Overview
Some tips and tricks to get you started and possibly make the game easier.
The basics
Hello everyone, this is Tricking Trapster with a guide to my favorite game ever, Commandos 2: Men of Courage. Don’t mind my (currently) low playtime, I only recently got it on steam, but I have played it for way longer back when I was younger.
The first thing you’ll notice when you try to play the game is: Left clicking does not select, right clicking does. It’s an old game, and developers at the time thought it was a good idea. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it, but keep in mind that: Right clicking is for selecting and canceling things, and left clicking is for performing selected actions. Now, you should be able to start playing.
The general premise of the game is simple: Use the men and resources you have/can get to complete the objectives. Ever forget what it is you needed to do? Don’t worry, the button with the notebook on the right side of the screen shows your objectives when clicked on. This notebook of sorts also includes information on most items and abilities, so if you ever get lost, refer to the notebook.
To see a character’s inventory, right click on their portrait in the lower right of the screen.
Left click the portrait to have all currently available commandos visible in the top left, with health bar. Right clicking those portraits also show the corresponding character’s inventory.
To turn the camera, hold ALT and press left or right. The map will turn toward the direction of the mouse button you pressed. This is required to find some doors or windows.
The rest of the general controls should be familiar: Use the arrow keys to move tha camera or get your mouse to the edge of the screen to move it. Clicking where your cursor is will move your current selected men to that location (or throw/shoot there, depending on what is selected), double clicking will make them run instead of walking, etc.
I will not go into specific missions in this guide, but I might provide examples from some missions. First, I will list general abilities, their usefulness, and how they should be used. Then, I will make a section for each character, followed by some tips and tricks. Shall we?
General Abilities
Almost all of the following actions are performable by each character. Since the following actions are so important, I will also list their hotkeys. It’s very useful to get used to the hotkeys. I’ll list what character cannot use an ability.
TAB: While not actualy an “ability”, it is one of the most used keys for me; when you hold it down and click on an enemy, it shows their vision range. It is usually divided into two segments: A light segment and a dark segment. The dark segment is farther away. Enemies can not see crawling characters in the dark segment; They will always see you in the light segment. In dark or night missions, enemies outside will have three segments: They cannot see you at all in the darkest segment, unless a light is shining on you.
Spacebar: Another incredibly much used key of mine: It makes currently selected characters stand up if they are crawling, or makes them crawl if they are standing. Usable by all characters, and much needed if you want to avoid detection.
W: Usable by every character. It’s called “examine”, and you use it on knocked out/dead/tied up enemies to look at their inventory and take it for yourself, use it on an ally to trade items, or look through doors and windows to see what’s inside/outside. Note that enemies CAN see you when you look through a window, but not when you look through a door.
Q: Knock out an enemy. Not usable by the Spy and Natascha. If you have no tools to kill an enemy, or just don’t want to kill them, you can knock them out instead. Be careful of two things when using this: A knocked out soldier can be revived by their ally, or wake up on their own after a while, and the character using this ability needs to be next to their target. Note that you can move around as normal while this skill is selected. It will only make the commando punch if you click on an enemy. Also, you cannot steal weapons or uniforms from knocked out enemies; You need to kill or tie them up, first. This ability can also be used on walls to knock on them to attract attention. Double clicking will make the knock louder.
SHIFT: Incredibly important to know button. Holding down shift lets you “interact” with things that can be interacted with; For example, using the radio or picking up a dead or tied up enemy.
Tying up an enemy: Enemies that are knocked out by the above mention knockout or other means, can be tied up by most characters. Characters that cannot do this are: The Thief and Natascha. Tied up enemies cannot “wake up” by themselves; They need to be freed by their allies.
Carrying a dead or tied up enemy: A very useful, if not essential, thing to do in most missions. Enemies seeing their dead allies will raise the alarm, and enemies seeing their tied up allies will free them. Moving dead or tied up enemies to locations other enemies won’t see is an effective way of preventing them from returning to their post or the alarm getting raised.
Interacting with things: All characters can do this, but some missions require a specific character to do it. This ability includes looking through desks, lockers, closets, etc., using the radio, using switches, picking up items off the ground, and, very important: Opening and closing doors or walking into buildings. Yes, you need to keep shift pressed and left-click a building’s door to enter it.
