Welcome Back, Commander

The saving grace of this game has been, so far, the autosave at the beginning of the day, so if you end up having a bad tactical deployment or the RNG gods decide to give you terrible pre deployment choices, you can restart without issue. This is a Roguelike. It doesn't have that in it's 'user-defined tags' but it should. The only way you're going to progress in the game is by getting better and better starting circumstances which only occurs by acheiving things during the game (collecting ammo unlocks more starting ammo, for instance). Also be prepared to see the opening credits again and again and again and again ... there is a skip button, but it only skips to the next part of the slideshow, it doesn't skip the entire slideshow, so if you pick 'Skip Tutorial' and then 'Skip' you'll have to pick 'Skip' several times more to finally get to the game. This is a problem because if you want a game to have quick turnover, from failed mission where you've gotten 2 days in to try to get 3 days in, you'll be wasting the player's time in doing so. Also there isn't a 'back' option in the 'daily activity' choices, so if you say, choose to ask the military for backup, but then the option you want to take isn't available because you don't have enough resources, you can't go back and pick something that'll benefit your team better. And if you forget to allocate all your team's skills, you can't go back to remedy that before making your next choice of the day. The game is overly restrictive of what you can do during the day, which I suppose is intended to create a sense of urgency and limiting one's options, but it ends up feeling like you're stuck in too tight of a box. You can't, for instance, have your characters skill up AND make some new gear, it's all or nothing ... and you'll need to do both of these things AND manage their other characteristics (morale, food, health, rest, etc.) at the same time. A better option, IMO, would be to allow those progression markers (skilling and gearing up) every day while giving a choice as to how to mitigate the other characteristics, so you might focus on morale one day and rest another, but your guys are always getting better in themselves and in their gear. Further when it comes to gear, it appears that the expense you put towards one character's gear is lost if they die ... that laser sight was tuned to only work for Andrew, so Bob, sorry mate, you can't attach their laser sight to the same weapon. Soldiers are also only skilled in their own personal weapons and you seemingly didn't bring any more weapons along with you (and won't find any in missions, or be able to take them from survivors), so if you recruit a random soldier and they only have a rifle and a grenade launcher, but you don't have any rifle ammo or grenades, they'll be effectively unarmed; who needs basic universal weapons expertise? During missions it has pause to act, but you have to micromanage everyone ... turn away from your medic while they're checking survivors for infection and your unarmed medic will just stand there and die if one of them ends up being secretly infected. There is no 'pause when something bad is happening' or 'camera jumps to soldier being injured'. Also, group pathfinding is terrible ... they won't walk in a single file down a hallway because there is someone in front of them blocking their personal entire path down the hallway. Within all of these restraints I've found a kernel of something that I enjoy and, as with most obsessive players looking for a redemption arc, I'm hoping that playing the game further will open more interesting outcomes, but so far it's been more frustration than enjoyment.

My squad: " A zombie touched me. I'm dead!"

