2019-07-01_PC_Gamer

I

f you’reasoldasme,youmight

rememberrepeatedlyplayingthe

contentsofeveryPCmagazinecover

diskgoing,mostlybecauseyoucouldn’t

affordtoactuallybuyanynewgames.AndthePC

demothatI gotthemostmileageoutofbyfarwas

oneforCommandos:BeyondtheCallofDuty.

At first glance Partisans 1941 appears

to be cut from a very similar, Commandos-

shaped cloth. But the key difference here

is that rather than being based in France

or Germany, the game plays out on the

seldom covered (in games, at least)

Eastern Front. “Almost every family in

Russia lost someone in the Second World

War,” says Project Lead Anton

Martyshenko. “This page of history is not

well known in the West, and we want to tell

the story about the people fighting against

enemy forces in dire circumstances

behind the frontline.”

FROM THE REAR

Partisans 1941 sees you gather together a

resistance army to thwart the German

advance into Russia from the rear. Each

fighter you recruit has different strengths

and skills, and in addition to the main

campaign, the game provides optional

side missions to gather equipment and

flesh out some of the soldiers’ back story.

Some characters are much better

suited to action rather than stealth, for

example, and each character has an

upgrade tree that allows you to improve

specific attributes.

Then there’s the role of civilians. You

might spot, for example, a non-combatant

being hassled by German soldiers, forcing

you to choose whether to risk breaking

cover to help them out or remain hidden

to complete your objective.

The sheer amount of stuff in the game

is simultaneously bewildering and exciting,

with multiple ways to approach each

objective, limited inventories to juggle and

optimal pathways to consider.

OK, yes, it’s basically Commandos

again, but prettier, more complex and with

more focus on ordinary soldiers and

civilians. Plus, it’s been 13 years since the

last Commandos game, so it’s about

ruddy time we had another one.

Lewis Packwood

THE SHEER AMOUNT

OF STUFF IN THE

GAME IS BEWILDERING

AND EXCITING

PLAYED

IT

Did someone say Commandos?

PARTISANS 1941

This one-level demo was brutally hard and

suitably enormous. Your four-person

squad was tasked with infiltrating and

destroying a Nazi stronghold, mostly by

creeping up on soldiers unawares and

giving them a right good stabbing, then

carefully stashing their body in a bush.

Progress was painstakingly slow, but

utterly riveting. As your squad crept from

cover to cover, just beyond the range of

the guards’ cone of vision, you could cut

the tension with a knife (pun intended). It

was glorious. It took me four days to finish

that demo level, and it was one of the high

points in my PC gaming life.

Partisans 1941

PREVIEW

RELEASE

TBC

DEVELOPER

Alter Games

PUBLISHER

TBC

LINK

partisans-game.com/en

NEED TO KNOW

The level of detail is incredible, like

the smashed window panes here.