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Good game, but I liked CC3 better

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 34 / 36
Date: March 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Evere since I heard CC4 was going to be released, I could't wait to buy and play with it. But once I got my hands on it, I immediately noticed some weak areas. Being a Close combat series Hard Core Fan, I had already bought all the previous three titles, and found some plus and minuses, especially if compared with "The russian front" (CC3). MINUSES Units: Your battle groups have fixed types of units, meaning you cannot adjust your forces from defence to offence posture (those shermans seem to be useless in defence against german armor). In the end it gets very boring to play in the same map with the same units over and over again! In CC3 every battle is different, since you can adjust your forces each time. The detail offered in CC3 is also more specific going down to the single soldier level. This used to be useful both during battles and during the plannig phase, where you coluld notice that a particular soldier or unit had been with you for even a few years. In the end I found a tendency not to use the older units because I feared they colud get killed! BATTLES: Strategic overview means you will be playing over some maps over and over again, having to go thru a complete cycle before you can move your forces again. AI: THE AI IS MUCH MORE STUPID THAN IN CC3. I played the first time on the german side, and won every single battle. It does not like to move very much, even if winning. PLUSES Graphics: Better and more ralistic. Air & arty support: You now can call in support during the game. It gives some more flexibility, but not enough to have a real impact on the game. Strategic level: You now have a strategic level where you can move your battle groups around befor playing single battles. This feature adds depth to the game, but sometimes prevents flexible movement. One unit per square is too few, and makes transiting battle groups thru controlled maps impossible. You first have to move out any unit that is controlling the area, reconquer it with the new unit and then you can move to the offence. A pain if you are in the rear areas, a nightmare if you are moving on the front lines. This feature looks like something out of an AMIGA 500 strategy game. MY SUGGESTION: If you are a CC series fan, BUY IT, since it gives you a completely new battlefield to play on. If you never played a CC series game before, BUY CC3, a much better game overall.

Sound effects are great!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: December 05, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I've only started playing this game, but I immediately noticed the awesome sounds. Each weapon has it's own unique sound, with big blasts reverberating for several seconds. If you have good speakers with a subwoofer, you'll be amazed. The overhead view of the action helps to keep the player on top of things, however the graphics are rather small and it is sometimes hard to see damaged areas. I am not well-read on WWII tank strategies, but I have heard other people questioning the AI of the game. It seemed fine to me as a casual gamer. It is easy to learn the controls but very difficult in terms of strategy. Out of about 4 15-minute missions I've attempted so far on easy level, I've only won one and that was by a slight margin. Speaking of which the manual is very well written. It goes into tank strategies as well as a 5 page history of the Battle of the Bulge. Overall, it's a fun game with great sound effects. Also, my computer is a PII300 with 128MB of ram and a TNT2 graphics card and it runs fine.

Great game, minor interface improvements make this game even

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: May 23, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Before Close Combat IV, i used to tell people that i liked the Close Combat series (seeing as i had played the first one, and bought the second one). Now, i must say, that i love the Close Combat series, and that i enthusiastically recommend the fourth installment of the game. I skipped buying Close Combat 3 because it received bad reviews.

Where Close Combat II was cool in that it allowed you to customize what units showed up for each battle, Close Combat IV blows it away with bigger maps, smarter AI, artillery and air support, and the ability to move your units around a game-board of sorts. The game-board feature is great, because now i choose how i want my units to react to battles that i have won or lost.

In the battle setup screen (where you place your units before you start the fight) you can set which direction your guys will be facing when defending (an option that was severly needed in CC2), and you can see what their line of fire is (in CC2, you had to guess, because terrain and buildings obscure the distance that your units can shoot). Especially useful is the addition of the ambush setting where now you can hide your guys until you actually need them. Finally, artillery fire and air support can be crucial, but more often than not don't really affect the game in a significant manner.

Having said all this, i do have some gripes with the game. My biggest gripe is that the tanks controlled by the AI are amazingly smart at avoiding my Anti-Tank guns. So good in fact, that sometimes they are out of range of my AT guns by a mere millimeter on the map. I CHALLENGE any human player to be that good at knowing the line of site of the AT guns. Another thing i find bothersome is how to determine whether you're on a hill, or looking up a hill. It's especially annoying because most of the time now, i have to check my LOS by clicking the fire button and aiming at various objects (this is more time-consuming than just eyeballing LOS) because i cant tell whether the terrain will be obscuring or helping my units.

That said, i love this game. I LOVE THIS GAME. I havent even tried multiplayer yet (and i usually only play multiplayer games) because i love how well balanced this game is.

peace

gum2me?

