Rating: 
Summary: Good Game, Not Perfect
Review: A good game, but not perfect. The new close combat (Normandy) is better.
Rating:
Summary: disappointed
Review: As a Close Combat fan, especially CC3, I was excited to get a copy of CC4-Battle of the Bulge. As others have said, it is nowhere near the level of CC3. You cannot select individual units, the AI is seriously flawed, and the same maps get used over and over-even if you "hold" an area after one battle...the computer will take it away from you the next time. Also, I have yet to see a Tiger or King Tiger tank. Why does the book even mention them? The game requires incredible patience as well; to complete the campaign takes days. I hardly ever play it anymore, and have reverted to CC3 for my wargaming.
Rating:
Summary: Lacking the Tiger's bite
Review: As an avid fan of first two CCs, I initially warmed to "Battle of the Bulge". What better subject matter? The great battle pitting Germany's feared Tiger tank against the flimsy US Shermans, first immortalised in the Hollywood movie of the same name, and now brought to life by the best wargame producers around. True to the faith, CC4 has wonderful sound effects and battlefield concepts -- for instance, unexploded shells in burning tanks periodically blow up, keeping you on the edge of your seat, particularly if they go up while your men are creeping around nearby. The addition of rocket half-tracks, though perhaps not entirely historically accurate, adds a great wildcard. No matter how strong your force, the odds can be changed in an instant by a few well-placed missiles from the enemy. Also great is the ability to bombard the enemy or call in a Mustang to drop something down the chimney of the Panzer leader. The switch to a strategic map of the entire battlefield is also great fun. Now you can feel that you're driving the whole campaign, not just directing a few ants at a time. The option to choose time limits on individual battles is also good as is the addition of a "sneak" movement for individual squads. But after a few plays, I found my enjoyment fading into frustration. Campaigns run for far too long. Unless, you are hospitalised and have nothing else to do all day, getting through a grand campaign will take weeks and cost you most of the significant relationships in your life. Monotony. The length of the campaigns might not be so bad except that each mission somehow starts to seem very similar to the last after a few battles. It may be the ubiquitous snowy terrain and the lack of variation in the weapons. Line of fire. This is sometimes difficult to distinguish -- you'll be sitting in what you think is a gully when next thing you know you're actually in clear sight of a Panzer. This is an unrealistic and occasionally annoying factor as line of fire certainly would have been clear to those on the ground. No Battlemaker!! While you can create your own strategic map operations, you don't have the wonderful battlemaker of CC2. You have to try to find the battlegroups that are carrying your favourite weapons and then position them on the map. It takes time, trial and error, and doesn't always work. You are are supreme ... too supreme. The computer is generally too weak an opponent whether on the defence or the attack. While that is better than it being too strong, it does become boring. Bugs!! On the two computers I played, the game was fatally flawed with bugs. "Internal errors" would occasionally appear in the middle of the most gripping games, or the most important junctures in campaigns. And, last but not least; No Tigers!! The movie version of the battle was famous for the Tiger tank. The CC4 manual also refers to these monsters. However, they never appear, except as tank destroyers. That is a major disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Fun, but little "replay-ability"
Review: As an owner of the first three Close Combat games, I looked forward to getting the lastest installment dealing with the Battle of the Bulge. I wasn't disappointed initially; the graphics and sound effects are top notch (I don't think real strategy games need 3-D); game play is easy and fun. Unfortunately, I grew bored with the scenarios fairly quickly. The Battlemaker feature allows you to custom design battles and campaigns is a key component (for me) for the CC series. The Battlemaker option has kept me interested in previous versions long after the historic battles/campaigns have grown tiresome. In CC4, you can only pick entire battle groups (companies) instead of individual units. I don't like this. You have to link battles together in a Strategic level much like the preprogrammed historical campaigns. Thus, the Battlemaker is a little tedious. In previous incarnations, one could pick individual squads and units for both sides, pick a map, and go at it -- simple battles pitting a few squads against each other. However, I do recommend this game to anyone who enjoys WW2 history and/or strategy games...
Rating: 
Summary: Good game with just a few setbacks
Review: BATTLE OF THE BULGE is a realm-time strategy simulator set in the historical setting of the second world war. You can choose to play as either the Americans or "szie Germanz" (the latter seems to be the most fun). The game sets itself apart from other alternatives in the genre (such as STARCRAFT and COMMAND & CONQUER) by focusing on realism. In BATTLE OF THE BULGE you order troops around and not single individuals (as is the case in real war), and your units won't necessarily do everything you tell them to if their morale falls too low (they might for instance decide that it's a better idea to retreat and find cover if they suddenly find themselves under heavy enemy fire). And it's no good sending infantry troops up against a heavy armoured tank division. The best strategy to deploy seems to be using your infantry units to spot the enemy (since they have a better visual range than your armoured vehicles) and then keep the tanks close by for protection. The graphics of the game are good enough (explosions and smoke grenades look especially nice). But it can quite often become a painstaking job spotting yours and the enemy's units on the map (and your units don't always fire at will). The sound mixing is good. Whenever you finish off an American tank, you'll hear a satisfied German declare that the enemy is neutralized (and the Americans will be shouting "bailing out!"). Much fun. But if you're fresh to the series (like I was) you should be prepared spending a few hours getting used to the gameplay. So if you're after quick action this game might not be the pick for you. But if you're into strategy games with historical and realistic elements, then this game should be just right for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Great game, minor interface improvements make this game even
Review: Before Close Combat IV, i used to tell people that i liked the Close Combat series (seeing as i had played the first one, and bought the second one). Now, i must say, that i love the Close Combat series, and that i enthusiastically recommend the fourth installment of the game. I skipped buying Close Combat 3 because it received bad reviews. Where Close Combat II was cool in that it allowed you to customize what units showed up for each battle, Close Combat IV blows it away with bigger maps, smarter AI, artillery and air support, and the ability to move your units around a game-board of sorts. The game-board feature is great, because now i choose how i want my units to react to battles that i have won or lost. In the battle setup screen (where you place your units before you start the fight) you can set which direction your guys will be facing when defending (an option that was severly needed in CC2), and you can see what their line of fire is (in CC2, you had to guess, because terrain and buildings obscure the distance that your units can shoot). Especially useful is the addition of the ambush setting where now you can hide your guys until you actually need them. Finally, artillery fire and air support can be crucial, but more often than not don't really affect the game in a significant manner. Having said all this, i do have some gripes with the game. My biggest gripe is that the tanks controlled by the AI are amazingly smart at avoiding my Anti-Tank guns. So good in fact, that sometimes they are out of range of my AT guns by a mere millimeter on the map. I CHALLENGE any human player to be that good at knowing the line of site of the AT guns. Another thing i find bothersome is how to determine whether you're on a hill, or looking up a hill. It's especially annoying because most of the time now, i have to check my LOS by clicking the fire button and aiming at various objects (this is more time-consuming than just eyeballing LOS) because i cant tell whether the terrain will be obscuring or helping my units. That said, i love this game. I LOVE THIS GAME. I havent even tried multiplayer yet (and i usually only play multiplayer games) because i love how well balanced this game is. peace gum2me?
Rating:
Summary: Not enough battle groups.
Review: Close Combat Battle of the Bulge is a good game compared to Close Combat 1,2 or 3 but it still needs improvements like more battle groups in the battle maker. Although there are a lot of maps to fight on they get to all look the same after while with all that snow. There are just not enough types of infantry or tank units to keep your attention for very long. But I suppose I might be asking too much from a $20 game. I say if you're looking for a small-scale strategy game, go with Close Combat 5.
Rating:
Summary: Good game, but I liked CC3 better
Review: Evere since I heard CC4 was going to be released, I could't wait to buy and play with it. But once I got my hands on it, I immediately noticed some weak areas. Being a Close combat series Hard Core Fan, I had already bought all the previous three titles, and found some plus and minuses, especially if compared with "The russian front" (CC3). MINUSES Units: Your battle groups have fixed types of units, meaning you cannot adjust your forces from defence to offence posture (those shermans seem to be useless in defence against german armor). In the end it gets very boring to play in the same map with the same units over and over again! In CC3 every battle is different, since you can adjust your forces each time. The detail offered in CC3 is also more specific going down to the single soldier level. This used to be useful both during battles and during the plannig phase, where you coluld notice that a particular soldier or unit had been with you for even a few years. In the end I found a tendency not to use the older units because I feared they colud get killed! BATTLES: Strategic overview means you will be playing over some maps over and over again, having to go thru a complete cycle before you can move your forces again. AI: THE AI IS MUCH MORE STUPID THAN IN CC3. I played the first time on the german side, and won every single battle. It does not like to move very much, even if winning. PLUSES Graphics: Better and more ralistic. Air & arty support: You now can call in support during the game. It gives some more flexibility, but not enough to have a real impact on the game. Strategic level: You now have a strategic level where you can move your battle groups around befor playing single battles. This feature adds depth to the game, but sometimes prevents flexible movement. One unit per square is too few, and makes transiting battle groups thru controlled maps impossible. You first have to move out any unit that is controlling the area, reconquer it with the new unit and then you can move to the offence. A pain if you are in the rear areas, a nightmare if you are moving on the front lines. This feature looks like something out of an AMIGA 500 strategy game. MY SUGGESTION: If you are a CC series fan, BUY IT, since it gives you a completely new battlefield to play on. If you never played a CC series game before, BUY CC3, a much better game overall.
Rating:
Summary: Close Combat 4:the Battle of the Bulge
Review: I bought this game and did not expect much(never have bought any from microsoft before). I was surprised! Loads and plays easy. HIGHly recommended. Being a former Marine, the battle sequence moves very fluid and fast paced. The book that comes with it is short, sweet and to the point. You don't have to spend hours with a manual to play this game. A must for any real time gamer, or a good introduction to real time games.
Rating: 
Summary: CC3 is better...this is...aggravating
Review: 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 them yet, 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.
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