Game Review: Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 (XBLA / PSN)

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3

Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Player: 3 (on/offline)
Genre: Action Adventure
Platform: XBLA (Reviewed), PSN

Overview : It is the second sequel to Capcom's Commando arcade game, first released in 1985 and then ported to nearly every system of the time, (including the BCC Micro which I owned, played and sucked at). Lucky for me this game is a lot easier (or I have gotten a lot better, but I doubt that) as its obviously aimed at western audiences with it modern American animé/cartoon stylised graphics.

Features :

Only on Xbox LIVE: Players who purchase Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 will be automatically eligible for the Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta test: (only until August 20th or sooner)
• Three playable soldiers with their own unique characteristics.
• Multiple weapons, including rocket launchers, grenades and shotguns.
• Controllable co-op vehicles
• Support for up to three players simultaneously, both online and on a single console.
• Four difficulty levels, which automatically adjust based on the number of players in the game.
• Comprehensive scoring system.
o Score Multipliers allow players to maximize their points tally.
o Online Leaderboards


If you played any of the old school shooters back in the 80s / early 90s, you will know what to expect. Not much of a plot, but we all new that it was never going to be like that. The characters basicly a rip of Arne (Commando film) and Rambo, but they have also have a token black girl, to cover both gaming minority's, how PC of them. The presentation is nice and slick, and general well done, personally I like how the jazzed up the pause menu. But as for in game graphics your not going to be blown away, its just simple, nice and bright, cell shaded graphics.

But this game was never about great story or great graphics, its all about old school gameplay, and thankfully they have gotten this right. There is no strategy involved here, bar shoot exploding barrel and destroy enemy spawn points, This is about making thing go BOOM and mowing down thousand of soldiers (its ok, they are bad guys, you can tell because they are not American). Just like the films the games are inspired by, this is just plain dumb fun.

Surprisingly, it slows down the very odd time in 3 player + explosions, a game with this graphic level, you would think, should not have this problem.


The campaign is short (complete all levels in 1 hour) and repetitive (lack of enemy variety) but vehicle sections and a few uninspiring bosses breaks up gameplay. Multiplayer and secrets helps replay, but not enough to keep you playing the game for more than a few hours.

Old school high scoring could have helped longevity, but because of constantly respawning enemies, high scores can be achieved by slowly playing though rather than using any skill making the highscore leader board pointless. The game is also much harder in solo, than in multiplayer even thought it ups the amount of enemy's for when paling in co-op. You can select which stage you want to play until you complete the whole game, which can be annoying if you died in the last level, but then that just the old school way.


Conclusion: So, it wants to be an old school game, and it succeeds. But that's the problem, these games were great back in the day, but only if you played them for a few hours. But at 800 MS points ($10.00/£6.80/€9.30), I don't think its good value for money. But if your a fan of the original games, then its worth trying it. Or if you are a huge Street Fighter Fan you have bought it already and have been handing my ass to me via Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta. (I really suck a Street Fighter).

Pros:
- Old School gameplay
- 3 player Co-op fun
- Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Beta

Cons:
- Short
- Repetitive

Overall: