Close Combat A Bridge Too Far Download

1. Close Combat 2 Free Download
2. Close Combat 2

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far

Windows - 1997

Also released on: Mac

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far is a real-time, historically accurate World War II strategy game that puts you in command of either the Allied or Axis forces during the epic Operation Market Garden battle in German. I used to play this neat RTS game back in the day that came with my Dad's Gateway (remember them?) computer called 'Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far'; it was neat - you could control individual soldiers and re-enact WWII battles and whatnot.

Download extras files
Manual available

Description of Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far Windows

Considered by many wargamers to be the best in the series, Close Combat 2 is a classic real-time tactical-level wargame from Atomic Games, makers of the renowned V for Victory games.

Adrenaline Vault's wargame expert Pete Hines explains in detail what makes this title worthy of being in our Hall of Belated Fame: 'In Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far (ABTF), you have the opportunity to test your hand at commanding either German or Allied troops in [Operation Market Garden, a] bloody struggle for control [during World War 2]. As the Allies, you try to make the push successful and rewrite history by bringing the attack to a close and seizing that final bridge at Arnhem. If you play as the Germans, your task will be to halt the advancing Allies at all costs and keep them from controlling this all- important corridor into the Fatherland.

This sequel to Close Combat has both similarities and differences from the original, and offers some strong military strategy gameplay. ABTF really offers three ways to play: battles, scenarios, or campaigns. Each relates to how much of the map -- which shows the key points of Operation Market Garden -- you play at a time. A battle is a single skirmish that takes place in one location. A scenario is a series of interrelated battles, in which your performance in one battle determines your troop strength and position for the next battle. Scenarios comprise a larger portion of the overall operation. A campaign is made up of several scenarios linked together and includes a major part of the operation, or can be the entire Operation Market Garden, from beginning to end.

Each battle map has a number of objectives spread throughout the landscape. These objectives will be controlled by one side at the beginning of the battle. If you are playing the 'battle,' then you have no choice over which soldiers to use, but you can determine where you want them to begin the battle. If you are playing a scenario or campaign, you can pick and choose, up to a point, the type and number of units you'll use in the upcoming battle. Depending on which side you are playing and whether you are defending or attacking, you will have a lot or only a little room in which to maneuver your units before the fighting begins.

Commanding your troops is largely a point-and-click affair. Right-clicking on any of your units brings up a menu of options for that unit. By pointing to a location on the map (i.e, at a building or enemy troops), you can move that unit to a particular location or ask him to fire his weapon. Individual soldiers are not controlled, but rather you command a group of units, whose size can vary. You can order troops to move, move fast, sneak, fire, lay smoke, defend, or hide. Moving means heading towards the indicated location while looking for enemy units while move fast is a quicker move and with less regard for locating or firing at the enemy. The sneak command is used to move at a much slower rate with the objective of reaching the target undetected by enemy forces, and defend means you want them to stay put and, well...defend. The hide command means they'll look for the best cover in their immediate area and try not to be seen (good for ambushes).

If you're ready for new and different challenges, use the game's battlemaker to construct your own battle. Starting with one of the maps provided, you can determine which and how many units each side will have. You can also choose where to place objectives on the map and how much each one is worth. Using the battlemaker you can see if a small, but experienced and heavily-armed group of soldiers can hold off a larger, but less equipped force.

This game was an awful lot of fun to play and very addicting. It's a very solid four star game and should get serious consideration for adding this to your game library. It was the type of game that I'd end up looking at the clock and realizing that three or four hours had just gone by without me noticing it. There are very few games of this type out on the market that kept my attention the way ABTF did. For those that have played the original, this game offers a ton of improvements. I think Atomic did a great job of making a good thing even better, without messing up what they had already established. This is definitely a sequel worth getting, and a great game for anyone looking to make an entrance into this genre. '

Review By HOTUD

External links

Captures and Snapshots

Screenshots from MobyGames.com

Comments and reviews

Bilgediver2019-03-150 point

CAELESTIAL, I fixed it by running it with compatability mode for WinXP

Echo1272018-03-021 point

@CAELESTIAL
I had the same error. Running in Windows 98 compatibility mode fixed it for me.