Great game, but what happened to the Tigers?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: December 20, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I have the three close combat games that came before this one, and I also agree that this is the finest. I understand why they had to take away the feature that lets you pick your units, the Americans could'nt always have 5 shermans to fight with, I like the format. The addition of artillery and air strikes is icing on the cake. The only minor things I can say negatively about this game is the units. I have been playing since late November, and have not seen one Tiger tank! They might come later in the game but I have'nt seen it They played a big role in the ardennes. Second, the barrage consists of four mortars, I think 105mms would be a little more effective. Overral fun game!

Another excellent game in the Close Combat series

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: December 12, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This real-time strategy game is the best I have played from this genre. I have played all of the games in the Close Combat series, and many games of this type from other publishers. To date, I believe this is the best. If you have played any of the other Close Combat games, this one is pretty similar. One notable difference from the others is that attacks can come from any direction. Previous versions were far more predictable in that you always knew what direction the enemy would be comming from. In addition, this version takes into account morale and willingness to fight. Battles will cease if morale gets too low. One change that I did not like from the previous versions, is an inability to choose units to acquisition. A minor drawback for a game with many merits. Regardless of whether or not you have played other war strategy games, this one is an excellent choice.

Fun, but little "replay-ability"

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 15 / 17
Date: June 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As an owner of the first three Close Combat games, I looked forward to getting the lastest installment dealing with the Battle of the Bulge.

I wasn't disappointed initially; the graphics and sound effects are top notch (I don't think real strategy games need 3-D); game play is easy and fun. Unfortunately, I grew bored with the scenarios fairly quickly.

The Battlemaker feature allows you to custom design battles and campaigns is a key component (for me) for the CC series. The Battlemaker option has kept me interested in previous versions long after the historic battles/campaigns have grown tiresome. In CC4, you can only pick entire battle groups (companies) instead of individual units. I don't like this. You have to link battles together in a Strategic level much like the preprogrammed historical campaigns. Thus, the Battlemaker is a little tedious. In previous incarnations, one could pick individual squads and units for both sides, pick a map, and go at it -- simple battles pitting a few squads against each other.

However, I do recommend this game to anyone who enjoys WW2 history and/or strategy games...

The greatest war simulation of all time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: December 08, 1999
Author: Amazon User

I must start by agreeing fully with the man above, that the sound is INCREDIBLE. I do not have a subwoofer or any fancy sound system whatsoever... nonetheless, the sound was awesome. However, I must beg to differ with the comment that the AI isn't all that great. In fact, it is some of the best AI I have ever seen for a strategy game! The men having the brains to stay behind cover when under fire, fear, and exhaustion were all highly realistic. The graphics have also improved over the previous title. I must admit that the tanks are a little hard to maneuver... but can you see the original W.W.II tanks turning as fast as Command & Conquer? They have become a lot smarter and quicker at aiming than they were in number 2. To sum it all up, I'll just say that this game is HIGHLY recommended by me. And only if you love as realistic a war simulation as possible in a fast moving real-time environment should you buy it.

Awesome Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: December 09, 1999
Author: Amazon User

If you've never played any of the games in the Close Combat series, you're missing out! The games are the most realistic stratigical recreation of WW2 battles. CC4 is the newest in the series and is centered around the Battle of the Bulge. In the game, you are in charge of a small set of teams (usually about 12) of solders. Each team has its own weapons and/or equipment. There are all kinds of weapons in the game but all are true-to-life and historically accurate. There is also the possibility to call in artillary birages and air strikes sometimes. All in all, the game is awesome and I highly recomend it. You can also play it online. And over LANs and modems. Buy the game if you like history, WW2, stratigy, or all of the above. If you don't, it's still a great game.

Close Combat 4:the Battle of the Bulge

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: January 13, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game and did not expect much(never have bought any from microsoft before). I was surprised! Loads and plays easy. HIGHly recommended. Being a former Marine, the battle sequence moves very fluid and fast paced. The book that comes with it is short, sweet and to the point. You don't have to spend hours with a manual to play this game. A must for any real time gamer, or a good introduction to real time games.

Great Game with bugs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: November 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I own the entire Close Combat series. My favorite is still CC2, but The Battle of the Bulge is definitely a close second.

First, what I like...

The use of multiple battlegroups as in CC2 has been returned. The addition of artillery and airstrikes is cool and does not disrupt game play. The ability to move battle groups on an overall map makes the game more interesting. The sounds are spectacular and there are lots of cool videos. Infantry units aren't useless as they were in CC3.

Now, what's wrong with the game...

The Germans are too easy to play with (American campaign is difficult but exciting)

The game has a severe bug that doesn't allow you to finish the grand campaign. The short of it is that once a map takes too much battle damage or has too many wrecks on it the entire campaign crashes. This can be fixed with a patch, however the patch doesn't work with all systems. The patch also fixes some other problems (IF YOU CAN USE IT!) including...adding Tigers into the game which were used extensively in the real Battle of the Bulge, improving tank AI which frankly was quite terrible at times, and other smaller details.

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