User Reviews (1 - 11 of 36)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

A mix of Close Combat 2 and Close Combat 4. BUY IT!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 17
Date: November 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Firstly, I'm a regular gamer and I say: BUY IT. We return to the hedgerow fighting of CC2, but with better graphics, this time. Die hard fans will notice small features like ambient sounds such as machine gun fire, and faint explosions on the edges of maps -- makes you feel like you're there...very nice addition. In this edition, the armies fall back on their infantry. This is not a huge tank battle like the Bulge or the Russian Front. It's nice to get some soldier action going on, finally.

In short, this is the most "realistic", and probably most fun, real time strategy game you're going to find.

This is what I have been waiting for!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 22
Date: October 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Finally, a Close Combat game that features the invasion of normandy. I snatched this game up so fast, I couldn't wait, and once I got into it I wasn't disappointed. The first thing I noticed is that I can actually pass some of the missions. Close Combat IV was so incredibly difficult it almost made me hesitant to get this latest installment. Thank goodness, the easiest setting really means easy in this one. The game itself really isn't any different than the last couple CC games, and really could be considered an addon if it were any other game. Basically just has new missions, maps and various other minor features. That doesn't mean I don't like it. I love it. The missions involving taking the beach are just a blast, and so is basically everything else. This is definetly the best Close Combat yet.

So Far..

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I got the demo of this game, and it looks and plays like the previous four titles. Although feeling a little like a Close Combat: Battle Of The Bulge, that's definately not a bad thing. The graphics are getting a skoch old, (It looks a lot like CC3: The Russian Front) but, again, they still shine as compared to some other RTSs. The sound is better than ever, and the mission I played was fun, exciting, and intense. The tutorial will get a newbie off to a good start, and the highest difficulty level will challenge even the most fire-hardened grognard. A good pick for all wargames and fans of the Close Combat series.

Same Great Action..One Quirk!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Being the Close Combat fanatic that I am, I purchased it the first day. As usual, CC did not disappoint giving me the same intense action of past titles, with better sound effects. The map is huge and the grand campaign seems like it could be endless. This is a must have for any CC fan or any war gamer in general.

One quirk however, was during the initial load screen, the game would crash saying "unable to stream". I know this usually means that Media player is not installed or your video card sucks. However, I know this isn't the case here because I have a PIII and Voodoo3 card and run every other game including other SSI's titles with no problem. Also CC doesn't take much CPU power to play. However once I turned the video's off in the options screen I was good to go. A bug I am sure they will fix!

The best keeps getting better

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: April 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I wrote a review for CCIV (The battle of the bulge) stating it was the best real time strategy game ever, I have been proven wrong. Normandy has fixed several of the minor bugs in CCIV and the units, graphics, and especially the sounds are much better. The distant artillery, machinegun fire and aircraft sounds really fill in the environment well!

The battlefield is very fluid on the strategic level, with multiple levels of deployment options. Not only can you choose your own "big picture" strategy, but you can re-equip your units for the coming fight out of a force pool. Literally allowing "Task force" or "kamphgruppe" structuring to the fight.

The AI is relatively easy to beat (but still fun), but I imagine it would challenge a new player. Also, for the experienced player, you can edit the enemy taskforce to make them tougher to challenge yourself. Go head to head against another human and this game is phenomenal!

The tanks still have some trouble with path finding, but there aren't near as many so it isn't as big of a deal.

The mortar and Naval barrages are awesome and squad level mortars are greatly improved as well. These things are now deadly! In CCIV, artillery strikes were almost useless, even against exposed infantry in a field. Now, you can decimate an enemy squad or two with a well placed artillery strike.

The interface is virtually unchanged (a big plus for those of us already familiar with it). I haven't tried the scenario editor yet, but I am looking forward to it.

Buy this game! You won't be disappointed!

