Combat Mission: Shock Force 2
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The latest title in the famous Combat Mission franchise of wargames, now on Steam. Shock Force 2 brings you to a hypothetical conflict in Syria between the forces of NATO and the Syrian Army. Take command of US Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCT) and Heavy Brigade Combat Teams (HBCT) to fight against Syrian Army Infantry, Mechanized and Armored units in an arid setting. Experience the full range of modern threats to conventional military forces, including irregular combat forces, terrorists, spies, suicide bombers, IED's and other deadly tools employed in the asymmetric warfare of the modern day. Play the Task Force Thunder campaign, more than a dozen carefully crafted battles, or unlimited Quick Battles.
Steam User 19
Incredible concept bogged down by luddite devs.
I love this game series, it is unique and there is nothing quite like it on the market. Unfortunately, from what I could gather, it is being developped by a handfull of oldschool devs who either refuse or lack the sense to bring this series into the modern age.
The gameplay is hard to describe if not experienced for yourself, and boy should you experience it before paying 60 (!!) bucks for it. The price tag is inexcusable, especially if you count the fact that a lot of content is DLC, and sales are very far between so only buy this if you are 100 % sure it's something you like.
Thankfully almost every title in this series can be tested and the devs have a free demo available on their homepage (battlefront.com), why these demos aren't made available through steam is just another mind-bendingly bad decision on their part and I hope by now you realize what I mean when I wrote that these people are old and luddites.
These games haven't even been available on Steam untill a few years ago, instead they relied on their 2000's looking website and sheer luck to make sales.
ONE good business decision from their part has been to stop charging money for engine uprades (at least this is promised for the yet-to-be-seen v.5.0). And if you had to do a double take, yes, they charged people for upgrading the engine, and to this day it is still barely functioning, some of it's quirks include:
1. Crashing when clicking anything during loading
2. A weird square based movement system that makes precise movements impossible
3. Lag while looking around even though it looks like it does (It makes playing the Cold War game of theirs almost impossible to play)
4. An opaque and nonsensical spotting system that relies entirely on dice rolls
5. AI that is LITERALLY incapable of acting on their own, all their movements and positions have to be pre-set and be scripted by the mission makers.
6. The map editor/Mission designer is something yanked out of hell and using it is a chore
etc.
etc.
So having said all that, why even play it? Well, it scratches an itch that I didn't know I had. It's combat puzzles are hard and entertaining, the authenticity in terms of equipment is cool and the way the game makes you use real life combined arms strategies to succeed is unique.
If you know what you are getting into it really is a great game. But you have to have a sort of mental resillience to the fact that even if you like it, it will always be in the hands of people who despise modernity, are unable to see the bigger picture and should have sold this IP away to go into retirement a long time ago.
Steam User 5
Combat Mission is a series I discovered on accident around 2020. I stumbled across UsuallyHapless, SirGunsalot and DoubleVision on youtube. I was immediately awestruck with their cinematic after action reports on their multiplayer battles. The engine is not the prettiest, but she chug along nonetheless. Here's my review of CMSF2:
Price (7/10): Very expensive when you factor in all the expansions. Modern gaming usually finds us at 60 USD for brand new games, so that's usually the highest we go as consumers. CMSF2 in its entirety is about 160 USD. But allow me to explain why that is in fact reasonable. Combat Mission is essentially a virtual tabletop war game. It has very complex and unique systems that make it worthwhile. hell, it comes with an entire PDF manual that explains every system and mechanic in the game. Most IRL tabletop war games set in WW2 will run you 300-400 USD just to get an immersive bare minimum. CMSF2 with no DLCs gives you US Army, Syruan Army, and Insurgents, all with realistic and accurate equipment. So trust me when I say the base game is worth it, and trying to snag the expansions is very much worth it.
Content (10/10): The base game comes with a few campaigns and some pre-made scenarios for you to play with. The quick battle mode is very iffy and can sometimes be fun, and others it's just a wash. The battles and campaigns are where it's at though. The objectives are fun, realistic, and challenging. If you purchase each DLC, they each have another two or three campaigns and an assortment of new battles. Not to mention the new units that come with them. There is also an editor that you can make missions within. It isn't the most intuitive, but there are plenty of custom campaigns out there on mod sites and forums.
