It is a breathe of fresh air when XBLA games try to be something they are as opposed to something they can never be. XBLA games should not try to wow us with graphics and certainly not with some intuitive gameplay which also never really works. Commanders is what it is. Its a short, fun, and very arcade like RTS that is enjoyable to play. The story is typical. You are in control of an army of robots who is feuding with another army of robots who are luckily of a contrasting color. Your goal is to control the planet by outwitting the other faction and take over the planet in the process.

The gameplay is as such. It is turn based, which really works here. There is no frenzy like atmosphere where you have to move tanks, build a reactor, repair barracks, and ward off an incoming invasion. That is a big turn off of RTS’s for most people. It takes a lot of practice to get good at games like C&C and Starcraft. Most of us just get bored and say screw it. The graphics are 3D for the most part and text is shown in 2D boxes with characters of the same dimension. The gameplay is very easy to pick up and there is a good tutorial mode when its starts. The multiplayer is decent and is a nice change from the single player which can be not too challenging at times.

As far as the issues go, well, camera can be a pain sometimes. You cannot see past your current location so you may send a scout and find out he and your army is in a world of shit. Die hard strategy fans will think this is a breeze. For the rest of us who want to play an board game type RTS that you can enjoy for a little while, I’d say check it out. 800 points or 10 bucks might shy some people away from this. Give the demo a playthrough, which is a tutorial level and 3 more missions and make your own call. This is worth a look in a sea of sub par XBLA titles.

Overall: 7 of 10

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