platforms = Windows
| released = {{Video game release|EU|24 June 1998|NA|27 August 1998{{cite web | author=Ocampo, Jason | date=27 August 1998 | url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/014/015/commandos_released.html | title=Eidos ships Hollywood-style WWII game | website=Computer Games Strategy Plus | publisher=Strategy Plus, Inc. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030709090833/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/014/015/commandos_released.html | archive-date=9 July 2003 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}}}Beyond the Call of Duty
{{Video game release|NA|31 March 1999{{cite web | author=Fudge, James | date=31 March 1999 | url=http://www.cdmag.com/articles/018/180/commandos_bcd_ships.html | title=Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty Ships | website=Computer Games Strategy Plus | publisher=Strategy Plus, Inc. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030630095029/http://www.cdmag.com/articles/018/180/commandos_bcd_ships.html | archive-date=30 June 2003 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}|EU|1 April 1999{{Cite web | title=The Games Of 1999 ~ Europe | url=http://www.gonegold.com/golden/eurogold99.shtml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210220535/http://www.gonegold.com/golden/eurogold99.shtml | archive-date=February 10, 2001 | access-date=April 7, 2024 | website=Gone Gold}}}}
| genre = Real-time tactics
| modes = Single-player
}}
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines is a 1998 real-time tactics video game developed by the Spanish company Pyro Studios and published by Eidos Interactive.{{cite web | author=Ward, Trent C. | date=1 September 1998 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/09/01/commandos-behind-enemy-lines | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | website=IGN | publisher=Ziff Davis | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230818163635/https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/09/01/commandos-behind-enemy-lines | archive-date=18 August 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=28 August 2023}} The player controls 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.
The game was a commercial success, with global sales above 1 million units. GameSpot Spain declared it Spain's biggest game hit of all time by 2001. The game was followed by the Commandos series that used the same system of game mechanics, beginning with the expansion pack Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty in 1999, and later with three sequels - Commandos 2: Men of Courage in 2001, Commandos 3: Destination Berlin in 2003 and Commandos: Strike Force in 2006. A prequel, Commandos: Origins, was released in April 2025.
Gameplay
{{unsourced-section|date=April 2025}}
The player assumes the role of an allied officer, who has been entrusted to command a group of commandos on twenty missions. A briefing given before a mission begins is divided into two parts - the first, focuses on the background of the mission and where it takes place, and the second, using the mission's map, details the objectives the commandos must complete, any important information they need to know, and what they must use to escape the area. Commandos features six commandos that the player can control, though each mission gives a specific subset of commandos that the player can use to complete objectives, though a mission is failed if any of the commandos are killed in action.
Each commando that the player gets to control has a different set of abilities and equipment that they can use to deal with enemies and help them complete their missions - the Green Beret is able to move barrels, climb rough surfaces, use a lure to distract enemies, and can kill soldiers with a knife; the Marine can dive underwater, use a harpoon gun, can kill enemies with a knife, and can pilot ships and boats; the Driver can drive vehicles and operate tanks and mounted guns, and is one of two commandos who can treat the injuries of his comrades; the Sapper is capable of using grenades and handling explosives, can cut through wire fences and set up traps; the Sniper can use a sniper rifle to take out targets, and the second commando who can treat his comrades injuries with a first aid kit; the Spy can wear enemy uniforms, distract soldiers when disguised as an officer, and can kill enemies with a lethal injection. In addition to their abilities, all commandos carry a handgun that they can use as a last resort to defend themselves. The game's emphasis is towards stealth and carefully planned tactics rather than gun battles, as the commandos will not survive for long if shot at.
The enemies are divided into ranks - soldiers, who are armed with rifles or MP40 sub-machine guns; sergeants, armed with service pistols, with some manning fixed machine-gun nests; and officers, who are armed with pistols. In addition to foot soldiers, some missions include enemy tanks and armored cars operating in the area. As a rule, all enemies are on alert, and thus man guard posts or conduct patrols in the area, either by themselves or a group of three or four, searching for anything suspicious. The player can monitor the line of sight of the enemy during a mission and use it to plan their moves, although they can only keep tabs on a single enemy's field of vision at any one time. An enemy's field of vision is represented by a cone in front of them, colored green, that extends out from an enemy to a certain distance, and is divided into two sections - close range, represented by light green, in which commandos will be spotted if they step into this area; and long range, represented by dark green, in which commandos will only be spotted if they are standing up when they step into this area. If any commando is spotted, enemies will usually order them to halt in order to capture them, and will only fire on them if they fail to comply or witness any hostile action. If an enemy detects something suspicious, such as seeing footprints or dead bodies, or hearing gunshots and other unusual noises, they will immediately investigate what the cause is. In most missions, an alarm will be raised if the enemy discovers they are under attack, such as an explosion happening in their vicinity. When this happens, the enemy will be more active and will more likely shoot the commandos if they see them, and more soldiers will deploy from garrisons, marked by flags, to patrol the area. If the alarm is raised, the completion of a mission is made much more difficult; in some missions, the sounding of an alarm will cause instant mission failure.
