Capcom's classic Commando series returns in this highly stylized iteration.

If you mixed one part Red Star, one part Metal Slug, and one part Team Fortress 2, you would essentially have Wolf of the Battlefield: Commandos 3. It’s a top-down classic arcade shooter that has been brought into the modern day with dual-stick controls and Pixar-like animation, packed into an experience that is just the right proportion of short.

There are three characters, each with their own specialty, to battle throughout the games five stages, each taking about 7 - 10 minutes to complete. For players looking to kill five minutes, stage select is only available after you have beaten the game ensuring you commit something to your purchase of $10. Each of the five stages and its gun fodder are beautifully rendered in a cartoonish visual style similar to that found in Team Fortress 2. Outside of gameplay, the visual style changes to a more comic book appeal in the game’s few cutscenes and at the character select screen, which while it's still good, throws off the more stylized visual feel in the gameplay.

Despite the eye pleasing visuals, it’s really the sound design that steals the show. The popping of machine gun fire, the natural ka-boom of explosions, the burning of the flamethrowers, it all is presented in an exceptional manner. Commandos 3 also presents music composed by Norihiko Hibino, best known for his work on the Metal Gear games and on the Etrian Odyssey soundtrack, so it should come as no surprise that a one or two tracks will remind you of Metal Gear.

The biggest draw for a game like this though isn’t the presentation, it’s the online mode. Supporting up to three players, the online experience suffers drastically thanks to the fact that characters will each one set of lives. As if the character selection wasn’t enough of a personality test, now your group selection will show just how much you like or dislike that one certain friend of yours.