Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord

by Softek International

Product Features

• You'll become a commander in Europe, during the final years of the war, and experience the strategic thrills and combat action known by real soldiers -- from Normandy 1944, to Berlin 1945
• Choose to play any sort of squads, as Allied or Axis powers - drive through the plains, push into the wood & slug it out in the cities in 50 different scenarios
• Turn-based 3D combat where you'll handle the management side of war - choose firepower by weight & range, know tanks' penetration values at different ranges and more
• Accurate recreations of over 100 vehicles and 50 field pieces -- all common AFVs and artillery units used in Europe during WWII
• Multiple views of the map give you everything from a God's-eye view to the ground level with any unit

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00009V4AW
• Item Weight: 12 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: June 2, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,169 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Platform: PC

Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord takes you into the world of Word War II, more realistically than ever, with unparalleled depth and gameplay in true 3D environments! Build experience and keep morale high Movement and combat happen simultaneously, for the suspense of real combat as men & steel collide at once

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Series!, October 1, 2004

By 

Retroflow44 "Not that there are 44 others, mi... (Greater Philadelphia Region, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord (CD-ROM)

I was going to write a lot more about this game, but all I can say is that it's excellent, as are are the titles in this series. It's not going to be a game for everyone - it takes some patience and a lot of thought to make the outcome work for you. It's not an arcade game by any means. There is a lot of detail where it counts. The human figures are very simplistic as they're meant to be representations of an entire squad and not screen actors. The tank/vehicle/artillery textures are nicely done to make up for this.

If you don't know how to best utilize your troops and weapons, this will be a way to learn. The AI is pretty sharp once you understand the Human limitations it's governed by - ie line of sight and sound detection, etc. If the enemy doesn't attack you at a point on the map, that's not an AI glitch, that's a tactical advantage. You found a breech in the enemy defenses. Hurry, before they find out. Divide and conquer works here too.

In most scenarios, there's a lot of trees and buildings blocking the view of both sides, as well as the formation of the landscape - exploit these. Think like a Commander of troops, because that's what you're playing at. You really can't afford too many losses, and you will suffer too many if you make poor decisions in your Strategy and Tactics. This game is based heavily on Historic reality not Hollywood's - indeed, it's intended to be as realistic as possible minus the gore and physical pain. Most scenarios are recreations of real engagements, and if you play them as-is, you will have the same limitations that the soldiers had that day - low ammo, fatigue, morale issues, weakened units, etc. Other scenarios are admitted to be fictive.

Give it a go. At these prices you shouldn't be disappointed. It really is a good game - all 3 of them! These are the kinds of games I only dreamed about back in the 80s when the state-of-the-art was an Apple IIe and the first Castle Wolfenstein. We've come a long way from ASCII. And computer games have finally caught up with my imagination. I'm like a kid in candy shop right now.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most realistic WWII game I have played so far, April 28, 2004

By 

Martin Omander (Mountain View, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord (CD-ROM)

I was never quite satisfied with computer wargames before this one. Some other games are rigidly turn-based and use "opportunity fire" and similar strange constructs to make the game appear real-time. Other games are real-time, but you can give very detailed orders to any unit at any time. Even if every squad or machine-gun crew has a radio (which they didn't in WWII), it still takes time for a commander to gather information and get the orders out there. In a computer wargame all this is done by the computer simply updating the map, but this is very difficult to do quickly in real life. Needless to say, both approaches outlined above make for unrealistic games.

Combat Mission feels more realistic because you can only issue orders every 60 seconds. As you can't micro-manage your units, you have to use real tactics that were actually used in WWII, like overwatch, scouting etc. HQ units also do a good job of simulating command and control. If a platoon gets broken up, it becomes very difficult to control the squads effectively and it may take some time to put it together again.

Having said all this, the graphics in the game are good but not state of the art. If you want a movie-like experience, go for one of the first-person shooters. If you want to experience what it was like being a company or battalion commander in WWII, pick up Combat Mission.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Every Penny, May 20, 2005

By 

William Hopke (Titusville, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord (CD-ROM)

This is a good game. It really is worth every penny. However, the later versions, CMBB and CMAK, are better. None-the-less this is a great "we-go" game. In fact, for the price, it may be best to cut your teeth on this before going on to CMAK or CMBB.

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