Combat Mission 3: Afrika Korps (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Desslock
• Reviewed on: 01/29/2004
• Updated on: 05/17/2006
• Released on: 12/03/2003
• Originally published on GameSpot: Combat Mission 3: Afrika Korps (PC) Review

Afrika Korps is the third installment of the acclaimed Combat Mission series, and like its predecessors, it represents the absolute state-of-the-art in tactical wargames. While it substantially uses the same engine as the last Combat Mission game, Barbarossa to Berlin, it provides dozens of new scenarios set in theaters uniquely suited to emphasize the strengths of the engine. It's a bit disappointing that the engine wasn't further refined to address its relatively few weaknesses, but Afrika Korps is still an excellent tactical wargame and a great addition to the series.

Like the other Combat Mission games, Afrika Korps is a turn-based, hardcore WWII wargame that eschews traditional hex-based gameplay in favor of more visceral 3D environments. Units are individual vehicles or infantry squads, and after each side sequentially delivers orders for a turn, the combat results are displayed in replayable 60-second movies. The movies are consistently engaging, since you can't directly control you units while the action unfolds--although the AI will automatically alter unit commands in response to battlefield developments. Unit morale and fatigue, experience, command, suppression, cover and concealment are all comprehensibly modeled, and the armor and armaments of hundreds of included vehicles and guns are appropriately rated. Battles can involve a handful of units that skirmish on a map as small as a single monitor screen, or they can scale up to massive confrontations between dozens of tanks that battle through expansive landscapes. Buildings, trees, and other terrain features are physically represented in the 3D environments, thus allowing you to intuitively gauge the most promising attack routes and defensive positions. The Combat Mission series does an unprecedented job in presenting a complex combat simulation in an incredibly accessible, rewarding fashion.

However, the series is also showing its age. When the first Combat Mission game came out in 2000, its 3D graphics were a huge improvement over the rudimentary or highly abstracted graphics in previous wargames. 2002's CM: Barbarossa to Berlin retained the same core engine but also featured numerous gameplay tweaks and improvements. There are a couple of notable gameplay modifications introduced by Afrika Korps--including desert dust clouds and a greater tendency for brush to catch fire--but otherwise the engine is identical to the one used by Barbarossa to Berlin. As a result, Afrika Korps feels like a stand-alone expansion pack with somewhat dated graphics.

Even though Afrika Korps doesn't feel as innovative as previous installments in the series, it still offers a tremendous amount of gameplay. Its battles are set in Africa, Italy and Crete, and they commence with the Italian-African offensive in late 1940 and end with the April 1945 skirmishes in Italy. While the Combat Mission engine does a capable job of simulating infantry battles, its real strength has always been rendering tank and armored vehicle clashes. Since the open African terrain offered little cover for infantry in WWII, tanks enjoyed unparalleled prominence on the theater's battlefields, and the Combat Mission engine is ideally suited for depicting the resulting armored duels. Virtually every series of vehicle from every nation that fought in Africa or Italy is available for use, including the multigunned American M3 Grants and the "Tinkertoy" Italian tankettes. Forces from 10 different nations are represented, including Canada, Poland, and Australia, and almost 70 historical (or historically inspired) battles and operations are included, thus allowing you to re-create any key confrontation set in these theaters.

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