If you're one of those folks that used to go to the arcades back in the late 80s and early 90s to enjoy a brief ass-kicking by a machine in exchange for your hard earned pocket money, then chances are you know of Commando. Funnily enough, there are two Commando games; one by Sega and one by Capcom, but it's Capcom's game (known as Senjo no Okami, or Wolf of the Battlefield in Japan) that is more fondly remembered. The series has been in hibernation since the release of Mercs (Wolf of the Battlefield II) in 1990, but Capcom decided to bring it back to life and hand the reigns to Backbone Entertainment, who promptly developed Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.

Commando 3 keeps the story simple, though it doesn't seem to directly follow on from Mercs, which starred Bionic Commando's Super Joe as its main character. Instead, players get to control three new operatives Wolf, Coyote and Fox, who together make up Team Jackal. Team Jackal is the type of squad called in to do the dirtiest of missions – the ones that not only can nobody else do, but those that the government doesn't want anyone to know about. Of course, in the opening mission, that results in the Jackals being captured and shoved in an internment campaign after being abandoned by their government. Their general calls on them to break out of their cell and hunt down and defeat the evil General Ratiev, who is threatening to take over the world.

There has been a distinct shift in visual style from the previous two Commando games, with Backbone opting for a comical style more in line with their recent Rocketman game, rather than the slightly grittier look of its predecessors. The characters are slick, but they're not really eye catching from a design perspective and are downright generic in some aspects, mostly due to a lack of character development. Think '80s action heroes, but without the cheesy one-liners. The game's environments are colourful, but do little else to further the game's cause. They're clean, but they lack detail. The action is smooth for the majority of the game, with some minor slowdown when the screen gets a little too busy. Commando 3's musical score is the type of testosterone-fuelled, guitar-strangling fare you'd expect to accompany the sort of heavy action encountered in the game.

Commando 3 has been upgraded to comply with the more flexible dual shooter setup employed by many other Xbox Live Arcade titles (originally used in Robotron 2084), rather than the single direction firing method of Commando and Mercs. This actually makes the game feel a lot like Midway's Total Carnage, though it lacks the level of gore and politically charged comedy that made Midway's effort memorable. The right trigger will have your character fling a grenade out – the longer the trigger is held, the further the grenade will travel. Grenades are good for clearing troops that are bunched close together and deliver heavy damage to buildings and gates. The final weapon at your disposal is the M-Crash, which will clear the screen of enemies and deal a powerful blow to any boss.

Players blast their way through five rather straightforward levels, with a limitless force of enemies pouring in from all directions and a boss at the end. You'll go up against a decent selection of enemies, including your basic grunts, grenadiers and burly men carrying mini-guns. Bosses bark more than they bite, but the bullet hell they will unleash on you makes things a little more challenging. For a shooter that puts you up against significantly thin odds, Commando 3 does manage to become stale rather quickly as it never really mixes it up – each of the five levels plays out in a very familiar way. Commando 3 uses a life system like Mercs, so players are able to absorb a couple of hits, and a generous amount of health can be found in crates strewn around the play area. Crates also hold different weapons, including a three-way laser, flame thrower and rocket launcher. Weapons can also be upgraded a number of times by finding the POW icon. A few short vehicle and turret sequences are thrown in to mix things up a little.

Depending on your selected difficulty level, Commando 3 will only take an hour to blast through – a bit of a downer, but probably not all that bad given how quickly the game becomes stale. You'll get a couple of extra replays out of it looking for the POWs, secret areas and trying to unlock the achievements. Playing with friends makes the game a little more enjoyable, especially on the higher levels of difficulty, but it never really matches the excitement of other dual-stick shooters on the XBLA service. Online multiplayer is pretty stable, but lag can annoy players from time to time. Funnily enough, there's a rather major glitch online that renders the difficulty of the achievements moot – simply pressing the guide button will recharge your health, grenades and M-Crash.

Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 plays it safe by offering familiar gameplay with a friendly visual style. Its biggest problem is that it manages to become rather dull and straightforward before the end of its relatively short stay. Playing with a few friends on the hardest difficulty will bring out the best the game has to offer, but Commando 3 isn't a game for everyone.