7 replies to this topic

[Samz]

If the Green Beret is switched away from during "Betrayal" with the M1 Garand with Grenade Launcher equipped, the AI can actually rapid-fire grenades in a semi-automatic fashion.

 

If you pick up a Kar98K during Betrayal, you can actually launch grenades with it, I don't think you can do this in other levels.

 

While I've not done a full playthrough of it, the PS2 (No idea about the original Xbox version) Version of Strike Force has differences: 

Gestapo have Red Arm Bands.

M1 Garand is missing entirely, instead the Green Beret starts Betrayal with a Kar98K instead and there's no Grenade Launcher Alt-fire.

The Shotgun is also missing entirely, instead an MP40 takes it's place in Cold Reception.

 

There is an extra difficulty, "Commando", you need to get 5 stars in every mission to unlock it, in addition, difficulties will actually still effect enemy placement like in C2.

 

In addition, Difficulties effect weapons, for instance, "Wolf's Den" will start with the Spy with only his Piano Wire on Commando as opposed to having a silenced pistol like other difficulties, I'll have to test to see all the levels that are effected, as well as if weapon pick-ups in the environment change.

 

There's an extra weapon not listed on Commandos HQ, an unmounted MG42 the Green Beret can carry around (Like in C3), it doesn't have infinite ammo and needs to be reloaded, it's in Betrayal, in the same sorta hut with an mounted regular MG42, , it can also be found in Panzers! in the house with an MG42 mounted. (near where the STG44 is) , in addition an trailer depicts it being used during the final mission but I'm fairly certain you can't obtain it there in the final game. (Same thing with Beta Screenshots showing Molotovs in Panzers! or the Green Beret in Behind Enemy Lines.)

 

In addition, on Commando difficulty, the portable MG42 in "Betrayal" is gone while on Hard/Commando the Portable MG42 in the MG42 house near the documents/STG44 is gone on Panzers!.

 

Playing on at Easy will double the amount of pistol ammo you can hold.

 

If you throw a smoke grenade and it lands next to some enemies, they'll start choking on the smoke, it won't kill them but it will prevent them from firing back.

 

If there's any other lesser known/undocumented information about Strike Force that's not here, feel free to mention them.

Edited by Samz, 10 April 2021 - 01:31 AM.

[FiPfcHunt3r]

Hey, thanks for these pieces of info. Thanks to you, I finally could play with the carriable MG42, I had been wondering where the hell I could find it ever since I have seen the trailer. I first had the game on PS2, and then I bought the game again on PC, at last I could enjoy the extra features such as the M1 Garand and the shotgun, but I couldn't find that one because at that point I was playing only in the highest levels of difficulty =P

Shame for the Molotovs we don't have in the final version though.

 

Also, some levels on the PC game have some extra areas, like in Cold Reception (which is actually split into two parts on PS2 by the way, due to technical limitations), and also the mission just before that one (on the PS2 version, the doctor teleports straight to the barn, unlike on the PC version where you have to escort him through an extra street that isn't featured on the PS2 version). Also the map just before Panzers! is bigger, and if I remember correctly there are even some extra side objectives (on Panzers! as well by the way, like an extra area where you can destroy the Nashorn). At this point I realised how much we miss on the PS2 version.

 

Also on PC we have a few extra animations when doing silent attacks, which is nice given that the only animation with the Green Beret we have on PS2 is the one where he wrings the enemy's neck, so basically he never uses the knife per se.

 

There are probably other details I missed since it has been already a while since last time I have played the game, and even more time on PS2 so there are some extra features I already take for granted.

 

It's shame that Strike Force didn't get some more attention from fans, because I'm sure this game could have been modded and turned into a real Commandos game, and by real I mean for example that corpses didn't disappear anymore and we have to carry and hide them. Or also for example to use once again cigarettes like in proper Commandos games where the enemy comes to pick it up and smoke it, not just as a mere tool to make an enemy stare at it for a few seconds. (There are even animations of enemies smoking a cigarette, so they literally had everything needed to make it as we like it!)

