Close Combat: Invasion Normandy

Discount Price: $84.99

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine	100 Military Leaders Who Shaped World History (100 Series)	Saving Private Ryan (Special Limited Edition)

Customer Reviews:

Ironically, the name shows where the game fails most. [Posted on 2003-01-03]
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...

close combat : normandy [Posted on 2003-07-22]
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!

Not For Action, But For Strategy [Posted on 2003-10-12]
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.

A worthy successor to all others [Posted on 2005-07-09]
This game has been rated poorly by some who see its new team selection option as "too easy." To the contrary, both the teams options and the "choose your own path to victory" campaign system. This game has a cleaner interface than all of the othe other Close Combat games combined. I would highly recommend it to those of you who are wondering whether or not to purchase a game in the series. Check out this one first.

I love this older strategy game [Posted on 2007-01-11]
I had this game in 2001, but lost the media to it. Recently, I began a new search for the software developers to see if they have continued the line of WWII strategy based games. I also, played Battle of the Bulge but was upset with the game play. I found Invasion Normandy interesting and very captive. Although, comparing the game with current graphics it doesn't hold any water to any new stuff. But because this game was a favorite of mine I have re-purchased the game with the hopes if continuing my love for WWII strategy based games. If you love older 16-bit graphics, but yet interesting game play I highly recommend Close Combat: Invasion Normandy.

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