bradywahl's Full Review: Close Combat: Invasion Normandy for Windows
This is the fifth in this series of games. Being familiar with the previous games, it was easy for me to jump right in and play.
Excluding the first Close Combat game, which was extremely primitive, the series has remained consistent since 1997 in quality and fun. Though there have been minor tweaks to the game over the years (the explosion and smoke effects are better than ever), Close Combat 5 is basically the same game as Close Combat 2. As I said, this makes playing easy if you've tried the previous games, but it also means a lack of big new features.
But features aren't the chief reason for liking Close Combat. The concept has been the games strong point all along. It's made specifically for someone like me. I find 3D shoot-'em-ups dull and assume they appeal more to idiotic mass-murderers-in-training. However, I find intellectual strategy games, the kind that are more like chess than warfare, to be boring as well. I need a little of the 'ol-blood-and-guts to make it exciting. Close Combat is the perfect compromise.
You maneuver 3-to-6-man units over a terrain map seen from a bird's eye view. You tell the soldiers where to go, when to hide, when to defend, but the soldier's AI tells them when to shoot and when to cower behind cover. That's the compromise. You don't have your finger on the trigger, but at least you are on the ground with the troops.
The terrain maps are amazingly detailed paintings of both towns and countryside seen from above. They really are like works of art. There are other nice visual details -- tanks and soldiers cast shadows on the ground, mortar and cannon fire leaves craters in the earth that remain on the map permanently, and, in Close Combat 5, the explosion and smoke effects are surprisingly realistic, like tiny movies of real explosions.
Though the AI can be frustrating (tanks sometimes drive in the opposite direction from where you tell them to), it's also the game's charm. I was introduced to Close Combat by a demo of the game that consisted of only one map, but I played that map over and over because enemy troops always made different and unique moves, making each time I played a unique experience.
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