By Ian Boys

CC3 is a real-time tactical level game set on the Eastern Front during World War 2. It offers the chance to play either as Germans or Russians, from the rapid advance of June 1941 to the other rapid advance of May 1945. In between you get plenty of fighting, sometimes blitzing through enemy lines and encircling enemy troops with your armour, sometimes fighting it out room to room in a factory (Flamethrowers at the ready!)

Game Options

You can play single battles, short operations (3 or 4 battles) or a Grand Campaign, taking the whole war as its scope. These series, long or short, are the most interesting way to play, because you get to refit, replace and upgrade your troops between battles. On the Defensive? Perhaps an 88mm gun would even things up. On the attack? Well, you can't go far wrong with a Panther. But in the city a flame-throwing halftrack may be just the thing. Normally, of course, you won't be able to afford the best, so you may have to settle for a captured T-34 or an anti-tank rifle. You could opt to put your commander into a half-track or a tank to keep him where it counts. On the other hand keeping him on foot and in cover may mean he is still alive at the end of the game. It is these choices that make the game so much fun.

Lastly there is a mission builder. It is easy to use and offers a very wide variety of troops, maps and situations. I would have preferred a few more maps, but I'm probably just being greedy.
 
 

The Interface

The game is very well designed - choose a scenario and a side and click on go. Then simply drag and drop the units to your desired starting positions. The AT gun to cover that bridge. The machine gun to sweep that open field. The infantry into the stone building. Then start the battle.

During the battle orders are given by clicking on a unit and selecting (by hot keys) whether they are to move, run, sneak, ambush, defend, fire or lay smoke. Groups of units can also be commanded this way, in a similar fashion to Red Alert. The combined firepower of 5 or 6 T-34s is pretty impressive, however thick you think your armour is!

Anti-tank guns are handled very well indeed. Stealth is a factor for all units, but is most important for anti-tank guns and snipers. As you approach a gun it may well fire at you a few times before you spot it. If it is hidden in woods and you are buttoned up in your tank you may have to go and sit on it top find it. Of course, a halftrack with its open top will spot it a bit quicker. And elite infantry scouts, such as the reconnaissance elements of the German Fallschirmjaeger, will see it quickest of all. So you put a machine gun covering the approaches to the AT gun ...

Graphics

The biggest single difference vis-a-vis Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far lies in the graphics. As you can see from the screenshots, the quality is pretty impressive. As usual, static shots do not give the full picture. For that you need the tanks rumbling forward, the bursts of machine gun fire sweeping the treeline, the flamethrower scorching a building and mortar fire bursting among the advancing infantry. Coupled with the game's excellent sound (the soldiers can even talk in German and Russian if you want) you have a pretty immersive experience.

So What's Missing?

Artillery is handled in two ways - onboard units like mortars and rocket halftracks are spotted for and can have their fire adjusted if someone has eyes on the target. This works pretty well. Offboard artillery is not so good though - you get a barrage on pre-planned hexes as the game starts and that's it. No calling for fire.

Some people have bemoaned the lack of airpower. I have to say this wasn't a big issue for me.  Actually I am glad it was left out, as it is very difficult to playbalance a scenario for such a powerful weapon.

If you win as the Germans a video clip plays, showing a German officer awarding medals to his men. Spookily enough that officer is my late grandfather, who was a captain in a Sturmgeschutz (Assault Gun) battery in France when the film was taken. The video also appeared in Steel Panthers II. The vehicles are parked in the barn because of American fighter bombers overhead.