Commandos 3: Destination Berlin

Commandos 3: Destination Berlin is a real-time tactics title and the third game in the Commandos series. Pyro Studios developed it, and Eidos Interactive published it for Windows in October 2003. A Mac OS X version, handled by Feral Interactive, came out in June 2005. This entry marked the series' first use of a fully 3D engine and its first deathmatch multiplayer mode.

A remastered edition launched in August 2022 for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Players control a squad of commandos to finish missions. Unlike earlier games, Destination Berlin omits the Driver (a founding team member) and Natasha "Lips" (introduced in Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty). The playable roster includes the Green Beret, the Sniper, the Marine, the Sapper, the Spy, and the Thief.

Core mechanics stay similar to predecessors: all enemies are visible on the map, and a point-and-click interface is used. However, fewer hotkeys exist than in the prior game, forcing players to rely on an action bar. Strategy shifts with the addition of an assault rifle—stronger than a pistol but weaker than a rifle. All units can now use grenades, not just the Sapper as before.

Gameplay

The old knapsack inventory display (showing a picture of a commando's items) is replaced by a box system; searching enemy bodies or supply crates opens a smaller box showing capacity. Commandos like the Green Beret and Spy, previously limited to pistols, can now wield any small arm except the sniper rifle. A new cover mode lets players leave commandos waiting at doors or behind cover, where they automatically shoot enemies within range with improved accuracy, enabling ambushes and defensive play.

Plot

The game splits into three campaigns: Central Europe, Normandy, and Stalingrad. Each campaign uses different characters, and most missions impose a time limit. The tutorial has Jack O'Hara clearing a bunker, Sir Francis T. Woolridge sniping German soldiers, and Thomas Hancock destroying a Panzer III with explosives. The story then jumps to February 21, 1939, where René Duchamp and Paul Toledo infiltrate the German Embassy in London to steal documents from a safe.

During the Battle of Stalingrad, Woolridge kills an elite German sniper, lifting a siege on a Soviet command post at the Barmaley Fountain.