Commandos Strike Force

There's a lot to worry about with Commandos Strike Force. You could worry about the basic idea for a start, which in the words of developer Pyro's CEO, Ignacio Perez, combines "the tactical approach of the previous Commandos games with the intense action of an FPS."

The whole point of the series was its lack of intensity - just slow-burning, top-down puzzles in a WWII setting. You couldquestion the stripping down of the characters you switch between; of the original six, only three remain: the Sniper, Spy and Green Beret. You could also agonize over the technical issues of the move to 3D.

Here's a suggestion: stop worrying. Pyro is working wonders with this game. Somehow it's managed to smooth out most of these wrinkles.

Play Strike Force at length and your mind starts reaching for comparisons. You pass over Call of Duty and Medal of Honor. You linger momentarily on the Hidden & Dangerous series, consider Hitman, but quickly settle on the original Commandos games as illustration.

Why? Because the simple pleasure of moving one character into position, acting, and then switching to another, which was something that defined the original games, is perfectly preserved. And it works.