Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far (Jewel Case) - PC

The Close Combat series was a lot of fun. I actually bought this game a long time ago sot his review is very late. I think since the 90's other titles have picked up where CC left off such as Company of Heroes. But this was the first I played. not sure if this plays on XP or Vista

An amazing game, even if it old. really provides the game with an understanding of how real firefights work from the tactical standpoint. starcraft is cool and all, but this is meant to be realistic. also very historically informative.

this product was delieverd timely and in great shape and I enjoy this game so much. clearly ahead of its time and still a good game to play today. Lots of strategy involved.

Yes! I loved this game when I was a kid and it's great to play it again! It's just as great of a game ten years later.

Wonderful game!

I had this before, lost the disc, bought another, lost that and bought a third! Great game, played online back in the day. Enjoy creating maps! Would highly recommend it!!!

"The thrill of combat, the power of command" I'll say! This Close Combat game is about Operation Market Garden, a full on offensive done by the Allies to quickly end the war by driving all the way to Germany and destroying the Reich's industrial war-plants. Close combat captures every detail and aspect of the offensive from the countless number of maps to the amazingly accurate vehicles and units used!This is a real time tactics game. It's pretty much a strategy game, you can call it a form of strategy. Difference is here you only control units on the battlefield, you use tactics to win individual battles. You cannot put up buildings or factories and produce units, you'll be able to select units before battle though. You don't have any control over supplies either. All the gameplay is full on warfare, you don't have to worry about resource gathering, base building or unit building.I'll first write down all the unique feature of the game. Soldiers' morale and ammo. Soldiers in this game act and react to their current surroundings. If the soldier's morale is up he'll fight more efficiently, he'll take on the enemy, but if he has low morale he might get scared easily by gun shots explosions etc. Morale is affected by all these things, gun shots, explosions, being around other troops, being around officers, support units (tanks), being around dead troops as well. In the game troops are divided into groups, like a heavy assault squad, machine gun crew, etc. As you select a unit it'll display the team and it's individual soldiers, presenting their condition. This includes which weapon they're using, what they're actively doing, shooting, reloading, cowering, also what state they're in, suppressed, crawling, hiding, etc. It also shows the ammo count, the exhausted meter, how exhausted they are, rested, winded or fatigued. Also if they're healthy, incap, or dead. Another shows the mental condition, like stable, panicked, berserk, and a few more stats I believe. It also shows their name, rank, what ammo they're using, like a tank crew uses AP (Armor Piercing), and HE (High Explosive) rounds, it'll display what they're using at the moment.You can play as either the Allies or the Germans. The Allies include the Americans, British, and Polish. There are a lot of units in the game. They range from the light Stuart tank, to the mighty Königstiger! There are also mortar teams, anti-tank guns, flame thrower tanks, unique half-tracks, and other epic units. Another unique thing is vehicle damage, the main gun can be damaged, the machine guns on the tank can be damaged, mobility can be lost. A wide range of things can happen. The vehicles have weak points as well like the tanks' rear or sides, which have much less armor.Also there is a behemoth amount of maps. The maps have elevated terrain, multistory buildings and unit's line of sight can be affected. Terrain damage is also here, for an example if a tank shoots the ground there'll be a crater, same with buildings. In the campaign all damage carries forward, like if there was a battle on one map before, and again there's a battle, the damage will be still there. The maps aren't as big as RUSE or Command and Conquer maps, but there not too big or small. A good scale for the type of game it is.Also there's an amazing feature..... BATTLEMAKER. This allows you to make your own battles, you can choose territory placement for each side, choose your units, etc. But this does not mean you can literally make your own map, I mean you can choose starting locations, what territory you have and what your enemy has but you can't craft the terrain. Remember it's "Battlemaker" not "Mapmaker".This game is different from other strategy games. Units and troops in those other games act like robots, they attack without question, you can do huge "rushes" with units, like making a huge army and storming the enemy, these kinds of things you can do in Command and Conquer games, or the game RUSE, here it's very hard to do it successfully. If you try your troops will hit the ground for cover, they might panic, get pinned down, etc. I'm not saying that's bad just that Close Combat is different. In these games there's also the thing I call "guaranteed hit" like in RUSE if a tank is in range of its target it'll shoot and it won't miss, it's a guarantee if it shoots it's going to hit something. In Close Combat it's totally the opposite, it depends on the gunner to make the shot count. RUSE though is more of a "global" strategy, not focusing on little things. Those games focus on strategy overall, but Close Combat is more "realistic," there is the presence of the luck factor, like the gunner needs to make the shot count, bullets do miss, etc. So minute things matter in Close Combat, one machine gunner can hold down a whole area and change the tide of battle. Here you'll really have to use your brain! And have to take into account how the soldier will react, what's the best thing to do, what's the best thing to support them with.There are three difficulty options: recruit, veteran, and hero, there's also the fourth option for custom, you can choose each side's strength and a few other options. For casual play, recruit and veteran difficulty is fine, but hero is something else. If you play on hero you are asking for a bloodbath in hell! The enemy is strong you get very little support points, and you get few starting troops. Only choose this setting to get horribly frustrated, and ready to throw your computer out the window!The campaign can be played by both the Allies and Germans. There are three sector campaigns and then the grand campaign which combines all three of the sector campaigns into one.There are a few flaws of the game though, there's no way to use any aircraft or ships, it's all ground based, no air support either.The graphics in this game aren't from Crysis 2 ok. It's not the prettiest but the most enjoyable game for me by far. Remember this game was developed back in 1997.The game was developed in 1997; any computer today can play it. I have an HP Pavilion and it plays great. I bought this game in 2001 from Hastings, and it still plays to this very day. There's no real glitch I've encountered either.Anyone who wants to have a good WW2 strategy game which is realistic, this is for you!

This is a brilliant game; realistic rendering of British, US, Polish and of course German units. A great variety of weapons, from Bren guns and obscure British tanks to King Tiger tanks. Battles are fierce but fun.It is worth getting for the tremendous battlemaker alone. This is the easiest to use of the Close Combat series, allowing you to quickly create your own rumbles with whatever units and maps you want (though not scenarios).However, if you are playing the computer, STICK TO THE BATTLES. Don't even start playing the campaigns, especially the grand campaign. This is frustrating, drawn out, repetitive and often just silly. You get so few resources from the outset in many battles that they end up being a chore to play.In addition, many of your units are full of bad shots, cowards and weaklings. Whole assault glider platoons can be overwhelmed by one German with a loose bayonet. Whole groups can be singlehandedly bombed to death by one mortar. Gun crews suddenly up and desert their positions. I love the Close Combat series for its commitment to realism but this goes too far. You'd think the units in this game were from Dad's army rather than the elite veterans of the British and US forces airborne divisions.The makers should incorporate court martial procedures into the game to give gamers some vent to their frustration with the cowards.