Amazon.com Product Description

Take command of either Confederate or Union troops and command them to attack from the trees, rally around the general, or do any number of other realistic military actions. The AI reacts to your commands as if it was a real Civil War general, and offers infinite replayability. The random-scenario generator provides endless variations on the battles. You can also test your strategic skills against a real-life opponent through a LAN or via the Internet. ... Read more

Reviews (39)

VG game, needs a major overhaul for XP
I love Sid Meier's games.I had never played Gettysburg before but have always been fascinated by the battle.I picked up the Civil War Collection for under $20 the other day and have been both exhilarated and significantly disappointed with it.

First, the exhilarating stuff:

The gameplay is very interesting and can be extremely challenging.I've been playing RTS games for years, including AoE, AoK, AoKTC, Empire Earth, Empires: DMW, RoN, AoM and a couple of others.Gettysburg is refreshing compared these games because your sole focus is fighting (no economy to micro-manage) and the fighting is far more historically accurate than other RTS games in terms of the use of formations, flanking attacks, morale and line of sight.

Take note that another recent review has stated some things that aren't correct: Brigade commanders can move regiments at the Double-Quick simply by pressing "Q" while the Commander is selected, and while the units are already moving to a destination.Also incorrect is the assertion that cannon do not fire "canister" rounds at close range.This element of game design is transparent, but it is noted in the manual that all cannon (especially Napoleon batteries) do more damage from close range than from a distance - in order to simulate the use of canister rounds by intelligent artillery officers, so no need to micro-manage this.

Second, the not so good stuff:

The game is now 8 years from original release, and it shows in ways that are crucial to the player's ability to actually play it.Most players are using Windows 2000 or XP these days, and the Antietam and South Mountain add-on games don't actually work fully on XP.There is no sound for the add-ons, which is a shame because they are actually newer code than the original Gettysburg is.Of course, Firaxis has a "patch" that "allows" the Windows XP platform to run the game, but the patch is incomplete and there are still major issues with the game as a result.For instance, one can't see the name of saved games when trying to reload an ongoing battle!Also, there are issues with map scrolling which cripple enjoyment of the game.Specifically, after loading up the game and playing the first scenario of the day, you cannot continue to the next scenario in sequence because the map will not scroll at all.So you are forced to shut down CWC and restart it to get the scrolling screen back.This is VERY annoying.

I've tested these issues on two completely different XP machines over the last week, and it is a consistent problem with both with a default install of the game (default directories, etc.).The game is broken; perhaps because of a DirectX incompatibility (I have 9.0c (latest version) on both XP systems.

So, very good game with major bugs for XP users.If you're still running Windows 98, go ahead and get it.Sid, please have Firaxis fix/update this game!

Game play and historic accuracy poor
The game play is clumsy.For example, if your units are all bunched together, trying to select a specific brigade is difficult.You may click on a unit of that brigade, but for some reason, it doesn't select the brigade.Secondly, selecting a brigade commander is supposed to allow you to move all units in that brigade at once.That works - except your brigade commander doesn't have the option to move your units 'double quick', so you end up needing to move each brigade separately if you want them to get to their destination quickly.

The historic accuracy of the game might be there as far as the landscape and units available, but as far as how the units were deployed, it fails miserably.For example, in the pickett's charge scenario, the confederacy startsvery close to the union and the union army is not dug in (what happened to the stone wall that protected the union forces which Longstreet used as one of his main reasons not to attack? He reminded Lee that the confederates had one a battle in the past because they were protected by a similar wall).Even in the intro, it says the confederacy needs to march 1 mile to reach the union (this is false - in reality they had to march 2 miles).In the real battle, the confederacy were slaughtered long before they reached the union - part way along the march, they had to get over a fence, which bunched up their forces and made them especially vulnerable to union cannon - none of this is reflected in the game.

By distorting such crucial strategic points, they can not hope to claim that this in anyway puts you in a true historic battle.One may dismiss these descrepencies, but these strategic points are exactly why one side or the other succeeds.

Speaking of cannon, there is very little variety - cannon at the time, if they did any research for this game, would show everything from grapeshot to cannister.The game doesn't offer any options for what to fire.

I don't understand these other reviews that give so many stars to the game.Its clumsy and historically inaccurate.Maybe the other reviewers are so desperate to finally have someone pay attention to their hobby by making a civil war game that they are incapable ofreviewing it critically.

A Patch for Windows 2000 and XP
There is a download available at the firaxis.com website to allow Civil War to run on Win2K and XP.

Excellent Civil War Package!
This set is a must for the Civil War buff and the gamer who likes historically-based games!

With real-time strategy, you are attacking and defending while the computer is doing the same thing.In my humble opinion, this is more entertaining and realistic than the turn-based games.

Both Gettysburg and Antietam offer several scenarios of two categories:historical (your chance to replay and perhaps change the outcome of what actually happened in the battles) and speculative (a chance to play and win "what if" scenarios that did not happen in the battles, i.e.- one Gettysburg scenario has Stonewall Jackson present - an interesting scenario indeed!).

The graphics for both battles are excellent.Since I have visited both battles several times, I was readily able to identify terrain features for both battles.

The player is also allowed to choose either North and South and the level of difficulty - in my opinion, these are excellent features.

Buy and enjoy the set!Highly recommended!

Reply to Trenton NJ
My husband loves these games...but couldn't get them to work when we upgraded our computer.Go to www.firaxis.com, then choose DOWNLOADS at top of the page.There is a download for the civil war games to make them compatible to Windows XP.The Gettysburg game we still get an error message, but if you choose to run it from the Programs menu, it's fine.Good luck! ... Read more

Features

• Gather armies, raise fortifications and lead the charge against false priests and prophets
• Use combat tactics and incredible magic together, to conquer new territories and hold them against reprisals
• Create prophets to spread your gospel to new lands -- and empower them to work miracles in your name
• Develop castles and forts to defend new conquests, and craft powerful magic items to give your strongest defenders
• Beware of your rivals -Other gods will create strange beasts and mighty heroes to stop you - the more they beat you, the stronger they get

Reviews (8)

The most addictive game since Civilization
This is truly an amazing game, especially considering it's made by a small independent developer. There's a virtually infinite number of different unit types, spells and magic items so the game never gets repetitive (and this is possible *because* it doesn't rely on massive amounts of graphics). The different nations each have their own style of play. The AI is challenging even when set to "easy". You can download new maps and other modifications from the internet.

I only reduced the rating to 4 because of problems with the interface. It has a sort of unfinished feel to it. For example when the game ends, it always exits to windows rather than the main menu. Also, running a multiplayer game is very difficult and requires executing two instances of the game simultaneously.

An playable multiplayer turn based strategy game
Difficult to learn and an awkward user interface - besides that, this is the best turn-based strategy game I ever played!

It is ideal for Offline-Multiplayer (Serverbased or via PBEM), since all players take their turns simultaneously, which allows PBEM games to be finished within reasonable time. Highly customizable. OS independent.

Disappointed by WalordsIV, I am now very happy to finally have found a cute, playable, turn-based fantasy strategy game.

If you're a fan of the old classics...
If you aren't daunted by a little detail in a turn-based strategy game, and you don't mind graphics that fall short of the "latest eye candy test", and you're willing to spend some time bringing yourself up the learning curve, you'll LOVE this game.

If you find any of the above 3 make you doubt, you probably shouldn't get it. But for me, a turn-based strategy junky to the core, this game is an absolute gem. Probably the best I've bought in the last 5 years. For a specific niche of gamer out there, this one is extraordinary.

Try for yourself.
Dominions 2 is a fantastic leap into TBS on an Epic scale. Huge Gods battling for supremacy by any means possible. Genocide, reckless magic, and disregard for humanity to be the last god of the panthenon.

A steep learning curve, especially for perfectionists it provides you with a simulation of fantasty combat as opposed to actual historical combat.

Low end graphics are balanced with the fact there are so many of them along with additional abilities.

A must for those who love 4X and TBS games. Not for everyone and documentation that does not do the game justice, it is hard to get into, but if you can get past the "I'm LOSING and I don't know why!" feeling, you will be well worth it.

this is a STRATEGY game!
I emphasize strategy. What you will not find are fancy graphics, studio sound, arcade action, cheats, or a killer strategy that will win every time. This game is wonderfully balanced with 17 nations (another in the works), 1100 units, 400 spells, 400 magic sites, 250 magic items, and much more. But the neat thing is that they give you what you need to play in YOUR style. Berserker, defensive, researcher, swarmer, sneak, diplomatic, whatever. Instead of feeling like you are learning the strategies that the developer had in mind for you to learn, you can actually develop your OWN tactics and surprises. There are people who have played it over a year and still come up with new things to try. (and yes, its one of those games which will ACTUALLY survive on your machine for a year) ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

On the heels of their successful Shogun: Total War Creative Assembly moves back in time and westward on the map to shed some light on the Dark Ages. Medieval: Total War concerns the power struggles of pre-Renaissance European kings and Middle Eastern powers, as well as the conflict between the last vestiges of paganism and the growing influences of Islam, the Orthodox (Eastern) Church, and the Roman Catholic Church. These were violent and passionate times to be sure, perfect for a historical strategy game that thrives on brutality, dynasty, and war.

There are three time periods to choose from, the earliest of which features more fragmented factions and primitive weaponry, the last represents a more unified period where most power struggles have been decided and gunpowder has entered the scene. With three time periods and 12 factions representing three different religions, there's a lot of replay value in the strategic game alone.

Like Shogun, the game is divided into two parts: strategic and tactical. The strategic part features a map of Europe, some of Asia, and some of Africa. It's divided into territories à la Risk or Axis & Allies, and each territory represents a kingdom. Each faction begins with its own holdings and must quickly begin to out produce and conquer its neighbors. Each kingdom has its own population, loyalty rating, economy, and religious affiliations. Installing a feared or loved general as governor can enhance the kingdom, but giving an unscrupulous general the job could lead to revolt. Building structures can enhance the kingdom as well; a dock or a salt or silver mine can lead to riches while a castle protects. A bowyer or spear maker can outfit new troops. As time progresses, your king will grow old, have children, and die. If he dies without a male heir a revolution can occur. Daughters are used primarily to reward your governors and generals or offered to allies as wives.

The tactical portion of the game is the 3-D battlefield, complete with deserts, rivers, rolling hills, forests, mountains, and the vast rainy plains of England. It is here that you will decide the fate of your empire. You have to use terrain effectively to win, managing your varied troops with efficiency and skill: pikemen against mounted troops, mounted troops against archers, archers against pikemen. The specialized troop types of the Turkish, Byzantine, French, and other cultures offer unique abilities and open up combat options to wily generals. Guiding the actions of thousands of meticulously researched troops and watching them execute historical military maneuvers on a giant battlefield is a joy, but if deep tactical combat is not to your liking, you can skip individual battles or have the computer control them for you. Creative Assembly added sieges to the game as well, and those can be spectacular undertakings--complete with castle walls, sorties, and machines of war. A multiplayer option is offered, but only using the tactical battle engine. There are also a few warfare only historical battles and scenarios.