Caelestial2017-10-310 point Windows version

Followed all of the above steps, and somehow managed to get a new error that shouldn't be possible.
'Unable to start the program because your video card does not support at least 800x600x16bit resolution.'
Now obviously in this day and age I don't think a video card even exists that can't run at least 800x600x16bit resolution, so any ideas or suggestions? Pretty please, I am dying to play this gem of a game again.

tburgerman2017-05-101 point Windows version

@OldieButGoldies you say to replace the DATA folder with a valid clean CC2 ABTF archive which contains all videos. Where would I find that?

Oldies But Goldies2017-04-150 point Windows version

Got it to work on Win7 x64 -How?
Step 1 :Follow exactly and that order steps from
ANONYMOUS D 2016-09-05 1 point Windows version
The registry key supplied does not work with 64-bit windows since the path requested by the game is different. Edit the included CC2.reg file so that all paths that mention
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft Games
are changed to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft Games
Also make sure the InstalledTo entry matches the correct folder. And then run the reg file to add the entries to registry.
Step 2 :Further more after completing these steps ,overwrite DATA folder ENTIRELY from archive given from Abandonware with the one from a valid clean CC2 ABTF archive which contains all videos ,as it seems game requires those videos IN DATA FOLDER ,(otherwise it will pop-up an error message)and those dont exist on provided archive.

Rosty2017-03-311 point Windows version

Hey guys do any of you know how to make this run on D-Fend Reloaded or any of the options this site recommends? I have tried to run it using the sites steps and it just wont work. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Craigor682017-03-221 point Windows version

ANONYMOUS D you are a genius! Works great on my Win764 machine!

Thinnu2017-01-260 point Mac version

i fixed wineskin, did al the adjustments, but when i start the game it says it cannot find the video files..

Thinnu2017-01-261 point

for graphics solutions
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=6369&iTestingId=91921

Pzz1122017-01-210 point Windows version

Can't open the SETUPENU.DLL to install -Any advice? I'm not really tech savvy sorry!

speedothebrief2017-01-071 point

Thanks for the wineskin tip Anonymous Canadian. Anyone else having trouble with the graphics loading slowly? I experienced this on a Win 7 system and also on the wineskin'd Mac system. But, on Windows 10, it loads really fast. However, on Windows 10 it often crashes :{
Any ideas? I've played with so many graphics options with no luck. It seems like I'm possibly missing the old DirectX version required? Any ideas?

sfcrusscanter2017-01-010 point Windows version

Running a Dell D830 laptop with XP... I remember spending too much time on this game in the mid and late 90's. I downloaded the game and drug the .exe file over the dosbox icon. Eight hours later... Hey, it's the New Year! Okay, time to download the Russian Front and see if it works too. Great time to spend while recovering from a foot surgery. Russ, in Kansas

Jeff G2016-12-151 point

Never did have any luck with this one. The zip file didn't have a default path or install program, so tried to install it to a few different directories without success.

Farticus2016-11-222 points Windows version

Works in 64Bit mode if you change/replace the entry keys as suggested by
'Anonymous D'. Thanks for the info you are a star ;-)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft Games]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft GamesClose Combat]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft GamesClose Combat2.00]

$lick2016-11-201 point Windows version

Thanks Anonymous. Works perfectly on Windows 10 64-bit after adding that info to the registry keys.

Anonymous Canadian2016-09-122 points

Download works great! Got it running on Mac with Wineskin.

Anonymous D2016-09-052 points Windows version

The registry key supplied does not work with 64-bit windows since the path requested by the game is different. Edit the included CC2.reg file so that all paths that mention
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftMicrosoft Games
are changed to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREWow6432NodeMicrosoftMicrosoft Games
Also make sure the InstalledTo entry matches the correct folder. And then run the reg file to add the entries to registry.

der general2016-04-15-1 point

Does not work, complains about th emissing registry entries, even after writing them from the supplied .reg-file and adjusting the InstalledTo path to point to the proper direction. Any tips how to get it to work?

battling bill2016-02-03-5 points Windows version

the game will not open. files will extract and properties can be adjusted for compat. the registry files cause it to not open. x3 attemps confirm this.