Welcome Back, Commander is a tense and deliberately unforgiving blend of tactical combat and survival strategy that places you in charge of a desperate operation inside a quarantined, plague-ravaged city. Developed and published by S.C. 16 BIT NIGHTS S.R.L., the game throws you into the role of a field commander responsible for assembling a strike team, navigating collapsing urban zones, and making grim decisions that may determine whether your squad makes it out alive. The premise is simple on the surface—enter the infected city, complete objectives, and extract—but the execution is layered with resource scarcity, unpredictable events, and the constant threat of losing your soldiers to injuries, panic, sickness, or poor planning. From the outset, the game establishes an oppressive atmosphere: every expedition into the contaminated streets feels like a gamble, and every return to base offers only temporary safety before the next difficult choice awaits. The core gameplay is built on real-time tactical combat with a pause-and-command system that lets you issue orders, reposition your squad, and react to new dangers. Your team composition matters: soldiers, engineers, medics, and other specialists bring unique benefits but also vulnerabilities, and managing their strengths and weaknesses is essential to survival. Missions unfold across compact but hazardous maps filled with infected enemies, barricades, supply caches, and chokepoints. The real-time action keeps encounters intense—enemies rush, surround, or overwhelm your squad if you mismanage positioning—but the ability to pause gives you room to plan, prioritize targets, and mitigate chaos. Even routine skirmishes can become deadly if a single soldier panics, runs out of ammunition, or suffers a critical wound. The combat system encourages caution, resource conservation, and adaptability, reinforcing the survival-horror tone. Outside direct combat, Welcome Back, Commander incorporates a strategic layer that shapes the long-term outcome of your campaign. Supplies are scarce, ammunition must be rationed, and the psychological state of your squad matters almost as much as their physical condition. Between missions, you decide whether to scavenge dangerous areas for more resources, invest time in recovery and repair, or push forward in hopes of completing objectives before the city’s situation deteriorates further. These decisions often come with meaningful trade-offs. Choosing to rest may spare your team from mental collapse but allows the crisis to worsen; choosing to advance with limited supplies can yield crucial rewards but risks permanent losses. Randomized events add further unpredictability, creating moments where unexpected injuries, discoveries, or branching decisions shape your run in unplanned ways. The game embraces uncertainty as a core feature, positioning each campaign as a unique struggle against both external threats and internal limitations. A significant element of the experience is replayability. The game incorporates rogue-lite structure by reshuffling missions, encounters, and resource distribution across multiple runs. Early failures are not only expected but encouraged, teaching players how to better manage squad composition, item usage, and decision-making. With each attempt, you unlock new options, strengthen your understanding of the city’s dangers, and gradually refine your strategy. The presence of multiple endings adds narrative value, giving your successes and failures narrative weight. This structure helps compensate for the game’s difficulty spikes and sometimes harsh early-game curve, rewarding players who return to the challenge rather than expecting a smooth first attempt. Visually and technically, Welcome Back, Commander adopts a functional top-down aesthetic designed for clarity in tactical combat. The environments, though simple, communicate the desolation of a quarantined city: empty streets, damaged structures, biohazard zones, and abandoned vehicles create a backdrop that complements the survival tone. The interface, too, keeps information concise—health bars, ammunition indicators, and status effects are easy to read in the heat of battle. Sound design leans into tension through ambient effects, weapon fire, and enemy cues, though it remains understated in comparison to larger tactical titles. The emphasis is on readability and atmosphere rather than spectacle, which serves the gameplay well even if it lacks visual flair. Despite its strengths, the game has identifiable rough edges. The early game can feel punishing, especially when support classes underperform before they gain upgrades or when resource shortages force repetitive scavenging. The class progression system tends toward simplicity, sometimes making characters feel interchangeable rather than meaningfully specialized. Difficulty can swing abruptly depending on random events or loot distribution, leading to runs that feel dependent on luck rather than pure strategy. For players who prefer carefully balanced tactical systems or predictable encounters, these elements may frustrate. Yet for players who enjoy adapting to adversity and navigating unpredictable scenarios, these same systems reinforce the game’s identity. Ultimately, Welcome Back, Commander stands out as a challenging, atmospheric indie tactical survival game that rewards persistence, planning, and adaptability. It offers a grim but compelling experience built around hard choices, intense squad-based combat, and a city filled with threats that evolve from one run to the next. Its design embraces the idea that survival is not guaranteed and that leadership means making decisions with incomplete information and limited resources. For players seeking a polished or forgiving tactical strategy game, it may feel too raw or too volatile. But for those who appreciate gritty, replay-driven survival strategy with real consequences, it offers a gripping and replayable descent into a quarantined battleground where every step forward feels earned. Rating: 7/10

Вроде и стратегия но твои подчинённые как улитки всё делают. Тогда когда зомби в 3 раза быстрее них.

Go read Alitari's review, I pretty much agree with everything he said. Also, if it is the first game of Chromosome Evil trilogy you'll play, do yourself a favour and PLAY THE DEMO before. You'll be able to judge for yourself if you want to invest your time and money in the game. I'll be short. - Hit or miss, a some small bug here and there, a lot of die and retry, autosave is the saving grace, CONSTANT need to babysit the soliders in terms of pathfinding. But, - Really like the universe, the core gameplay is fun, bosses are really cool in terms of design or mechanics (except the ~~spooder~~ spider, F him >:( ) If you look beyond the flaws of the game, you'll be able to enjoy it, A LOT. I litteraly played for 17h, in 3 days while doing normal and hard difficulty ;-; Now, I'll just talk for a bit. (mix review - mix personal) The game has flaws, and not small ones. I'll be the n+1 person to complain about the pathfiding. Tho, I did saw some response from the dev in other comments. Apparently, the pathfinding "suck" because with this, the dev were able to make more complex environment. The other option "was to have solid pathfinding, but with empty environments(exteriors) like in Red Alert C&C" (quoting them). By empty environment, they are talking about open spaces with nothing in it (if I'm not mistaken). But, I did enjoy my time in the game. The mission were cool and always had a bit of variety. The thing I loved the most were the bosses. Their design are really hitting the spot in terms of uncanny (especially Timmy). I also did really appreciated every references to other classic movies in the game. My only regret is that we felt less the tide of the infected coming. In the sense that, in Chromosome Evil, infected poured in every room you opened. Here, except if you make too much noise, they'll just come from one direction only. But, I suppose Welcome Back Commander (say it with EVA's voice ;) is something that is just different than Chromosome Evil. Less focus on the zombies, more focus on the ambiant scene, cool environment scene, and the unspeakable horrors that you'll met on your way. My props to the dev for the clinic? level. When the noise meter is maxed, dear god, panic really settles in. I also want to say thank you to the devs for their work. I got introduced to Chromosome Evil by Witherbottom. I managed to win a giveaway he did. In the end, I got 13h out of it. Got quickly bored bc I already knew the game x) But, I did end up buying this game, and, I did really enjoy it. So, thank you for everything :D I may buy CE2 or Horizon 1990 when it comes out, depend of how much free time I have. PS : Also, by any chance, if one of the dev comes by, can you explain to me what does the clown do ^^' ?