Development
{{expand section|date=June 2019}}
According to Gonzalo Suarez of Pyro Studios, the game began development because he "saw that there were hardly any tactical action games being developed and [he] decided to make one".{{cite magazine | author=Font, Joan | title=Así se hace un juego | language=es | magazine=GameLive PC | publisher=Ixo | issue=8 | date=June 2001 | pages=24–28, 30–33}} The soundtrack for the game was composed by David García-Morales.{{cite magazine | author=García, Julen Zaballa | title=Commandos: compases de guerra | language=es | magazine=Retro Gamer España | publisher=Future plc | issue=25 | date=October 2018 | pages=134–139}}
During the development of the game, a writer for MeriStation cited it as evidence that "the Spanish entertainment software is slowly re-emerging from its ashes".{{cite magazine | author=Félix "Maugan" | date=19 January 1998 | url=http://meristation.com/preview/commandos.htm | title=Commandos (preview) | language=es | magazine=MeriStation | publisher=PRISA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000301041739/http://meristation.com/preview/commandos.htm | archive-date=1 March 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=17 June 2019}}
Reception
=Critical reviews=
{{Video game reviews
| title = Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
| GR = 81%{{cite web | url=https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/63451-commandos-behind-enemy-lines/index.html | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines for PC | website=GameRankings | publisher=CBS Interactive | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602020854/https://www.gamerankings.com/pc/63451-commandos-behind-enemy-lines/index.html | archive-date=2 June 2019 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| Allgame = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web | author=Baize, Anthony | url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12106&tab=review | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - Review | website=AllGame | publisher=All Media Network | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141115121817/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12106&tab=review | archivedate=15 November 2014 | url-status=dead | accessdate=23 October 2018}}
| CNG = 8/10{{cite web | author=Rausch, Allen | date=8 September 1998 | url=http://gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0%2C6%2C0-2067%2C00.html | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | website=Gamecenter | publisher=CNET | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816170848/http://gamecenter.com/Reviews/Item/0,6,0-2067,00.html | archive-date=16 August 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| CGW = {{Rating|2.5|5}}{{cite magazine | author=Carter, Tim | url=https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_173.pdf | title=Not So Special Forces (Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Review) | magazine=Computer Gaming World | publisher=Ziff Davis | issue=173 | date=December 1998 | pages=406–7 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813042521/https://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_173.pdf | archive-date=13 August 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| Edge = 7/10{{cite magazine | author=Edge staff | url=https://retrocdn.net/images/a/a1/Edge_UK_061.pdf | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | magazine=Edge | publisher=Future Publishing | issue=61 | date=August 1998 | page=93 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207175209/https://retrocdn.net/images/a/a1/Edge_UK_061.pdf | archive-date=7 February 2023 | url-status=live | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| EPD = 9/10{{cite web | author=EP staff | date=21 August 1998 | url=http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=8097&full=1#mr_toppy | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | website=The Electric Playground | publisher=Greedy Productions Ltd. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020615072930/http://www.elecplay.com/review.html?article=8097&full=1#mr_toppy | archive-date=15 June 2002 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| GI = 8.75/10{{cite magazine | author=Bergren, Paul | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | magazine=Game Informer | publisher=FuncoLand | issue=67 | date=November 1998 | page=74}}
| GameRev = A−{{cite web | author=Colin | date=October 1998 | url=http://www.game-revolution.com/games/pc/strategy/commandos.htm | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | website=GameRevolution | publisher=CraveOnline | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000520095026/http://www.game-revolution.com/games/pc/strategy/commandos.htm | archive-date=20 May 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=23 October 2018}}
| GSpot = 8.4/10{{cite web | author=Kasavin, Greg | date=10 September 1998 | url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/commandos-behind-enemy-lines-review/1900-2538454/ | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines Review | website=GameSpot | publisher=Fandom | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050129171845/http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/commandosbehindenemylines/review.html | archive-date=29 January 2005 | url-status=live | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| NGen = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_49/page/n107/mode/2up | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | magazine=Next Generation | publisher=Imagine Media | issue=49 | date=January 1999 | page=107 | access-date=28 August 2023}}
| PCGUK = 80%{{cite magazine | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | magazine=PC Gamer UK | publisher=Future plc | year=1998}}
| PCZone = 87%{{cite magazine | author=Hill, Steve | url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_66_August_1998/page/n95/mode/2up | title=Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines | magazine=PC Zone | publisher=Dennis Publishing | issue=66 | date=August 1998 | pages=96–97 | access-date=28 August 2023}}
}}
Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines received "favourable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Next Generation gave a high praise to the game, citing its graphics as "gorgeous", and its gameplay "tough" and "challenging".
