Ludography
68/100
Players24 ratings
80/100
Metacritic7 critic reviews
More scores
Metacritic usersuser score
82/100
GameFAQsJust Right-Tough
3.27/5
Player reviews
94% positive111 reviews
Steam Deck
Playable
Runs on
Windows, Mac
Price
US$5.99

Where to get it

Time Commando cover

1996 · Adeline Software International · Action-adventure · Adventure

Time Commando

Timed PlayStation exclusive

A deadly virus has invaded the military's top secret computer. Thrust into a deadly time warp. You must battle your way through history and the future, racing against time to restore the computer memory before a growing computer virus becomes invincible. Prepare yourself of the most brutal trip through time ever.

Released
31 July 1996
Platforms
MS-DOSPlayStationSega SaturnWindowsmacOS
Genres
Action-adventureAdventureArcadeFightingScience
Developers
Adeline Software International
Publishers
Electronic ArtsVirgin Interactive
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Third person
Themes
ActionScience fictionHistorical
Country
France
Age ratings
PEGI 7USK 12CLASS_IND 10ACB PGESRB E10+
Languages
Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian and 2 more
Time to beat
4hmain story6hcompletionist
Directors
Frédérick Raynal
Composers
Philippe Vachey

About

Time Commando is an action-adventure video game developed by Adeline Software and published by Electronic Arts in Europe, Activision in America (United States and Brazil), and Virgin Interactive Entertainment (IBM PC compatible and PlayStation) and Acclaim Entertainment (Saturn) in Japan.

It was originally released for the PC on 31 July 1996 in Europe, the United States and Brazil, and was later ported for PlayStation and released on 30 September 1996 in Europe and the United States, and on 15 November 1996 in Japan. A Sega Saturn version of the game developed by Virtual Studio was also released in Japan on 5 March 1998.

›Story

Time Commando unfolds at the Historical Tactical Center, a military facility where a powerful computer has been built to simulate combat drawn from any era of human history. Disaster strikes when a programmer working for a rival corporation sabotages the system, unleashing a so-called Predator Virus that tears open a time-distortion vortex. Left unchecked, the growing anomaly threatens to consume the entire world. , the facility's Special Action for Virus Elimination unit.

Stanley plunges directly into the vortex to hunt down and destroy the virus at its source. His mission carries him through a succession of historical periods, from the prehistoric wilds and the Roman Empire to feudal Japan, the medieval age, the Wild West, and beyond, each demanding he fight for survival with the weapons of that era. Racing against time itself, Stanley battles ever deeper toward a final confrontation with the virus.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

In each level, Stanley collects various weapons exclusive to the time period. Stanley has a small life bar that grows larger when the player picks up life power-ups. Along the same lines, Stanley has multiple lives. As the player plays through a level, a time bar, which counts the time until the virus completely takes over and the player dies, slowly fills. This bar can be emptied by depositing computer chips collected throughout the levels in various "orb pools," which resemble the vortex Stanley first entered.

Story

At the Historical Tactical Center, the military, with the help of a private corporation, has created a computer capable of simulating any form of combat from any point in history. However, a programmer from a rival corporation infects the system with a "Predator Virus" that creates a time-distortion vortex, which threatens to swallow the world if it is not destroyed. The player controls Stanley Opar, a S.A.V.E. operative (Special Action for Virus Elimination) at the facility who enters the vortex to try and stop the virus.

In order to accomplish this, Stanley must combat various enemies throughout different time periods. These eras are Prehistoric (featuring cavemen, saber tooth tigers, and cave bears), Roman Empire, Feudal Japan, Medieval, Conquistador, Wild West, Modern Wars (World War I and supposedly World War III), Future (Stanley's era), and finally, inside the main computer (Virus World), culminating in a showdown with the virus itself.

Development

Adeline Software International's initial plan after the release of Little Big Adventure was to begin work on a sequel, but it became apparent that there was not enough time to complete it in time for Christmas 1995. Because of this, they decided to create a "quick, small, simple game" to secure a Christmas release. Work began on Time Commando with a focus on graphics but no planning on the actual gameplay. This development approach, along with Adeline's admission that making a small game is not in their nature, meant that the Christmas release date was missed, resulting in an actual release date of 31 July 1996.

The 3D engine used in Time Commando was a re-written version of the engine used in Little Big Adventure which resulted in it being faster, and also having slightly improved animations.

Reception

By August 1999, Time Commando had sold above 500,000 units.

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly liked the game's concept and the weapons the player can use in each era, but criticized the animations and the difficulty in hitting enemies due to the poor controls and full motion video scrolling. Crispin Boyer and Sushi-X in particular remarked that the game is mainly enjoyable due to the unintentionally humorous animations. GameSpot also mentioned problems with the controls and animation but were otherwise more positive, summarizing that "Time Commando's stunning 3-D graphics and innovative gameplay bring action and adventure on the PlayStation to dizzying heights." Atomic Dawg of GamePro actually praised the controls, but agreed that "the overall visual impact is diminished by pokey, lame-looking basic moves."

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

PlatformReleasedRegions
MS-DOS31 July 1996Europe · North America 31 July 1996
PlayStation30 September 1996North America · Japan 15 November 1996
Windows31 December 1996Worldwide
Sega Saturn5 March 1998Japan

Editions and related releases

Included in
Activision Game Vault: Volume 2

Games like this

Collections3 collections

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.