While real-time strategy games seem to be a stretch on consoles, the slower, more forgiving pace of turn-based strategy seems a perfect fit. So, why is it that it has taken so long for one to pop up on Xbox Live Arcade? Finally, Commanders: Attack Of The Genos marches up to answer the call.
Upon starting up the Standard Campaign, the game spits out all the back-story in a quick-scrolling page of text. The gist of it is that humans created a new race of super-humans, who then turned on them. The story is really just a thin effort to make sense of the mech versus mech battles, and is never that important. You are in charge of a crew of large human-controlled mechs, in a battle against the evil Genos mechs. Each individual unit has its own set of command points, which reset at the start of each round and determine exactly how much they can do. The command points for each mech decide their attack range and travel distance for the round. Run out of points for all your mechs, and it is time to end your turn to allow the opponent a chance to march forward.
In addition to your battle mechs, you control a large 'commander' unit possessing additional powers. Commander units have a special 'active power', specific to the commander you chose for the mission. You begin the game with one commander, eventually unlocking other options as you progress through the levels. In addition, you can get special support vehicles, which lend a specific boost to all your vehicles within its range. Once you lose a unit to the opposing side, rebuild new ones, so long as you have captured a building to manufacture mechs. There are two basic types of buildings to capture; those that make you money, and those that make you mechs with the money you earn. There is quite a bit of variety to the types of mechs you can build, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. If it all sounds overwhelming, it is very simple after following along the game's slick tutorial. Sadly, it all gets very stale quickly, thanks to the game's lacking presentation.
Someone forgot to tell the developers that it is ok to give a turn-based strategy game personality. In keeping with the fifties setting, the soundtrack sounds like ragtime funk composed on a Commodore 64. The blippy music sounds cheap, rather than cool. The sound effects all sound fairly tired at this point, and since there is no voice work, there is little reason to leave the volume up when playing the game. Perhaps worse, the writing never gets funny or serious, choosing instead to tread a bland line between the two. Despite its setting, the game has very little going for it to keep you interested and entertained.