The two halves of the game make a rich whole. The AI is sharp, and a sense of history permeates the game. From the eerie medieval chanting that underscores playing as a Western power to the lively Islamic music that you'll hear if you play as a Middle Eastern power. The game recreates history well, but more importantly it's also fantastic to play. --Bob Andrews

Pros:

• Excellent gameplay; strong AI
• Two perfect game engines working together

• Deep, intellectual subject matter might be too dense for some
• Multiplayer only exists in battle mode

Features

• 400 Years of Medieval Warfare - From the preaching of the first crusade in 1095 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Guide your kingdom's fortunes through the early dominance of the feudal knights and longbowmen to the emergence of gunpowder and the advent of heavy siege cannons and handguns.
• Turn-Based - An in-depth turn based game, where players must manage the affairs of their kingdom by forging strategic alliances and marriage treaties, creating trade routes, constructing castles, deploying naval power, training warriors and more.
• Real Time Strategy - Spectacular battles featuring over 10,000 troops in real-time 3D terrain over hundreds of distinct battlefields from the lush farmlands of Western Europe to the arid deserts of North Africa.
• 12 Playable Factions - Each with distinct playing styles and unique units, including the English, German, Byzantine, French and Turkish Empires.

Reviews (195)

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does your computer need a 3d acellerator card???? to play shogun total war
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Look at All of the Wonderful Things to Eat!
The download and install were uneventful, if rather long. The mod is available in two sizes: small (28MB) and large (140MB). I chose the large version and downloaded from the mirrors available in this forum post. The mod itself will automatically install itself into the Medieval: Total War directory on the player's hard drive, so the process is as hassle-free as they come. Once done, simply fire up the game as always.

Immediately noticeable upon starting a campaign is that the game is now running in version 2.0 (without any other patches applied), some basic screen art additions, alterations, and a big, sloppy smorgasbord of new features. If the player truly loves medieval European history, Medieval: Total War XL may be the only game played for months, if not years to come.

Choosing a faction and era to play in almost made my head explode, in the best way. Besides the additional factions added by the Viking Invasion pack (Hungarians, Sicilians, and the Aragonese), the XL pack doubles the amount of playable factions to include Armenians, Bulgarians, the Crusader States, the Knights Hospitaller, Lithuanians, Norwegians, Portuguese, Scots, Serbs, and the Teutonic Knights. Older factions like Italy are broken up between two new factions: the Genoese and the Venetians, and formerly unplayable factions like the Golden Horde and the Papacy are now playable. All of the old factions (English, French, Spanish, Holy Roman Empire, etc.) are still all playable as well, of course. In addition to doubling the amount of playable factions, the Medieval: Total War XL mod also adds a number of faction specific units: every faction now has at least two or three unique units. Some are modeled on older unit models, but some are all new creations added by VikingHorde himself.

Many of the newer units are ethnically and geographically based, such as Slav Javelin men, found in Balkan provinces, and some very exotic Eastern European and Islamic units. As I applied both the Viking Invasion pack and the Medieval: Total War XL mod back to back, it was difficult for me to be able discern which were added by the modder and which were "officially added" by Creative Assembly. It can only be to the modder's credit that determining the difference was no easy task.

Besides new units and factions, the map has been further broken into additional, historically accurate provinces. They are scattered across the entire original map, throughout every region, and are subtle and not noticeable until the player really gets a chance to study the map by investing some game time. Other more subtle changes to the programming of Medieval: Total War are tweaks to the economics of the game, specifically trade balances and farming income.


The Medieval: Total War XL patch is a little slice of gaming heaven, but alas, it's not absolutely perfect. There are scattered little typos in some of the added in-game text. Nobody is perfect, and I know this may not bother some, but as an editor and writer I couldn't help but notice them. More importantly, the load time between turns on the strategic map has become absolutely spirit-crushing. On some occasions it took the AI up to three or four minutes to complete its moves, much greater than the time it took for the same turns in the old Medieval: Total War. The game never actually crashed, but it appeared to be hung up. It only occurred on the strategic map, and there was no slow-down in any other parts of the game. The turn was always [eventually] completed, but I was able to leave the room, do the laundry, and let out the dog on some occasions between moves. Hopefully this is addressable in an available patch somewhere, because the Medieval: Total War XL mod is terrific and absolutely immersive. The replay value evident with Medieval: Total War XL goes beyond any other game I can recall, with such a variety of factions, units, and provinces to explore that any Medieval: Total War fan will be entertained for a very long time. Despite the problems, Medieval: Total War XL is a great demonstration of what PC wargaming can be: engaging, expandable, entertaining, and even [gasp!] educational. Wargamers with a taste for a more distant, darker history owe it to themselves to check out the Medieval: Total War XL mod.

The best strategy game i've ever played
This game was great. The battles were amazing, and it what they use on History Channel's Descisive Battles. Wonderful graphics, it was like a Lord of the Rings movie. The only part I wasn't thrilled about was the board game-like map. It could have been a little more interactive. Anyway, if you buy this game, you will not be wasting your money.

Battle Axes, Brew & Plunder!
You sit hunched near the prow of the Longboat, listening to the oarsmen gasp as they heave against their burden and shove the boat bearing steely death through the North Sea.There is a close, deadly chill, but the sea is cloaked with a thick and heavy fog that roils up off the whitecaps like steam, as if the furnaces of Hell churned beneath the waves.The Huskarls were blessed by the Jarl's priest hours ago; they clutch their battle-axes and snarl through their teeth, their faces streaked with a cow's blood, the berserker rage upon them.

Soon the dragon's prow will gouge into the Saxon shore; soon your berserker-band will leap across the side and crush skulls, spill blood, scatter the feeble enemy, rape and pillage and burn and plunder.You will drink the enemy's blood in a cup forged of his feeble skull and sing of Valhalla.You will not sully the honor of your ancestors.You will stare up to heaven and cry out in victory under the eternal one-eyed glare of Odin the All-Father.

********

The Omens warn of Death and Destruction.Just a fortnight ago, you watched as the heavens were filled with fire.The earth itself has turned against your people; the fields lie fallow, the crops barren, the yields puny.The people starve.Dogs run feral in the woods, even in the streets.

Your Saxon grandfather's grandfather hacked his way into this unforgiving wilderness, pushed the barbarian Celts back into the western hills, forged a life and a kingdom.You wear that uneasy crown even now, but God---how that cold iron crown digs down into your skull.The Christian priest speaks of the armor of the Lord, but how much more would you give for stronger steel and more men against the coming of this new scourge: orange-haired giants stealing throught the fog in their dragon ships, wielding steely scythes of death, slaying your men and defiling your women.They wear horned helms like the Demons the priests preach against.They are barbarians, savages, bloodthirsty monsters.They are thescourge of an uncaring God: they are the Vikings.

*******

A year ago I picked up "Medieval: Total War" (the original, without the Viking Invasion expansion).Several beer barrels of coffee and three sleepless nights later, I decided Medieval was the single most addictive videogame I had ever played.I picked up the full Battle Collection last week, armed only with the modest expectation of a minor tweak to the basic game that would enable me to send hordes of screeching, beer-guzzling horn-helmed warriors roaring across Anglo-Saxon England.

Boy was I wrong.

Here's what you need to do: if you just got Medieval Total War: Battle Chest, you absolutely must load up Viking Invasion.It's not just an expansion: it's a massive overhaul to the MTW game engine that boosts immeasurably the original's playability, and (sigh) addictiveness.The flaws that hampered the original---and occasionally brought the game to a screeching halt or aborted it altogether---have been fixed.

Now there are four ages to choose from: the original three and the Viking Age (from 793 A.D. through the Norman Conquest in 1066).Apart from the Viking-era powers circa 793 A.D., you can now play an additional three factions: Hungary, the Kingdom of Sicily, and Aragon.The expansion includes a horde of new units to further your ambitions and smash those who oppose your imperial will: Slavic footmen, Hungarian Jobbagy, Russian Druhzina cavalry, Arab infantry, ferocious Heavy Steppe Infantry, the brutal Organ Gun, and of course the Viking units: miserable Viking thralls, doughty Viking landsmen, Saxon Fyrdmen, and fierce Viking huskarls.

Best of all, the design flaws that made the original Medieval: Total War nearly unplayable as the game progressed past 1300 have been fixed or eliminated:

1) Rebellions: In the old game, I would curse as constant rebellions turned my imperial map into a bloodbath of red, leaving islands of rebel armies knotted across my kingdom.Invading?You could count on a massive "rebel" or loyalist army left in your wake---piles of chivalric knights and feudal footmen boasting technology not available to the most advanced power on the gameboard!

Rebellions will still break out, and if you leave a region undermanned or overtaxed for years there's always a chance some long-vanquished pretender to a throne will resurface to unite the disaffected---but overnight rebel super-armies are long gone.

2) Ragnarok Abort Bug!Happily done away with.The original MTW used to be nasty to abort in mid-game, or when you went to save, or when you looked at the computer crosswise.Since loading up the Viking expansion I haven't had the game abort once.

New Stuff:Using archers against an enemy building?Light `em up with flaming arrows!Digging in against an enemy siege? Laugh it up as the gatecrashers scream in agony as you dump boiling oil on them.

The sleek new Battle Summary screen is also nice: now you get a full-screen display with a 360-degree view of the countryside, pictures of both unit leaders, details on both sides (if you've got spies or watchtowers), and an option to tailor your units before you get them on the battlefield.

A quick word about the Viking era itself: ever wanted to dispense with all the careful maneuvering, throw the battle-axes and ale kegs into the dragon-prowed longboats and just sail off to raid and plunder the British isles, and generally kill people and break things?Play the Vikings.

Enough talk!Open up the doors to the Temple of Odin!Raise your tankards to Loki in the drinking hall!Let the raids commence!

JSG

Great game, except.......
Total War: Medieval is very enjoyable, but it has an unendurable glitch -- the program occasionally aborts and returns to the operating system, without saving the game. This happens usually during battles.

My computer exceeds all system requirements, and this is simply unacceptable. It ruins an otherwise fine game.

After the 4th or 5th "abort", I broke the CD to spare myself further frustration. No more Activision for me. It is unbelievable (in 2004) that a company can market a product with this kind of glitch. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

This first collection of Battleground games has a decidedlyNapoleonic theme, and is a terrific way for fans of Talonsoft's acclaimed CivilWar games to get better acquainted with this exciting time in military history.

You can begin at the end (for Napoleon, anyway) with Battleground 3:Waterloo, then progress to later games in the series: Battleground 6:Napoleon in Russia--The Battle of Borodino, and Battleground 8: Preludeto Waterloo--The Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras. Rounding out the packageis Age of Sail, a real-time naval warfare simulation that lets playerscaptain vessels in many conflicts, but mainly those that took place during theNapoleonic wars. This was the weakest game of the bunch, but it still delivereda great deal of fun.