=Sales=
The game was a significant and unexpected commercial success. Designer Gonzalo Suarez attributed its sales to word of mouth, as the game received little promotion and said that they were aiming to sell around 15,000 copies. In the German market, it spent 16 weeks at #1 on the computer game sales charts,{{cite magazine | author=Hill, Mark | url=https://archive.org/details/PC_Zone_Issue_104_2001-07_Dennis_Publishing_GB/page/n43/mode/2up | title=Oi!... Gonzo, What's Your Game? Commandos 2 | magazine=PC Zone | publisher=Dennis Publishing | issue=104 | date=July 2001 | pages=44–47 | access-date=28 August 2023}} taking the position from Anno 1602 and holding it through Media Control's rankings for the second halves of June, July and August 1998.{{cite magazine | author=PC Player staff | title=Spiele-Charts | language=de | magazine=PC Player | publisher=Future Vertlag | date=September 1998 | page=56}}{{cite magazine | author=PC Player staff | title=Spiele-Charts | language=de | magazine=PC Player | publisher=Future Vertlag | date=October 1998 | page=88}}{{cite magazine | author=PC Player staff | title=Spiele-Charts | language=de | magazine=PC Player | publisher=Future Vertlag | date=November 1998 | page=102}} The game's sales in German-speaking countries totaled 158,000 units by the end of September, which made it the region's second-best-selling computer game during the first nine months of 1998, behind Anno.{{cite magazine | author1=Müller, Eva | author2=Canibol, Hans-Peter | url=https://www.focus.de/finanzen/news/unterhaltung-die-spassmaschine_aid_174129.html | title=Die Spaßmaschine | magazine=Focus | publisher=Hubert Burda Media | issue=48 | date=23 November 1998 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206015705/https://www.focus.de/finanzen/news/unterhaltung-die-spassmaschine_aid_174129.html | archive-date=6 December 2018 | url-status=dead}} It was ultimately the German market's fourth-best-selling computer game of 1998 as a whole.{{cite magazine | author=PC Games staff | title=News: Bestseller '98 | language=de | magazine=PC Games | publisher=Computec | date=March 1999 | page=20}} The title was also a hit in the UK, where it spent 15 weeks at #1 on the computer game sales lists.
