Commandos 2: Men of Courage

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Commandos 2: Men of Courage
Windows cover
Developer(s) Pyro Studios
Publisher(s) Eidos Interactive
Series Commandos series
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release date Windows:
NA September 20, 2001
EU September 28, 2001
PlayStation 2:
NA August 28, 2002
EU September 6, 2002
Xbox
EU September 13, 2002
NA September 18, 2002
Genre(s) Real-time tactics
Mode(s) Single player
Multiplayer (Co-op)
Rating(s) ESRB: T (Teen)
USK: 16+
Media 3 CD-ROMs (WIN)
1 DVD (PS2, Xbox, WIN)
Steam
System requirements 266 MHz CPU, 64 MB RAM, 5 MB video card RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 8.0, 1.7 GB available hard disk space, Windows 98 (WIN)
Input methods Keyboard, mouse, or gamepad

Commandos 2: Men of Courage is the sequel to Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines and Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty. The games, developed by Pyro Studios and produced by Eidos Interactive, have been some of the most successful[citation needed] World War II stealth games to be created. The Macintosh version of this title is published by Feral Interactive.

The game places the player in command of a squad of commandos and various allies as he sneaks behind enemy lines to accomplish his objectives. The action stretches from 1941 to 1945 and takes place on both the Western Front against the Germans and the Pacific theatre against the Japanese.

Contents

[edit] The Commandos

In the Game, you are given a few of the 9 commandos, or sometimes all, to complete certain objectives. However, depending on the commando's abilities, they can perform specific skills.

  • Jack (Butcher) O'Hara, (The Green Beret) is the Irish sergeant with his signature codename "Tiny". In the game, he is the toughest and the only commando strong enough to lift heavy loads like fuel barrels and boxes. He can also stab enemies with his knife and bury himself in most soft surfaces.
  • Sir Francis T. Woolridge, (The Sniper) is a British operative under the name "Duke". In the game, he is the teams sharpshooter.
  • Samuel Perkins, (The Driver) an American operative known as "Tread". He is the only commando who can drive tanks, set various traps and throw molotov cocktails or smoke grenades.
  • Thomas Hancock, (the Sapper) a British operative under the name "Inferno". He is an expert in explosives and heavy weapons such as flamethrowers and bazookas. He is also the only commando who can fire the turret of a tank.
  • James Blackwood, (The Diver) an Australian operative known as "Fins". He can dive underwater and stay under indefinitely using his scuba gear, and is the only one who can pilot rowing boats. He can also use a grappling hook and throw knives.
  • René Duchamp, (The Spy) a French operative known as "Spooky". He can disguise himself as any enemy soldier or officer, and can not only distract enemies, but order lower ranking ones to look a certain direction or walk to nearby places. He cannot punch out enemies, but can use a poison syringe to daze, knock-out or even kill his opponents.
  • Paul Toledo, (The Thief) a French operative known as "Lupin". He is the smallest, the sneakiest and fastest, and can climb certain walls and jump through windows. He can also lockpick boxes and certain doors and knock opponents out with a roundhouse kick, but he can't tie them up.
  • Natasha Nikochevski, (The Seductress) is a Soviet operative from Kyiv who is known as "Lips". In the game, she can distract enemy soldiers and dress as enemy operatives, but only when generals or SS are not present. She can also use a sniper rifle.
  • Whiskey, a bull terrier dog whose owner was a member of the French resistance shot by the Nazis. He can be used to distract enemies and pass items between commandos who use a dog whistle to call him.

[edit] Enemies and allies

The interface for Commandos 2: Men of Courage. The commandos are displayed in the top left, the game commands and map are in the top right and the actions that can be performed by the selected commando are in the bottom right. This screenshot shows the "Target: Burma" mission, which involves the commandos rescuing a spiritual leader and a battalion of Ghurkas.
The interface for Commandos 2: Men of Courage. The commandos are displayed in the top left, the game commands and map are in the top right and the actions that can be performed by the selected commando are in the bottom right. This screenshot shows the "Target: Burma" mission, which involves the commandos rescuing a spiritual leader and a battalion of Ghurkas.

In the game, the story takes place in WWII. Usually, the enemies are Germans in the Western war theatre, and the Japanese in the East.

In certain missions, there are people willing to help your commandos, or who the commandos need to help. They generally are the US soldiers, the British Soldiers, or the Gurkhas. Sometimes, when there are no troop based allies to help the player, there are sometimes single allies to assist the player with a certain objective.

[edit] Inaccuracies

Commandos 2 has many inaccuracies but most of them are intentional and mentioned in the game manual. The last six are found in the manual.

  • In mission "The Giant In Haiphong", the city Haiphong resembles a Chinese city, when in fact the city is in Vietnam. This inaccuracy extends to the game's website, which places Haiphong in China, and even wrongfully locates South East Asia.[1]
  • There was no coastal battery on the Savo Island (The Guns of Savo Island).
  • In the mission "Target: Burma" where the player must liberate a Burmese town from Japanese control, there is a giant Buddhist statue in the temple area. In reality, there is no giant Buddha statue in Burma, it appears to be very similar to the Great Buddha of Kamakura of Japan.
  • Shinano was sunk before it was used in a battle (Bonus Mission, earned after collecting all bonus book at "Giants of Haiphong").
  • There are no piranhas in Asia.
  • Just about all the Uniforms, Allies or Axis are inaccurate.
  • The bridge over the river Kwai existed but was never destroyed and wasn't made of wood (The Bridge On The River Kwai).
  • There are no penguins in the Northern hemisphere (White Death)...
  • In La Rochelle, La Pallice submarine base had more than three halls (Das Boot, Silent Killer).
  • U-Boats did not have the capability of Icebreaking as demonstrated in the mission "White Death".

[edit] Trivia

  • The majority of the missions are based on Film and Literature:
  • The mission "The Bridge on the River Kwai" is based on the movie of the same name, and it involves the rescue of Colonel Guinness, who is based on Colonel Nicholson, portrayed by actor Sir Alec Guinness in the movie. The mission also involves destroying the Bridge, which looks very similar to the one seen in the movie.
  • The mission "Guns of Savo Island", involves the infiltration and destruction of the giant guns on the island. Because the name and the plot are very similar, this mission may also be based on the film The Guns of Navarone. However, in the same mission, the player is assisted by a "hero" character named Wilson who is based on Robinson Crusoe's character.
  • Saving Private Smith is loosely based on the movie Saving Private Ryan.
  • The mission "Das Boot, Silent Killers", is very loosely based on Das Boot.
  • The mission "Castle Colditz" (Actually based on the Nazi POW prison Oflag IV-C), involves the rescue of Allied soldiers in Germany, is loosely based on the films The Great Escape and The Colditz Story.
  • The mission "Is Paris Burning?" is obviously related to film Is Paris Burning?.

[edit] Note

  1. ^ Commandos II - Mission Locations


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Commandos video games