We were more drawn in by the land combat games, which model Napoleonic battleswith a great deal of realism despite their turn-based structure. The battleslisted in the titles are included (some are broken into pieces for easier play),along with numerous hypothetical engagements that provide some interestingpossible answers to the questions that students of these battles ask most often.

These titles have some of the best terrain and unit graphics ever to grace thewar-game genre--it's almost like playing with miniatures. Cavalry charges andhistorical unit formations are modeled very well, making this a must-havecompilation for fans of the period and war-game fanatics of all stripes. --T.Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Fun games model a fascinating time in military history
• Nice graphics for a war game

• Age of Sail seems like an afterthought for the bundle
• Lack of printed manuals makes the games more difficult to learn than theyshould be

Reviews (1)

Napoleon in Decline
This Battlepack by Talonsoft allows the the diehard wargamer a last chanceto succeed where the mighty French Emperor failed on land and at sea. TheBattleground series has never looked or worked better than in thischessmatch type turnplay.Napoleon in Russia offers you a chance todestroy the Russian Army of the Czar at Borodino. Having chased theRussians from the Elbe to this small town outside Smolensk, the RussianArmy finally decides to stand and fight. In what was the largest battle ofthe Naploenic period to that point, whether the Russians or the French andallies you have tremendous forces at hand. As Napoleon will you commit theguard And finish the Russian Army ?. Napoleon chose not to do so, as theywere his last reserve on the March to Moscow. You face no such dilemma.This is the only shortcoming, a lack of context as to how your success orfailure affects an entire campaign. If you care about context try the nexttwo, Prelude to Waterloo and Waterloo. Where your success or failure inPrelude to Waterloo can be used to setup Waterloo. No excuses here, youcontrol the campaign from start to finish. Command and control allows youto better co-ordinate the destruction of the Prussians at Ligny, therebyremoving them from the battle at Waterloo. Prelude offers a chance to winthe campaign on the first day where the Emperor`s Army failed. We do notwant to hear about your piles or the failure of your subordinates. The fateof the Emperor`s 100 Days is in your hands. All three offer vastbattlefieds, a variety of units and will truly test your tactical abilitiesin the warfare of the period. Morale and organization are key. Cavalrycharges can be deadly, but must be timed perfectly. Infantry, the queen ofbattle, can be used in a variety of formations. They are the key tovictory. Combined arms tactics must be used or your forces will bedestroyed piecemeal. The chance to plan the last great campaign of Napoleonis a must for the Napoleonic enthusiast or the Wellington who wants to showit was more than just a bad day for the Emperor. From Dry land we turn tothe sea. Was it all " rum sodomy and the lash"? Play any one of anumber of Nations. Are you a Nelson? or a Villeneuve? Refight the Battlesof the Nile or Trafalgar or smaller fleet actions. Can you lead the Frenchto that ever elusive naval victory? Ships of all classes are represented.Realism includes prevailing winds, crew experience, ship quality battleformations, you can almost smell the salt air.Is this too glowing of areview? These games really highlight the turn-style gameplay of theBattleground series better than any others. The system and the games workwell together.The land battles are Leviathans, but can be played insmaller actions, although there is a unique feeling trying to recreate anentire battle or campaign and change history. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Close Combat: Invasion Normandy is the fifth game in the highly acclaimed Close Combat series. Play as the Allies or the Germans in the World War II's most dramatic battle. Sneak attacks, stalwart defenders, spies, and saboteurs are among the surprises available to both sides. The improved campaign system allows movement of multiple battle groups on a scrolling strategic map of the Cotentin peninsula. An all-new battle-group screen allows you to not only customize your own battle groups but your enemy's as well. The option to play with historical conditions extends even to the weather and its effects on air and naval support availability. Track the progress of your men from battle to battle, as they improve their combat skills and earn medals. With dynamic map tracking, the shell holes, trenches, and vehicle wrecks you create today will be there tomorrow. Tactical successes and failures will have a direct impact on strategic play with extended continuity from battle to battle. Create your own battles, operations, and campaigns with the scenario editor. Review the action in-depth on the improved battle debriefing and soldier screens. Play head-to-head via TCP, UDP, serial connection, modem, or the Internet, with free matchmaking services. ... Read more

Reviews (33)

Not For Action, But For Strategy
This is a game that you will probably find yourself playing many, many times, depending on whether or not your intentions for purchasing the game are for action or strategy.
Historically, I felt it did a great job of duplicating the scenarios of the real invasion of Normandy.Hedgerows were a major nuisance for the Allied forces and it was that way in Close Combat 5, as well.It makes it hard to put the tanks into some sort of effective use, without the help of supporting infantry.Sometimes the amount of troops allowed to fight in a battle were actually too large to be historically accurate, when considering the scattered drops of the U.S. airborne, and that made offensive moves in this game too easy, but it really didn't take away much from the game.In all honesty, it wouldn't have been much fun to lead an attack with only a group of men the size of a few squads.
Strangely enough, an entire division is lost if it's involved force, in a battle, loses every man.Although not the entire division participates in the battle, the entire division will no longer exist, as if the rest of it is disbanded.
Overall, the game was much fun for me.I was interested in learning more about Operation Overlord, and the involvement of the U.S. in World War 2, and found this game to be very helpful, although I could still tell which historical aspects were true, and which were inaccuracies due to the game itself.
I read a review that described that, in the beach landings, there weren't enough bullets whizzing in the air and that it basically seemed too tame.But this game focuses on Utah Beach, not Omaha.Utah WAS much tamer, and had much fewer casualties, so don't expect a slaughter.Besides that, the "Atlantic Wall" that the reviewer talked about being climbed was not the Atlantic Wall, but a simple sea wall.This game is much more realistic than you may have been led to believe.And, yes, sometimes the aim of the soldiers was horrible and humorous at the same time, but the cons are outweighed by the pros.Strategy is definitely the way to go in this game.Don't expect to win battles by charging the enemy head on.

close combat : normandy
I think that C.C.I.N is great unlike C.C. 1 & 2 This one has better graphics,experiance and fun! i would say anyone who liked C.C. the russian front would like this A+++++ 5 star class!

Ironically, the name shows where the game fails most.
I loved the series when it debuted - primitive, yeah, but fun nonetheless. CC2 moved the series a step in the right direction - music to the ears of fans of the genre. Fast forward to Invasion Normandy, and it's honestly hard to see what's worth playing anymore.

Gameplay: terrible. For a series which prides itself heavily on AI, this game has little, if none. Units will often hold their fire, even if an inferior enemy unit is cleary charging right at them. Line-of-sight problems plague the entire game, with areas of identical elevation and free of obstacles sometimes being impossible to fire at - it's sometimes even impossible to fire at an elevated position, which is otherwise visible.

Another thing - unit worth and accuracy. Units such as snipers, mortar teams, etc. are basically useless. You would think a sniper could easily pick off a stationary target, not hidden behind cover, at a distance of 50 metres - not so. Mortars seem to land in random locations, and, even if it graphically appears as though it would have taken out a whole squad, they're left miraculously unharmed. There are many instances where I will have an enemy scout unit surrounded by an entire platoon, and, although the maximum distance will be 30 metres, the enemy will be on an area of no cover (i.e. middle of the road), the nearly one hundred bullets per second raining down on them will fail to hit - and this pathetic little squad will STILL manage to take out enemies while under massive suppression. Not only that, but AT squads are nearly useless as well, since they have a tendency to miss 99% of the time, and the 1% where the round would hit, it will instead land on the other side of the tank - which is physically impossible, since in reality, rockets go in straight lines, and this isn't duplicated properly. The tedious 20-metre engagements between whole platoons for 10 minutes is so ridiculous, I feel like I'm fighting on a battlefield full of Gomer Pyles.

Still, passing the game is incredibly simple, ... and, somehow, inferior German forces. I found it hilarious in the invasion scenarios that there wasn't even any gunfire raining down on the beach, and that the Atlantic Wall could easily be climbed by the average person - STRAIGHT OUT CLIMBED.

I'm getting pissed off at this game just thinking about it. The last thing I need is to play a game where everyone's aim is about as good as an extra in a Schwartzenegger movie...

Storm The Beach!
I have always been a close combat fan since the series came out. The game is fun overall, but can get dragging at times. I do like how the game is focused more on the infantry, rahter than heavy armor. Sounds are great, graphics are great, game play is great, but my only complaint is that there is no zoom in button. I know other CC games had them and I don't know why this one shouldn't have one. But that is ok. The planning feature of the game is intersting too. You are in control of what forces you are sending in as back up. The game is fun, especially if you are a hard core CC fan. There isn't much of a huge improvement over any of the other CC games, but like I said it is still fun to play. I hope they come out with more theaters of combat in future installments.

Invasion Normandy returns to Close Combat's roots
Close Combat: Invasion Normandy is probably the best recent title in the Close Combat series.It returns to Normandy, the battle ground for the first CC title.You are commanding either the US divsions invading at Utah Beach or the Germans trying to stop them.No Tommies in this one!Personally, I would have liked to have been able to control British troops as well.Invasion Normandy puts the emphasis back on infantry and returns the armor to its support role.For those of you who thought that The Russian Front had way too much armor in it, then you will be happy to know that in Invasion Normandy most of the missions have no more than two armored vehicles to each side.Of course at times there are more, but for the most part this is an infantry strategy game.In some of the battles between the airborne divisions there isn't any armor at all!

Game play is still pretty much same as compared to previous CC titles.During campaigns, you can now control your different battalions movements on the overall strategic map.This lets you move your battalions forward to take a new section of the Cotentin Peninsula and assign your mortar barrages, naval bombardments, and air strikes to battalions that you think will need them the most.It adds another dimension to the game and makes you think a little more. And sit back and enjoy the show when your naval bombardment comes from the 13in guns on a battle ship!!!

The graphics have been improved slightly since The Russian Front.I haven't played Battle of the Bulge, so I don't know how the graphics compare there.The AI is still...well the usual CC AI.The infantry AI has never been that all that bad.The armor AI has improved some in this game, but you still end up wondering, as you watch tank after tank get destroyed by some stupid blunder, if maybe the tank commanders aren't really Nazis at heart!