SHINOBI2332016-01-250 point

OEFM USE THE CC2 FILE

OEFM2015-04-051 point Mac version

This download doesn't work, why say that it will? Such a waste of time

Maverik2015-02-11-3 points Mac version

#John
This is one of the grat Mac game titles of all time although it was created in 1996!. It will only run in Classic (OS 9) on G3, G4 or G5 PPC (with Classic). If you have an Intel Mac from 2005+ the Mac version wont work. Your alternative is to install Steam and then pay / download one of the 7 or 8 Windows editions - I think the last of these from Matrix is about 2012 (so its still being developed after 15 years)

John2015-02-081 point Mac version

Ha, I meant dosbox....

John2015-02-07-1 point Mac version

Hey man, how the heck do I get this to work for a mac. I got dropbox and boxer but can't figure it out.

Write a comment

Share your gamer memories, give useful links or comment anything you'd like. This game is no longer abandonware, we won't put it back online.

Buy Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far is available a small price on the following websites, and is no longer abandonware. GoG.com provide the best releases and does not include DRM, please buy from them! You can read our online store guide.

Game Extras

Some of these file may not be included in the game stores. For Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, we have the following files:

Other Releases

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far was also released on the following systems:

Mac

• Year:1997
• Publisher:Microsoft Corporation
• Developer:Atomic Games, Inc.

Similar games

Fellow retro gamers also downloaded these games:

Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far, or Close Combat II, is a World War II real-time computer wargame, developed by Atomic Games, and released on September 30, 1997.^[1] The second installment of the Close Combat series, the game is played on a two-dimensional map, between two players.^[1]

Close Combat is based on Operation Market Garden; most units in the game are based on those used in 1944, with the exception of a few which are only available in custom games.^[2] The game may be played as either the Germans, or the Allies, the latter divided into the British, Americans, and Polish.^[1] The game received mainly positive reviews.^[3] On February 6, 2018, the game was re-released on GOG.com.

• 1Gameplay
  • 1.1Gameplay modes
• 3Critical reception

Gameplay[edit]

Combat takes place on a two-dimensional map with three-dimensional terrain elements. Depending on the map, terrain features can include a variety of features providing concealment and cover, such as hills, hedges, foxholes, trenches, streams and buildings. Units have limited fields of vision (particularly vehicles), suffer from fatigue, have limited ammunition, can be suppressed, will break and flee if their morale drops too low, and generally behave in a manner similar to real life (although there are options to make units always visible, always obey orders, and/or fearless).

The units used in the game vary, but are nonetheless divided into two categories: infantry, and support. The infantry category contains most infantry units, such as rifle infantry, scouts, snipers, MG42 machine gunners (for the German side), antitank infantry (for the Allied side), heavy assault teams, and reserves. More specialized infantry teams such as flamethrower engineers, mortar teams and machine gun teams are placed in the support category, as are vehicles (including halftracks, armored cars, tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns) and fixed guns.

Gameplay modes[edit]

Close Combat 2 Free Download

The player can choose to play a single battle, or a longer operation or campaign made up of multiple battles.

Battle[edit]

The 'battle' depicts a single one-day engagement, such as the taking of the Arnhem rail bridge (Battle of Arnhem). Battles are played in a single seating, and usually last several minutes. Units are assigned to each player at the start of the battle, and cannot be changed. The objective of each battle is usually for the Allies to take victory locations dotted around the map, and the Germans to hold those locations (although this can vary with the map). Sometimes, the Allies may have to secure a bridge (by forcing the Germans off the map) before the Germans can destroy it. Declaring a ceasefire or retreating from the battle immediately ends it.

Operation[edit]

Operations are made up of a series of battles (up to five), and depict an operation spanning several days in a specific locale (such as the offensive at the Arnhem Bridge). The overall objective of each side is to control the maps in the operation, with each map having a certain point value:

Close Combat 2

If the player fails to win the entire map, they still receives points based on the number and value of victory locations controlled. The victory level at the end of the operation is based on the sum of victory points accumulated at the end of each day.