Cutting wire fences or barbed wire: Alternate hotkey is I. Pretty simple, just click and the commando will cut away barbed wire or wired fences(that are not on voltage), however this can only be done with a pair or wire cutters, usually either found or initially carried by the Sapper.
G: Use the pistol. Any character that has a pistol can use it, however not everyone starts with one. Enemies can also carry pistols, but only the pistols that you start with (barring one or two missions) have unlimited ammo. 3 shots are required to kill an enemy with the pistol.
F: Using a stolen or given Rifle. Any character can do this, however not every character can obtain one as easily. Rifles one-shot kill all non-vehicle enemies, so it’s handy to keep someone with a fully-stocked rifle handy to quickly kill some enemies if needed. The maximum amount of ammo for a Rifle is 10.
M: Using a stolen Machine Gun. They work like the rifle mentioned above, but their range is shorter. However, they can pack more ammo, up to 150, but they also use more ammo per shot.
X: Set the last-used firearm by the currently selected commandos to “auto-fire”: Any enemy entering their line of sight will be shot. Useful for setting ambushes. This button is also used for exiting vehicles.
Note: All guns make a lot of noise, and the alarm will likely be raised when you use them! (Not always, though.)
U: Put on a stolen uniform. Usable by any character except Natascha, but with the exception of the Spy enemies will eventually see through your disguise, so be careful. Walking in their close vision range will get you detected faster.
C: Use a first-aid kit. Usable by anyone, if they have any. This will fully heal the targeted character, and can be used on self. On the lowest difficulty, it can also be used to revive “dead” characters. Does not work on higher difficulties.
B: Use binoculars. Usable by any character if they have binoculars. Additional information will be displayed about the targeted enemy.
While in water: Submerge while swimming, or resurface if you are diving. Remember to watch your air meter when you dive.
V: Tinned food: A small self heal for the character that uses it.
H: Call Whiskey, if he is available in the mission. Whiskey is the dog, useful for transportation of items.
T: Throw cigarettes: Any character can do this. Throw a pack of cigarettes on the ground, and any distractable enemy that sees it will go and grab it. This is useful to single out some annoying patrolling enemies.
That’s a lot, isn’t it? Well, most of it is usable by every character, so of course it’s a lot. The individual character sections will be shorter, don’t worry.
The Green Beret
The Green Beret is in most missions, and is as such (probably) the most used character. Nicknamed either “Tiny” or “Butcher”, depending on your version. Real name is Jack O’Hara. The hotkey for selecting him is 1.
The Green Beret can run a little faster than the rest of his team barring the Thief and Whiskey. He can jump through windows and has a bit more HP than the others. His main role is undetected assassination or doing heavy lifting. He is the only character that can carry explosive barrels and crates around, by pressing and holding SHIFT and clicking them. He also has no movement penalty when carrying enemies. He can also ram open locked doors by running into them.
A: Stab an enemy with the knife. As long as he has his knife, the green beret can kill enemies at melee range instantly. Works like the knockout punch, except it kills instead of stuns, and has a louder noise.
R: Place and use the Decoy: Barring one mission, the Green Beret starts with two devices in his inventory: A Decoy and a Remote. Placing down the decoy somewhere and then pressing R will activate it, and it will make noise to distract enemies. Giving the device to other characters and having them drop it also works.
S: Bury oneself. The green beret can hide in plain sight on soft ground, by hiding under the ground. Selecting him and left or right clicking will make him come up again. Useful for getting past patrols silently.
The Sniper
The Sniper is first seen after the first set of missions, specifically mission 4 barring the training camps. The sniper has 2 benefits: He carries a Sniper Rifle, which I will detail below, and his range with regular weapons is slightly longer than the other characters. Nicknamed “Duke”, his real name is Francis Woolridge. The hotkey to select him is 2.
A: Use the sniper rifle: The biggest benefit of the Sniper, his sniper rifle has insane range and will kill everything you click on, except vehicles. The downside is that the ammo is limited, and only sniper rifle bullets taken from enemy snipers or found in specific places can be used for it, so choose targets carefully.
The Marine
The Marine is first seen in mission 2, barring the training camps. He is required in any mission that involves doing something in the water; And even outside the water, he somewhat functions as a second Green Beret. He of course swims faster than the other commandos. Nickname “Fins”, real name James Blackwood. The hotkey to select him is 3.
A: Throw a knife. As long as he ha knives in his inventory, he can throw them to kill enemies at a distance, with the same properties as the Green Beret’s knife stab. Don’t forget to pick your knife back up after throwing it.