There are a few minor bugs in the program, but nothing catastrophic that I have seen. All in all this is a well rounded, real time strategy game, that is historically accurate and a whole lot of fun to play.This game ranks right up there with Age of Empires II as one of my favorite strategy games.It is definitely one of if not the best WWII strategy game out there right now.SSI made a smart move in aquiring the rights to the series as it fits right into the genre of games they produce. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Europa 1400 Gold - Much Better
I played the original Europa 1400 "The Guild" which was a bit buggy, and really wasn't fun to play because of the game crashing every 10 minutes or so.I've been playing Gold for awhile now, and it seems to be a little less buggy.It actually runs pretty good for me, online play still doesn't work worth a crap, but people say playing it on lan works O.K.I'm not sure because I haven't beenable to test it myself.With gold there are plenty of new items that will help you politicaly and revenge, or for your own well being.Also new professions, like the Traveling Entertainer, Tailor, and Graveyard Keeper.Which bring in good money from the start, especailly Graveyard Keeper and Traveling Entertainers. New building types, like the Magnificant palace with cannon tower, so on.Where you can make wizards potions that you can't sell, but come in handy.I'd say it's worth every penny.It's the best game to play when you have nothing to do basically, sit back kidnap some people, rob people, whatever. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Silent Hunter II brings the World War II epic underwater struggle to the PC. Players command a German U-boat with orders to stalk and destroy American and British naval convoys throughout the Atlantic theater. Use sonar and tactical skill to evade antisubmarine patrols, convoy escorts, and enemy aircraft. The adjustable difficulty and realism levels challenge even the most experienced gamers. A multimedia presentation contains interviews with U-boat commanders and an interactive sub tour. Technical consultants include Erich Topp, a commander in the German Kriegsmarine. He commanded the U-57 and U-552 (the Red Devil Boat), sinking 14 ships during the course of the war. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

Silent Hunter 2 Is AWESOME!!!!!!
I've been playing SH2 For a few months and I have to say It is really great. You can fight a custom mission and choose your submarine map and encounter (sub,convoy,or warship). You can also fight any one of the missions at any time or you can do a campaighn filled with challenging missions. You can choose from an array of submarines including The type 21, (my perssonal favorite)The true silent hunter. The controlls are easy to use (I would Know I'm Only 12) and gameplay is simple. Enjoy this pimped game

Silent Hunter 2
I found the game quite challenging. I have found numerious enhancments to increase the screen resolution, improved torpedo wakes, oil slicks, and better secondary explosions. I joined the Wolfpack league and there are a multitude of enhancements that out there to improve the game and game play. I find it quite a "sweating" experince. Nothing like being "pinged" by a DD or DE that is really out to get you.

There are also a multitude of add on single player missions, and multiplayer missions out there, and they keep the action level up. I also have modded the rain and storm problem with another add on all long with improved scenery. I am having a blast with the game. I bought it at the same time I got Destroyer Command, and I enjoy them both.

Marvin

Realistic, Sneaky-like, yet difficult
This is a great realistic submarine perspective.When you sit at your computer you feel like a true German sub commander.I always liked games where stealth is involved.I like patience too.If you have patience and if you like difficulty, you will most likely really like this game.I must admit, it is very difficult, and takes some time to finally understand the simple basics of this game.I had to read through the manual a number of times to get everything to where I understood.But when that is all worked out, you will have yourself a blast.I give it 4 stars, the difficulty involved to start out with is its only downfall.

Unseaworthy
Ah...the WWII U-Boat; it instantly conjures up memories of classic movies such as Das Boot. Imagine the terror of a depth charge attack, the thrill of a successful torpedo attack, and the repugnant stench of forty-four sweating sailors stuck inside a steel cylinder no wider than a city bus...

Well there's none of that here. If Ultimation and Ubi Soft were aiming to create a highly realistic and enjoyable simulation of WWII submarine warfare, they missed. If they intended to create a poorly-coded, antiquated and historically inaccurate pile of unstable hacks, then congratulations. Without a doubt, this was one of the most disappointing games I have ever played, with glaring faults and bugs that should have easily caught by QA.

The graphics are mediocre at best, a fact made worse by SH2's maximum resolution of 800x600. Remember the famous storm scene in Das Boot? Well, in SH2, there are two types of weather: sunny and cloudy. There is no rain, no sleet, no spray in your face, nothing. To SH2's credit, the ship and aircraft models are nicely done, but the pyrotechnical effects are severely underwhelming. While the ship's control stations look decent, there is no control view room. Admitedly this is a quibbling point, but a control room would have made you feel as if you were inside a real U-boat, not just gazing at static displays.

Which wouldn't be so bad if those stations were actually USEFUL. Everything, navigation, rangefinding, attacking, it can all be done from the map view. This is rarely, if ever, any reason to visit the other stations. Particularly useless is the sound station, in which the game automatically marks down contacts, their bearing, and the type of vessel, so all you get to down is simply turn the dial and listen to the sounds of their engines. Speaking of sound, the game's audio is severely lacking. When I hit an oil tanker with a torpedo, I want it to sound as if I am bringing about the end of humanity itself, not a tinny, stock "boom" that I have heard in countless games before.

I have never captained a naval vessel in my life, but I am sure such a vocation includes concepts like "do not run into other ships" and "do not run into ground." Unfortunately, the AI of Silent Hunter 2 seems to have not taken notice of these basic martime rules. In one mission, I was tasked with sinking two British battlecruisers, so I quietly slid into their midst and unleased all my torpedoes against the lead battlecruiser. Shortly afterwards, the trailing battlecruisers gleefully rammed into the flaming hulk of the first battlecruiser, allowing me to pick it off with ease. The nearby destroyers would have been a threat to me had they NOT ALSO RAMMED EACH OTHER AND SUNK coming to attack me! Another time I avoided the H.M.S Ark Royal's destroyer escorts when they ran themselves aground on nearby islands. To add insult to injury, the beached vessels were sticking out of the ground at a 90 degree angle like giant lawn darts. While the AI can be monumentally stupid, it can also pinpoint your exact location 100 meters under the water WITHOUT THE AID OF SONAR and drop depth charges upon your hapless submarine with unerring accuracy.

With the possible exception of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000, this has to be one of the most poorly coded simulations I have experienced. While I was successful in running the game under Windows XP, I could rarely complete a mission without a crash to desktop. Other bugs are numerous; sometimes I would lay one waypoint on the map, and the game would lay down 100 waypoints right on top of each other. The pitch of the engines would often remain unchanged, even when I increased speed to flank from a near crawl. It is impossible to play through SH2 without wondering if the developers flunked all their computer science classes. For example, for reasons beyond my explanation, Silent Hunter 2 and vehicle viewer are two seperate programs, so to keep the user from (heaven forbid!) seeing his desktop when switching between the programs, the game actually has a "SH2 Screen Blanker" to blank your screen! Such inexplicable programming practices points to a lack of experience on the developer's part.

Even if the game were eventually patched up, I still could not recommend this game. Don't let the current dearth of submarine simulations part you from your hard-earned money. Go play a real WWII submarine sim, like the original Silent Hunter or Aces of the Deep.

Play dual boot
This is a very good sub simulation game for me. For those of you who have Win XP problems, install a dual boot system on a seperate partition. I play games on Win ME at C and do my work on Win XP at D. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

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

Close Combat let us relive D-Day battles, but unfortunately itsshoddy 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: TheRussian Front. Both upped the graphical ante for war games, servingup beautiful terrain that becomes scarred with pockmarks from mortarshells and tank fire as the battle progresses. The computer opponent istough, and your own troops act in an eerily believable way. In a scenethat could have been taken straight out of Saving Private Ryan,we had a few squads occupying a building, shooting it out with someGermans across the road, when one of the enemy soldiers scored a luckyhit on the soldier carrying the flamethrower. The fuel tank on his backexploded, taking out half the squad surrounding him, and that was itfor the rest of the GIs in the building. No amount of cajoling couldget them to stop running away from the scene of the disaster, despitethe German machine guns chewing up the dirt around their feet. Momentslike this, both panicked and heroic, happen all the time in thesegames.

Some gamers are put off by this series because it doesn't let themmicromanage individual soldiers, and the morale model means squadssometimes do not follow orders. Those folks should stick to the sci-fireal-time strategy games. Anyone who wants a better appreciation forwhat combat was like in World War II (according to the accounts we'veread) will find that the Close Combat Trilogy is one of the bestbargains in gaming. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

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

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

Reviews (20)

Realistic for the History Buff, Adictive for the Gamer
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!

Bad Game....
....The graphics are good, but that is about it.There is no point in even playing this game against the computer because none of your commands are ever followed anyway.....I wasted numerous hours hoping that game play would improve, but it never did.The Command and Conquer series, Warcraft, or similar strategy games are 10 times better!

Extremely realistic and exciting!
It is an amazing adventure.It is one of the best games I've ever played.It's extremely addictive and awesome!I think it is one of the best games on earth.If you are interested in battling games, this is definitely the game for you.I also think the graphics and the realism is amazing.Great for people who love history and battles. ~ SnowEater11 from Weymouth Ma

Buy this for Close Combat II, one the best PC games ever!
Any fan of wargames should at least have one of these three great combat simulators.No other game comes close to these realistic "war is hell" games. The AI is pretty solid, and no game, even single mission, will ever be alike.Unlimited replay value.

Simply put, the best game in this whole series is CC II: A Bridge Too Far.It combines and produces to an extent all the things the first game missed and the third one forgot.I spend a lot of time reading about the European theatre of WWII, and this game is the most accurate I have ever seen.

A good book to read with this game would be "Road to Arnhem" by Donald R. Burgett.It displays an eyewitness account of what it was like to fight this battle the game simulates.

Like all good games, it will soon make its way to the bargain bin and then obscurity.Don't let this one get away.

What a tedious waste of time
What a waste of time playing this game.Do yourself a favor--buy CombatFlight Simulator if you want some action, buy a book like "War on theEastern Front" if you want some interesting history.This gamepackage is a complete waste of time and money. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Some games let you command a single airplane or one ship, butJane's Fleet Command puts the power (and fate) of an entirenaval task force in your hands. It's up to you to schedule air strikes,protect your vital aircraft carriers and reconnaissance aircraft, andorchestrate air coverage so enemy units never have a chance topenetrate your defenses. You'll give orders to submarines, destroyers,air bases, and every other major battle platform in the particularcombat theater you're fighting through.

Normally a game like this would play out from a standard overhead map,but Fleet Command immerses players in the battle by depictingeverything in a 3-D environment. Hear that distress call from a lonelyreconnaissance plane? Zoom in to watch the enemy chase it down and(hopefully) see your own aircraft scream to the rescue. It's possibleto follow the movements of any object in the game, rotating the camerauntil you find the perfect angle. It's almost like being the directorof your own war movie.

The game itself is a great deal of fun, and it requires a lot ofpractice to get the most out of the rock/paper/scissors relationshipbetween your aerial units, surface units, and submarines. At first ourunits were spread helter-skelter across the entire combat environment,and we were losing more units to full landing patterns and fuelstarvation than enemy action. After a few hours, with improved timingand unit coordination, our fleet was running with the precision of aRolex. If modern naval combat interests you in the least, FleetCommand should be on your short list. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• All objects and vehicles are modeled in full 3-D
• Command an entire fleet instead of single ships or aircraft

• Graphics aren't very detailed
• Juggling so many assets at once can be a real challenge

Reviews (21)

Would be AWESOME if it wasn't so CLUNKY.
This game is fun, if you are willing to accept the fact that the programers were on an extremely tight budget. If the programers beta tested this game enough they would have worked out all the problems that prevent this game from being AWESOME.
First, I must point out that it is "real time". Meaning, time is ticking while you are clicking/scrolling through your list of units and commands. Time is always ticking. If the interface was fast and efficient there wouldn't be a problem, heck it might even be realistic. But at best it takes too long to issue simple orders, and to play the game successfully you will be issuing dozens if not hundreds of orders. All the while the clock is ticking.
Why is the clock so important?Because you are dealing with an enemy that has ships, aircraft, subs and MISSLES appraoching fast. If you can't issue orders fast enough, you will always lose.Like I mentioned the interfact is clunky and very inefficient.The programers could have made it much much better.
Also, common sense moves that in the real world would take place almost automatically, don't happen. You literally must issue orders for every little action. As if each ship or aircraft doesn't have a captain or pilot to make common sense desisions. Example: If an Air-to-Surface missle gets too close to one of your AEGIS ships, the ship doesn't automatically attemt to shoot it down as would happen in the real world...naa the computer waits for you to give the order. But it is often impossible to give every order in time when you have a dozen missles coming at you, a dozen enemy aircraft and a dozen enemy ships to be aware of...annnnd in addition to mainatining your air/sea defense, you have to carry out your offense. This is all in real time. Thus because the game is so un-userfriendly it is virtually impossible to do well in most scenarios.
Other complaints,
1) the game doesn't come with an instruction book. Sure they include it in the "read me" file, but you cannnot access it during a game.