 

I have been imagining also what the game could look like if mods just tried to turn it like an RTS, with same engine and stuff. I think it would have just worked. I'm sure that would be possible if someone just had the motivation to do it... I mean, we already start to see some Strike Force maps ported onto Commandos 2 Destination Paris, but I mean, that's not Commandos Strike Force anymore =P

 

Anyway, nice to see that some people managed to have some interest for this one as well :-)

[Samz]

Hey, thanks for these pieces of info. Thanks to you, I finally could play with the carriable MG42, I had been wondering where the hell I could find it ever since I have seen the trailer. I first had the game on PS2, and then I bought the game again on PC, at last I could enjoy the extra features such as the M1 Garand and the shotgun, but I couldn't find that one because at that point I was playing only in the highest levels of difficulty =P

Shame for the Molotovs we don't have in the final version though.

 

Also, some levels on the PC game have some extra areas, like in Cold Reception (which is actually split into two parts on PS2 by the way, due to technical limitations), and also the mission just before that one (on the PS2 version, the doctor teleports straight to the barn, unlike on the PC version where you have to escort him through an extra street that isn't featured on the PS2 version). Also the map just before Panzers! is bigger, and if I remember correctly there are even some extra side objectives (on Panzers! as well by the way, like an extra area where you can destroy the Nashorn). At this point I realised how much we miss on the PS2 version.

 

Also on PC we have a few extra animations when doing silent attacks, which is nice given that the only animation with the Green Beret we have on PS2 is the one where he wrings the enemy's neck, so basically he never uses the knife per se.

 

There are probably other details I missed since it has been already a while since last time I have played the game, and even more time on PS2 so there are some extra features I already take for granted.

 

It's shame that Strike Force didn't get some more attention from fans, because I'm sure this game could have been modded and turned into a real Commandos game, and by real I mean for example that corpses didn't disappear anymore and we have to carry and hide them. Or also for example to use once again cigarettes like in proper Commandos games where the enemy comes to pick it up and smoke it, not just as a mere tool to make an enemy stare at it for a few seconds. (There are even animations of enemies smoking a cigarette, so they literally had everything needed to make it as we like it!)

 

I have been imagining also what the game could look like if mods just tried to turn it like an RTS, with same engine and stuff. I think it would have just worked. I'm sure that would be possible if someone just had the motivation to do it... I mean, we already start to see some Strike Force maps ported onto Commandos 2 Destination Paris, but I mean, that's not Commandos Strike Force anymore =P

 

Anyway, nice to see that some people managed to have some interest for this one as well :-)

I wasn't aware of there being smoking animations.

I can't say for sure but I do have a suspicion that like Commandos III, Strike Force wasn't quite ready when they had to release it.

It does feel a little unfinished.

 

Even something simple like being able to tell the Commandos you aren't currently controlling to move to certain locations via the map would have been cool.

 

EDIT: The Zoom Platform version of Strike Force has the MP removed, granted no one's playing it nowadays but the option is entirely gone from the main menu.

It also seems like the Commandos have different Health Values, The Spy dies in around 6 Kar98k shots, the Sniper takes 7 and while I haven't checked that with the Green Beret yet, I know if you throw a grenade at their own feet, the Green Beret will have a little bit more health so presumably around 8.

Edited by Samz, 28 August 2022 - 02:35 PM.

[FiPfcHunt3r]

Yeah, at least we can see the Spy smoking during the cutscene when he stops the convoy at the beginning of the mission just before Resistance. And if I remember correctly, some static enemies during the game have this animation, even though this is just an animation, nothing related to cigarettes as the item.

 

I didn't even know that Commandos 3 had been released prematurely, at least I learned something. This one always seemed... too short to me, but I never had the feeling of an unfinished game. I just remember that, in the game's files (Data/Anims/Bink/ and then the three DESTRUCCIONARCO files), we can see that they were planning to implement the possibility to destroy some parts of the buildings in Central Europe's final mission in order to obstruct some vital paths for the convoy's vehicles we have to stop. I don't believe we can actually destroy them in the released game, or if we can, I never managed to do so.

 

But for Commandos Strike Force, that doesn't come as a surprise, and I believe you're right.

