Close Combat 4: The Battle of the Bulge

Reviewing games I played a long time ago: What a gem! I sunk hundreds of hours as a teen, its one of my all time favourite strategy games. And it plays really well on the Deck (and any Linux of course), but be sure to: Go to your install folder, and open the CC4.ini file. Change this: PlayVideos=1 to PlayVideos=0 Use launch option in game properties: WINEDLLOVERRIDES="ddraw.dll=n,b" %command%

I recently purchased Close Combat 1-5. I wanted to relive some childhood memories. Regrettably, these games were unplayable. Not due to aged affects, poor performance, or graphics. Literally just unplayable. I tried to load up 3 and it instantly crashed. 4 lasted 7 minutes before it was done. 5 was a mixture of both. So sad, that I cannot replay these. If they fixed it I would love to revisit. Good luck out there, everyone.

Close Combat 4: The Battle of the Bulge remains one of the defining examples of tactical warfare games, demonstrating that realism and thoughtful design can outlast technological advancements. Originally developed by Atomic Games and now made available to modern audiences through SNEG, the title transports players to the brutal winter of 1944 during Germany's final large-scale offensive on the Western Front. Rather than presenting war as a spectacle, the game emphasizes command responsibility, forcing players to think like field officers tasked with preserving lives while accomplishing objectives. Even years after its original release, its approach to military simulation continues to stand apart from many contemporary strategy titles. At its core, the game revolves around commanding squads of infantry, armored vehicles, and support units across a connected campaign map that evolves according to player actions. Every battle carries over into the next, creating a persistent sense of progression and consequence. Casualties are not simply replaced between missions, and veteran units become increasingly valuable as they survive multiple engagements. This persistence adds a level of ten…

Not very enjoyable. First about the graphics: Even though I think the top-down maps look nice sometimes the units, UI, campaign map and other things look cartoonish. Sounds: Germans sound like some cartoon villains/the whiny, cowardly types from American war movies that howl their mother while getting shot to pieces. Weapon sounds are very generic and many guns sound the same. The battlegroups are fixed so you can't select your units like in the other Close Combat games. Boring unit roster, just the generic Panther tanks. About the gameplay. I laughed and stopped playing when my team of "elite" assault infantry were surprised by dug out enemies right in front of them, even though they were supposed to be moving quietly with their weapons ready at that direction. I would understand they took some casualties, but they became stupid and just kept crawling to the direction of the machine gun without firing back and in the end the whole team was killed one by one by the enemy machine gun without my elite troopers firing even one shot back or throwing a hand grenade there. Overall it seems the AI in this game is pretty bad, they just dig in and ambush my troops making playing just fru…

It's a classic. and the best one in the series. Thanks for bringing it back for us old schoolers!

I really like other games in this series, but this game is not enjoyable. I can shoot a Panther tank 10 times, doing no damage, and just have to sit and watch helpless while it picks off my tanks 1 by 1. I like the difficulty and realism of other Close Combat games, but this one is just atrocious.