Reviewed: July 1, 2008
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Backbone Entertainment
Developer
Capcom Entertainment
Released: June 11, 2008
Genre: Shooter
Players: 1-3
7
8
7
7
7.1
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Are you tired of all the arcade shooters on the Xbox Live Arcade? Capcom is hoping they can sneak one more on the growing stack before the genre collapses under its own weight.
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is your typical top-down shooter that allows you and up to two other friends to storm your way through various hostile locations, laying waste to the environments, killing enemy soldiers, blowing up vehicles, rescuing POW’s, and facing off against some seriously cool bosses.
Commando 3 can be played alone or cooperatively with up to three players. There are three in-game characters; Wolf, Coyote, and Fox, to pick from when starting the game, each with their own stats for health, speed, and grenade. These characters balance out individually with the more powerful characters having less health, etc. When you combine all three characters in a co-op game you achieve a perfectly balanced fighting force, but the game also knows this and amps the difficulty to match. You can also tailor the difficulty by choosing from four skill settings when you start a new game.
Gameplay couldn’t be easier…in theory at least. You move your personal Rambo around the screen using the left stick while aiming a continuous stream of ammo in 360 degrees using the right stick. This fire can be normal machine gun ammo, green plasma ammo, or a nice spray of liquid fire that will ignite the enemies until they burn to death. To switch ammo you only need to find specific ammo canisters lying around the battlefield.
Enemies will attack in endless swarms from all directions including the bottom of the screen, which can be annoying because the game frequently locks your progress so you cannot backtrack. While it is possible to slow the enemy swarms by blowing up the barracks (Gauntlet-style spawn points), they will still seem to appear from nowhere. You might be hung up blowing up a wall to continue to the next section, and soldiers will continue to trickle in from below.
There is a nice variety of enemies including these steroid-pumped guys carrying chain guns, guys in towers, guys in jeeps, guys on turrets. The latter are my favorite enemies because if you can take out the guy on the turret you can then take control of that turret and unleash some serious destruction. You can also ride elevators to new sections of the level, float on self-guided rafts, or drive a jeep or tank, which greatly adds to the mix of gameplay and fun factor.
Your commando also has a small supply of grenades you can arc into enemies. These are useful for taking out guys behind sandbags, in towers, or taking out a vehicle quickly. You also have a powerful special attack you can trigger complete with cool character-specific splash screen and awesome animation that will destroy everything in a large radius.
Commando 3 is not all about death and destruction. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for hidden ribbons and medals, POW’s, and special secrets in each level. Power-ups are scattered about the debris including health, grenades, and new types of ammo. Gameplay is fast and frantic and most of all, fun.
Personally, I loved the visual style for Commando 3. The character art uses that same sharp angle design for facial features that is going to be in the upcoming Star Wars movie. If you aren’t a fan of that style then relax – you only have to deal with it during the menus and a few splash screens.
For most of the game you are treated to some gorgeous visuals that, while old-school in design, come with all the flash and detail of a next-gen release even down to the 1080p support. Textures are excellent and traditional 2D sprites have been replaced with killer 3D models that have their own shading and textures. The first WOW moment for me was the raft ride down the river and just marveling at the water texture. Sure, it’s not nearly as realistic as a AAA title but for an XBLA game – the graphics are outstanding.
At times the battlefield can be a bit overwhelming - not for me, but rather my Xbox which usually has a few hiccups in what is otherwise a smooth framerate for the scrolling levels. These are few and far between, usually when trying to blow-up a wall into the next section or during the larger explosions like taking down a guard tower.
Environments range from bright outdoor sections to dark and moody levels that offer a high contrast and really make the lighting, weapons effects, and explosions stand out even more. On the flip side, the character animation is a bit weak. Your guy will walk around using a repetitive animation that looks like he is riding a unicycle. And regardless of what ammo you have equipped, your weapon design and recoil animation never changes. A few areas definitely need some polish, but for the most part, Command 3 is an awesome looking arcade title.
The menu music is a bit odd, but once you get into the game the military action themes kick in and you feel like Rambo if playing alone or part of the A-Team if playing with friends. I was surprised at how un-annoyed I was with the incessant machinegun noise. You play the game like Robotron and never even think to let off the right stick, even when nobody is around to shoot. When you finally switch to the flamethrower or stop firing actual bullets, the silence is almost deafening.
Since the game is played from a top-down vantage point there isn’t much opportunity for surround sound, yet the game still supports Dolby Digital and features crisp sound effects and powerful bass for the larger explosions. I did hear some rear channel effects on the first boss fight when the giant tank rains down multiple guided missiles. The whooshing sounds start behind/above you before the explosions occur in the front channels.
Commando 3 is a challenging game on the default skill level. You can decrease or increase the challenge as you see fit. Obviously the game is a lot more fun when shared with friends and the co-op mode works both locally and online. While mostly run and gun, there are a few opportunities for shared strategy and battle tactics.
There are 12 achievements to go after including finding all the POW’s, hidden secrets, finishing the game cooperatively, and earning a 24x combo on every level, just to name a few. Others are as simple as finishing the game on each skill level.
Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 is a classic retro military shooter that instantly took me back to the early 90’s and the same style of shooter I was playing on my Turbo Grafx-16 CD. This is old-school gaming at its very best and I couldn’t be happier for the trip down memory lane.