As someone who never played the original Close Combat, I was coming into Close Combat: The Bloody First with a very open mind. I have always enjoyed tactical games and war games so this one mixing the two together really appealed to me. After spending some time with the game after it was released, I can see some promise, but it needs a lot of work!
How to Download Close Combat: The Bloody First
You can get the game from Steam. Click on the Download button below the review.
The Game Review
Let me start with the idea of the game and it is one that I really like. There is a nice and long campaign here that is set around the famous, Big Red One infantry unit. I liked the idea of this and really do appreciate what they were trying to go for with the campaign here, especially in making it as historical as they could.
While I never played the original games, I do know that Close Combat: The Bloody First is the first time the series has been in 3D. I must say that the visuals of the game are not what I expected, while you play the game from a top-down point of view, the details are really strange and overall the game has a very mid 00’s look to it that I am not 100 percent sure is actually intentional.
While graphics, of course, are not everything, especially in a tactical kind of game. The gameplay of this is going to be one that you either love or hate. It has a very and I mean very mixed reputation right now. I found the opposing AI offered a decent enough challenge, but there are times when my own troops had what felt like a mind of their own.
I had two guys just run right into the middle of a battlefield, my artillery just starts firing like madmen and a few other strange things happen to. I have read that these happen by design and it is due to the morale and feelings of your troops. If this is the case that is awesome, but I wish the UI made it easier for me to know that!
Overall, I found planning my attacks rather straightforward. I really like how much stuff I had to play with ranging from small arms to powerful weapons and even tanks. You need to have a plan for attack, defending and take into account not just things like the morale of your troops, but even the lay of the land too. There really is a lot to think about in Close Combat: The Bloody First, I just wish the game had a better tutorial.
I am very impressed with just how much content there is in this game. The game is set in Normandy, Sicily, and Tunisia and there is a large selection of missions and maps to keep you entertained. I am sure history buffs will be very happy and impressed with how the developers have gone all-in with the time period.
For me, Close Combat: The Bloody First is a very strange game to talk about. I can see so much potential here, but I just feel it needs a little finer tuning. The game has a very mixed reputation for a reason! It appears to be the kind of game that either clicks with you or just turns you off after a few minutes. You might want to wait for a price drop before checking this one out.