2) The game AND the 'read me' files do not define/explain any of the weapons systems that are used in the game. So without that information it is impossible to play the game with any chance of winning. You either have to be a Naval warfare expert to know what each sytem and weapon is designed for, or you must buy a reference book that describes each weapon system and its mission explained.Without this information the game is not playable.

Such a waste. This game could have been AWESOME. If the game designers would have put a little more effort into it, this game might have won awards.

My advice, play but don't expect to not get extremely frustrated.

The best Navy war game I have Played.
Its a fun Naval war game with good senery, well it is to me and others. It gets very intense when you misiles coming twards your fleet. you need to trust the fleet to do the right thing, like get a good shot at targets. Allthow you need to now when and how to atack the enemy, if youre in good range or if the wepon is goingto be intersepted. So you need to act fast and parerfull. So if you like real time Naval war and you now your Navy this is the game.

A horrid game; do not waste $1 on it.
I bought this game... out of an overstock bin, and I still felt it was a waste of money.Now, on to the complaints....

GRAPHICS:Considering the quality of 3D ship models, I'm surprised this game requires as much processing power as it does.Where is it needed?Possibly in the game mechanics...but the effects in this game are pathetic...if one were inclined to believe this game, a VLS Aegis cruiser is lucky to engage two targets.Furthermore, many of the 3D ship models are recycled for very different ships classes.

GAME PLAY:This game has some of the worst symptons of RTS games:units which fail to follow orders, or follow orders for a minute, then start wondering aimlessly.The ergonomics of the interface are horrible.Orders are issued on a 2D map using NTDS symbology.But to issue orders to multiple units in close proximity requires zooming in, but zooming in does not zoom on the currently selected unit, requiring you to scroll around to find the unit you wish to issue orders too.This is extremely time consuming, and can be quite deadly if you have to engage one or more missiles coming towards your ships.This is my favorite part:ships will not fire weapons in defense.So, while you are zooming and scrolling to find inbound missiles toward one ship to order it to fire (which, you're lucky if it does so 1 out of every 3 times), missiles can be launched towards another ship, approached unchallanged, and sink her.Clumsy to say the least.

There are patches available on the internet which are supposed to address some of the command problems for units, but given how glaringly obvious many of the problems are, why were they not fixed before it shipped?

The graphics are mediocre, and the interface is clumsy to the point of effecting game play.This will be the last Jane's PC title I own.I suggest you wait for Harpoon 4 if you want fleet action.

THE BEST GAME NAVY GAME
I DONT NOW WHY THE REVIEWERS GAVE THIS GAME 3,4 STARS ONE PERSON SAID ITS BORING BUT IT ISNT I AM A LITTLE MORE EXPERINCED IN THAT GAME AND I NOW IT ISNT SO BUY IT.

Good games but no instruction booklets
The games are good but there is no instruction booklets for two the games. I have tried to contact the manufacture 5 times and they will not even return my calls or e-mails. I would think twice before buying from them again. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

From December 30, 1862, to January 1, 1863, the battle at Murfreesboro, fought over a three-day period along the Stones River near Nashville, was one of the costliest engagements of the American Civil War. In the end, William Rosecrans's Army of the Cubmberland overpowered Braxton Bragg's Confederates, forcing them to retreat ingloriously toward Chattanooga.During the following summer (September 19-20, 1863), Rosecrans's high-spirited Federals continued pushing back the ragtag Rebel army beyond Chattanooga, until they reached the wooded banks of Chickamauga Creek. There, Bragg's Confederates, now reinforced by James Longstreet's corps from the Army of Northern Virginia, surprised their now-outnumbered foe along the banks of this "River of Blood." The resulting two-day melee (Chickamauga) was one of the fiercest-fought and deadliest battles of the war, resulting in one of the few Confederate victories for Bragg's Army of the Tennessee. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Murfreesboro & Chicamauga. Ist Impressions
As this was the first of the Battleground series that I acquired, I was impressed with the ease at which you could enter into the ambience ofthe Civil War andmoveto the business end of the game. The videos and music were initially welcome and the graphics clean and quick to refresh. The toolbars are excellent and everything about the game made the length that I spent playing it most enjoyable. The only drawback is that Battleground 9 is so good it made 'Antietam' and 'Shiloh ' both very feeble is comparison. This is especially truefor changing formations and artillery positionsand the use of all enveloping red X's for visual targetting.

Best Civil War Games Extant
The Talonsoft games are, in my opinion, simply the best Civil War games available, despite sporting a six-year-old game engine. Every regiment and battery and every leader at brigade level and above is represented in the game. The terrain is accurately depicted and colorfully drawn, at about 125 yds per hexagon. The reason for four stars instead of five is the criteria; How much fun is this game? In quality it rates five stars, but in the longer scenarios, moving and firing all of those units can become a bit tedious. For a challenging game, you must have a human opponent, but there are clubs on the net where you can find opponents of every level of experience and ability, and the game plays well through email.

Better than Sid's RTS titles
I own all 5 civil war titles from Talonsoft, and I also own one of Sid's RTS titles.I can say without reservation that the turn-based talonsoft engine, however dated, plays far better and feels to me to be more realistic for the civil war battles.The detail in terms of commanders and units (quality, titles, placement, movement) is far better in the Talonsoft games of old.The best way to play the Talonsoft games is against another human player though, as the AI is only effective in the early stages of the games.

I would also like to see some middle ground between these two types of game, I wonder if someone will ever publish an effective campaign-style civil war title. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Waterloo captures the excitement of the early 19th-century battle with all the color, pomp, and pageantry of the Napoleonic era. Take command ofNapoleon's troops or Wellington's army and change history in this epic gamebased on Sid Meier's Gettysburg engine. There are over 30 historical andspeculative scenarios depicting all phases of the battle. The game alsoallows you to design your own battles: pick your own forces and battleobjectives for unlimited play.

The multiplayer mode allows up to eight players over LAN, the Internet, or on GameSpy Arcade. There are over 60 historical uniforms, including French Light Infantry, the Old Guard, the King's German Legion, Polish Lancers, and the Scots Greys. The dozens of historical landmarks include the all-important Chateau Hougoumont, La Haye Sainte, and Plancenoit Church. The game also features an exhaustively researched historical account ofNapoleon's return to the throne in 1815, and his ultimate defeat at thebattle of Waterloo. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Waterloo: An Excellent Game
Having found my copy of Gettysburg (The best PC game of all time) out of order, several years ago I turned to Waterloo as a substitute. I have no stopped playing it since (Even when Gettysburg worked again). The game is complex, realistic and beautifully detailed. It truly captures the spirit and style of Napoleanic warfare, a subject with which I am quite familiar. Anyone who enjoys studying Military History must buy this game, as much as a tool for learning as a fun program. One never runs out of new experiences in it, and each battle is completely unique and challanging. The well-researched units and orders of battle are superb, and make for a smooth and historically acurate gameplay. I really, truly can't stress enough how great it is. Although, to be fair, only people who like Napoleanic warfare will get into it.

Flexibility is Not an Option
Based upon the successful Gettysburg engine this game shares many of the same faults, but does have a few benefits. The good news is that Cavalry is back in. Gettysburg had miserable cavalry which dismounted to attack and basically fought as infantry. Waterloo gives back the elan of the cavalry charge and livens up an otherwise static battle line. Unless you intervene, units attacked by cavalry will form into squares and happily stay that way when infantry move in to blast them to pieces , and that's were the attention to minutiae come into play.When the AI attacks you simultaneously in two places at once you're basically going to sacrifice one or the other as the AI doesn't adequately defend your troops with the same panache it does its own. Unfortunately the vast scope of the game (at least in the Grand Campaign modes as opposed to the bland scenarios)requires the same degree of micro-management. If you don't babysit units they will be quickly overrun or annihilated. The game map doesn't help in this regard as the terrain is basically linear and quite narrow in depth. The strategic aspect of the game involves controlling SITES which give a morale boost to your army. Unfortunately this will lead to a fragmenting of your forces and require that you constantly shuffle between them. There is not much you can do about this as when the game commences the computer pre-positions your forces for you tying you to a strategy not of your liking. The British seemspread out far too thinly across the map defending useless terrain with woefully inadequate troops. Unless you consolidate them in a more cohesive fashion each sector of the line can be singled out and quickly put to peril. Once again, I don't like having strategy forced upon me I'd prefer to choose my own ground. The game does have the expected thrills although the voice overs could be more elaborate (Hoorah!For old Nosey!...)and the addition of musical themes would enhance the atmosphere greatly (a bit of fife and drum, bagpipe and the Marseillaise would set the tone quite nicely). If you liked Gettysburg you'll love this one but only those not easily unnerved will keep coming back for more.

Bore terloo!
What a waste of money! If you are thinking of getting this game then wait until the price drops to about a quarter or what it is because that's all it's worth!
The good points are: There is a flashy title page with a nice little tune. There is a really nice historical account of the battle (although the writer does need to learn a little more grammar!)
Well, that's it. There are the good points! Now for the bad points...
The training scenarios are incredibly irritating. Every move you make it stopped by the "trainer" while a banner appears with information about how to move units etc. and the game automatically pauses which you have to undo manually each and every time. What a pain! In addition, at the end of each instruction you read you are told that to exit the game press the escape key. I wish it told me what to do to get my hard-earned money back!!
When you have mastered the training with lots of swearing at the computer and the notion that you have paid 40 bucks for the game so why not see it through, you get onto the battle action. What a joke! There are, I am told, 60 different uniforms in the programme. Pity we can't actually see them!
I tried to dowload screenshots from a site on the net but each time I couldn't get to see them for some technical reason. Hardly surprising having seen the game! "Is this IT?", I though when I first saw it. Terrible!
Gameplay is no fun either. I give commands only to@see that the unit hsn't moved, and if you want to move several units, sometimes you cannot find the brigade commander the units belong to.
Do I even need to mention the jumpy scrolling?
Maybe a real aficionado of the old table wargames who has never seen a computer game before might get excited over this, but for the rest of you I would recommend you to stay well clear of this.

