Close combat
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Close Combat is the name of a series of tactical real-time (RTT) computer games by Atomic Games, as well as a first-person shooter by Destineer Games. In the Close Combat RTS games, the player takes control of a small unit (platoon or company sized) of troops and leads them in battles of World War II from a top down 2D perspective.
Close Combat Games
In Brief
The five original Close Combat games were two-player tactical wargames, taking place in real time, with a top-down perspective. Each was set in a different part of the European theatre of the Second World War. Each game included a mixture of infantry and armoured units, whilst the later games also included off-board artillery and air support. Although viewed from a top-down perspective, the later games modelled terrain elevation, and included buildings with multiple floors. The overall tone emphasised realism, and modelled the emotional state of the units under your command, including panic, desertion and surrender. Despite the inclusion of bloody corpses, the game was granted an ESRB rating suitable for all age groups.Development and Distribution
Close Combat was originally devised as a computer game version of the acclaimed Avalon Hill boardgame Advanced Squad Leader (ASL). Atomic Games had already developed several games for Avalon Hill, such as Operation Crusader, Stalingrad, Over the Reich and Third Reich. However, with Avalon Hill embroiled in a financial crisis that would ultimately lead to its demise, Atomic Games took what work they had completed, severed ties with the boardgame franchise and completed the game's development for Microsoft. The first three Close Combat games were notable, at the time, for being among the few games published by Microsoft. The final two games in the original series were, however, published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI).Innovations
In being a real-time tactical (RTT) game there were three innovations in the Close Combat games compared to the more familiar real-time strategy (RTS) titles:- The use of a psychological (morale) model for the combatants in the game. Certain tactics common in many RTS games, such as the "mass rush", were ineffective in Close Combat, as soldiers in the game would seek cover, refuse to obey orders or even desert when under heavy fire or after taking casualties. Unsupported units, squads with heavily casualties, or soldiers left idle would produce unreliable results;
- There was also an experience model, which meant that reserve units or newly replaced troops would be unlikely to prevail against veteran troops;
- The game also modelled ammunition levels. Troops in a heavy firefight would quickly run out of ammunition. Once out of ammunition they would resort to bayonet fighting, or in the worst case surrender to any enemies that approached them, although they could also scavenge rounds from fallen friendly and enemy soldiers.
Tactics
The factors above meant that the game required realistic military tactics, such as careful placement of troops in cover, ambushes, advancing by bounding overwatch and using terrain or smoke screens to cover advancing troops. Effective management, such as keeping teams near their officers, not sending green recruits on assaults and maintaining fire discipline so as not to run out of ammunition were also necessary for the player to prevail.For this reason the games were not for everyone, as relatively slow and cautious play was often rewarded. However, aficionados of the game maintain that once this change of pace was absorbed the games were engrossing and full of tension.
Games
There are currently five real Close Combat games in the series, one other very similar game, an unpublished game, and one upcoming game:- Close Combat (I) - Taking place on the Omaha beachhead and inland to Saint-Lô, you command German or American troops fighting at the beaches or in the hedgerows.
- Close Combat (II): A Bridge Too Far - Taking place in Netherlands during Operation Market Garden, you command German, British, American or Polish troops fighting to control strategic bridges. This version was featured in the Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time by [GameSpy] and in the 50 best games ever by PC Gamer Magazine.
- Close Combat III: The Russian Front - Depicting the whole German campaign against the Soviet Union, you command either German or Soviet troops on the plains and in the cities. This game does not have the strategic movement phase present in the other games.
- Close Combat (IV): Battle of the Bulge - Taking place in the Ardennes during the winter offensive in 1944, you either play as the Germans or the Americans in the snowy forests.
- Close Combat (V): Invasion Normandy - Back in Normandy, this time on Utah Beach, you fight for the control of the Cotentin as either Germans or Americans in fields and towns.
- Close Combat: First to Fight is a team-based 3D shooter in the vein of the Rainbow Six series of games. It is set in Beirut, Lebanon. It was developed with the participation of members of the U.S. Marine Corps. It maintains the psychological model of the other Close Combat games but is otherwise very different.
- Close Combat: Road to Baghdad - Depicting the recent 2003 invasion of Iraq, this game uses the Close Combat engine, developed by Atomic Games.
- Close Combat: Marines - A game developed by Atomic Games for the Department of Defense to help train Marines.
- Close Combat: RAF Regiment - A new training module for the British Royal Air Force Regiment, which is an airfield protection force. It has been rumoured that a modified version will be released commercially to the public. It is currently in its Alpha state, meaning it is not fully completed, but is being used. A number of press releases can be found on the CSO website linked below.#redirect
- Close Combat: Red Phoenix - The second of the new computer games in the Close Combat series. Red Phoenix is based on the book by Larry Bond and is similar in tone to the original games as it is a real time strategy game but set in the modern day on the Korean Peninsula.
Mods
There is a large modding community making mods for the Close Combat games, which has made the original games live even longer than they would have otherwise.
Drawbacks
Perceived drawbacks to the CC games are often based on the very features that distinguish CC as a unique gameplay experience. The top down maps were unusual amongst games of that era for their detail and realism, but also guaranteed that terrain coud not be randomly generated. Only a handful of maps were included with each game, which had to be fought over multiple times in some campaigns.
The debate about "real time" games vs. turn-based games is an ongoing battle between two solidly entrenched camps. Some feel the real time setting places unrealistic burdens on the single human player in command of platoon-plus sized forces, while proponents of real-time argue that it adds to the excitement and accurately models the challenges of a real life commander.
3D Versions
Several attempts to develop Close Combat as a 3D game have seen print, by developer Eric Young who also worked on many of Atomic's CC releases.
GI Combat was the first such attempt to make a 3D CC, released in 2002. The game was not a commercial success, and Young took the project to Matrix Games, who released Eric Young's Squad Assault: West Front in 2003. The latter also garnered negative reviews from critics (though many players staunchly defended it), centred mainly on issues with the interface and pathfinding of vehicles and soldiers in the 3D environment.
External links
- [Tournament House]
- [Close Combat]
- [Close Combat Series]
- [CSO Close Combat Clan]
- [Close Combat II Forum, (English and Spanish)]
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