Pyro Studios
Commandos: Dietro Le Linee Nemiche

There are still many missing pages, pages that could tell interesting stories of old masterpieces (Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken, and Mortal Kombat, just to name a few) and new (Assassin's Creed leading the way), but this one, in particular, is reserved for this very modest work developed by a small development company based in Madrid, and then published by Eidos Interactive.

Commandos definitely doesn't excel in graphics (even though in some ways it's revolutionary since it's an arcade game), doesn't have audio that increases the game's value by making it even more realistic, and moreover, the voices of the various characters start to irritate in the long run, but despite having a barely sufficient level in these two very important aspects, this video game is certainly a milestone, as in my humble opinion, it represents the perfect bridge between the arcade from the game rooms and the PC game, a sort of evolved, more intelligent Metal Slug.

The plot is the same old story. Tales of many adventures during World War II experienced from the Western point of view, who cares, that's not the point. The point is that you have at your disposal a green beret, a sniper, a sapper, a marine, a pilot, and a spy. By using the intuitive skills of each of the roles mentioned you were free to pass a level with the utmost freedom of action, all following a very arcade-like progression of levels. There wasn't just one way to pass the level, ingenuity granted you an infinity of solutions to move forward, making it very playable and long-lasting.

Moreover, there is a fusion between two genres never before seen: "real-time strategy" and "stealth". Indeed, for the first time, even footprints play a role.

But then just look at the cover, it's 1998 but it's not the usual cold black plastic case wrapped in a cover and then again in transparent plastic. No. It's all made of cardboard, thick cardboard, like the cover of a good old book, and in this case, it even shows signs of aging that make it tremendously fascinating and lived.

I don't remember the price but it was ridiculously cheap, if I'm not mistaken it was released immediately as a gift with a famous genre magazine.

What else to say... It's a stealth, so surprise from behind and slit the Nazi's throat too! (but then hide the body!)