Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far is an excellent and superior sequel to the Microsoft Game's original Close Combat. A Bridge Too Far covers Operation Market Garden, an attempt by the allies to capture several important bridges in Holland during World War II. The complex game covers the entire operation in the Grand Campaign mode or just one portion of the operation in one of three smaller campaigns.

Players chose between the Allies, who consist of the Americans, the British, and the Polish (only in one small operation), or the Germans. As the allies, the player has to use paratroopers to try to take the following bridges in the order of the distance from the main army: Son, Veghel, Nijmegan, Arnhem Rail, and Arnhem. Then, the allied player must hold the bridges until the XXX Corp arrives to reinforce them. The German player must take the paratroopers' landing zones (where all supplies for the paratroopers are dropped) and defend the bridges from the allies. If necessary, the Germans can blow the Son, Veghel, or Arnhem Rail bridges rather than let the allies take them.

Gameplay in A Bridge Too Far is nearly flawless. First, the player purchases units with requisition points. Each unit is unique and has its own special capabilities. The main units are Heavy Infantry, Rifle Infantry, Reserve Infantry, antitank infantry, Snipers, Machine Gun Infantry, Mortars, Antitank Guns, Halftracks, and Tanks (A Bridge Too Far has some of the best tank battles in computer game history). Then, the units are placed on a map and the battle begins.

An immense amount strategy is usually needed to win a battle. Players need to utilize such tactics as smoke screens, ambushes, and cover fire to win battles. Battles are won by forcing the enemy to flee or by taking all of the Victory Locations (marked with a flag on a map) and calling a cease fire.

The game is balanced perfectly to reflect the actual campaign. Any delay in the XXX Corps progress results in allied paratroopers running out of supplies while the German forces continue to grow. In the actual Operation Market Garden, the allies took the Nijmegan Bridge but failed to reach the Arnhem Bridge, resulting in the near destruction of the unsupported British 1rst Airborne. However, in Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, the player can prevent the allies from even getting that far as the Germans, or take the Arnhem Bridge as the Allies. 9/10