Unlike battles, in an operation the players can customize their force before each battle by purchasing units before each battle, using requisition points (obtained over time as a result of receiving supplies). Up to nine infantry units and six support units may be brought into a single battle. A unit that takes losses will be eventually replenished (although it may be better to simply remove that unit and requisition a new one).

Additionally, both sides can declare a ceasefire, which stops the battle for one to seven hours while both sides recuperate. A badly beaten force can also choose to flee from the battle, although this can result in engaged units being captured by the enemy, or even (if the map is the last one in the operation controlled by the retreating side) result in the operation being canceled.

Sector Campaign[edit]

The sector campaign offers a larger scope of combat than the operation or battle. Sector campaigns take place in one of the three sectors: Arnhem, Nijmegen, or Eindhoven. Each sector campaign consists of a number of operations fought in parallel (thus, rather than playing an entire operation and moving on to the next one, the player will be fighting battles in multiple operations at once).

The objective in each sector campaign is similar that of the operation; that is, to take and hold maps. The victory rating for the Arnhem sector campaign is based on how well British and Polish forces are holding out at the end of the campaign (compared to the historical outcome of the real-life campaign), while that of the Nijmegen and Eindhoven sector campaigns is based on how quickly XXX Corps can advance through that sector (likewise).

If the Germans can seize the landing zones, they will be able to prevent the Allied airborne units from receiving supplies. Moreover, they can delay XXX Corps's progress by attacking a road or bridge after it has already passed that location.

Grand Campaign[edit]

The Grand Campaign is the largest in scope of all the gameplay modes, and offers the most strategy. It combines all three Sector Campaigns into a single campaign, depicting the events of Operation Market Garden starting from September 17, 1944. The ultimate objective is Arnhem, particularly the road bridge.

At the end of each day, both players must choose a sector to supply (other sectors will also be supplied, but not as much). German forces can receive supplies by land at any time, while Allied forces can only be resupplied by land in areas which XXX Corps has already relieved. Additionally, the Allied player can also airdrop supplies into any sector (unless the Germans control the landing zones).

Victory is determined based on how fast XXX Corps reaches Arnhem (or if they even arrive at all), and how much ground 1st Airborne has managed to hold when reinforcements arrive.

Development[edit]

Following an unofficial report on March 8, 1997,^[4]Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far was announced by publisher Microsoft and developer Atomic Games on March 11.^[5] The original Close Combat was among Microsoft's 'most successful titles' by that point, according to Next Generation, and the sequel was 'expected to not depart from the original to drastically'.^[4] Earlier in the year, there had been speculation within the game industry that Atomic would be hired by Avalon Hill to develop Computer Squad Leader, a project ultimately delegated to Big Time Software in January 1997.^[6][7] Like its predecessor, A Bridge Too Far was published by Microsoft on a 'title to title' basis; the company held no stake in Atomic.^[8]

In mid-March, Microsoft announced its planned computer game releases for 1997, which included A Bridge Too Far.^[9]

Critical reception[edit]

Like its predecessor, A Bridge Too Far achieved worldwide sales of roughly 200,000 units by February 1999. Atomic Games' head Keith Zabalaoui said that the first two Close Combat titles each outsold the company's earlier games by around ten to one.^[8] Before the release of Close Combat III, he described A Bridge Too Far as the company's 'most successful game yet'.^[17]

Macworld's Michael Gowan wrote that A Bridge Too Far 'boils down the complexity of battle into a fairly intuitive interface'. He summarized it as 'a solid campaign game'.^[16]

Next Generation reviewed the Macintosh version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that 'Although not a perfect game, Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far fills the gap between the classic WWII strategy of titles like V for Victory and the current Command & Conquer knockoffs. If replaying history battles appeals to you, A Bridge Too Far is the game to play.'^[13]

Awards[edit]

