GOG.com - Close Combat Series

CJReich46 · February 06, 2018, 04:31:59 PM

GOG.com has got their mitts on The Close Combat Series!
https://www.gog.com/news/release_close_combat_series
A Bridge Too Far
Russian Front
Battle of the Bulge

and even has Gateway to Caen and Panthers in the Fog

Prices are pretty decent as they are on sale as well. :)

acctingman · February 06, 2018, 04:52:38 PM

Damn

$45 for the whole lot!!

glen55 · February 06, 2018, 05:00:42 PM

Supposedly compatible in Windows 7, 8 & 10 so anybody who tries them please let us know.

Great games, but I have always used one of these games - Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far - as an example of how not to end a game. (I use KOTOR as the example of how TO end a game, with the hero and other characters being feted with speeches about their great deeds in a very well-done scene.)

While I loved the game, CC:ABTF is a brutally difficult game that, no two ways about it, is going to require lots of save and reloads if you are going to make it all the way through. It is rarely easy, and as the campaign goes on it gets harder and harder, with a back-breaking final mission. It's a damned long campaign, too, so to recap: many, many hours of very difficult scenarios if you are to get the full victory as the Allies in the campaign, but I stuck with it to the end, no telling how many reloads, even as it passed beyond "fun" into "grueling task" over the last couple of scenarios.

At the end, when you complete the final victory condition in the final scenario, a little box that says "game over" pops up for about 2 seconds and then you are immediately dumped back to the start screen without a save.

Destraex · February 06, 2018, 05:16:26 PM

No close combat 1 :( ?
Believe it or not. I really enjoyed close combat 1 back in high school. The sounds especially were some of the best I had ever heard.

Where the hell is the new 3D version anyway?

Jarhead0331 · February 06, 2018, 05:20:21 PM

Quote from: Destraex on February 06, 2018, 05:16:26 PM
No close combat 1 :( ?
Believe it or not. I really enjoyed close combat 1 back in high school. The sounds especially were some of the best I had ever heard.

Where the hell is the new 3D version anyway?

No CC 1 or 5. Apparently, GoG had trouble with the coding and could not make them win 7, 8 and 10 compatible. They are supposedly working on them though and will release in the future.

JasonPratt · February 06, 2018, 05:52:20 PM

Weird. They have some of the newer releases, like Panthers in the Fog and Gateway to Caen, but... I guess they can't really provide the updated Matrix'd versions of ABTF (i.e. Last Stand Arnhem) and TRF (i.e. Cross of Iron).

What's throwing me I suppose, is that PantherFog is an update of Wach Am Rhein, but apparently not a Matrix remake-update.

jomni · February 06, 2018, 07:40:28 PM

Bridge too far still has the best campaign in my books.

Jarhead0331 · February 07, 2018, 10:22:39 AM

I tinkered with A Bridge Too Far last night. Its certainly still enjoyable, but of course, it has definitely lost some of the magic...and at 1024x768 on a 42" 4k monitor, it looks pretty rough.

BanzaiCat · February 07, 2018, 10:41:57 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on February 07, 2018, 10:22:39 AM
I tinkered with A Bridge Too Far last night. Its certainly still enjoyable, but of course, it has definitely lost some of the magic...and at 1024x768 on a 42" 4k monitor, it looks pretty rough.

I didn't pull the trigger for exactly this reason. Mine's 27" but I figure it would be stretched a bit. Still I'm sure I'll get it eventually.

I don't think I played CC2 but it sounds interesting.

Sir Slash · February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM

These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?

Jarhead0331 · February 07, 2018, 11:36:23 AM

Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?

Click-fest? Really? I never thought that at all. The game was very reasonably paced with units taking considerable time to carry out their orders, particularly if stressed, suppressed, panicking or suffering from exhaustion or low morale. I actually think at the time, these games were the antithesis of the traditional RTS "click-fest".

Greybriar · February 07, 2018, 11:40:15 AM

Quote from: jomni on February 06, 2018, 07:40:28 PM
Bridge too far still has the best campaign in my books.

I agree, at least of the games in the series I played. What I find amazing about it is that the Close Combat series began over 20 years ago! I played a lot of the early Close Combat games (I & II) and later purchased III & IV, but never got around to playing them much.

DennisS · February 07, 2018, 11:48:51 AM

Shoot...as much as I liked these, I would rather have some old QQP games. Conquered Kingdoms, The Lost Admiral, and the Perfect General.

Greybriar · February 07, 2018, 12:03:26 PM

Quote from: DennisS on February 07, 2018, 11:48:51 AM
Shoot...as much as I liked these, I would rather have some old QQP games. Conquered Kingdoms, The Lost Admiral, and the Perfect General.

I agree with you 100%! O0

JasonPratt · February 07, 2018, 12:06:23 PM

Quote from: Sir Slash on February 07, 2018, 11:28:31 AM
These game were quite the click-fest back in the day. Are they improved any since then?

No, they're just the same pausible-order real-time wego that they've always been. ;)

(Maybe multiplayer is more clickfesty? -- I never played that so I don't know if players can pause the action for orders.)