Суматошный выживательный rts c кучей микро менеджмента. Сюжет страдает от условностей: Военные посылают спецгруппу "профессионалов" чтобы разобраться что случилось в зомби городе. В группе два человека, без брони и навыков, если у одно из них есть аптечка, то нет оружия... Интерфейс отвратительный. Мешает жить. Суматошно: каждому человечку нужно вручную задавать цели, они их выполняют секунд за 12-15 и снова надо выдавать цели, при том что задач всего три типа, это скучно и очень раздражает. Спасибо что есть пауза на которой можно отдавать приказы, но она "глупая" — настроек её автовключения нет, так что сидишь с рукой над пробелом. Куча странных ограничений. Вплоть до абсурда — открытие двери занимет все те-же 12-15 секунд, но если делать это вдвоем то быстрее. Не члены отряда (люди которых мы спасаем) не умеют открывать двери, но их тоже нужно ручками переставлять подальше от зомби. Зомби лезут с периодичностью одна волна в 30 c. В общем сеттинг не привлекательный и совершенно не стыкуется с игромеханикой.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game and played it on all difficulties just because i wanted more! A fun blend of looting, shooting, and a somewhat kind of tower defense. A solid fun game that i recommend.

exceelent game you find more excellent games from the publisher i wish this game and the other games from this publisher get more visbiltiy and more player playing them.

buy it please, great franchise

Nachdem ich endlich meine erste Kampagne hinter mir habe (mit 100% Vaccine und Fuel und 79ish Civilians und A Rating bei Verlust von zwei Soldaten, leider nicht alle Alphas getötet), kann ich nur sagen: Sehr gutes Spiel. Empfelenswert für Leute, die Zombiespiele mögen und Games, die sich ähnlich spielen wie Alien Fireteam Elite und Squadgames generell. Positiv: - Viele verschiedene Gegnertypen. Würde gerne mehr Menschen als Gegner haben, aber ansonsten ist man gut gerüstet. - Gute und interessante Auswahl an Taktische Ausrüstung und Ressourcen am Anfang. - Ästhetik ist sehr retro. Mag auch die Textblasen, wirkt wie ein Comic. - DLC macht das Game noch interessanter. - Der Zeitdruck ist real und Entscheidungen im frühen und mittleren Spielverlauf beinflussen STARK das Endgame und das Ende. - Lustige Easter Eggs. - Gute Alphas. - Interessante, wenn auch teils vage Lore. - Gutes Event-System und Camp-System. Negativ/ Verbesserungsvorschläge: - Einheiten zu bewegen ist grottig, da Soldaten nicht einander "hindurch"laufen können. Extrem nervig, hab so oft Einheiten verloren, weil sie sich nicht richtig oder falsch bewegt haben. In Lab II glitchen Soldaten deswegen manchmal durch die Lüftungsschächte. - Ein bisschen schwachsinnig, dass man Barrikaden zerstören kann, aber nicht Sofas und Hospitalbetten. Das zerstört ein wenig die Immersion. - Manchmal sind die Easter Eggs ZU oft. Kann ruhig ein bisschen weniger sein. - 40mm Granaten sind extrem rar, es lohnt sich kaum, nen Soldaten mit nen Granatwerfer zuzulegen. Habe am Ende gecheatet, um WENIGSTES damit mal ein wenig zu schießen und Spaß zu haben. Ja, der Granatwerfer mach viel AoE, aber zwei Schüsse reichen, um das Noise-Meter zu triggern. Also nicht sehr gut für Stealth, was in ca. 85% aller Missionen der Fall ist (außer man will Munition, Loot, und/ oder Leute verlieren). Also nicht wirklich die Rede wert, die Explosionen verursachen vermutlich mehr Schaden als Nutzen. Das Maschinengewehr ist viel besser als Meatgrinder und Bosskiller. Wenigstens sollte der Granatwerfer rote Zombies OHKen. - Bis auf Office sind die Maps immer gleich und werden schnell eintönig. - Man kann nicht mit der Straße interagieren bis auf wenige Ausnahmen. Bisschen komisch, wenn beim Kleiderladen Leute draußen sind und man tut nichts, um ihnen zu helfen. - Waffenauswahl ist sehr generisch. Soldaten haben alle denselben TDP Skin außer Geschlecht. - Game braucht dringend ein Wiki und besseres Tutorial. Teils immer noch kein Plan, wie bestimmte Mechaniken funktionieren. Endrating: 8/10. Insgesamt sehr solide für den Preis, empfehle das DLC für eine bessere Erfahrung. Größtes Problem ist für mich das Bewegen von Einheiten und der Granatwerfer.