Intrigue of World War II Berlin defeats will to learn or spurs warrior attitude

When a game is difficult to play, determining whether that game is good or a bad is easy. Turn off the computer: Bad. Keep trying: Good. With a good game, the graphics, sound, interface and game play whet the appetite, a sign the learning will be time well spent.
Commandos 3: Destination Berlin falls exactly into the latter category. Without experience in tactical strategy games or computer gaming in general, much time will be needed just to master the basic interface.
Destination Berlin consists of three campaigns of the Second World War: taking a beach at Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, protecting a fictional Allied general during the Nazi siege of Stalingrad and stopping the Nazis from taking looted French artwork to Berlin.
Selecting from a group of five commandos, the gamer works his way through missions within each campaign, such as tracking down and killing a German sniper before he picks off your key Russian allies in Stalingrad.
The gamer can choose from among a green beret, spy, thief, sniper and sapper, who all bring their unique gear and skills to the mission. The sapper has grenades as well as a remote bomb. Each mission is tailored so that the player has to make wise decisions as to how to use the skills and weapons of his commandos.
Those, like myself, who are new to the Commandos series, will likely spend some time wandering around mission maps getting killed without even knowing what hit them. It is this trial and error process that makes the game fun ― and difficult.
The Verdict: The music is nice and so are the 2D background graphics. Killing bad guys is fun, but the steep learning curve can make the game frustrating for newbies.
Still, once you get the hang of it, you just might be hooked.

Commandos 3: Destination Berlin

Category: Strategy
Players: 1- multiple
Difficulty: Hard
Platform: PC
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Rating: * * * *

by Brian Lee