K: Put down the Inflatable boat, if he has it in his inventory.
D: A very important one, this makes the Marine put on his Diving Gear, giving him infinite air underwater. Pressing it again will take it off.
L(underwater): Harpoon gun. Instant kill, but low range and long recharge time. Required in one or two missions.
E(underwater): Put down fish food. Will attract sharks and alligators.
S: Grappling Hook. The Marine can use this on the top of a wall he is standing below the create a rope for him to climb, or attach it to a wall and walk away to create a tripping rope. If enemies walk over the tripping rope, they will be knocked out. Costs Stamina to maintain.
The Sapper
The Sapper is the explosives expert. He is on the first mission you play, and he is part of a lot of the missions. He has the slowest run speed of the team, due to the equipment he is wearing. He is the only one able to arm and disarm mines and timed or remote explosives. Nickamed “Inferno” or “Fireman”, depending on your version. Real name Thomas Hancock. The hotkey to select him is 4.
D: Mine Detector: Pressing D will make the Sapper stand up and take out his mine detector. All mines within a radius around him will become visible. Clicking the mines while he has the detector out will have him disarm them. Do not click mines without him having the detector out or he will set them off.
Y: Timed Bomb: Providing he has one, the Sapper can set down a bomb that will tick down for 20 seconds before exploding. The explosion is powerful enough to blow up vehicles and other machines like anti aircraft turrets.
S: Remote Control Bomb: Like the timed bomb above, except you can set it off whenever you want. An icon will apear in the lower right corner. If you press it, the bomb goes off. Can be connected to the Driver’s Wire Trap.
A: Grenade: For some reason, the Sapper is the only one able to throw grenades. They are relatively long ranged, loud, and can take out groups of enemies with ease. Can also be used to blow doors open, and can be connected to the Driver’s Wire Trap.
K: Bazooka: Exactly what you’d think. Only the sapper can use it, it’s hard to find, and it will blow up almost everything you shoot at. Just don’t fire it on a close target.
L: Blowtorch: Like the wire cutters, but used to cut away metal doors instead. Needs to be found.
O: Anti-Personnel Mine: After he has disabled them, the sapper can pick the mines back up and re-place them. After being replaced, your characters can walk over them harmlessly, and only the enemies will set them off.
P: Anti-Tank Mine: Exactly as it sounds. Functions like the anti-personnel mine, but for vehicles. Normal enemies won’t set it off.
Z: Flamethrower: Again, can only be used by the sapper. There is no way to reload this weapon, so use the fuel carefully. Short range, but very effective against a lot of enemies.
The Driver
The Driver, apart from being exactly what he sounds, is also the best in setting traps of the team. He can also drive any vehicle, where the rest can only drive cars (and the Marine can handle boats). Nicknamed “Tread”, his real name is Samuel Brooklyn. The hotkey to select him is 5.
A: Dig a hole with a shovel: The Driver can dig a hole, that instantly neutralizes(read: kills) enemies that walk over them. Note, the holes are small, and the affected enemies’ equipment is lost. There are 3 uses per shovel.
D: Wire Trap: The Wire Trap works like the Marine’s grappling hook if the hook is used on a wall; Except, the Wire Trap can be set anywhere. Click on the ground, and then another point(within a certain range) to create it. Enemies walking over will get knocked out. If it is disabled in any way, example an explosion or many enemies tripping over it, you can pick it back up and re-use it.
K: Smoke Grenade: This is more useful than it seems. The Driver will slide the smoke grenade over the ground, creating a trail of smoke that blocks the enemies’ vision. Enemies and allies can still pass through the smoke, however, and it won’t last for very long, so watch out.
O: Poison Gas Grenade: Functions like the Sapper’s normal grenade, but it’s silent and knocks enemies out instead of killing them. Can be incredibly useful.
S: Molotov Cocktail: Like a grenade, but instead of exploding, sets the enemies on fire.
P: Bear Trap: Sets down a trap that kills any enemy that walks on it. Can be picked up and set down again, before or after it sprung.
The Driver can also control tanks; But, he can’t fire them. For that, the Sapper must enter after the Driver. When they are both in, hold down CTRL and press the left mouse button to fire the tank.
This counts for every commando, but since it’s the Driver, I’ll put it here: Vehicles can be controlled by the arrow keys. Personally, I find that to be easier than the click-to-move.