Difficulty is a good thing
Someone who'd never played any of the games of this type (like Gettysburg, etc.) will find it very difficult to figure out which troops you're controlling at any time.The mass of little flags on the map are difficult to control, and if you're not used to 18 C army structure you might find it difficult to keep units near their commanders, which is a key to the game.Also, the game takes a lot of patience to play.It takes considerable time for pre-mechanized armies to develop and then execute your battle plans.So, in short, you might not like the game if you're someone who wouldn't like ANY of the games in the series because of the aforementioned difficulties that are par for the course.

As a big fan of Gettysburg, my opinion is that this is a worthy descendant.Get the 2nd patch and some of the problems notes in earlier reviews will go away.Before widespread rifle use, cavalry played a huge role in battles and are accurately represented in the game.If you're used to Gettysburg, you fast learn that you can't leave your soldiers in line formation for the duration once the battle starts.Once you learn to use cavalry, though, you quickly can torment the other side the same as they do to you.

One small problem: the background is set a little bit too dark, probably accurate for Belgium after a heavy rainfall, but I liked the terrain colors better in Gettysburg.

So: if you liked Gettysburg and want what I think is a better game (perhaps a pro-Napoleonic era bias coming through) get this.If you're new to this kind of game entirely, download the demo and see whether you like it.But note that the real game runs better, has infinitely more variety, and comes with a tutorial to allow practicing movement, formations, and use of artillery and cavalry.

The Best
This is the first, and so far the only game from this company I've ever played. Out of all my favorite games, this is my favorite. The graphics are fine, but I've seen better, but are not as bad as some of the reviews depict. The history in this game is perfect. There was obviously much research put into it. The scroll is kind of slow, but all you have to do is zoom out all the way, which makes the units and everything hard to see, but if you know where all your units are, there isn't a problem. Like another review says, the uniforms are beautiful, with varying colors. Also, the units aren't just from Britan and France. Britan's allies come from countries including Prussian units, and Dutch units. And yes, the game allows you only to play one battle, but there are 30 different scenarios, some including a calvary battle, with only calvar units, and the final phase of the Battle of Waterloo, where Britan has the high ground and must block the French from getting into Belgium. Overall, I reccomend all gamers, especially the hard-core strategy gamers. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Age of Sail II simulates naval warfare from 1775 to 1820 with a real-time 3-D sailing and combat model. Over 1,200 historical ships and 100 historical American and British scenarios are available, including: Copenhagen, the Battle of the Nile, Trafalgar, Cape St. Vincent, and Camperdown. A full, floating 3-D camera allows complete control of your fleet, and the 3-D accelerated graphics reveal accurately rendered ships and beautiful landscapes. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

The best!!!!!!!!
This is well worth the money. as a this is my first navel game. Thear are no bugs that I know of in this game and the makers did a wonderfull gob. as I have lots of land games,I thout I would give this a try and I was amzad of how real it looked. I would recmmond this game.

What AOS2 should have been
The game looks great and it is fun to play.It is what Age of Sail 2 should have been.Most of the bugs seem to be worked out.It still has problems, but it is a lot of fun for anyone interested in the genre.

I like this game....
This is actuall a pretty decent game. It has bugs, but the idea and the execution are almost perefect for the type of warfare depicted.

Graphics a reasonable, the interface is a little hard to figure out at first. They definitly need a few more patches to be released quickly. I understand that it plays well as a multi player game, but have been unable to find locate anyone else that is playing. There are several groups on the web, but they have not been responding to my messages.

If you have not sailed before, this game may be a little difficult at first. I also read a lot of books on the subject so that I am familiar with most of the strategies that were actually used in this period.

The scenarios are long. Thank goodness there is a game speed adjustment. It looks like you can go all the way up to 16X speed. Naval warfare of this period was usually long and drawn out. A very long period in which someone is being chased, followed by a quick clash of arms, then another chase as the defeated ships flee the scen and the victorious ships captures the damaged enemy...

The AI is not too bright. But, if you give him the advantage in ships, wind and weather, you have a pretty decent player upon which to practice your ship handling skills as well as fleet meneuvers. By the way, different ships move at different speeds depending on size and weight. You have to constantly watch spacing between ships so that you don't ram while doing meneuvers.

If they ever get this game fixed (probably in AoS 4) it will be a great game. I wish that Microsoft would host it on the Zone. That would be a big push to get it played by more people.

Beta tested in Europe, but not available in Europe
The AoS2 community is really waiting for this game. Quite a few of them were beta testers from Europe. What happens the game does not come to Europe! Very dissapointed.
The game seems to be better then AoS2, more realistic...

Arno

Cool concept, lousy execution
If fast action is your taste, look elsewhere.If historical gameplay is to your liking, this title works.However, the nut and bolts of the game are poorly implemented.The game plays like an early beta release, all of the patches help but it is still a buggy game, bottom line.Such a shame, as the graphic engine does an admirable job of rendering the ships and their surroundings.Hope the follow up game I've been reading about istested and proven more thoroughly when it is released than this one was. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Atomic Games's Close Combat series, now published by the war-gaming veterans at SSI and Mindscape, continues with its fourth title, Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge. Atomic Games stands by an old adage by not messing with success; Battle of the Bulge retains many of the interface and game-play elements of the first three Close Combat titles; only the scenarios and geography have changed.

For its latest installment, Atomic Games focuses the battles (across several dozen campaign and individual missions) and geography around the historical Battle of the Bulge. Players can command American or German troops and control a variety of military forces, including infantry, snipers, machine gunners, and flame throwers, as well as order air strikes and artillery deployment. Overall, the graphical detail of the terrain and pyrotechnics are quite good, but some players may struggle to locate the tiny military units on the murky mud terrain or bright white snow.

Computer-controlled artificial intelligence provides a formidable challenge during the single-player game. Along with the solo campaign, Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge offers both an Internet multiplayer option and a complex scenario editor for hours of additional playability. If you're a fan of the first three Close Combat games or searching for an in-depth military simulation, check out Atomic Games's Close Combat: Battle of the Bulge. --Doug Radcliffe ... Read more

Reviews (36)

CC3 is better...this is...aggravating
I found this game more aggravating than enjoyable, and was constantly reloading maps to try and place my units in a more strategic area...which I wasn't very successful at.When my units did have LOS enough to "fire" they spent most of the time yelling about "no clear shot".Meanwhile, the Americans can do little to nothing to stop the German tanks, while in reality a well placed round from a Sherman, AT gun or even a bazooka could at least immobilize a german tank.The computer controlled german tanks have 100% comprehension of the terrain and even the layout of units they shouldn't be able to see, firing all the way across the map.The computer controlled mortar crews can knock out every half track and armored car you own, while in reality they shouldn't even be able to see themyet, while your mortar crews are useless most of the time.The player controlled units are slow, their turrets are usually traversing the wrong direction and they are always "aiming" and rarely firing.A target can come around the corner, its turret already rotating and knock out a sherman before you can even make its turret line up to fire.Very, very annoying when American armor is in such short supply...but it lacks punch anyway.Watching the historical accounts of tank battles, 5 shermans in real life could knock out even a tiger...in this game they can only draw fire to themselves while not doing a bit of damage to the enemy...can't I at least immobilize a panzer once in a while...throw me a bone here.However the infantry units are great, fighting a hopeless battle until the panzers show up to blow 'em to hell.

I found CC3 to be more forgiving to sunday gamers, with the russian T34's and tank destroyers being an even match for panzers.I would love to see an AT rifle score at least one hit on a tank though...some day maybe.

Historical accuracy in question from reviews
I haven't played this game, but I am something of an expert on the
Ardennes Offensive (Watch on the Rhine/Autumn Mist) and judging by the comments of other reviewers, the game has the Germans with lots of Tiger tanks (they didn't say which version). Regardless of version, none of the three German armies that were involved
possessed much in the way of Tiger tanks. Peiper's Kampgrup had
about three dozen, almost all of which broke down. Overall, the
attacking Germans were estimated to have less that 300. Nor did
lack of gasoline have a great deal to do with the halting of the German attacks - Peiper, for example, was waylaid and slowed down and eventually stopped by all those bridges the US engineers
blew up in his face, and US Armor and artillery. The Germans had
plenty of gasoline accumulated for the operation - over a million units - but trying to get it to frontline units was practically impossible - small road network and traffic jams (the Germans had
too much horse drawn equipment for mobile warfare). The old and
historically nonsensical Battle of the Bulge motion picture had
promulgated a lot of innaccurate beliefs about the battle.

Probably Good If It Works
This would proably be a very good game, like the others in the series, if you can get it to run! I have tried it on two Windows 98 machines and my new XP PC. It will not run on any of them. Buyer beware...the online help is also useless.

Getting better and worse
I'll start by saying that the game play has gotten a lot better. Tank battles make sense unlike in CC2 where you could send 4 Shermans against a Panther and have them blown up even before firing a shot, it took them hours to load. The tank battles of CC4 are a good evolution on those of CC3. Infantry battles are also very good. In CC3 the infantry fell like vietcongs in a Rambo movie, in CC4 it is a lot more balanced. I have some reservations about the artillery, it never seems to hit anything, air support on the other hand is very effective.
For the rest the gameplay is excellent. From the military and historical point of view however, they have taken out several features. With tanks you never know the caliber of a gun or even the actual name of the tank, its just middle, heavy or light. If you are an expert the graphics allow you to distinguish them. They have also done away with the original names of the infantry units and the small arms that they carry.
Infantry tactics are absolutely realistic and they have also inserted the historically factual lack of fuel in case of the Germans. If you are playing for the first time nothing will save you from a shock when the first time your forces are wipped out but once you get used to itthe game is just great.
The gameplay and the background are incredible and it remains the best WWII strategy game around.

as good as any other close combat game!!
I have played close combat II (trial version only), III, and IV. I got close combat 3 a few years ago off of the internet and loved it i played it on and off ever since. One day I decided to get another one of the close combat games. I looked at many reviews on amazon.com and ign. And i finally decided to go with close combat 4. I also downloaded CC 2, i liked it but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. CC 4 has better grafics then all of the previous close combat games and better sound. you can see a puff of smoke come from a tank when it moves even. there are cut screens and they are real footage of WWII but the sound isn't original! i meen come on they use the sounds from the game for the guns. now it is great when you are playing the game but it just doesn't go at all with movies. your infantry has a chance with killing a tank if it has an anti tank weapon (ex. panzerfaust germans). the battles are real from WWII. you can create your own scenario but I found it tricky because I didn't get the manual with mine (I think it will come with it from amazon, I bought it from compusa. the maps are good, i know in other reviews they said that they got repetitive, well i have been playing it for a few weeks now and they are different despite all of them being covered in snow. so if you are a fan of the series or are looking to buy a good close combat game this is the one for you. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Cossacks: European Wars is a historical real-time strategy based on events of the 16th through the 18th centuries in Europe, when nations and states were created and demolished, and wars shed seas of blood. There are 16 nations or regions in Cossacks: Algeria, Austria, England, France, the Netherlands, Piemonte, Poland, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venice. Each has its own original graphics, economic and technical development peculiarities, military advantages and drawbacks, and unique units and technologies, providing vast choices of tactics and strategy in war against any enemy. Thus, England is the mightiest sea power, Austria has powerful light and heavy cavalry, and Cossacks are the pride of the Ukrainian army.

Battles of up to 8,000 units may be conducted on single or network game maps. One can carry out lingering city sieges, wage guerilla wars, capture commanding heights and arrange ambushes, deploy landing forces on enemy shores, and conduct sea battles. The game system is arranged to reduce per-unit control and resource micromanagement, and to turn to global goals of powerful economy formation, science development, the capturing of new lands, and defending borders. ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Cossacks, one of a kind
The usefullness and ease of unsing formations in cossacks is what sets this game apart from starcraft or warcraft. Cossacks is much more complex. In cossacks hundreds of units march, in formation, into combat. The are an enormous number of upgrades and types of units. The main fault of cossacks is that the towns are to easy to destroy. If one fast calvery unit sneeks into an unguarded portion of town he could kill all the peasants and buildings there, often turning the tide of a game. To avoid this extreamly frusterating part of the game it is necessary to keep small squads of men (3-6 men) all throughout your town. Make sure several members of each squad are ordered to hold their ground lest they should wonder off in chase of one of several attackers. As in many (or all) games the AI is briliant at some things and abysmal at others.

THE VERY BAD GAME
Cassocks barly lives up to its expectations. It does not teach you to play.The built in teacher and manual don't teach.Im sure if I knew how to play I would like it,but let's face the facts, it stinks.I may be 10 years old, but I know a good game from a bad one.So it derserves a 1 star rating.

GREAT GAME
This game is a great strategy game for any age.It teaches young ones about geography and how gruesome war can be.Personally my son and I love it.Trust me its a great buy!

Cossacks: Cool Games!
About a year back, I got tired of playin AoE II, and then I was looking on the internet and..wow! Cossacks! As I looked at it, it made me want to buy it so I rushed down to the Gamestop and bought it for $30.It was worth it. I rushed home to play it.The campaigns are marvelous, as are the single player missions.After that, in October 2002, I bought Cossacks: The Art of War.With a slew of new missions and two new nations, heck! It's the best buy yet! I made my own scenarios with the editor and had a bunch of fun.Then, came Cossacks: Back to War, and I fell in love.With Mod1 by Baddog already installed, it made the game much more enjoyable with more historical context, now I'm hooked on Cossacks: Back to War, and American Conquest, another cool game!

Sounds: 9
Gameplay: 10
Replay-abilty: 10
Variety: 10

Overall: 10
This game is one of the best out there if you're a historical nut, and plus, now, it's only [item price]! So go out there and get it! :-D

Age of Empires Rip-Off
I know this has probably been said but I decided to say it again.No matter how good this game was on its own I couldn't play it at all without first thinking Age of Empire.Don't get me wrong the missions are unique and challenging(sometimes enormously hard).But I somehow feel like I have played the game before.The game is wonderful and this one had the decked stacked against it from the outset, to bad.

My impression-A decent game that could have been a great game ... Read more

Features

• Play six major campaigns from either the Allied or Axis sides
• Command the armies of Germany, the USA, the USSR, France, Italy, Spain and more
• Wide variety of gameplay options -fog of war, declarations of war, strategic bombing and more
• Unit types cover all major facets of land, sea & air combat -- from HQs and submarines to tanks and aircraft carriers
• An easy-to-use campaign editor lets players create their own scenarios

Reviews (1)

Excellent, Fast Playing
Great Game, easy to learn and fast playing with lots of strategic depth, especailly against another Human player. Your actions influence the actions of the other neutral powers. Take London and Spain may join the Axis, attack more countries as the Axis and Russian War Readiness increases, leave your border with Russia under garrisoned and Russia will accelerate its prepartions for war. ... Read more

Product Description

Hidden & Dangerous 2 is a first and third person tactical shooter that builds upon the tremendous success of Hidden & Dangerous. You lead a small squad of Allied soldiers deep behind enemy lines, to carry out secret missions during World War II. The gripping story line takes you to Europe, Africa, Burma, and other locations scattered across the globe. Each critical decision impacts you, your men, and your country. This unique blend of action, strategy, and tactics forces you to use your brain ju ... Read more

Features

• Control up to a 4-member team through an imaginative and intense story, where your men gain experience, and both physical and mental advancements.
• Complete over 20 missions in 9 campaigns from the lush jungles of Southeast Asia to the harsh deserts in Africa.
• Commandeer a variety of vehicles including trucks, tanks, motorcycles, and planes.
• Supply your squad with a number of weapons including pistols, sniper rifles, grenades, and bazookas!
• A Fully Interactive Environment depicts the ineptness of drowsy guards, the shocking quickness of an elite German battalion spotting your movements, and the terrified look of the enemy as you shove the barrel of your rifle under his nose!

Reviews (23)

Divorce
This game may be great for males aged 20 to 35, it's target audience, I'm sure... however, for the girlfriends and wives that know and love these men, this game is dreadful.It will suck the men into a sick virtual world... and they never return whole again.Women-- be aware of the dangers to your relationship that this game poses.Good luck and stay strong.

Better than Call of Duty/MH Pacific Assult!
I'm not a huge war gamer but with the most recent war game titles coming out out such as Call of Duty and MH Pacific Assult and of course I had to try them, found overall that they were great war games especially Call of Duty (The original version) United Offensive is way to scripted! MH Pacific Assult was my last purchase before this beauty and so far I have not been able to finnish it due to the unforgiving scripting of the game at Henderson Field where you have to shoot down Japanese Zeros before they bomb your hangers from above. Somehow the game kills me for not being able to do this correctly meaning shooting down all the Zeros which I find nearly impossible!

Now to this game. It is something to behold why? Well, you can acomplish any mission any way you want using hardcore Tactics rather than closely folling scripted objectives like in the previous two game I have mentioned. Also, the AI is not overly hard which I like. Sometimes it is down-right-dumb but with such gameplay like taking cover and using your men's way points to complete objectives, the game shines! Also, you can choose to run and gun or secretly devise a plan of your own to accomplish your missions. The latter is far more rewarding though because it takes some brain power rather than how fast you can click to shoot your enemy. I feel sometimes I am part of the Dirty Dozen and have to sneek into a camp or town to blow up a building or steel documents rather than just kill everything that moves and then get out in a shooting match to the death! This game makes you feel like you've accomplished more than just body bags for the enemy, it makes you feel like your part of a SAS team in WWII. Both of my GrandFathers fought in the war and though they were not part of a specialized force like the SAS being Americans and trying to reck havic on the German's or Japanese, they saw some combat and didn't really talk to much about it because it just something you don't talk about if you really were there! The horor of war is abscent from most of my generations eyes due to post Vietnam and pre Desert Storm kind of falling in between things but I always wanted to know what it was like to accomplish what those guys did 50+ years ago when thier odds were less than favoritable against the overwelming numbers of the Nazi's or the Jap's trying to make a safe-free world to come for all of us. It was a job not a obligation and they did it very well. With H&D 2 I feel as if I was really there doing my job like they did! If you liked Call of Duty the original and are currently or have finished playing MH Pacific Assult and do not already have this War title, buy it at the good price that it is! It is a welcomed change to the run and gun everything down mindless WWII shooters of the past and present!

Excellent gameplay, but ahhh the patches.
This game rocks. As far as gameplay, it is as good as it gets. My only gripe is all the patches, and that if one doesn't have the same patch upgrade, their may be issues on connecting to some of the servers.

That said, I had very few bugs in the single player game, and only the patch issue for multi-player. I think this game blows away MOH and is graphically better than BF 1942, though BF 1942 is fun to play as well.

If you don't have this game, I'd highly recommend getting it. Also, the Sabre Squadron expansion is a must get. If you are watchful, you can get both for around 20 bucks US.

A note for those who have performance anxiety lol, please upgrade your GUI(graphics card) to the latest drivers. If your card is older, it may not run DX 9 games. Another thing to upgrade is your ram. The one person with only 256 of ram, well.... that's the minimum for Windows XP. Up that to 512, plus get a more advanced card like the ATI 9600, or better(the equivelent in nVidia)and together with a 2 ghz machine or better this game will fly!!!

Also, for those worried about too many controls, you can customize them to your likeing. Almost all games allow control customization.

H&D 2
Good graphics, good models, many weapons but buggy and laggy.
I connected to a server. In the first map the game was a little buggy, in the next map the game was so buggy and laggy I couldnt even move!

So heres a quick list of the game:

PROS:
-Good models and graphics
-Many weapons
-Realistic
CONS:
-Buggy and Laggy
-Some glitches

ya mooks
all the morons saying this game is unstable are clearly ignorant. Two things you need to keep updated ya bunch of idiots. 1) The game like all other games has bugs, so you need to update it with the autopatcher it comes with. Simple huh? End of problem. 2) Those saying their computers are fast, as in 2ghz and all that clearly don't realize that the actual graphics processing takes place in the video card which means you need to UPGRADE your pos video card in order to play this game.
Other than a bunch of idiots with no experience in gaming complaining about how difficult it is to control wi/ so many keys, this game is awesome. How else are you to manage so many vast commands and controls besides the way it is already implemented in the game?
Anyway, the game is breathtakingly amazing, the AI could be better, storyline is very unique, sound and graphics are great. Stop complaining about your own inadequacies and get with the program - the game is legendary, buy it!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Many collections of older games are unquestionably worth the price, butthe quality of the offerings in the Ultimate Wargame WWII Collection Volume2 is so spotty we'd pause before spending $20 on it. Sure you get a greatgame like Silent Hunter: Commander's Edition, but then you're also payingfor the laughably bad Luftwaffe Commander. This package still representsa significant value over buying the games separately, so WWII buffs may want tojust go ahead and take the good with the bad.

Luftwaffe Commander is the biggest stinker in the bunch, and we can'tcome up with a single reason it was even released in the first place. Thegraphics are bad, the flight models are abysmal, and that about sums things up.Worst of all, it was released after several vastly superior WWII flightsimulations came out, and you'd be better off spending money on any of thosegames than this tragically flawed coaster.

Fighting Steel simulates the naval battles of the period and isn't nearlyas bad. Here you become admiral of a virtual fleet of WWII battleships,destroyers, and other surface vessels, all rendered in full 3-D (although thegame runs at a low resolution). Battling with the big guns is fun for a while,but we soon were longing for aircraft carriers, submarines, or anything elsethat could add some variety and complexity to the gameplay.

Panzer Commander puts you in charge of a squad of tanks. Gameplay is alittle too simplistic, and the other members of your squad are complete idiots(they get stuck on walls and buildings all the time), but it's still a greatdeal of fun. The game models lots of different tanks, and their varying weaponssystems require vastly different tactics for effective use. Half the fun is inwatching your tanks bounce around from an outside view, as their suspensions aremodeled in terrific detail.

Finally there is Silent Hunter, which is probably the best WWII submarine simulator of all time. The game is aging well, since its crispgraphics were good to begin with, and the tense gameplay never loses any of itscharm. There are enough difficulty settings to satisfy both novices and die-hards,and the historical information included on the disc gave us a fascinatinglook at the troubles real-world submarine crews faced in the Pacific theater ofWWII. Don't miss this one if submarine simulations interest you. --T. ByrlBaker

Pros:

• Silent Hunter is perhaps the best WWII submarine simulation everreleased
• Fighting Steel is fun--while it lasts
• One of the few collections that gives players air, land, and sea simulations

• Luftwaffe Commander is one of the worst flight simulators everreleased
• Panzer Commander has infuriating flaws that put an enormous dent inits fun factor

Reviews (3)

What editor reveiwed this????
Silent Hunter- The best sub sim around, except for SH2.

Luftwaffe Commander- A very playable WW2 flight sim, with a realistic time line. Alot of fun.

Panzer Commander- OK, but it gets boring. The graphics leave something to be desired.

Fighting Steel- Lack luster graphics, and slow.

Over all, this game pack is well worth the money, a must for those who like historical military sims.

Unfair editorial review
The amazon.com editorial review of Luftwaffe Commander is VERY unfair. Although the rest of the games included in Ultimate WWII Game Colection 2are accurately and fairly portrayed, the longer I've played LuftwaffeCommander, the better I have learned to appreciate the game. I have alsoextensively played WWII Fighters -which is visually a better game-, and LCis graphically poorer, but LC is more realistic and fun as far as flightmodels and variety of planes are concerned. True, most reviews haveshattered LC, but most reviews were (are) written by guys who play it acouple of times at best. Believe me, the more you play it, the more youappreciate it. It's a pitty SSI discontinued it or ceased improving awould-have-been classic game. Sure as hell LC is far from being the worsecombat simulator ever released. Ask any hard core sim pilot who has flownit.

5 Star Entertainment
This Game-pack Rules!

There are 4-games

"Luftwaffe Commander" which is a simulator where you go back to the days where the Me-109 ruled the sky.

"Fighting Steel" where you go back to the days of the big guns.

"Panzer commander" where you cancontrol 24 WW2 tanks from 4 countries (Germany, Russia, UK, USA) in 8campaigns and single player missions.

AND MY FAVORITE "SilentHunter, Commanders edition" It is a WW2 Pacific submarine Simulatorwith the 3 extra patrol disks, you get to dive the sub patrol around andsink those japanese supply ships and Waeships, a little old but stillgreat.

... an excellentdeal.

Buy this. ... Read more

Product Description

From the frigid waters of the North Sea to the steamy shoals of the South Pacific, DESTROYER COMMAND puts you in charge of one of the proudest and most versatile ships which ever put to sea: the U.S. Navy destroyer. During World War II U.S. Navy destroyers fought German U-boats in a grim battle for the waters of the North Atlantic. In the Pacific, destroyers battled Japanese warships in vicious night actions, fended off desperate kamikaze attacks and supported the U.S. Marine landings which pus ... Read more

Features

• Realistic 3D modeling of ocean environment, ship motion, weapon systems and weather conditions.
• A large variety of targets and weapon systems with action in both the Atlantic and Pacific.
• Inter-operability via the internet with the submarine combat simulation, Silent Hunter II (sold separately).
• Controllable perspective: move from the ultra-realistic command of multiple ships to the first person action of the deck guns.

Reviews (13)

Might appeal to naval buffs if they're patient
I don't normally write reviews on products but having read some reviews of Destroyer Command here I thought I'd give my opinion. I'm interested in WW2 and I'mpleased when a new sim appears. I didn't have *too* high hopes for Destoyer Command, but having played it I was neither blown away by it nor extremely disappointed in it. Instead, I had some fun playing it! Okay it has some flaws, but it's not the software crime that some people make it out to be. Too often people pounce on the flaws of something and skip the merits. Some people just seem to like to whinge!

The cons:

*Poor AI. Yes the Ai is quite poor, but then Rainbow 6 had terrible AI and made me an avid player! The big problem is your fleet of destroeyers uner your orders. Changing formation for them is a demanding task and sometimes they'll ram each other. However this risk is geater the faster the time compression. If the time compression is set to 128X and you order your fleet to change formation then they'll almsot cetainly ram each other. HOWEVER if you set the time compression slower, preferably normal time then they act more intelligently. Slower speeds allow the computer to calculate ship positions much more accurately. If you see an imminent collision then it's time to switch flagships and do some manual maneuvering. Frustrating? Maybe, but I never thought it was something to make me stop playing the game in disgust. Conversely however the emeny can seem to be very accurate shots. Too accurate in fact. ( But there is a mod to cure this, see below)

*No dynamic campaign. Yes it does limit the replay value somewhat but since most sims lack a dynamic campaign I don't feel crushingly disappointed!

* It takes a while to get used to the many key commands. But what sim doesn't?


Pros:

*Well for me I think it can be damn scary sometimes. One of the first missions I payed involved a surface engagement with a Japanese force of druisers and destoyers. It was late at night and with my expensive pair of Sennheiser headphones on for maximun immersiveness. And you know you get a sense of anticipation hwen you see the silhouettes of the enemy getting *slowly* bigger in your binoculars. Too often it seems that gamers are obssessed with speed. The faster the more exciting it seems. I'm not sure if I agree. That kind of slow pace can add a sense oftension. ( Asa parallel think of the film Alien. Often the scariest parts were the slow build ups) And then you hear the muffled "boom" of the emeny guns in your headphones and you know that yuo digital foes want you DEAD. You never know whether that shell the German destroyr just fired will spash harmlessly in the water next to you or take out your #2 turret. I'm not really sure if there's not that much scope for strategy in asurface fight but thers' a real sense of agreeable chaos to the whole thing. It made me appreciate the more the bravery of real sailors during a surface engageement.

* Okay hands up who as a schooboy didn't sometimes dream of shooting at aircraft with an AA gun? Nobody? I thought so. Come on, it's just so damn FUN to blast a Zero out of the sky belching smoke. And it's nearly as much fun to score a hit on an enemy ship with the main batteries, using your own observations. Subtle? Nah. But satisfying!

*The torpedo is one of the coolest weapons ever devised. You may not be a subamrine but there's still a kick to be had of spotting a Japnese heavy cruiser in your binoculars, knowing he hasn't seen you, entering information ito the Torpdeo Data Computer,launching a salvo, turing away, and waiting. When you see the impact and see a geyser of water flung up, it's like achieving a checkmate inachess game. Very satisfying.

Graphically I think it's okay. Not fanatstic but not terrible either. Some textures seem a bit bland but there's some pleasing dynamic lighting, and the scene of a flight of Val dive bombers plunbging seawards traliing smoke is quite realistic looking. So a casual thumbs up there.And the sight of your squadron of destroyers sailing alongside you in the dawn light with smoke billowing from their funnels should appeal to armchair adventurers anywhere.

So who should buy Destoyer Command? Not casual gamers.But if you enjoy sims and approach Destroyer Command with the view that is by no means perfect, then you might gain some enjoyment from it. I wouldn't rate it as a classic, but overall a worthy addition to a compter sim fans library. It can be "modded" up somewhat to give it some more appeal. For some gameplay to Destryer Command there is a link here

http://207.44.164.159/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18934

which is a page at www.subsim.com

Not TOO Bad.
To see other reviewers remarks, it would seem that playing this game was the equivalence of root canal.

In short, D.C. isn't too bad. After downloading the patch, the AI improved and it's relatively easy to micromanage your units. The graphics are fair. In this day and age you should be able to wander over your whole ship in FPS style, with NPC crewman who will say appropriate things.

Additionally, the linear campaign is really stupid. They also should have consulted with someone who actually has been to sea. (No red lights at night on the bridge, No red lights in the engine room)

Destroyer Command
thisgame is,nt as bad as they say if you like history you get see the USS Missouri and battle the bizmark when you create a custome mission ( you could battle any german battle ship but i got lucky and the game chose the bizmark on the second try but my luck ended when i got sent to the bottom )
the game is almost a copy of silent hunter 2 so if you like that game you should like this one too one difference is you get to see the damage and fires when your ship gets hit.
only thing i would change is to be able to see attacking torpedos moveing towards your ship .
and it would be fun to run the ship in to a bad storm and have to deal with waves that could turn over the ship and real looking storm conditions (seen the perfect storm too many times)
and attacking subs need to fire more often other then that the game is fun

Maybe try it on version 20.0
I have been waiting for a good World War II naval surface game, but with all the bugs I have experienced, I guess I still have to wait.

On a side note, reporting bugs to the publisher is not an easy task......

Dreary
Dreary.Overly complex.Poorly thought out.Poor, hard to read manual.The first training task asked you to go to the bottom of the page and observe the action buttons there.The action buttons were not there and only seemed to appear randomly.Graphics were poor quality.Counter-intuitive menus leading god knows where.Game software should be written to be run without a manual.This one needs a manual and a magnifying gass to read the small print.Once you go through all that trouble you will still not understand what they are talking about. Save your money this is junk. ... Read more

Product Description

Decide the fate of a nation and the destiny of the world with this historical WWII strategy game. As the world powers battle for supremacy in 1942, spearhead your country's military drive. Plan strategic bombing raids, sneak submarine attacks, hit-and-run ... Read more

Reviews (29)

"Uncommon valor was a common virtue."
A bit different from the board game.Very hird to find (you should burn a coppy yourself).Customizable.Very fun, and highly reccommended.

Not bad
I think this a fairly good implementation of one of the all time great WWII board games. It's takes good strategy, military tactics, economics and some luck to win consistently. Playing against the AI is a little too easy. I hope that they decide to upgrade the game to use the revised rule set and fix the bugs and problems with the AI. To make the AI more challenging, have it play Axis, set Russia Restricted, Axis Advantage and put more German infantry in Eastern Europe and Africa. Better yet, find a human opponent to play with.

Both Better and Worse Than the Board Version
Why is it better?
The computer handles all the bookkeeping, movement, combat, etc, allowing you to play a whole game very quickly.You don't have to move the pieces manually or keep track of your money.Things move much faster.

Why is it worse?
The AI is very buggy and very poor.A decent human player can win as any nation against the best computer opponents.In a marathon session I won as each country in under two hours.A second problem is it's a bit tougher to get a good overview of the entire map without a lot of scrolling, so some areas may be overlooked easily.

On the whole, if you enjoy the board game, this is worth a few dollars.You can get an A&A fix anytime you like, and the hotseat function allows 2-5 players play the game in about 1/3 the time of the board version.

Great game, except for the bugs
One of my favorite board games ever now on CD-Rom.Has some bugs though which can be a tad distracting.

blows
This game is bad, bad, Bad, BAD!!!

Do NOT waste your money!!

So buggy, so ugly, and so easy to beat, it would be a ripoff even if it sold for 1 penny!! ... Read more