Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Commandos-Like War Mongrels - real-time WW2 Eastern Front tactics by Hatred devs

Ol' Willy

Arcane
Zionist Agent Vatnik
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
24,574
Location
Reichskommissariat Russland ᛋᛋ
Hey, how about making a game about some unit in the "Vlasov army"?

Or if that is too spicy, how about some cossacks? You even have a nice ending scene for the game written for you:

The first to commit suicide, by hanging, was the Cossack editor Evgenij Tarruski. The second was General Silkin, who shot himself...The Cossacks refused to board the trucks. British soldiers [armed] with pistols and clubs began using their clubs, aiming at the heads of the prisoners. They first dragged the men out of the crowd, and threw them into the trucks. The men jumped out. They beat them again, and threw them onto the floor of the trucks. Again, they jumped out. The British then hit them with rifle butts until they lay unconscious, and threw them, like sacks of potatoes, in the trucks.

First, they refused to leave their barracks when ordered to do so. The military police then used tear gas, and, half-dazed, the prisoners were driven under heavy guard to the harbor where they were forced to board a Soviet vessel. Here the two hundred immediately started to fight. They fought with their bare hands. They started – with considerable success – to destroy the ship's engines. ... A sergeant ... mixed barbiturates into their coffee. Soon, all of the prisoners fell into a deep, coma-like sleep. It was in this condition that the prisoners were brought to another Soviet boat for a speedy return to Stalin's hangmen
The only ones who gassed anyone in WWII were Anglos
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
So, I gave the demo a whirl.

It consists of a short tutorial mission and a second mission with 20 minute time limit.
Well, the gameplay looks like it might be a decent commandos clone with the gameplay loop consisting mainly of using gadgets to lure enemies and break patrol routines to make some stealth kills.

But storywise they overdid it with the edginess. I know that they wanted to establish the motivation for the heroes desertion and subsequent actions, but the narration feels forced.
It remains to be seen if that detracts from the gameplay.
There are some key shortcuts that you cannot change, but apparently that will be changed in the release (hopefully).
The visual presentation looks really good, it runs smoothly and I think it might be the best looking game from the genre so far.

Coop might be good, the control scheme changes when you go into "combat mode".
 

Nortar

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Sep 5, 2017
Messages
1,407
Pathfinder: Wrath
So, I gave the demo a whirl.

It consists of a short tutorial mission and a second mission with 20 minute time limit.
Well, the gameplay looks like it might be a decent commandos clone with the gameplay loop consisting mainly of using gadgets to lure enemies and break patrol routines to make some stealth kills.

But storywise they overdid it with the edginess. I know that they wanted to establish the motivation for the heroes desertion and subsequent actions, but the narration feels forced.
It remains to be seen if that detracts from the gameplay.
There are some key shortcuts that you cannot change, but apparently that will be changed in the release (hopefully).
The visual presentation looks really good, it runs smoothly and I think it might be the best looking game from the genre so far.

Coop might be good, the control scheme changes when you go into "combat mode".

How does it compare to Partisans 1941?
Judging by the vids it's like the same game "rebranded".
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
So, I gave the demo a whirl.

It consists of a short tutorial mission and a second mission with 20 minute time limit.
Well, the gameplay looks like it might be a decent commandos clone with the gameplay loop consisting mainly of using gadgets to lure enemies and break patrol routines to make some stealth kills.

But storywise they overdid it with the edginess. I know that they wanted to establish the motivation for the heroes desertion and subsequent actions, but the narration feels forced.
It remains to be seen if that detracts from the gameplay.
There are some key shortcuts that you cannot change, but apparently that will be changed in the release (hopefully).
The visual presentation looks really good, it runs smoothly and I think it might be the best looking game from the genre so far.

Coop might be good, the control scheme changes when you go into "combat mode".

How does it compare to Partisans 1941?
Judging by the vids it's like the same game "rebranded".

Don't know really, haven't played Partisans beyond the demo.
But from what I saw, Partisans were more focused on combat in small tactical engagements, while this one is closer to original Commandos. But who knows how it will play out in later missions.
Partisans also had a very heavy handed approach to glorifying brave Russian resistance to the point of bordering on auto-parody.
 

Ol' Willy

Arcane
Zionist Agent Vatnik
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
24,574
Location
Reichskommissariat Russland ᛋᛋ
Partisans also had a very heavy handed approach to glorifying brave Russian resistance to the point of bordering on auto-parody.
And what exactly should they do? That game is made in Russia, and today's Russia feels very seriously about WW2.
Would you expect different approach from zAmerican game about WW2 (lol, there are numerous examples that it is equally heavy handed) or French game about French Resistance?

