Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy PC
User Score
5.3 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 17
  3. Negative: 7 out of 17

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  1. justaplayer
    Oct 2, 2012
    9
    There is simply no better tactical wargame available. This is as close to a simulation that a game can be without losing focus on gameplay.

    The demo is free. Try it yourself. If you have any interest in tactical WWII gaming, you'll be hooked.
  2. Spades_n_Nades
    Oct 2, 2012
    9
    Whilst I'll start this review by stating you'll probably have to have an interest in tactical combat or military history to get the most out of CMBN, I myself tick this box and have been playing CMBN for almost a year now, and still get as much out of it as I did when I first started playing. I'll also admit that Battlefront could do a lot to improve the UI (particularly where multiplayer is concerned. But this said multiplayer is where the best experiences are mostly to be had in CMBN (although their are some terrific single player campaigns out there made by the CMBN community - I particularly recommend 'Devil's Descent' which can be found in Battlefront's repository). In all but the smallest scenario maps you will probably need to forgo real time and play turn based due of the complexity of managing the large number so units usually involved. If playing multiplayer this will mean sending turns to your opponent (There is a great app called Head 2 Head Helper, made by Green as Jade, to take away the admin of doing this) who you'll be best finding on one of the forums, such as Battlefront's own. I prefer turn based play to realtime anyway, as it gives you more time to consider your moves, avoids you committing an afternoon or evening to a single game, and perhaps most importantly allows you to rewind and review great pieces of action such as long range tank KO or ambushing an infantry squad. My best memory of such an incident being when an opponent advanced two-three infantry platoons across a field just as my nebelwerfer artillery strike hit his lines, decimating his ranks to a few whimpering Tommies. All in all, I'm yet to play a game outside the CM2 series which comes close to matching CMBN's tactical credentials and level of detail paid to accurately reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of the arsenal of weapons available to the player. I would have scored the game 10 but marked it down to 9 due to the the UI and adequate if not great graphics. However, if you're in any doubt CMBN more than makes up for these deficiencies by creating the most realistic tactical WWII game out there. If you have an interest in tactical combat games or WWII, you need to give this game a go. One final note, many reviewers (including the previous user reviewers) have overlooked the level of detail and realism that CMBN. If fast pace is what you're after this is not the game for you, but if tension filled realistic tactical gameplay is something that appeals you'll wonder why wasted all that time with Company of Heroes. PS there is also an expansion pack which allows you to play with Commonwealth and SS forces. But even without the game is still a great one.… Expand
  3. Probst
    Oct 2, 2012
    9
    I have no idea what game the other reviewers were playing that gave them such a bad taste in their mouth, but I have been playing CMBN for almost 18 months now and am still thoroughly enjoying it. If you are on the fence or just really unsure after all the negative waves, try the demo, it's free. I am betting you'll be wondering what they were playing as well.

    First of all the focus i    s Normandy obviously. It's worth a few minutes to become familiar the concept Battlefront has for game releases. A specific game is called a family. It is made up of the base game and additional modules to add material to round out that particular game. The game itself could be a campaign within WW2 or as in CMSF a modern (if fictional) campaign. Why not just cover an entire theater like the CMx1 series did? Simple, there is just far too much material in the newer engine and game to be able to do so. The module concept is key as you will note the previous reviewers decrying the lack of material. Apparently they decided to ignore all the statements from BF and critique what they already knew would not be in the base game. Don't sweat it, the SS, Luftwaffe troops etc etc are all included but not necessarily in the base game. As to the Amphibious, Para and glider landings - this isn't an RTS toy. It is a tactical combat simulator and no you can't be shooting at paras as they glide to earth for the few hours in a 90 day campaign that this actually occurred during. BF doesn't build games to try and cover every aspect of what someone MIGHT like to see a couple times. They focus on the big picture and where the gamer will spend 99.9% of their time. Thank goodness. Lord knows what kind of garbage other folks would have designed into this game that would have make the engine virtually unusable for a few gimmicky flavor items.

    It is also worth noting BF this summer made a commitment that to continuous upgrades of all CMx2 games going forward with CMBN so as they continue to develop the game engine and enhance the UI and AI, CMBN will benefit from those developments.

    For those of you who like me are not a grog, but love world war 2 gaming, the ongoing debates on the BF forum are actually fairly interesting though at times they give me a bit of a headache. The development of the game is part of an ongoing discussion. How should mortars function, how should machine gun fire best be reflected, how is that best accomplished with the game as at heart it is still a game. I think this is one of the things I like most about Battlefront. They understand they have to balance the ability of the game to provide entertainment for all the folks who only play against the AI. Unfortunately for folks like myself who have become more addicted to playing human opponents, there can be trade offs from that. Tanks firing on the move and the sheer speed of acquisition and fire are just some of those. Are they game breakers? Certainly not but it would be nice if there was some way to differentiate the AI in human to human play. I get though that trying to write 2 levels of TAC AI is just a way too much. Perhaps in a future iteration that would change.

    Most of the reviewers seem to either be unaware of that ongoing discussion or chose to ignore it and instead decry everything as "popularizing" the game. Pure rubbish. BF does require a fairly high level of detail and some kind of verifiable information before they will change the mechanics of the game, but given that they will in fact do so (as long as it isn't going to completely break the gaming experience). It is a fairly rigorous process that I personally feel enhances the effort to make the game function as close as possible to realistic combat tactics. Note I said as close as possible. It is still a game and as such will never be able to produce the fog of war 100% nor would we want it to. So if you are looking for a WW2 tactical game that will help you feel what Normandy was like about as much as any game will, this is it. 18 months in and I am just as addicted as day one and the first version upgrade should be coming soon to make it all that much better.    … Expand
  4. zombiehampster
    Oct 20, 2012
    9
    Having been a big fan of the Combat Mission series, I was happy to hear that they had released a newer, more up to date version of the series with Battle for Normandy. While the spirit of the BfN is in the same vein as Combat Mission, it seems (to me, at least) to play on a smaller, more intimate scale than its predecessors (WW II Combat Mission, specifically). Now forces are represented on a 1:1 scale (yes I know this is not the first time) for the WW II setting, and while it does sport improved graphics, they are not extremely flashy or impressive, unless you compare them directly with the original Combat Mission, and in that respect its much better. The game itself has some idiosyncrasies that tend to increase the frustration, such as shaky path-finding, some questionable decisions on the interface, animation problems, etc, but even with all these problems (which patches have fixed many issues), the game delivered to me an almost unimaginably stressful, nail biting combat simulation. The game works on probability more than hard yes's or no's and a given turn can play out differently each time depending on what happens on both sides. I love this feature a lot, as I was never too sure whether I was advancing through a field, while under fire, in a safe enough manner or if there was some precaution that i could have observed before advancing that would have improved my soldiers chances of survival. This to me, is what I believe a commander would face day after day, and I felt the BfN conveyed the burden of command well, especially in the campaign mode, where you have to manage you're companies resources with the expectation that reinforcements/ammunition would not be replenished immediately after a battle. I love this game for its variety and options and even with its flaws or shortcomings, it still holds my attention and is a lot of fun to play and has a some-what sandbox approach to how you accomplish your objectives. I hope they continue to make more of these games and continue to tweak the game-play of each addition to the Combat Mission family.… Expand
  5. AaronOlstead
    Apr 11, 2013
    9
    What a gem this is! I really enjoy playing this as the tactical play is more than aspiring and the support for the game is still widely available and more than adequate. The graphical representation is also excellent, with great unit detail and enormous maps, let alone the almost endless choices to choose from of both the above! I recommend this for anyone looking for a historical accurate and most enjoyable representation of the Battle of Normandy. Cheers!… Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 4 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 19, 2011
    84
    Return of the premier tactical wargame series to World War II is marred a bit by clunky camera and some big UI issues (no grand unit list after ten years, really?). But the game beneath is solid steel, and the additions of new Combat Mission engine good. If only the game would cover more than three months of combat. [June 2011]
  2. PC Gamer
    Oct 12, 2011
    73
    CMBfN is a very good tactical wargame saddled with pre-alpha looks and controls. [Dec 2011, p.74]
  3. PC Gamer UK
    Aug 6, 2011
    80
    Too fiddly and unforgiving for the popular palate, but those after reality-rooted WWII challenges should clearly investigate. [Aug 2011, p.94]
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