The Spy
First seen in the second mission after the training camps, and probably the most useful member of the team, the Spy is your infiltrator, walking inside the enemy base without getting detected. He can wear uniforms indefinitely and won’t be detected by any enemy lower in rank than an Officer (or Gestapo). Nicknamed “Spooky”, his real name is René Duchamp. The hotkey to select him is 6.
A: Hypodermic Syringe: The Spy’s main tool of disposing of enemies. Melee range. Using it injects a dose of poison into an enemy. On the first dose, they will be dizzy for a little bit. On the second dose, they get knocked out, and the third dose kills them. This can be used while disguised and will not break your current disguise.
P: Lieutenant Uniform: The Spy can wear higher-ranking uniforms than the rest of the team. Functions the same as a normal uniform, but affects the Spy’s Distract.
D: Officer Uniform: The highest ranking uniform the Spy can wear.
S: Distract: The Spy(while disguised) walks up to an enemy and starts talking to them, making them face the spy. If the spy’s diguise is higher in rank, he gets additional options during distracting:
Z: Order to Look: Orders the distracted target to look in the targeted direction.
E: Order to Go: Orders the distracted target to walk to a targeted location.
Note: Pulling out a weapon, even an enemy one, breaks your disguise if an enemy sees you do it. Officers(or those higher in rank) and Gestapo will ALWAYS see through your disguise as soon as they see you.
The Infiltrator
The only female member of the team, the Infiltrator(as I like to call her, anyway) serves a similar role to the Spy, but she has no means of neutralizing enemies(apart from being given weapons, of course). Nicknamed “Lips”, her real name is Natasha Nikochevski. The hotkey to select her is 7.
Natasha always starts out disguised, and you never get her from the start of the mission. You will have to get to her and talk to her before you can control her. Natasha can also use a Sniper Rifle, like Duke, and with the same hotkey, but she never starts with one.
D: Woman Enemy Uniform: Puts the disguise back on if you lost it for any reason.
S: Distract: Though it has the same name, it functions differently than the Spy’s distract. When you use it on an enemy, he will look at you. You can then walk around and the enemy’s sight will follow Natasha.
P: Hit with Bottle: If you found any wine bottles, Natasha can use them to knock out an enemy. Not recommended, as Natasha cannot tie up an enemy and her disguise will break if enemies see her do it.
Note: Pulling out a weapon, even an enemy one, breaks your disguise if an enemy sees you do it. Officers(or those higher in rank) and Gestapo will ALWAYS see through your disguise as soon as they see you.
The Thief
The Thief is the fastest character in the game. His run speed is the same as Whiskey’s, and he crawls and walks twice as fast as the other commandos. The Thief can also climb on certain walls, hide in some areas and only he and the Green Beret can climb along telephone poles. Nicknamed “Lupin”, his real name is Paul Toledo. The hotkey to select him is 8.
The Thief is best used to get past patrols undetected, grab some items, and return. He starts with no weapons, and he cannot tie up his enemies. He can, however, evade gunfire as long as he is sprinting(he’ll get hit again as soon as he stops running). Don’t be fooled by his passiveness: He is very useful and essential to some missions.
A: Spike: Spike is the thief’s rat. He gets this ability about one third through the fifth mission. Use it and click on a place to send it, where it will distract enemies by looking at it, before returning to the thief.
D: Pickpocket: The thief can, using this ability, stalk an enemy before picking their pockets if another click is made. Anything that is not a weapon or an uniform can be stolen.
L: Bedsheets: If he has some, he can use these out a window to create a makeshift ladder. Pick them back up by shift clicking on the top part of the makeshift ladder.
S: Lockpicks: The Thief can open anything that is locked that does not require a special key to open. Press S and then the box or door or safe that needs to be opened, and the Thief will go open them. Be careful, he counts as standing up while doing so and it takes a little bit.
Whiskey and Wilson
Whiskey is the dog of the commandos team, that they pick up in the first mission after the training camps. While not incredibly useful, he can bark to distract enemies and transport items. Press H on any commando while Whiskey is in the mission to call him over to that commando. Whiskey can also be picked up. Pressing H while carrying Whiskey will put him back down. Enemies will not attack Whiskey. Whiskey needs to stay within a certain distance of the last commando that called him.
Wilson is the survivor of a crashed plane on Savo Island. He serves the exact same role as Whiskey, but he has a larger inventory and can be controlled independently, A.K.A. he doesn’t need to stay within a certain distance of someone.
