Command and Conquer . . . or just plain Conquered?

Commanders: Attack of the Genos Review

by Sutton Dagger:

© 2008 Steven Sutton:

“`With a plethora of Xbox Live Arcade games available you would think that every genre would have been covered, well for those strategy fans among us there was still a gaping hole in the XBLA line-up, until now. Commanders: Attack of the Genos is a turn-based strategy game developed by SouthEnd Interactive and Published by Sierra Online.

“`The story of Commanders: Attack of the Genos is surprisingly in depth for a XBLA game. In an alternate history of the early 20th century, technology has been rapidly accelerating and new advancements in the military have revolutionized warfare. Humans have unlocked the secrets of the human genome and created a race of superior beings. Faster and stronger than the average human, it isn’t long before they become outcasts and hostilities between humans and the newly created ‘Genos’ turns into all out warfare. The game picks up in the lull between conflict, you will soon find out that the calm has certainly come to an end.

Full review and heaps of pics after the jump:-

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Players familiar with this genre will be right at home with the setup of Commanders, you have a designated base which is used to build various units whilst collecting resources to fund the manufacture of more units. These units all have their strengths and weaknesses ect, infantry are strong against other infantry but susceptible to scouts, elements which must be taken into account when moving around the field. Movement is based on a grid system, the map is basically made up of little squares with each unit designated a set amount of points for either movement or attack (or both).

You will find the basic premise used by many turn based strategy games here but where Commanders differs is in its application of the commander unit (go figure). The commander unit has both an active and passive power, these powers are unique for each commander, with numerous commanders becoming available throughout the campaign. After the commanders battle gauge is filled they can unleash their specialized powers, selecting the right commander is paramount to a missions success.

The campaign in Commanders is of a considerable length, with both a standard and advanced option it will take many hours to complete. The single player campaign spans 15 levels with different objectives required to complete the various missions, these range from the simple, destroy the entire opposition, too capture an enemy transport. As well as the campaign mode there is a battle mode which can be experienced by up to 4 players offline. This battle mode is played the same as the main campaign but without the story elements, with 10 different maps available.

For those who enjoy their online play, Commanders offers online play with both ranked and player matches. The ‘fog of war’ which clouds the field, adds that aspect of surprise when battling online, your enemy could be only a few squares away without you knowing. Though a welcome feature for this style of game, the limited number of people playing online means that matches are few and far between.

Graphics wise Commanders is fairly basic, though quite sharp, with blue and red colours designated for opposing forces and the field consisting of a variety of terrain objects. The playing environments are your standard fair, from the grassy hills to the snowy fields, its everything you would expect in a game of this genre. This is where Commanders biggest drawback lies, it sticks to the basic formula without trying anything new, and those looking for a different experience from this genre will be disappointed. It suffers from repetitive music and there are some balancing issues (heavy tanks kill everything) but nothing that severely diminishes the overall package.

A prominent feature of the XBLA games are the achievement points attainable, Commanders delivers the usual 200 points, with some interesting and challenging achievements to collect. Priced at 800 Microsoft points, Commanders is a great game with a lengthy campaign and the ability to battle online, a steal at this price for any strategy fan.

Whilst not on the same level as the full retail strategy games (such as Command and Conquer), Commanders certainly fills the void in terms of XBLA releases. If you’re after a solid turn-based strategy game that sticks to the norm then Commanders: Attack of the Genos ticks all the boxes.

“Great title. 8.1/10

© 2008 Steven Sutton:

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