War is hell. With death and mass destruction the centerpiece for any real conflict, it's more or less an unspoken truth we can do without when possible. Though these confrontations in real life can produce less then desirable results for any and all parties, large bouts of aggression in video games can be, on occasion, hilarious. With the topsy-turvy nature of battle being entertaining in games, something like Commanders: Attack of the Genos goes a step further by substituting warfare's morbid nature with something a little cuter. In this way, Commanders builds itself on several conflicting principles, which make the entertainment slightly perplexing.

Games with turn-based tactics are as easy as formulate, act and decide. The execution is what really separates the experiences into the meat and potatoes, though Commanders takes a rather bite-sized approached to the whole ordeal. Strategizing is usually the key point to any real victory in turn-based games, but Commanders seems to force a more simplified plan, centered on a minimal knowledge of which troop will hit and kill, creating the feeling of a slightly more vivid version of rock, paper, scissors rather than a dumb-downed version of tactical military strategy.

While the basic levels of effectiveness within troop boundaries exists, with that of certain smaller units being toast against larger tanks, the artillery wasting almost anything in its path (almost disgustingly) and the flying mobile units having a nice height advantage, the game never begs to convolute with any sort of intriguing depth — or even try to mask the fact that it might not possess any at all. Knowing the maps will prove to be important to max out on mission success ranks, but it merely requires the fog of war to be uncovered by trial and error.

The missions remain surprisingly interesting in their laid-back objectives, despite the game's decision to seemingly encourage the more blunted approach. The deep enjoyment that would come to any true turn-based enthusiast of exploring every nook and cranny instead is replaced with disappointment with the obvious void in options for strategy one might expect given hours of intimate knowledge with the armies. First impressions are important, as with the armies in the game; what you see is what you get.

The story is bizarre, centered on what an alternative past would have been liked if the human genome was mapped shortly after the beginning of the 20th century. The Genos, as they are called, are the clones of humans bred through the research, but they soon become far superior than humans in a very fast way. People get angry, things are thrown and then they start killing each other. The story seems slightly bizarre in featuring such advanced technologies to be showcased in the past, and it only serves in narrative as another example of the game's contradictory sense of worth.

The multiplayer experience I had online was slow ... in more ways than one. As an unfortunate curse in far too many Live Arcade games, finding a match was a bigger ordeal then the actual multiplayer bout turned out to be. The nature of the game serves as a hard reminder of how long it takes for someone to decide where the hell to move troops en masse and how boring that can be translated, considering the fog of war makes half the match a horrible staring contest against your TV. The only thing worse than finally approaching the really intense battles after all the setup is having your opponents quit out of shame in surrender, truly making the multiplayer seem to have a prolonged preparation and lack a middle or an end.

A noticeable nod of inspiration is given to the character with a vibe akin to the 1930s, but the game never lets loose and dazzles you with anything beyond the mention. The terrains are not held in a high regard either, as they feel adequate in the sense a world map would be fleshed out: you know the blue is water, and you should stay away from the big brown parts so that you don't drive into a mountain. The soundtrack deserves only a sentence, as I swear they had only two different songs in the entire game, and they play one of them in every single mission.

Commanders' foundation is turn-based strategy. Not necessarily a novelty genre on the console but never truly maintaining the same sense of popularity akin to fighting or plat forming, the game fights an uphill battle before it's even turned on. The game is decidedly slow on all fronts — single player and multiplayer — and the enjoyment you may derive from this title is different (but perhaps equal) to what you might expect. Wisdom begets patience and it will do well for anyone who uses either to accomplish the goals within campaign or battle maps. The game does not come equipped with these qualities for player use, so the far and many who would prefer hectic combat and faster-paced battles will become less than thrilled with the entire package rather quickly.

So, from a particular genre comes a further complexity the game brings to the table. The experience is a little beyond casual, from the basic interface to the rather shallow choices in troop tactics and military structure overall. This doesn't denote boring, but it raises the question of how difficult a time this game will have finding an audience. Turn-based strategy is a thinking man's game for the more dedicated, but the game is conveyed as casual for those who would rather spend little time with troop placement and get right to the bread and butter. Whereas a turn-based fan might be disappointed with the lack of character depth in campaign, the casual might have trouble moving past the already present textboxes and want to rage with larger explosives and bigger bangs. The game exists as a gigantic paradox and will serve itself properly to those who lack the want or care to understand what separates these points.

The dividing line presented is a hard distinction. The game is not exactly casual, but it's not enriched with the small nuances that would make a turn-based game worth better portions of time. The game almost feels self-defeating in quality, though, since it felt like the game only went for the easygoing experience and succeeded in the small area it could. The middle ground this game treads is maddening when you start to notice the many differing goals trying to be achieved for the player's sake, only offset by the bewildering fun that can be had in the game's presence.

I'm too much of a pessimist when it comes to the lighter casual experiences and would see how a gamer of a severely demanding quality in turn-based games would be disappointed with the lack of depth. For those who will take this game at face value without pointed analysis, they'll walk away happy. The game in my mind is a gigantic Catch-22, as there are so many damned dos and damned don'ts, hand-in-hand with an assortment of preconceived ins and outs of who will and won't enjoy it under the right circumstances, I'm not sure whether to recommend it or donate it to science for intense research purposes. There's a crowd out there somewhere for Commanders, I'm sure of it. So for those who aren't hypercritical and outside the boundaries of gaming's norms, the game will do at least the job of delivering a neat little experience in any down time you could have.

Just do yourself a favor, and take the entertainment by leaving the questioning behind.