Both their hotkey is 9.
Strategies and Tips
Now that you know what each character can and can’t do, I can tell you some effective ways of disposing of enemies, stacking items, some rules of the game, and some neat tricks.
Stacking items of no Unstacking: Once you stack an item, there is no way of unstacking it. So be careful when you pick up a second Sniper Rifle with the Sniper while you have Natasha on the mission: Do you want to give it to Natasha, or does the Sniper need more ammo?
Medkits are for everyone: Don’t stack tinned food and first-aid kits on one character. If a character is wounded, but the character with all the health items is on the other side of the map, you’re not gonna be very happy.
Guns have Ammo: Not only in the sense that they can run out of ammo, but you can also pick up the ammo instead of the gun, by clicking on the magazine. Note: You cannot stack ammo for a gun you have seperately from your gun.
Pay Attention: Not only in the gameplay, but also during cutscenes. There are no subtitles in this game, so if you miss someone saying an important item is in a certain location, you have no way of seeing the cutscene again, apart from going back to before the cutscene.
QUICKLY, SAVE!: I cannot stress enough how useful the quicksave feature is. Press CTRL+S or press ESC and click on quicksave, and the game will(quickly, indeed) make a save of that exact moment. If something goes wrong, press CTRL + L or press ESC and click quicload to return to your quicksaved point. QUICKSAVE OFTEN. After you kill a patrol without raising the alarm, after obtaining an essential item, before any big moves you make. It will make your life in this game a lot easier, trust me.
See no Evil, but I can hear it: Enemies can detect you not only by sight, but by hearing as well. While you can crawl or walk literally a millimeter behind enemies silently, you can’t do that running, because running makes noise. Explosions, gunfire, and running past an enemy that can hear it usually sets off the alarm.
Be Patient, see what happens: If the alarm goes off, not all is lost(barring one mission). Soldiers will come and look, a patrol or two may come and look around, but if they don’t find you, the alarm will die down and everyone will return to their post. Sure, the mission may get a little harder, and there are points for doing the mission undetected, but if you’re just trying to complete it setting off the alarm isn’t the end of the world.
Not quite dead yet: On the lowest difficulty, characters get “knocked out” instead of dying when their HP reaches zero. Normally you have to revive them with a first-aid kit. But, if the character that “died” there has the kits himself? Open up his inventory, press “use”(the cogwheel thing) and click on the medkit. He’ll be revived instantly.
Lemme think for a sec: In single player only, the gameplay action is paused while you’re in the ESC menu or looking at someone’s inventory. In multiplayer, the action continues.
Cutcene is not waitscene: Enemies are not frozen in place during a cutscene, so be mindful of enemies coming to the room of the cutscene you’re in. They can kill your characters while they are talking.
No time to wait for this: Some animations can be skipped without canceling the action. Standing up, tying up enemies, grabbing or putting away a weapon(AND THE METAL DETECTOR!!!), the Thief opening boxes and doors(but not safes), and maybe a few more I don’t know about or don’t use.
Check everything you can: Lockers, safes, enemies, closets, desks, shelves, so many things can contain items in this game. If you’re running low on supplies, just look around. It should be somewhere.
Smaller than I seem: The sight range of enemies only checks for the center point of your characters(those green arrows at their feets when you have selected someone). So, when crawling, even if the enemies’ sight range goes over your legs, they won’t see you.
Everyone has their use: While some characters may seem out of place in some missions, they are there for a reason. Even if you don’t actively use the character, he can be useful by covering your active character’s back, or hold some items you don’t immediately need. Don’t leave everyone at the start, always do something with everyone.
Where there’s a will, there’s a path: There is always more than one way of doing a mission. One time you do a mission you can go in from the side, but when you play it again, you could climb up a wall and enter from the center. Or maybe you missed that car the first time around you can hide everyone in.
Hard mode, activated: If you think the game is being way too easy, you can download the fan-made mod for commandos 2 on commandoshq.net , titled “Commandos 2: Destination Paris”. It has some balance changes, and all the missions are WAY harder. And different. More guards, items in different places, and more men assigned to the mission. Check the site itself for the full changelist.
This has been Tricking Trapster’s “Commandos 2: Men of Courage” 101. I hope you liked it. Leave some comments if you like, feedback is appreciated. Let me know if my guide helped you.