Close Combat Trilogy

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00002SSU3
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,670 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Close Combat series redefined World War II tactical combat simulations and real-time strategy games by giving gamers a gritty game world that actually had some historical research behind it. No longer were real-time strategy fans forced to fight fictional alien races on bizarre worlds. Instead, the Close Combat series gives gamers a chance to lead World War II infantry squads, tanks, and other units through missions straight from history's headlines.

Close Combat let us relive D-Day battles, but unfortunately its shoddy graphics and limited play mechanics aren't aging too gracefully. The original just isn't in the same league as its superb successors, Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far and Close Combat 3: The Russian Front. Both upped the graphical ante for war games, serving up beautiful terrain that becomes scarred with pockmarks from mortar shells and tank fire as the battle progresses. The computer opponent is tough, and your own troops act in an eerily believable way. In a scene that could have been taken straight out of Saving Private Ryan, we had a few squads occupying a building, shooting it out with some Germans across the road, when one of the enemy soldiers scored a lucky hit on the soldier carrying the flamethrower. The fuel tank on his back exploded, taking out half the squad surrounding him, and that was it for the rest of the GIs in the building. No amount of cajoling could get them to stop running away from the scene of the disaster, despite the German machine guns chewing up the dirt around their feet. Moments like this, both panicked and heroic, happen all the time in these games.

Some gamers are put off by this series because it doesn't let them micromanage individual soldiers, and the morale model means squads sometimes do not follow orders. Those folks should stick to the sci-fi real-time strategy games. Anyone who wants a better appreciation for what combat was like in World War II (according to the accounts we've read) will find that the Close Combat Trilogy is one of the best bargains in gaming. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Games span three famous World War II battles
• Morale model makes this real-time game much more realistic than other strategy games
• Sound effects for the newest titles are terrific

Cons:

• Realistic morale model may frustrate some players
• The original Close Combat hasn't aged well

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolute Best WWII Genre game out there, January 4, 2000

By 

Jonathan Pass (Millville, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close Combat Trilogy (CD-ROM)

I am writing in defense of the first Close Combat, from the previus review. I have all 4 Close Combat games (bought individually). The first one came out in 96/97, and I felt that it was the best game ever made. Of course comparing it with the new ones, it would seem a bit weak. But consider that Close Combat one(the campaign to immeadiately follow the normandy invasion)was the very first game to incorporate such superb AI to a game. All the sound effect of every game are authentic to each weapon. .50 Cal sound like a .50 cal, MG42 sounds like an MG42 etc. Looking back from one to four (the trilogy has the first three games from Microsoft, the Fourth 'Battle of the Bulge not included in the trilogy is from SSI) it was so exciting to see how Atomic took the best ideas and improved them. Save for the first one, all the maps in the others were rendered from satalite picture of the actual locations (I confirmed this by reading and looking at pictures from the book :A Bridge Too Far). I can't say for the triology, but Each game manual had superb historical context (the original manual for the first game was by far the thickest of the lot, half of it just gave background and history) I truly can't say enough about these games. They are the absolute best strategygames ever created. Totaly authentic, totaly real, totaly believable. Being fascinated by the history of that period, these game bring it to a whole new demension. Still, for no other reason, get it for CC2 "a Bridge Too Far" That whole episode in the war is so compelling, the game just rules. See the movie (Same title Robert Redford, Gene Hackman, Sean Connery), read the book (Same Tilte), and then jump right in and make YOUR descions! It's great. They all are

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Value, December 8, 1999

By 

m c boykin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Close Combat Trilogy (CD-ROM)

Despite the inclusion of the outdated first version, At 39.99 this package represents one of the greatest values in Military Strategy games. "CCII, A Brige Too Far" is the jewel of this group, with "CCIII, The Russian Front" being a close second. Players should select gameplay options which allow them to wage battles as realistically as possible... i.e. soldiers do not always obey orders, commanders do not automatically have intelligence regarding enemy movement and strength, and quantity of troops does not always overcome quality of troops. Players who approach these games with this in mind will discover an AI which forces them to utilize sound tactics and principles ranging from counter reconnaissance and mutually supporting positions in the defense to economy of force, mass and infantry support of armor in the offense. Additionally, the requirement to carefully monitor your ammunition expenditures - particularly your crew served weapons and mortars- lends an even greater degree of realism. For players who might have difficulties with things like this initially, the game is easily tailored to weight your forces accordingly. Buy this package, put CCI in the recycling bin, and enjoy versions II and III for the next few years.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic for the History Buff, Adictive for the Gamer, March 10, 2002

By 

S. Miska (Germany) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Close Combat Trilogy (CD-ROM)

Close Combat provides a great interface for tactical combat in World War II. The first game depicts the Normandy scenario from the beach, through the hedgerows and beyond. CCII brings the Market Garden Operation to life with British and U.S. paratroopers slugging it out for bridges in Holland against the Germans in 1944. The third game portrays the Germans vs. the Russians on the Eastern Front.

I am a career infantryman in the Army and have served as a paratrooper in two different regiments that fought during Operation Market Garden. For me the single best aspect of all three games is their tactical realism. If you don't cover the movement of squads with smoke or suppressive fire, the enemy blows you away. The games allow for mechanized and light infantry combat, combined with indirect mortar fires. The developers did as good a job as could be done replicating the "fog of war" and I thoroughly enjoyed these games.

Highly recommended for history buffs and gamers alike. Several books and movies would enhance the novice's understanding of the games if unfamiliar with the history. "A Bridge Too Far" (the book or the movie) explains Operation Market Garden, the most ambitious paratroop assault ever. Stephen Ambrose has written several good books about the Normandy assault, and "D-Day" is a solid pick. Read anything about "Operation Barbarosa," the German code word for the Russian campaign.

Great games. Realistic and Fun!