 

As for health, yeah, it doesn't have the same value for each men despite the seemingly equal gage. Actually, stamina also differs, we can easily compare each of them by sprinting: the Green Beret always has the highest one, and the Spy the lowest one. And then, the overall values decrease as we opt for the higher levels of difficulty: indeed, difficulty doesn't decrease only health. I don't know if that's the case for Commandos 2 & 3 (if that's the case, I just didn't notice any significant difference, and I haven't tried to pay more attention to it... and Commandos 3 seems so much harder than C2 in every aspects that the health seems just very low for every characters to me), but at least for Commandos BEL & BTCOD, each character also has his own health level, or at least some of them definitely have a higher or lower value then the average that applies to most of them. The Green Beret has more health than any other Commandos, and the Sniper has less health than most if not all other men.

 

But, what exactly are the Zoom Platform? And the "MP"?

[Samz]

Yeah, at least we can see the Spy smoking during the cutscene when he stops the convoy at the beginning of the mission just before Resistance. And if I remember correctly, some static enemies during the game have this animation, even though this is just an animation, nothing related to cigarettes as the item.

 

I didn't even know that Commandos 3 had been released prematurely, at least I learned something. This one always seemed... too short to me, but I never had the feeling of an unfinished game. I just remember that, in the game's files (Data/Anims/Bink/ and then the three DESTRUCCIONARCO files), we can see that they were planning to implement the possibility to destroy some parts of the buildings in Central Europe's final mission in order to obstruct some vital paths for the convoy's vehicles we have to stop. I don't believe we can actually destroy them in the released game, or if we can, I never managed to do so.

 

But for Commandos Strike Force, that doesn't come as a surprise, and I believe you're right.

 

As for health, yeah, it doesn't have the same value for each men despite the seemingly equal gage. Actually, stamina also differs, we can easily compare each of them by sprinting: the Green Beret always has the highest one, and the Spy the lowest one. And then, the overall values decrease as we opt for the higher levels of difficulty: indeed, difficulty doesn't decrease only health. I don't know if that's the case for Commandos 2 & 3 (if that's the case, I just didn't notice any significant difference, and I haven't tried to pay more attention to it... and Commandos 3 seems so much harder than C2 in every aspects that the health seems just very low for every characters to me), but at least for Commandos BEL & BTCOD, each character also has his own health level, or at least some of them definitely have a higher or lower value then the average that applies to most of them. The Green Beret has more health than any other Commandos, and the Sniper has less health than most if not all other men.

 

But, what exactly are the Zoom Platform? And the "MP"?

Zoom Platform is a digital game site, similar to Steam and GOG where you can buy games digitally.

 

MP stands for Multiplayer.

 

I could be wrong but I think the Commandos have different health in Commandos 3, but it's mostly only something you notice with the Thief who has low health and the Green Beret having slightly increased health, it seems to mostly only be that the Thief can take 1-2 less Rifle Shots and the Green Beret can take 1-2 more. (With the Sniper/Sapper/Spy/Diver seemingly roughly having the same amount of health I think.)

 

I found out today you can actually rescue the Soviet Soldiers in "Checkmate" , it doesn't count as a hidden objective but if you raise the alarm early, the Germans will hunt you down instead of trying to execute them and when you secure the truck, you'll see them get in the back with the Green Beret and Sniper.

 

It also seems that sometimes the Germans will throw Grenades in Strike Force, (But pretty rarely) unlike other games where only a designated Grenadier enemy type could.

Edited by Samz, 02 September 2022 - 11:27 PM.

[FiPfcHunt3r]

Oh, I see, thanks. I didn't know about this platform; and for MP, I was confused also because you were talking about the map just before, so I was unsure, I thought it was something related to the map.

 

Yeah, about health, that seems legit. Also, in Commandos 2, if health might differ as well between each Commandos, I believe the levels of stamina (when climbing a ladder, or a wall for the Thief), oxygen, and cold are the same for all Commandos. The only exception, I think, is the oxygen, which is much higher for the Green Beret, and together with him moving reasonably fast underwater, that makes him highly capable when dealing with water... I have to say, I never liked how all the other Commandos have such a low level of oxygen, and especially move ridiculously slowly underwater. Even though the Diver should remain useful, they could have enhanced at least one of them, oxygen or speed. And that includes even the Diver himself if he isn't entirely wearing his diving suit... I say "entirely" because in the European campaigns, he carries his huge bag on the back, so I can understand that he moves very slowly underwater. But in the Japanese campaign, he has his diving outfit in all circumstances, he just doesn't cover his head when not wearing the item per se... and yet, that makes him just as slow underwater, like if he was still carrying is huge bag on the back, which is funny somehow. Because it's just a skin, nothing more.

