Chernobyl Commando Review (PC)

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key review info
  • Game: Chernobyl Commando
  • Platform: PC
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: No
  • Reviewed on:
Chernobyl Commando review on PC

After the iconic STALKER series from GSC Game World, not a lot of shooters have gone to the Chernobyl area wholeheartedly, with some only deciding to visit the irradiated zone for a little while.

Chernobyl Commando, however, dedicates its whole story to the infamous area in Ukraine and, like its name suggests, organizes a pretty intense encounter throughout the ruins of the location.

Made by Polish studio Silden, Chernobyl Commando tasks players with stopping a group of terrorists from making off with radioactive material from the irradiated plant and promises to deliver some intense shooter action featuring a variety of weapons and plenty of impressive sequences.

Does the game manage to deliver on its promises or should it be left for dead in the Chernobyl ruins? Let's find out.

Chernobyl Commando puts players in the shoes of, you guessed it, a commando from the U.S. that’s apparently helping Ukrainian forces to defeat a terrorist attack near the Chernobyl area. While the game does surge forward with the plot, it's a paper-thin one as basically the player needs to follow the terrorist convoy with the stolen radioactive materials throughout that area of Ukraine and in other locations.

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Work with a few allies ...
... and engage enemies

In terms of actual gameplay, Chernobyl Commando wants to deliver an old-school shooter experience in which players run around mercilessly killing anyone who stands in their way. In practice, however, it's like an odd mix between actual old-school shooters, like the iconic Painkiller, and a realistic military experience, like Battlefield or Call of Duty.

The result is a game with a wobbly first-person camera, realistic guns that have a hilariously bad accuracy, and enemies that are more or less bullet sponges. The movement system is not that great and, like I've said, the wobbly camera makes getting around tedious and often tiring. The fact that you can only sprint for a few seconds makes exploring the game's levels boring.

The actual shooting is also disappointing, as it seems that the only accurate weapon is the sniper one. The other guns wielded by the protagonist, such as a scoped rifle, an AK 47, a sub-machine gun, or a pistol are quite inaccurate even at close range, no matter if you use the sight or not. What's more, tour enemies only ever use the AK or the SMG – as such, good luck finding ammo for your other weapons, as the game doesn't replenish your stock when starting a new level or through different ammo crates.

Another rather annoying thing is the huge reliance on turret sections to keep the game going or just as an excuse to throw even more enemies towards the player. These get dull, especially since there's no overheating or anything to prevent you from just firing at everything that moves while hoping you actually hit the opponents.

You will most often work alongside a Ukrainian commando, but there are quite a few moments where you'll have to fend off the terrorists by yourself. He is relatively decent but you'll often find him just running around a certain area instead of going to cover and avoiding enemy fire.

A few of the aforementioned turret sections involve him driving in a pickup while you're manning a machine gun on top and this is also problematic, as he drives extremely slowly in almost all situations. He also takes repetitive routes despite constantly saying that you should hurry.

Enemy AI is also erratic, as sometimes foes will just run in the middle of the battlefield, while other times they'll just shoot at you from huge distances. This is where you need to rely on your heads-up display showing where you're getting hit from and just shooting in that general direction until it stops.

The actual levels are relatively well designed but, while they suggest the idea of an open environment, they're mostly filled with invisible walls and quite a lot of monster closets that produce just a bit too many enemies to keep the experience fun.

What's more, the game lacks any sort of multiplayer, which is a shame since at least a cooperative mode through the campaign would've made the experience a bit more bearable.

In terms of graphics, Chernobyl Commando is adequately bleak for the desolate environment, but its colors are a bit too washed out for its own sake. The ragdoll effects on some of the enemies are often hilariously over the top and don't expect any sort of facial animation on behalf of your allies or foes. The framerate is a bit erratic and there's a constant lag when the game saves your progress in checkpoints. Textures aren't that great and there's a big amount of pop-in.

The soundtrack is utterly disappointing, not just because it's generic but because it consists of around 30-second clips that loop around in a disjointed manner. The voice acting is mediocre and relies a lot on military slang that doesn’t impress anyone.

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Shoot enemies using turrets ...
... and sniper rifles

The Good

  • Somewhat decent visuals
  • Relatively open levels

The Bad

  • Innacurate weapons
  • Low enemy variety
  • Repetitive audio
  • Awkward camera
  • Lots of turret sections

Conclusion

Chernobyl Commando could have been a pretty great retro first-person shooter but, as it stands, it's an utter letdown. From the shooting to the movement, the actual content, or the visuals, the game disappoints in all sorts of ways.
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story 4
gameplay 4
concept 4
graphics 5
audio 1
multiplayer 0
final rating 4
Editor's review
poor
 
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