Great fun, but too easy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Close Combat: Invasion Normandy is overall an excellent game. If you are like me, sick of real-time strategy games that focus on how fast you can build troops and tanks to swarm the enemy, than CCV is for you. Most other games in the genre focus on who can build technology faster and kill the other teams ore trucks with greater effectiveness. Not CCV. This game focuses on tactics and realism. Your soldiers react realistically to situations. If a soldier sees his squad wiped out by a flamethrower, he'll likely break down and be useless. This adds alot of depth to the game and pushes it head and shoulders above the rest. The maps look superb and they are affected by mortar barrages etc. The intro music is pretty poor. It doesn't give the game the right feel, but this is minor. The real problem with the game is that it is too easy. The AI is just really poor sometimes. I've seen 3 whole squads crawl down a road and be mowed down by machine gun fire, and then the AI will send another squad down the same road to meet the same fate. This makes the game far too easy. likewise, the AI doesn't use tanks effectively at all. A tank can be the best weapon of all, but it can also be scrap metal. The computer AI prefers scrap metal. The expolsions look great, as do the animations. All in all, 4 stars. Great fun, and graphics, really poor AI.

Not For Action, But For Strategy

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: October 12, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is a game that you will probably find yourself playing many, many times, depending on whether or not your intentions for purchasing the game are for action or strategy.
Historically, I felt it did a great job of duplicating the scenarios of the real invasion of Normandy. Hedgerows were a major nuisance for the Allied forces and it was that way in Close Combat 5, as well. It makes it hard to put the tanks into some sort of effective use, without the help of supporting infantry. Sometimes the amount of troops allowed to fight in a battle were actually too large to be historically accurate, when considering the scattered drops of the U.S. airborne, and that made offensive moves in this game too easy, but it really didn't take away much from the game. In all honesty, it wouldn't have been much fun to lead an attack with only a group of men the size of a few squads.
Strangely enough, an entire division is lost if it's involved force, in a battle, loses every man. Although not the entire division participates in the battle, the entire division will no longer exist, as if the rest of it is disbanded.
Overall, the game was much fun for me. I was interested in learning more about Operation Overlord, and the involvement of the U.S. in World War 2, and found this game to be very helpful, although I could still tell which historical aspects were true, and which were inaccuracies due to the game itself.
I read a review that described that, in the beach landings, there weren't enough bullets whizzing in the air and that it basically seemed too tame. But this game focuses on Utah Beach, not Omaha. Utah WAS much tamer, and had much fewer casualties, so don't expect a slaughter. Besides that, the "Atlantic Wall" that the reviewer talked about being climbed was not the Atlantic Wall, but a simple sea wall. This game is much more realistic than you may have been led to believe. And, yes, sometimes the aim of the soldiers was horrible and humorous at the same time, but the cons are outweighed by the pros. Strategy is definitely the way to go in this game. Don't expect to win battles by charging the enemy head on.

Easy enough for begginers and challenging for hardcore fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: November 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This probably the best game I've bought in a long time. The graphics are good enough (not impressive), but the sound effects are outstanding. The best feature is the different levels of difficulty, they allow begginners to handle the game without getting frustrated and experienced gamers can get a powerful match. The AI in some phases can be a little dumb with grenadiers running into your machine gun nests, tanks tend to get stuck or stay like sitting ducks in front of AT guns, and sometimes there is a lack of initiative from your soldiers. But these are just minor flaws that don't affect gameplay that much. If you are interested in a strategy wargame this is the best you can get.

Bring it on baby!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: October 07, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is the best Close Combat game that I have seen yet. I am fairly new to this series, but since I bought CC4, I have been addicted. I went out and bought the trilogy. Invasion Normandy has the best sound, graphics,and thankfully the A.I is far more agressive than ever before.There game takes you the *Invasion of Normandy* and keeps ypu there for 29 days, you must take port citys and move your men throught the deadly country side full of swarming Germans.Naval bombardment is available along with air and arty support, plus as the Germans your arty consists of 88's. And yes, there is multiplayer support for this one. I must say this is the best [money] I have spent on a game! It is well worth it

The BEST Close Combat yet!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 9
Date: December 27, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I've been an avid fan of the CC series ... I have two copies of CC2 and CC3 and I'll probably get a 2nd of this one, #5. This is the BEST tactical, real-time 2D WWII game out there. The graphics are excellent, the AI is challenging and this game is a lot of fun!

The complaints about armor movement AI annoyances are valid, but armor plays a very small role in this game.

Be sure to look for the 'mods' out on the 'net for this game and previous CC games. This is a game series that we need to keep alive -- it won't get old like Red Alert did ... I *still* play CC2!

...and you don't need a honking-monster Gigahertz-PC to play these games, either! In fact, the only part of your PC you'd want to make big for these is your monitor, at least 17" at 1024x768. My 19" at 1024x768 is pure pleasure!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions