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The controls killed me

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: December 15, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Seeing all the 5 star reviews here I decided this would be my next Xmas present. Some hours ago, tough, completely bored, I decided to download the demo to see how good it would be. Boy I was wrong. This is a simply terrible wargame. The graphics are ok and you can zoon right to each soldier's face (Like in the Sims 2) but the way you control your troops just killed me.

Remember the 'planning' stage in Rainbow Six, before each mission, where you would assign starting places to squads, waypoints where to go and etc?

Well, you control your troops like that in this game. Yep, instead of, say, selecting a tank with the left mouse button, and selecting it's target with a right click (Like you do in every normal RTS game) you must first bring up a menu for every individual unit, select the mission you want, assign them waypoints, and then the target.

I strongly suggest you to download the demo from [...] and see if you like this kind of controls, that in my opinion are extremely uncomfortable, before buying it.

Good luck.

Game for my 70 year old Dad

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 16
Date: December 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I guess I just like the plug and play shoot them up games. This was just a giant sim game with garphics like Pong. If you liked the old board war games back in the 70's (my Dad played them) then you will love this. If you want to shoot something, you will have to look somewhere else. By the way, I'm a 22 year Veteran as a Combat Engineer. Went to Panama, Kuwait and Bosnia. I had more fun there than I did with this game.

Poor graphics- very poor manual

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 18
Date: October 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Just purchased the CMBB-SE version and what a disappointment this game is. Childish graphics and to top off the disappointment-the manual is missing 25 pages to it!?! It goes from page 1-128(stops in mid paragraph) and the next page is 153. To make it better it goes from page 153 to 176 AND then begins again at page 153 to page 240. Please do not buy this game-it is really poor. Buy Blitzkrieg or wait for Codename:panzers due out early next year. This game is a waste of money and impossible without a complete manual!

This is for all who ever wanted to be a squad leader but didn't want to get shot at

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: September 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is the kind of game most die hard boardgamers from the 70's and 80's have been looking for. Anyone who's played Advanced Squad Leader will find all the elements that they've enjoyed in that boardgame in this PC game.
Real life tactics will win. Careless recon, poor flank security,
improper use of terrain, insufficinet prep fire, no concentration of force will lead to disaster.
Combined arms tactics are a must. Drive your tanks into a built up area without infantry support and see them get ambushed. Pre plot your artillary on likely avenues of approach and watch the enemy walk into your deadly barrage. Watch the tide of battle turn as a brave veteran
anti tank team takes out the enemies supporting armor.
Hunker down in a bunker impervious to artillary and blast away at oncoming Russian infantry masses. Watch your Tigers take out T-34's at stand off distances.
Make sure to keep a ready reserve, and sometimes you are short of troops and simply have to juggle the troops you have, rushing them from one threatened sector to another, but don't push them too hard or they'll break.
It's like fighting a real life tactical level battle from the safety of your chair.
This is a game for would be thinkers and tacticians out there.
Great Stuff.

Fun, but where'd the flyboys go?

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Combat Mission:Barbarrosa to Berlin is a very great game. Even though the graffics aren't the best in the world, the units are all very detailed. The game is also very challenging, and I never get bored of seeing a Flak 88mm set a T34 aflame. You can play out many major battles like Kursk or Stalingrad as either the Axis or the Allies. My only major complaint is the lack of planes. Overall, I give this game 4 and a half stars.

State of the Art

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 19 / 19
Date: July 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Rated 3 for fun, and 5 for overall value.

Prospective buyers are urged to check out the reviews of professional game reviewers for an indepth look at this game. I liked the game well enough to design several scenarios for it, which are included on this retail version, so take my comments with that in mind.

Combat Mission marks a new state of the art in computer wargaming. This game can best be likened to the old Squad Leader and ASL systems that many wargamers grew up playing from 1977 and on into the 1990s. Apparently some people still pull out the maps and counters and ten pounds of rules, but for many of us, CM is a fine substitute.

This game is superior to Close Combat and Steel Panthers in many ways. Firstly, the 3D world makes the action seem much less like a board game. Bear in mind the graphics are dated and clunky, but there are some pretty immersive effects as well, such as camera shake and tracer effects. The game itself is played, however, in simultaneous turns - an innovative method that was attempted by some board games but considered tedious. CC relied on real time which represented an unrealistic burden on a player forced to give orders to large numbers of units without pause; SP relied on alternating turns and allowed artificial methods of drawing fire and other "gamey" play. Both games relied on a dull top-down view of the proceedings.

Where CM shines is in replayability - with an ability to create random battles and maps at the click of a mouse. The scenario designer is given complete freedom to make use of any of the ingame resources to create situations of his choosing.

Drawbacks are lack of a campaign and no ability to import maps and men from one battle to the next with ease. Also, some interface problems, such as lack of convoy movement for vehicles.

Most realistic armour modelling ever attempted in a computer game, with realistic ballistics and penetration info.

Fully moddable sound and graphics, and can be done without special software of any kind.

Overall, the best tactical level WW II game on the market, and perhaps ever to see the light of day to this point in time.

Fantastic strategy wargame!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: December 02, 2003
Author: Amazon User

CMBB continues the Combat Mission franchise on the East Front. It covers, as the name specifies, the German invasion of USSR in 1941 through the end of the war. With Germans, Finns, Romanians, Hungarians, Soviets, and Poles as the nationalities, and weak 1941 tanks through 1945 heavy tanks, and terrain from the Arctic Circle to Sevastopol, there is a lot of variety. Between having easily-made scenarios and computer-generated Quick Battles, it is difficult to see ever getting tired of the game.

The game itself is a WEGO game -- each side plots its move, then it is shown as a movie. A big battle could have a lot going on, so the ability to watch it from different angles and rewind is very useful. The game focuses on creating a realistic playable game. The game is rather simple to play, but at the same time it can be very difficult. So, it is more of an intellectual challenge than a reflex game.

An interest in WW2 history is optional, and certainly not necessary to enjoy this exceptional game.

Great

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 19, 2003
Author: Amazon User

The game is excellent, if your into the whole turn based strategy game elements. The historical accuracy is one of the highest aspects of this game, ranging from different values of armour depending on years and months as well as equipment for different nations and dates.

There are mainly two different play types. A scenerio, and an operation. A scenerio can have up to 10 to 40 turns of combat, meaning while a Operation can have between 1 and 100 battles! It is truly excellent for those who wish to play for days, or even half an hour depending on what you want.

Custom scenerio building is very excellent, giving even the most simple of you gamers out there the power to build an entire battlefield within the game itself. No extra programs, no extra hassles, just pure fun.

The action is intense and sometimes even scary when you watch your defense line crumble under a computers, or another players, attack. Or exciting when your chasing the enemy's troops back towards their own.

The manual is excellent, giving you a massive outlook on all of the hard work and dedication the designers put into the research. All of the pages are filled with detailed info and helpful hints. AS well, it explains some of the games concepts in a clear manner.

The graphics, while not on par with such high rest super games, are great for what the game is about. The main focus on this game is gameplay, not graphics. But even so, the graphics are still really good when you watch a battle between 40 soldiers and several tanks crashing into eachother.

It gives you so many options, and the skins for soldiers and tanks are very editable, as well as the sounds. Meaning that uniform nuts and bolt-heads will go nuts trying to reskin every detail into a simple .bmp.

If your still unsure, try the demo at www.battlefront.com.

Amazing Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: November 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin is a fantastic addition to the Combat Mission line of games started in Beyond Overlord.
This is a game for people that really love in depth WW2 strategy but aren't opposed to some nice eye candy too.
It's a balance between hardcore strategy and pleasure to play.
The format is going to be unfamiliar to those coming from the RTS clickfests. In the game you issue orders for the coming 1minute to all of your units (your orders can however cover time periods lasting much longer than that, but you'll get another chance to revise them in a minute).
After you've decided your orders you hit your go button and settle in to watch a 1 minute movie that let's you fastwd rewind pause replay and gives you a fully mobile camera to watch the action from any angle you'd like. The movies alone are worth the price of the game.
There's immense detail in the engine and the setup of units.
There are complaints that infantry is somewhat abstracted (you get 3 figures standing in for squads) Still, it's a tiny concession to processing power and you'll rapidly forget that there's anything odd about it.

The game play options include hotseat, Player Vs CPU, PVP over lan,tcp/ip or via play by email which should not be overlooked as one of the most enjoyable ways to experience this game.

It's a great game to get the younger (not young) gamer into playing games that rely more on skill than speed and a great game for the old grognard in everyone.

Cheers

I agree with what the other fellas say...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: October 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Actually, it was what these other guys here said that drew me out to the store to get a copy of this and CMBO. Having just played the demo for CMAK, I can tell ya' that one is absolutely ...well, use your own exclamation for something amazing.

It's not a boring game at all. You shouldn't be at all disappointed. Remember, this is still an early phase game. As the technology and programming advances, so will the graphical detail of the game. And actually, the graphics themselves aren't bad at all. The 3D landscapes are actually impressive. And when you blow up a house or something, it's a nice effect, better than average. If they could just use the exploding tree/flying leaves effect from Sudden Strike/Blitzkrieg!. The way the tanks "brew up" in those games would be a nice added touch to this series as well.

It should be noted that the 3-man squads aren't only three men. At least, not until you start taking casualties. Usually it's made up of about 5 rifles, 1 SMG and some sort of SAW or LMG. I can't guarantee these numbers w/o looking them up. But it's definitely not just 3 guys in strength. You can toggle the 3 man squad option, but I don't know if it goes to one figure or several as I haven't tried it yet.

The only thing that can be seen as a fault to this game, is that many may have trouble winning it using default settings. As stated elsewhere, the AI is pretty sharp. I think you get large counter-attacks, not sure. I never really let them happen. If I'm to attack, I attack hard and keep them under cover. They will retreat and break-and-run, that much I know. They also surrender if you wear them down hard enough. Getting hit with a Panzerfaust or Panzerschreck could count as a counter-attack, I guess.

Anyway, there's a lot that goes on in one of these games that's really a lot of exciting fun to deal with. Try it out and see if you catch the bug.

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