Immersion (10/10): Combat Mission as a series has always been very good at delivering anywhere from platoon to battalion level combat. The games have very accurate portrayals of armies, and the equipment of each unit is almost to the T on realism. TOW missiles have very long range with a minimum arming distance, rifles are effective for up to several hundred meters, and armor will act like armor. If a 30mm attacks an MBT, the weapon will most likely not work at all. However, there are subsystems that may be knocked out by the attack. Maybe the Tank's optics are damaged, effecting the spotting. The game delivers very well on immersion.
Battlefield Simulations (9/10): The engines uses very intuitive and realistic methods to simulate an evolving situation on the battlefield. Each individual soldier has their own scores (think of them as a personality) that are derived from their experience. If your squad leader goes down, the veteran troops in his squad may continue mission, while the greens will cower in fear. Soldiers have various methods of talking to one another too, which the game shows you in the bottom left of the HUD. If one guy sees an enemy crossing a ridge, he will shout it to his team. The team will relay that to the squad, and the squad leader will relay that info to his platoon leader, and that info goes up to the company/battalion, and then get disseminated to the other elements within that chain. The speed of this process relies again on experience. If soldiers are wounded, they will be less effective. If a soldier goes down, his team will try to stabilize him before he dies, if the situation permits. If a soldier or vehicle goes down, they cannot be re-introduced to the battlefield for that mission. Oh, and if a vehicle bogs down, say goodbye to it for that battle as well. Artillery can be called by observers, and the better the observer the more accurate the fire. Explosions will collapse buildings, destroy walls, etc. Battlefield always feels alive in this game.
Graphics (4/10): Very outdated graphics. I presume this is to allow the game to handle those more complex calculations that are occurring simultaneously throughout the battle. There is a lot the game has to take into account at all times. But still, the graphics are very 2003.
Multiplayer (6/10): The game is best played with the PBEM (email) mode. It allows you to come home, put your turn in, and send it to your opponent. The direct connect is a bit iffy and tends to drop connection. But, it is cool to slowly watch the battle unfold with the email mode. Battles online can be either quick battles or in the pre-made scenarios.
Difficulty (10/10): This game is punishing. Even when you play at the lowest level, it's still very tough for people new to the engine. If you play a campaign, units that are lost do not always return for the next missions. Sometimes they stay dead, campaign dependent. Lose one too many IFVs and you just might call it a failure. However, the satisfying thing about the campaigns is that they tally your total success for each individual objective throughout and give you a rating. Sometimes it's a total victory, a decisive win, or a close defeat, etc. Watch youtube videos and read the manual, it will make the game much more enjoyable.
AI (7/10): I would give it a 10 of 10 if not for the way the AI actually works. Each individual soldier's AI is completely unique and you can get crazy things to happen because of this. Sometimes your brand new private executes the POW, sometimes he doesn't. However, the strategic AI is lackluster. The reason I say this is because that whenever a mission is created, the creator creates a series of possible plans the AI follows. This means that their reaction to your actions are rather limited. Yes, the TacAI (the soldiers) will react in order to preserve their lives and carry on with the mission. But the opponent AI will not say, reinforce the left flank whenever it sees two tank platoons crest the hill. Not unless that is a part of the pre-designed plan. Regardless, the AI is still challenging to fight.
Overall: If you are a casual gamer, this isn't for you. If you are a military nerd and want to get as close to that Battalion Commander seat as possible without actually having to be lame and become a military officer, this is your game. It is the best large scale battlefield simulator that you can get that's realistic. This game really tickles the nerd itch, and whenever you win, you really feel like you won.
Steam User 6
Great tactical milsim
Steam User 4
Absolutely stellar so far.
I've never played an infantry & tanks type strategy game as detailed as this.
It has a lot of complicated things that are very logical but are only challenging at first since games generally never bother with them. For example, units communicate verbally/by-hand when close and by radio from a distance. Radio communication can be disrupted by enemies and this hinders coordination between units (e.g, artillery observers being unable to contact artillery crew).
It's all very logical and understandable but so rare to see in a game.
It's very satisfying and fun to get units to coordinate together and win a battle. This game makes the coordination of many units easy, since its unusual turn-based mode (almost just real-time with pause) lets you set many commands then watch them play out for 1 minute.
I have to keep a clock in front of me while playing this or it'll suddenly be 5 am again.
Steam User 18
I blew up a civilian hospital.
Steam User 5
Battlefront games are the best tactical combat simulators on the market.
Steam User 3
I still suck at this game