piggywig's Full Review: Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far for Windows
Close Combat: A Bridge too Far (hereafter CC2) represents the high point of this series. The original Close Combat had fairly primitive graphics and only two movement speeds for the soldiers (walk and run). Since neither of these speeds involved crawling on the ground, sneaking up on an enemy was quite difficult. CC2 made the graphics much more attractive and the gameplay more compelling by increasing the number of movement options while at the same time creating defensive possibilities for ambushes. The terrain in the Netherlands where the campaign was fought is sufficiently varied to privide a variety of experiences. Perhaps most importantly, many of the scenarios are set in town or urban settings. This sharply reduces the usefulness of armor and makes it quite vulnerable to attack; thus there is a kind of balance between infantry and armor that keeps the game exciting. (This balance was completely lost in CC3 where infantry were rendered pretty much useless through open terrain and a variety of "improvements" to the close combat game engine).
CC2 is amazingly detailed in terms of modeling what the soldiers under your command do. First, there is a psychological model for each soldier; thus, individual soldiers exposed to stressful situations will panic, cower, stray off from the rest of their squad or surrender. Individual soldiers will also scavenge for ammunition from dead comrades if they are low or pick up a dead comrade's weapon as well. Moreover, there is not a perfect link between your orders for squad and what they ultimately decide to do. A squad encountering heavy fire or in trouble psychologically will simply refuse to follow orders. This is sensible and adds an important random element in planning.
All of this detail is wonderful, but it seems to come at the expense of the artificial intelligence of the computer opponent. Quite simply, the AI in this game is not the sharpest tool in the shed. After only a few games, it becomes easy to exploit the heuristics employed by the AI and win consisitently and with little loss. (Interestingly, the AI actually got WORSE in the sequels CC3 and CC4!)
Where the game really shines is in multiplayer! I've played dozens of games over the Internet on a 28.8 modem and then on a 56k modem. There is no noticeable lag and the communication is very stable. Few if any times did the game hang or otherwise terminate abnormally. When two humans are playing against each other, the experience is absolutely first-rate. There is a tremendous amount of tension in this game when playing another human as running unexpectedly into massed fire can quickly lead to chaos. As soldiers panic and get pinned down in unfavorable positions, it becomes difficult to extricate your men form an imperiled position without exposing your forces even further. The excitement of decision making in real-time in this type of situation is worth the price of the game by itself.
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