 

Actually, you know what? One day, I managed to complete the mission Checkmate rescuing the Soviet soldiers And without raising the alarm. All the enemies killed with the piano wire, and an excessive amount of coins to distract enemies. I don't remember in exact details, but basically there are certain enemies in the background you have to distract with the coins, and then run to each enemy in the forefront to kill them one by one, and then go back to the distracted enemy and throw a new coin so that they don't turn their head and see their comrades dead. But that works only if the Spy uses his fastest stealth killing animation, so you have to load the game and repeat the process until he makes the correct animation, for each single enemy. Then of course, you save your game at each enemy you managed to kill. And step-by-step, you first manage to kill the enemies who are supposed to execute the Soviet soldiers, and then all the enemies in the yard... Which makes this game surrealist and even ridiculous at times, but that's rewarding.

Spoiler alert: even by completing the mission like this, in the most perfect way, there is still no hidden side objective "to save the Soviet soldiers". So all you gained is some sense of pride, and a much higher score than by going berserk =P

 

Yeah, the few times enemies throw grenades in Strike Force have really taken me by surprise, often killing my men in the process, because it is so rare.

Edited by FiPfcHunt3r, 03 September 2022 - 01:30 PM.

[Samz]

Oh, I see, thanks. I didn't know about this platform; and for MP, I was confused also because you were talking about the map just before, so I was unsure, I thought it was something related to the map.

 

Yeah, about health, that seems legit. Also, in Commandos 2, if health might differ as well between each Commandos, I believe the levels of stamina (when climbing a ladder, or a wall for the Thief), oxygen, and cold are the same for all Commandos. The only exception, I think, is the oxygen, which is much higher for the Green Beret, and together with him moving reasonably fast underwater, that makes him highly capable when dealing with water... I have to say, I never liked how all the other Commandos have such a low level of oxygen, and especially move ridiculously slowly underwater. Even though the Diver should remain useful, they could have enhanced at least one of them, oxygen or speed. And that includes even the Diver himself if he isn't entirely wearing his diving suit... I say "entirely" because in the European campaigns, he carries his huge bag on the back, so I can understand that he moves very slowly underwater. But in the Japanese campaign, he has his diving outfit in all circumstances, he just doesn't cover his head when not wearing the item per se... and yet, that makes him just as slow underwater, like if he was still carrying is huge bag on the back, which is funny somehow. Because it's just a skin, nothing more.

 

Actually, you know what? One day, I managed to complete the mission Checkmate rescuing the Soviet soldiers And without raising the alarm. All the enemies killed with the piano wire, and an excessive amount of coins to distract enemies. I don't remember in exact details, but basically there are certain enemies in the background you have to distract with the coins, and then run to each enemy in the forefront to kill them one by one, and then go back to the distracted enemy and throw a new coin so that they don't turn their head and see their comrades dead. But that works only if the Spy uses his fastest stealth killing animation, so you have to load the game and repeat the process until he makes the correct animation, for each single enemy. Then of course, you save your game at each enemy you managed to kill. And step-by-step, you first manage to kill the enemies who are supposed to execute the Soviet soldiers, and then all the enemies in the yard... Which makes this game surrealist and even ridiculous at times, but that's rewarding.

Spoiler alert: even by completing the mission like this, in the most perfect way, there is still no hidden side objective "to save the Soviet soldiers". So all you gained is some sense of pride, and a much higher score than by going berserk =P

 

Yeah, the few times enemies throw grenades in Strike Force have really taken me by surprise, often killing my men in the process, because it is so rare.

I actually found out about that destruction, if you let the tank roll into town, it'll eventually destory those two buildings, leaving only a single path that the germans will guard back into town. (Though this stops the trucks advancing and there's even a bug that might be remaster exclusive where one of the SDKs escorting the trucks will drive into the rubble and get destroyed.) 

[Samz]

Found another small thing:

 

On PS2 (which has a ton of cutbacks but I've left those on the Commandos Wiki) unlike other versions, Spy actually has unique first person hands instead of sharing them with the Green Beret.

 

It's weird how this version which removes weapons such as the shotgun entirely and simplifies levels actually has this one small addition.

 

https://commandos.fa...F_Spy_hands.png