Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far

"I think the developers went a little too far with the enemy AI"

A Bridge too Far is a World War II strategy game, that allows you to control the Axis or the Allies. It is one of the more complex strategy games out there. You have a large variety of troops and missions to complete, which makes this game one of the deepest out there.

GAMEPLAY--7
Gameplay is very complex. All of your troops are divided into little groups, which you click and drag to move around. The vehicles are all controlled individually, and they disperse into vehicle crews when their tank or whatever they were in, is destroyed. The gameplay is so complex for mainly one reason. The sheer number of options and customizable characteristics. In some way or another, you can change everything for your amount of Sherman tanks, to if you are the Axis or the Allies. Do not expect this to be a game that you will pick up and master in ten minutes. But, in the missions, telling your troops what to do is simple. Just click on them, and a menu comes up. In combat, this is how movement is completed, also.

GRAPHICS--8
These graphics are surprisingly good for three dimensional sprites. (I have not had very good experience with 3D sprites.) Everything is very detailed, except for the troops. It can be very difficult to determine which troops are which, without reading the labels provided. The labels are a VERY welcome addition. It can also be difficult to tell the tanks apart, so it is good that they have labels too.

The flags above or next to buildings makes it very easy to tell which side the building is occupied by. This is nothing too complex or difficult, but it can save your troop’s lives, so you do not have to run them across a street infested with tanks from the opposing team.

MUSIC--N/A
SOUND--10
There is too little music in A Bridge too Far to rate. The sound effects, though, are spectacular. Each explosion make you jump in your seat. Even with the volume on low. On high they rattle the windows. The gunfire is so realistic it will scare you. The voice acting is perfect, and it will make you feel like you are in the heat of battle. It is probably the best voice acting I have ever heard in a game, on the PC or on any console.

CONTROL--5
Controlling can get kind of tedious, especially in battle. In the before battle set-up, controlling is a cinch, because all you have to do is click and drag your troops and vehicles. During battle, you have to go through the menu to do everything, even move. I wish there was a shortcut method, such as the one used in Civilization. Among the things you can tell your troops and vehicles to do are move, move quickly, hide, fire, and smoke (but only with certain types of characters. Not all of them.)

FUN--7
Usually this game is very fun. At times, though, it can get frustrating because of the high difficulty and learning curve, which lowered this score substantially. What is most fun about this game, is when you are actually in the combat. When it is least fun, is when both sides have around three groups of troops or vehicles left, and they spend the rest of the battle hiding and missing while they fire from long ranges, until you decide to grab you troops, run recklessly down the main drag, disheeding all sense in your head, just to get the battle over.

REPLAY VALUE--MEDIUM
The game does not make you want to play it constantly for the rest of your life, but it does a substantial job of making you want to keep playing. The replay value goes down some after you beat the game with the Axis and the Allies (both sides), but there are enough customizable traits to keep it on your hardrive for the occasional play.

CHALLENGE--HIGH
If there ever was a difficult game, this is it. The learning curve is steeper than a cliff. Once you figure it out, though, the enemies seem to instantly get tougher, make you go back to the drawing board again. The missions even after you figure it all out, are difficult, just because the enemy always seems to know your weakness(es). You have to cover that weakness up as quickly as they take advantage of it.

CLOSING STATEMENT
This is one of the more complex strategy games on the PC. It is great for strategy veterans and not so great for everyone else. So the more strategy games you have played, the more you will probably like this. (And you will probably figure it out faster.) But, even if you are a beginner, you will still probably like this game. And you will have a great start in the strategy genre.

OVERALL--7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 07/15/00, Updated 07/18/01