Close Combat: First to Fight tonight on XBL

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:24 am

Boys:

Webdanzer and I are going to give Close Combat: First to Fight a whirl for some co-op action at 10:15 p.m. (EDT) tonight. This game is pretty underrated offline, as it's much better than some reviews and gamer feedback indicates. See the Close Combat thread in this Forum for impressions by Web and I.

Anyways, up to eight players can play online, four in co-op and eight in Fire Team Arena, which basically is deathmatch.

Anyone else own or have rented this game and want to play tonight? We'd love to get at least two more for some co-op, as nearly every gaming site review I've read of this game indicates the co-op play on XBL is excellent.

Post here if you're in. And if you're not, then rent the game today, brothers, and get in there!

Take care,
PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:48 am

As PK said, I'm definitely there.

marino · Post by **marino** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:50 am

PK I might be able to join after 1030.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:50 am

Did you get the game, Marino?

marino · Post by **marino** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:00 am

Yeah I rented it .This game is definitely receving a bad rap.I would like to play tonight but the wife might have other plans for me tonight.I have a league game at 930 and I will hop on after if the wife allows.lol

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:01 am

marino wrote:PK I might be able to join after 1030.

Cool, Marino. We'll look for you.

Take care,
PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:46 pm

Looks like I'm going to be on closer to 10:30 -10:45. If you guys want to start up before then I'll join you, otherwise I'll start up when I get on.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 12:21 am

I expected this to be pretty good online, but it was better that I expected. Easily the most fun I've had in an online shooter co-op mode. Beats GR and R6, IMO. Again, co-op. Haven't tried vs yet.

I love the enemy morale, and how they react to suppression. The SAW is *lousy* at aimed shots, but when you use it to supress (like you're supposed to) You can keep the enemy ducking, running, and covering enough to yank your squad out of rough situations.

The AI is not great as in Intelligence great, but it is pretty darn good in variety of responses to your actions. We died and redid several parts of several levels, and I'll be damned if the AI didn't react at least somewhat differently each time.

You guys need to try this one.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 1:25 am

webdanzer wrote:I expected this to be pretty good online, but it was better that I expected. Easily the most fun I've had in an online shooter co-op mode. Beats GR and R6, IMO. Again, co-op. Haven't tried vs yet.

I love the enemy morale, and how they react to suppression. The SAW is *lousy* at aimed shots, but when you use it to supress (like you're supposed to) You can keep the enemy ducking, running, and covering enough to yank your squad out of rough situations.

The AI is not great as in Intelligence great, but it is pretty darn good in variety of responses to your actions. We died and redid several parts of several levels, and I'll be damned if the AI didn't react at least somewhat differently each time.

You guys need to try this one.

Agreed on all counts, Web. This is the best Xbox Live military shooter that no one will play because of an idiotic review at OXM. This game is f*cking fantastic.

How good? After our game ended, I went to play some TOCA 2. After two races, I quit and returned to this game. It pulled me away from TOCA 2. Hardly anything pulls me away from late-night TOCA 2 except sheer fatigue and bed.

I also had really good luck finding cool people in random Fire Team Arena and Coop games. Fire Team Arena is very suspensful because there are no big open areas for bloodbath firefights. Death is around every corner, instead. It's a MUCH better vs. mode than those in Rainbow Six 3.

And I played a Coop game at the Simulation skill level with a three other VERY cool random guys, and Lord, that was the toughest coop level I have EVER played on any console online military shooter. So hard, so much fun. The AI was insane and still somewhat random in our game.

The maps are SICK. Take a little bit of the Embassy in GR, a sprinkling of the Market map and the City Square maps from GRIT, a dab of some of the maps in RS:3 and a dollop of the maps from FSW, and you get my drift.

The offline game is almost as much fun as online play, a rarity in the world of Clancy shooters where everything is optimized for the online game.

There's almost no question that I'm buying this game as soon as my rental expires Saturday. This is the best military online and offline shooting experience I've had since the first Ghost Recon and the first Rainbow Six on XBL.

You guys really need to rent this game. Web and I aren't just saying this. It's that good, a huge surprise.

Web, I'm definitely up for some more shooting tomorrow (Friday) night. Let me know. Thanks for introducing me to ExtremeGamer, too. Very cool cat.

Take care,
PK

athletics_fan · Post by **athletics_fan** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 2:48 am

PK,

Sounds like I'm going to pick this game up, or at least have to rent it.

As much as I like military shooters, and the general consensus being it blends RS: 3 and FSW styles together, I MUST try this game out.

I'll look for you guys on XBL when I'm able to get my hands on it

laurenskye · Post by **laurenskye** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:43 am

I'll try to rent it and hook up. I love these games even though I'm cannon fodder

.

Boom · Post by **Boom** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:04 am

The former Marine in me is starting to come out. I may have to pick this up......

dammit web...., pk! I just got BIA for cryin' out loud!!!!