Notable awards received by this game include: coming seventh in GameSpy's 'Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time',^[18] editor's choice from PC Gamer,^[19] and runner up as the best wargame of the year, by PC Gamer.^[20]A Bridge Too Far was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 'Wargame Game of the Year' award, which ultimately went to Sid Meier's Gettysburg! The editors wrote that A Bridge Too Far is 'improved in every way over Atomic's original Close Combat.'^[21] It was also a finalist for GameSpot's 1997 'Best Wargame' award, which again went to Gettysburg! The editors wrote, 'A Bridge Too Far packs much more depth and challenge than your typical real-time strategy game and has quickly become the definitive standard in military simulation.'^[22] Similarly, the Computer Game Developers Conference nominated A Bridge Too Far for its 'Best Strategy/Wargame' Spotlight Award, but this went ultimately to Myth: The Fallen Lords.^[23]CNET Gamecenter likewise nominated it in the 'Strategy/War' category, but gave the award to Age of Empires.^[24]

In 1998, PC Gamer US declared A Bridge Too Far the 43rd-best computer game ever released, and the editors called it 'the Saving Private Ryan of wargaming.'^[25]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abc'Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far Review'. Gamespot.com. 1997-11-04. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
2. ^Lee, Bill. 'ATPM 4.06 - Review: Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far'. Atpm.com. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
3. ^'Close Combat II: A Bridge Too Far Reviews'. Gamerankings.com. 1997-09-30. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
4. ^ ^abStaff (March 8, 1997). 'Microsoft To Announce Close Combat 2'. Next Generation. Archived from the original on June 6, 1997. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
5. ^Dunkin, Alan. 'News for March 11, 1997'. Online Gaming Review. Air Age Publishing. Archived from the original on February 7, 1998. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
6. ^Udell, Scott (January 22, 1997). 'Advanced Squad Leader Conversion in the Works'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on June 15, 1997. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
7. ^Coleman, Terry (May 1997). 'The Golden Hex Awards; Briefings'. Computer Gaming World (154): 193, 194.
8. ^ ^abBates, Jason (February 4, 1999). 'Close Combat: The Interview'. IGN. Archived from the original on June 13, 2002.
9. ^Jones, George (March 14, 1997). 'Microsoft unveils '97 lineup'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on March 27, 1997. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
10. ^Weston, James. 'Unabridged'. PC Gamer UK (49). Archived from the original on January 17, 2002.
11. ^Bates, Jason (January 1998). 'Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on December 5, 1999. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
12. ^Miller, Patrick C. (December 19, 1997). 'Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far'. Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
13. ^ ^ab'Finals'. Next Generation. No. 37. Imagine Media. January 1998. p. 164.
14. ^Mathieson, David. 'Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far'. PC Zone. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
15. ^Ocampo, Jason (1997). 'Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on April 28, 2005. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
16. ^ ^abGowan, Michael (February 1999). 'Name Your Game; From Goofy to Gory, Macworld Reviews 48 Ways to Play'. Macworld. Archived from the original on August 10, 2001. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
17. ^Zabalaoui, Keith (December 4, 1998). 'Designer Diaries: Close Combat III'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 28, 1999. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
18. ^'Top Ten Real-Time Strategy Games of All Time'. GameSpy. 1997. Archived from the original on 2007-03-03. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
19. ^'Editor's Choice from PC Gamer'. CD-ROM Access. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
20. ^'PC Gamer Annual Awards'. CD-ROM Access. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
21. ^Staff (March 1998). 'CGW Presents The Best & Worst of 1997'. Computer Gaming World (164): 74–77, 80, 84, 88, 89.
22. ^Staff. 'GameSpot's Best & Worst Awards for 1997'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
23. ^Jensen, Chris (May 8, 1998). 'Spotlight Award Winners'. Online Gaming Review. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on April 29, 1999.
24. ^The Gamecenter Editors (January 28, 1998). 'The Gamecenter Awards for 97!'. CNET Gamecenter. Archived from the original on February 13, 1998. Retrieved July 5, 2019.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
25. ^The PC Gamer Editors (October 1998). 'The 50 Best Games Ever'. PC Gamer US. 5 (10): 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 98, 101, 102, 109, 110, 113, 114, 117, 118, 125, 126, 129, 130.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)

External links[edit]

• Close Combat: A Bridge Too Far at MobyGames