When I watched the trailer with Pyro Studio Founder Ignacio
Perez Dolset, one of the first thing I noticed was the graphical comparisons
between the original and the HD Remastered edition, the tag line Real-Time
Strategy Redefined.
What does redefined even mean, to me its always been
changing something into something new are looking at it in a different way, is
better graphics really redefining the game? I actually remember playing both
commandos 2 and Praetorians back in the early 2000s and well I hated commandos
with a passion the fidgety controls, the overly complex gameplay I hated it and
went right back to Doom and Wolfenstein. It was an interesting concept but the
core gameplay was just awful, and I’m pleased to announce for anyone who is
harping back for the nostalgia it hasn’t changed, yes the graphics are a lot
nicer, but I expected some smoothing out of the controls but were not going to
get that here.
Image not recovered: Image result for commandos 2 remastered. Archived image reference
It is not all bad, being a little older and a little wiser my patients has grown and I pushed through into the game, and the original really did redefine combat games, for the younger ones in the audience, its commandos that inspired game like Splinter Cell and MGS, the sneaking carefully selecting your time to strike, kill or evade, Commandos was one of the first to introduce this concept. The learning curve is steep and the difficulty although at the start is high, the progression isn’t there and becomes almost second nature and easy in the later levels.
Image not recovered: Praetorian. Archived image reference
And then we have Praetorians now this was a game I liked,
the historical characters, the rock paper scissors troop formats, I was in love
with Rome Total War, and this filled a nice mission-based alternative, now the
contrast in graphical improvements isn’t all that noticeable everything is a
little sharper a little cleaner and a little brighter. At first, I had a real
rose-tinted glasses moment but that probably down to me replaying Rome Total
War over the last few months. Shiny yes Redefined…… That’s a stretch
Now I know I slated Commandos 2 and Praised Pteatorians, but
that my bias if you like the originals your probably going to love playing the
HD Remastered variants. But that brings me to a Question. Why now?
Are the hopes to draw in the new generation of gamers? I
don’t think so, we expect so much more from games these days if your not a fan
your not going to be overjoyed with your purchase, is this a cash grab? with
all the hype around Final Fantasy 7 and its impending release, similar age
games. Kalypso media acquired Pyro Studios in 2018 a year after Pyro Studio
became defunked in 2017. You can make your own conclusions there.
With the Huge influx of Remastered games of late, final
fantasy is a prime example, the story is the same but the entire game has been
revamped, besides the characters and the story it’s completely unrecognizable
from the original. So when so many Studio’s pump-out HD or remastered game,
with minor visual upgrades are they really providing us gamers with anything?
For the most part, I find these “Remastered” games actually
provide us with a disservice, let’s be honest here the graphics we so bad
making them shaper and adding pixels just accentuates how bad they were, a
focus on technology over the style and art, they feel lazy. The passion that
was put into the originals, the innovations are all void like many “Remastered”
games that have come before they are a Hollow Shiny Shell and have lost the
spark the original gave us.
With the poor recipient of Commandos 3 First strike where
the game deviated from its isometric stealth-based game and deviated to a Call
of Duty style FPS, I feel this really could be the last Hoorah for Pyro Games.
It is hard to give these games a rating because the
originals for the time were really good but by today’s standards? If you take
out the nostalgia, poor control systems, bad art, laughable voice acting. They
are a 3/10 for commandos and 4/10 for praetorians at best. They are both
playable add the nostalgia that adds may 2-3 points, but even that is
short-lived.
Being a reviewer I play a lot of games, and many entice me
back on a free evening, I used Rome
Total War as an example and even today that holds a spot on my HDD. Pteatorians
and Commandos are already in the recycle bin and in all honesty that’s where
they should have stayed.
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