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:16 am

Boom wrote:dammit web...., pk! I just got BIA for cryin' out loud!!!!

Boom:

So did I, and I'm already scheming for a way to get this game, as well!

EBgames.com is offering $30 trade-in for BIA until May 1. EB is selling Close Combat for $39.99 plus a $10 gift card, essentially $29.99. So BIA for Close Combat is an even swap.

I like BIA a lot, but I may trade it for Close Combat, keeping the BIA save on my hard drive, and come back to finish the second half of BIA later in the summer after an eBay purchase or a deep discount brick-and-mortar purchase. Getting $30 in trade value from EB is almost too good of a deal to pass up, especially when you know BIA will be on sale for $29 or less retail and probably $20-25 or less on eBay by mid-summer.

Or maybe I'll just finish BIA before May 1 and use the trade-in credit toward the purchase of Forza three days later.

BIA and Close Combat both have their merits as offline games. But as unique as BIA is online, Close Combat is just flat-out better, suspensful and more fun on XBL.

Scheming, scheming ... Bottom line: Close Combat is my leader right now for the most underrated and underappreciated game so far this year, period, on the Xbox. Now I know I have a habit of loving games and then dropping them, so I think the positive comments of Web here and Web and ExtremeGamer at OS should reinforce what I'm trying to say: This is a damn good game, especially on XBL. Lots of fun.

Take care,
PK

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:42 am

Thanks for the impressions guys.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:42 am

At this point my only concern is that you'll be able to get through the co-op in maybe a week's worth of play. Offline is fun too, but does have some niggling problems. PK mentioned one of them that can be incredibly frustrating...sometimes your AI controlled allies don't return fire, or won't even listen to orders, because they can't 'see' the enemy...and the game is pretty finicky about this.

Like pk said, I've been in instances where I had the tweak the guy literally inches to get him to 'see' an enemy to perform cover fire...even when it looks like he should be able to see the enemy no problem...or they are even firing on him.

But the game has some really nice, tense set-ups, and really demands you be aware all around you all of the time. Obviously, when you are advancing forward, most of the action is going to be in front of you. But we were killed a number of times because everyone was looking that way and the ambush from behind cut us down.

Pretty sweet game.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:54 am

Web:

Very valid concerns about co-op play, but there is one definite solution and one potential solution.

The definite solution: Play on the Simulation level. I played on the Sim skill level with three quality players, guys who seemed to know fire team tactics pretty well, last night after our match. We played for about an hour and didn't even finish one map. Sim level is tough. Very tough. Not cheap, though.

The potential solution: The instruction manual mentions there is a menu option for future downloadable content. Hopefully 2K Games and the developer will deliver.

The other thing that could give legs to online co-op play is the somewhat variable AI. Also, I played Embassy on GR and Alcatraz and Crespo Foundation in RS 3 a ton of times and barely tired of them.

I can see, though, where some people might get tired of the same Beirut environment after a while. There are variations in neighborhoods, with different types of buildings, different levels of civilians wandering through, different amount of vehicles, but that doesn't change the fact that this entire game takes place in one city, not a variety of locations.

Doesn't bother me now, as I'm quite enamored with this game. Plus the maps, while all in Beirut, are really well done.

Take care,
PK

AcemanPR · Post by **AcemanPR** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:16 am

Incredible impressions guys. I may try and find the game to rent this weekend. Else, I may have to pull a pk, and find a way to scheme and get this title.

Goes to show that a quality videogame community is so much better than reading a few reviews. I prefer reading impressions from intelligent people that are actually willing to give games a chance.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 10:22 am

webdanzer wrote: The SAW is *lousy* at aimed shots, but when you use it to supress (like you're supposed to) You can keep the enemy ducking, running, and covering enough to yank your squad out of rough situations.

This a great point by Web that I overlooked.

I don't know anything about guns, so I'm not sure what's realistic and what's not. But the SAW in Close Combat is not nearly as precise a weapon as the one in GR 2. And if you play a four-player coop mission with standard weapons, one player will get a sniper rifle, one player a SAW, one player a standard rifle and one player an M16 with a grenade launcher (my favorite).

So you really need to coordinate well with your teammates based on their gun. A SAW won't take down someone in a tight spot from distance like it can in GR 2, especially if you're playing this game on the Simulation skill level.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 11:06 am

One other thing: Extreme, Web and I all agree that one of the most unique aspects of this game is the VERY deliberate pace.

You can run, but it's a bit clumsy, as you have to double-tap the left stick upward and hold the stick. But it's really not a problem, as the combination of the care and awareness you need to be successful and the tight confines of the urban maps doesn't give you a lot of chances or need to run.

I've never felt like I've needed to tiptoe and inch along while playing a console military shooter like I have in this game.

OK, enough gushing for now.

Take care,
PK