It's like Brothers in Arms, where it is constant sobbing about "muh brothers" and "I grew up in the ranch" and other redneck shit.

Of course, I would have made a game about Bandenkampf but given today's legislation, this one can land me in prison in no time
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
Partisans also had a very heavy handed approach to glorifying brave Russian resistance to the point of bordering on auto-parody.
And what exactly should they do? That game is made in Russia, and today's Russia feels very seriously about WW2.
Would you expect different approach from zAmerican game about WW2 (lol, there are numerous examples that it is equally heavy handed) or French game about French Resistance?

It's like Brothers in Arms, where it is constant sobbing about "muh brothers" and "I grew up in the ranch" and other redneck shit.

Of course, I would have made a game about Bandenkampf but given today's legislation, this one can land me in prison in no time

You are clearly working hard to keep your dumbfuck tag.

My complaint has nothing to do with the nationality, but with the handling of the matter.

It's one thing to make a great patriotic war piece full of pathos, but making it pathetically bad and laughable in its attempt is another.
And that goes for all works, irregardless of who makes them.
 

Ol' Willy

Arcane
Zionist Agent Vatnik
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
24,574
Location
Reichskommissariat Russland ᛋᛋ
It's one thing to make a great patriotic war piece full of pathos, but making it pathetically bad and laughable in its attempt is another.
I see a lot of American stuff in this way, dude.

Have you seen Red Tails movie? Brr...

And for not leaving our zAmerican comrades alone in a shame, a lot of Soviet/Russian WW2 movies are equally not good.

Yes, most definitely, watch some newer Russian WW2 movies and you will get what I mean

7yrrunZk8ys.jpg
 
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,164
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Tried out the demo. Honestly I really dont like the control scheme on this and the "combat mode" (you can switch to it anytime, it changes controls to WASD + LMB to shoot) isnt much better. But I guess it might be an acquired taste and if it would be possible to remap the keys in the full version, it would certainly make things more bearable.

I really like the art in the cutscenes, the devs made great work on those in Ancestors: Legacy too, good to see they are continuing the tradition. The game is highly grimdark and edgy (as should be expected from authors of Hatred and Ancestors), though I would say it doesnt really shit just on Germans, Ruskies are shown executing prisoners right in the tutorial, so the message seems to be more about commies and nazis being equally bad and the only logical thing to do is simply to run away (which is what the main characters do, at least at the start).

In terms of gameplay, as someone who finished Partisans, I rate Partisans higher (the controls were much better, there was a light strategic layer, combat felt less clunky). From what I have seen, War Mongrels rely way too much on using items to lure enemies from their patrol paths to exclusion of other possibilities, as well. But perhaps other missions open up more possibilities - cant say at this point. The action planning thingy is here, same as in the first Desperados (ie you pause the game and assign an action to each character), there is a lot of emphasis on using this (which is connected to multiplayer).

I am not writing the War Mongrels off at this point, though if I was to recommend either this or Partisans on the basis of the demo, I would certainly recommend Partisans. War Mongrels still appears to be a decent Commandos-like, but from what I have seen, the cutscenes seem to be more attractive than the gameplay...
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
Tried out the demo. Honestly I really dont like the control scheme on this and the "combat mode" (you can switch to it anytime, it changes controls to WASD + LMB to shoot) isnt much better. But I guess it might be an acquired taste and if it would be possible to remap the keys in the full version, it would certainly make things more bearable.

Totally agree. Using Fn keys to select characters is clunky as hell. But I saw someone from the dev team stating that they will enable remapping of skill shortcuts in the release, so you could rebind all the keys to suit your needs. But yeah, the defaults should be improved.

In terms of gameplay, as someone who finished Partisans, I rate Partisans higher (the controls were much better, there was a light strategic layer, combat felt less clunky). From what I have seen, War Mongrels rely way too much on using items to lure enemies from their patrol paths to exclusion of other possibilities, as well.

But that's how the commandos games were - you needed to use each characters exclusive abilities/items to lure enemies one by one. Shooting was hardly ever an option (albeit you could mow down some mooks in certain missions).
But the demo is too short and we have yet to see if the later missions open up.

I'm not hyped, but I'm still keeping tabs on it. Like I mentioned, might be a decent commandos-like to play in coop mode. And in coop someone will fuck up sooner than later and I think the "combat mode" does a decent job for top down shooter.
 

