Combat Mission

[Bad.Mojo]

About two months ago I downloaded a demo for a game called combat mission from the Adrenaline Vault. It had been downloaded many times and had received excellent ratings, moreso than what I was used to seeing, even for Quake 3 or Unreal Tournament.

It was described as a war game, which had never really been my cup of tea. If anybody remembers the old war strategy games from way back when, you'll know what I mean. 2D "hex"/tile graphics, turn based, simple icons for troops.

Combat Mission, however, blows all this out of the water. The graphics are fully 3D, the options are virtually limitless. Alot of people have said the graphics look rudimentary. Consider that this game is rendering an open terrain of up to 3km square, with trees, allied and axis units, fully realized models for machine gunners, rifle men, platoon commanders with sidearms only, and over 100 vehicles, PLUS buildings, PLUS heightmapping, and you realize just how good the graphics are for what they're pushing. Throw on the fact that you can run this on a low end system like a 200 mhz, plus the fact that it's PC or Mac, and this is a worth while download.

My memory, thankfully, was jogged when I saw a review on the adrenaline vault... just wait until your riflemen up in a church are pinning down a german MG'er, and suddenly the building comes under fire from a Panzerschreck and a mortar squad, while your sherman tanks roll through the village, having a mobile fire fight with Panzers.

I'm seriously considering buying this game, and I am very finnicky. Anyways, check it out at www.battlefront.com.

Its worth it.

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[=JoLTeD=]

yah

The genre was never my thing, but it is a cool game and its graphics are pretty good, the vehicle models are incredible, and it's terrain is awesome. I gotta get better at this game, but overall its very awesome.

<img src=http://aa_jolted.tripod.com/sig.jpg>

 

[Mr. T]

I recommend buying it Mojo. This game is awesome. I bought it soon after trying the demo, and I've been playing it nonstop now for 2 weeks. It's very cool, in many many ways. The detail put into algorithms in the code behind the game is quite impressive.

The developers did their homework on the realism, and the game has a lot to offer. A large number of pre-generated scenarios and full operations that can consist of numerous battles. Each scenario can be played by either side for a different experience. Some of the scenarios are based on actual historical events. The game also features a random scenario generator, and a full scenario editor, which equals unlimited gameplay. You can customize the size of the forces, the weather, terrain, time of year, type of forces etc... You can choose to play with the U.S., German, Polish, British, French, or Canadian forces. There are already a large number of user created scenarios available for download.

It comes with a 160 page manual chock full of detail and instructions. Very thorough. I'm still reading through it, but I can't pull myself away from the game long enough to finish it.

Direct TCP/IP is not yet available, but will be made available soon via a patch. But you can play by e-mail if you choose to, and the Computer provides a worthy opponent. Their are sliding scales to allow you to tailor the computer's skill level or to tweak the advantage through providing more or less troop numbers.

I really can't say enough good things about it. I can understand complaints about the graphics not being as sharp as you might like, but it's more than adequate for my tastes, and the sounds are excellent, in my opinion. This game isn't about fancy looks anyway, it's the gameplay that keeps you coming back for more.

[This message was edited by Mr. T on Aug 07, 2000 at 00:13.]

 

[Bad.Mojo]

I have to disagree about the graphics, I think they're awesome. I was looking at the screenshots, and I noticed the SS double-lighting bolt pattern on the collar of the SS men... very detailed. For the game engine to be pushing the much detail at once... its amazing. Do you think UT could handle multiple buildings, tree sprites, height maps, hundreds of men, and dozens of vehicles, all the while tracking ballistics, ranges, armour penetration values, casualty reports, men in the squad, etc?

I wouldn't be surprised if the game pushes polys than UT or Q3A

<img src="http://badmojojacket.homestead.com/files/bmj.gif" alt="Bad.Mojo: Born to Kill">

 

[Mr. T]

Well I can't argue with that. The individual vehicle and soldier models are very detailed. No question about it. I guess I was comparing the 3D terrain to Shogun Total War. Shogun's terrain representation is superior, but Shogun represents the men on the battlefield as 2D sprites. CM uses 3D models for every infantry unit and vehicle in the game, and yes they are very detailed. With that said, the 3D terrain still looks plenty good enough for my tastes, and much better than any game I've played in the wargame genre.

Anway, my point about the gameplay would still apply regardless of your personal preference in detailed graphics. It's not right to judge this game on it's quality of graphics. Just the fact that a 3D battlefield of any kind is used, regardless of looks, adds so much to it's gameplay value.

[This message was edited by Mr. T on Aug 07, 2000 at 16:32.]

 

[Bad.Mojo]

I remember the first time I saw a Volksgrenadier squad pinned down by a sherman, I was zoomed in, and the 3-man representation of the squad was crawling away, while shells landed beside them, picking them off one by one... you just can't beat detail like that.

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[Lance201]

hm don´t like it because it is turn based !!!!

LCPL TWENTY

 

[Mr. T]

It's not turn based in the traditional fashion, it's much better. There are player turns alternated with 60 seconds of real time action. Each player during a turn plots out troop and vehicle positions, establishes targets, sets up ambush points etc... simultaneously. It's not a you go, then I see what you did, then I go setup. Both players take their turn simultaneously. This is followed by 60 seconds of real time action that acts out both player's orders at the same time. After the 60 seconds you can replay the action as many times as you like and from any angle, allowing you to thoroughly analyze what is happening and make adjustments accordingly.

This works out very well in providing the most fun for both players. You never know what the enemy might try next, so you need to be prepared for anything. I also think it contributes greatly to the realism of the game. You cannot give orders during the real time action phase, you can't program your units like robots and expect them to respond instantly to your orders with a remote control in the middle of a battle. You need to lay out orders ahead of time based on a carefully planned strategy, and then hope for the best. You are dependent on your careful planning and the tenacity and overall effectiveness of your troops to pull through for you. There's always a chance everything could go to pot if your infantry units come up on a concealed Panzer division waiting on the other side of a hill. Or your units could panic and run and blow the whole plan out of the water. IMO, the AI is very good at recognizing certain situations that may develop and responding in a realistic fashion. (Not always how you would like your troops to respond, but such is the case in real life)

Mr. T

[This message was edited by Mr. T on Aug 08, 2000 at 11:27.]