The game achieved global sales of 600,000 units by November 1998,{{cite magazine | date=23 November 1998 | url=http://www.meristation.com/noticias/1998/23nov98.htm | title=Pyro Studios busca gente | magazine=MeriStation | publisher=PRISA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19991201190735/http://www.meristation.com/noticias/1998/23nov98.htm | archive-date=1 December 1999 | url-status=dead}} and Pyro reported a total of 706,000 sales by year's end.{{cite web | url=http://www.pyrostudios.com/trabajo.htm | title=Oportunidades de trabajo en PYRO Studios | language=es | website=Pyro Studios | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000109155617/http://www.pyrostudios.com/trabajo.htm | archive-date=9 January 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=12 January 2022}} At the 1999 Milia festival in Cannes, it took home a "Gold" prize for revenues above €16 million in the European Union during 1998.{{cite web | author=GameSpot staff | date=12 February 1999 | url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/eccsell-awards-name-winners/1100-2452289/ | title=ECCSELL Awards Name Winners | website=GameSpot | publisher=Fandom | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990830171428/http://www.gamespot.com/milia/0212/ecc/index.html | archive-date=30 August 1999 | url-status=live | access-date=28 August 2023}} The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland presented the game with a "Gold" award in January 1999,{{cite web | date=21 January 1999 | url=http://www.vud.de/infopres/PM-210199.htm | title=GOLD- und PLATIN SALES-AWARDS | language=de | website=Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland | location=Paderborn | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000610050209/http://www.vud.de/infopres/PM-210199.htm | archive-date=10 June 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=7 July 2019}} indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.{{cite magazine | author=Horn, Andre | date=14 January 2004 | url=https://www.gamepro.de/artikel/vud-gold-awards-2003,1290773.html | title=VUD-Gold-Awards 2003 | magazine=GamePro Germany | publisher=Webedia | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718145345/https://www.gamepro.de/artikel/vud-gold-awards-2003,1290773.html | archive-date=18 July 2018 | language=de | url-status=live}} It rose to "Platinum" status, for 200,000 units sold, by the end of May 1999.{{cite web | date=2 July 1999 | url=http://www.mediabiz.de/games/news/vud-nennt-vier-neue-sales-awards/67718/1027 | title=VUD nennt vier neue Sales Awards | website=GamesMarkt | publisher=MediaBiz | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204192656/http://www.mediabiz.de/games/news/vud-nennt-vier-neue-sales-awards/67718/1027 | archive-date=December 4, 2018 | url-status=dead}} Combined with its expansion pack, the game's global sales totaled 1.3 million units by July 1999.{{cite magazine | date=30 July 1999 | url=http://meristation.com/noticias/1999/julio/19990730-3.htm | title=Eidos compra Proein y participa Pyro Studios al 25% | language=es | magazine=MeriStation | publisher=PRISA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001004165040/http://meristation.com/noticias/1999/julio/19990730-3.htm | archive-date=4 October 2000 | url-status=dead}} It sold over 1.5 million units by May 2000.{{cite press release | date=10 May 2000 | title=Eidos Interactive Announces E3 Product Line-Up | newspaper=Business Wire | location=Los Angeles, California}} In 2001, GameSpot Spain declared it the biggest hit in the history of Spanish games.{{cite web | date=January 2001 | url=http://www.gamespot-es.com/news/01_02/13/4/index.asp | title=Fechas para Commandos 2 y Mafia, The City of Lost Children. | website=GameSpot España | publisher=Ziff Davis | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010719010923/http://www.gamespot-es.com/news/01_02/13/4/index.asp | archive-date=19 July 2001}}
{{clear}}
Expansion
File:Commandos Beyond the Call of Duty.jpg
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty is an expansion pack that was developed by Pyro Studios, published by Eidos Interactive, and released on 31 March 1999. Designed as a stand-alone pack, the expansion includes eight missions, as well as the ability to play it at higher resolutions. In addition, the gameplay of the main game was improved with a few features. The commandos have additional abilities and equipment that they can use. Some commandos can knock out enemies, each having a unique way of doing so, with all able to handcuff them once unconscious. Stones and cigarette packs can be used as distractions. Some missions require the player to capture enemies and order them about at gunpoint. The Spy can steal uniforms on-site and use them when needed and the Driver is able to use a Lee–Enfield rifle to take out targets. While the enemies featured are the same as the main game, some missions include Gestapo agents and wild animals.
=Reception=
{{Video game reviews
| title = Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty
| PCGUS = 53%{{cite magazine | title=Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty | magazine=PC Gamer | publisher=Imagine Media | year=1999}}
}}
Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty received "favourable" reviews, albeit slightly less than the original Commandos, according to GameRankings. Greg Kasavin of GameSpot praised the beautiful maps but criticized the missions as clumsy. He also criticized the keyboard hotkeys as they had been changed from the original and the players cannot customize them in the options menu.
By late 2000, Beyond the Call of Duty had sold over 350,000 units.{{cite web | url=http://www.pyrostudios.com/icorpo.htm | title=Información Corporativa | language=es | website=Pyro Studios | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001017145514/http://www.pyrostudios.com/icorpo.htm | archive-date=17 October 2000 | url-status=dead | access-date=28 August 2023}}
{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090505153915/http://www.eidosinteractive.com/games/info.html?gmid=31 Official Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines website (archived page)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100222084601/http://www.eidosinteractive.com/games/info.html?gmid=15 Official Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty website (archived page)]
- {{moby game|id=/976/commandos-behind-enemy-lines/}}
- {{moby game|id=/978/commandos-beyond-the-call-of-duty/|name=Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty}}
{{Pyro Studios Games}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Cooperative video games
Category:Real-time tactics video games
Category:Single-player video games