Dexter

Arcane
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Messages
15,655
Played the Demo on Steam. Because of disobeying orders two German soldiers are put into a penal battalion and ordered to clear mines on the Eastern Front. The thick American accents trying to mimic German are very Eh and not fitting. Presentation and set pieces are pretty good. Gameplay is the usual from Commandos/Desperados and similar. Some strange choices for Quick-keys like F1/F2 for characters, having to hold down Ctrl to pick up items etc. Two Chapters playable, the first is a Tutorial mission where you're blown out of a transport truck by direct artillery fire and somehow survive and have to get free. AI seems pretty brain dead at least in the Tutorial, they ignore you running towards them or see you taking out an enemy and come to see what's going on but ignore you a few steps to the right of them just standing there. I think the "cone of sight" bugged out for me on a dead soldier in the Tutorial and didn't work anymore for the rest of the mission, as some of the newer abilities like Whistle and Planning didn't unlock after, so I had to restart:
20211006190832_19xkn3.jpg


There's apparently a "Combat Mode" where you can Rambo around just shooting Nazis yourself instead of giving orders that seemed a bit imba. Here for instance, you may walk that small bit to the left up to him and punch him directly in the face without him even noticing because there's a small gap in his view cone to the left, but someone from all over across the map out of view to the right might see this and come running:
20211006195018_15ujm4.jpg


Second Chapter felt and went a bit better, you gotta get into a barn where they are storing supplies and get the keys for it off an officer, but it's time-limited to 20 minutes. Honestly just get Partisans 1941 instead, it falls in kind of the same niche. This might be worth it after a bunch of patching is done and it's somewhere around 60-75% Off.
20211006182956_1v8k43.jpg
20211006183108_1oqjh1.jpg
20211006183652_1m8kjv.jpg
20211006183801_1fzkkw.jpg
20211006184346_1sckp6.jpg
20211006192028_1pijbc.jpg
20211006194713_1fzk86.jpg
20211006202109_1a2kwc.jpg
20211006202200_10pj94.jpg
20211006202207_1wikbv.jpg
20211007125119_150jy2.jpg
20211007130457_1vqkg1.jpg
20211007130545_1gpkws.jpg
20211007130557_1u8khf.jpg
20211007130944_136jg5.jpg
 

vonAchdorf

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Messages
13,465
Leftwing German groups and the big gaming media ran a lot of hit pieces against the developer (far right, almost nazis, antisemitic, ...) and the game today.
 

Alfgart

Augur
Patron
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Messages
390
Divinity: Original Sin 2
They're a developer already known for the edginess, they should have just capitalized on that with some aryan SS protagonists gunning down dirty soviet peasants. Not interested in this
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
Ok, I've played it for a little while.
On a plus side, they added the ability rebind almost all of the keys, so you can tailor it to your needs.
But on the other side, it's a little buggy - there's some AI stuck in a loop and some keys and mouse buttons don't work in the menu.
I'd wait for some patches.
 

Haba

Harbinger of Decline
Patron
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
1,871,744
Location
Land of Rape & Honey ❤️
Codex 2012 MCA Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2
I hope they include a secret ending path where you rejoin the Germans and do warcrimes for maximum edge.

Main Guy gets shot on the helmet. Passes out, has visions of the glorious deutsch futur - furries, rainbow haired lgbtqia2+, Twitter, Angela Merkel shitting on the German flag... Then he wakes up and the nuDOOM music kicks in.
 

Lemming42

Arcane
Joined
Nov 4, 2012
Messages
6,041
Location
The Satellite Of Love
I pirated it with the expectation that it'd be a tryhard edgy masterpiece of accidental comedy like Hatred was ("GIVE ME THE REACTOR MELTDOWN CODES!!!"), but so far the story is just pretty standard war stuff. The hero is a German soldier who refuses to fire on Polish civilians and is subsequently taken to a penal unit, but manages to escape with a friend and sets out to flee across Europe. Not seeing anything to reflect the dev's apparent retardation yet.

The game is ok but it just makes me wish I was playing Desperados 3, which is a much smoother and better designed experience all around. The story isn't really grabbing me, whereas I loved all the characters and ridiculous plot points in Desperados. Every time I come across enemies in War Mongrels I'm just wishing I had Isabelle to do some crazy blood magic shit.
 

randir14

Augur
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
641
Speaking of edgy some of the Nazi dialog is hilarious. Like when an SS officer says to your female character "you subhuman whore, you will make a good slave for the aryan master race."
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,156
Subtle, it ain't. I bete that in the ending you defeat the Germans... As Germans, and the Allies don't kill you off anyway for being a German soldier, right?
 

Stavrophore

Most trustworthy slavic man
Patron
Vatnik
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
12,611
Location
don't identify with EU-NPC land
Strap Yourselves In
I remember that the game was so bugged that i couldn't even finish the tutorial because i couldn't throw the damn watch, restarted it helped, but then died and had to repeat the same part and it bugged out again. Uninstalled that shit right away.
 
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,164
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Its at 45% off on Steam right now, though IMO it still costs about 15 € too much.
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom