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.
Rating: 
Summary: as good as any other close combat game!!
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, but CC3 and CC2 are far better!
Review: I have played this game for awhile and it is not bad. Just one note: The German voices and commands are not correct! I study at the University of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany and I can certify that the Germans voices are extremely off! For example: When German units receive fire they scream "Einfliegendes Geschoss! ". In German that means "we are receiving one single round". The correct term would be "Wir kriegen Feuer!" The same goes for when the Germans state that they have artillery support. In the game it sounds like "Artilleribarriere befindbar". There is no such thing as artilleribarriere in the German language. You would say something like "Wir haben artilleriunterstuts" I realize that these are all small details. But if you are a history or military buff it adds up!
Rating:
Summary: Great game, but what happened to the Tigers?
Review: I have the three close combat games that came before this one, and I also agree that this is the finest. I understand why they had to take away the feature that lets you pick your units, the Americans could'nt always have 5 shermans to fight with, I like the format. The addition of artillery and air strikes is icing on the cake. The only minor things I can say negatively about this game is the units. I have been playing since late November, and have not seen one Tiger tank! They might come later in the game but I have'nt seen it They played a big role in the ardennes. Second, the barrage consists of four mortars, I think 105mms would be a little more effective. Overral fun game!
Rating:
Summary: Historical accuracy in question from reviews
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest war simulation of all time
Review: I must start by agreeing fully with the man above, that the sound is INCREDIBLE. I do not have a subwoofer or any fancy sound system whatsoever... nonetheless, the sound was awesome. However, I must beg to differ with the comment that the AI isn't all that great. In fact, it is some of the best AI I have ever seen for a strategy game! The men having the brains to stay behind cover when under fire, fear, and exhaustion were all highly realistic. The graphics have also improved over the previous title. I must admit that the tanks are a little hard to maneuver... but can you see the original W.W.II tanks turning as fast as Command & Conquer? They have become a lot smarter and quicker at aiming than they were in number 2. To sum it all up, I'll just say that this game is HIGHLY recommended by me. And only if you love as realistic a war simulation as possible in a fast moving real-time environment should you buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Game with bugs
Review: I own the entire Close Combat series. My favorite is still CC2, but The Battle of the Bulge is definitely a close second. First, what I like... The use of multiple battlegroups as in CC2 has been returned. The addition of artillery and airstrikes is cool and does not disrupt game play. The ability to move battle groups on an overall map makes the game more interesting. The sounds are spectacular and there are lots of cool videos. Infantry units aren't useless as they were in CC3. Now, what's wrong with the game... The Germans are too easy to play with (American campaign is difficult but exciting) The game has a severe bug that doesn't allow you to finish the grand campaign. The short of it is that once a map takes too much battle damage or has too many wrecks on it the entire campaign crashes. This can be fixed with a patch, however the patch doesn't work with all systems. The patch also fixes some other problems (IF YOU CAN USE IT!) including...adding Tigers into the game which were used extensively in the real Battle of the Bulge, improving tank AI which frankly was quite terrible at times, and other smaller details.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Game!
Review: I purchased CCIV shortly after it was released. This game offers great graphics and sound with a large selection of single battles, operations, and campagins. The soldiers act as if they are real and respond very much like real people under fire. For example, if you send a squad of poorly trained milita to tangle with a group of strong veterans more often then not will your poor milita be sent running back to the fatherland after only a brief period of fighting. If a soldier runs out of ammo he can use weapons captured off dead enemy troops and jump right back into the battle. The game's only problems are a few AI bugs that make the game less engrossing for seasoned wargamers who demand perfection. If your new to wargaming like I was get this game now, you'll be gald you did!
Rating:
Summary: Try out CC-3 the Russian Front
Review: I thought this game was kind of fun to play. Yet, it deserved a 2 star rating because it is actually worse than its predicessor close combat 3, the russian front. This is unforgivable as the gaming industry is probably one of the most competitive of all software industries. When I was playing this game I kept thinking about "why don't I just uninstall this game and go back to play 'the russian front' instead" The two sides are more evenly matched in the russian front. The role of the tanks and infantry are more realistically modelled in the russian front. (Sure it's no fun when you have 20 men chopped to pieces by a single tank when deployed improperly, but that's what happens even if your infantry got a couple of AT-rifles or Panzerfausts). You could actually tell what's going on in CC3. With battle of the bulge, most of the times you just send in your troops and hope for the best. Many of my favorite features in CC3, like requisition your own units is unavailable in this game. And the heavier German tanks rumored to be available to you in this game is actually not, well I haven't seen one King Tiger or Ferdinand yet.
Rating:
Summary: Getting better and worse
Review: 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 it the game is just great.
The gameplay and the background are incredible and it remains the best WWII strategy game around.
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