Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord is a 2000 computer wargame developed and published by Big Time Software. It is a simulation of tactical land battles in World War II.

Combat Mission began development at Big Time Software as Computer Squad Leader, an adaptation of the board wargame Advanced Squad Leader. It was set to be published by Avalon Hill. Big Time and Avalon parted ways shortly before the publisher's closure by Hasbro, and Big Time continued development independently, under the new title Combat Mission.

Combat Mission was a commercial and critical hit, and began the Combat Mission series.

Gameplay

Rather than a purely turn-based system, Combat Mission uses the "WeGo" structure for handling player turns.

Development

Origins at Avalon Hill

In January 1997, Avalon Hill contracted Big Time Software to create a computer version of the publisher's board wargame Advanced Squad Leader. Earlier collaborations between the two included Flight Commander 2 and Over the Reich. Avalon Hill had considered a computer adaptation of Squad Leader for several years, as its board incarnations had sold over 1 million copies by 1997, but the company was initially hesitant to pursue this idea because of the series' complexity. While it ultimately attempted the project with Atomic Games, this version fell through and became the unrelated Close Combat in 1996. Terry Coleman of Computer Gaming World called the decision to try again with Big Time "a breath of fresh air". Discussing the new effort in early 1997, Bill Levay of Avalon forecast a release date of late 1998 or potentially 1999 for Big Time's version, as the developer was slated to create Achtung Spitfire! and an unannounced title for Avalon beforehand. and Levay remarked that it would stay closer to its board roots than had Atomic's project. However, it was not planned to be a one-to-one translation of the board version.

Later in 1997, the title of Big Time Software's game was revealed as Computer Squad Leader. The developer's Charles Moylan explained that the project would automate many of the board version's numerical calculations, and would offer scaling levels of complexity to accommodate novices and veterans. Support for online and play-by-email multiplayer modes was planned. However, Moylan "suspected problems with Avalon Hill [...] and acted accordingly" as the year progressed, Tom Chick of CNET Gamecenter later wrote. To safeguard his project, he avoided the inclusion of features specific to Advanced Squad Leader until the end of development; early production was focused entirely on material whose copyright was owned by Big Time, rather than Avalon Hill. As a result, the project had "maximum flexibility" in its response to changing circumstances, Moylan said. Despite the shakeup, Computer Squad Leaders lack of copyrighted material allowed Big Time to continue development independently and without any delays, under the new title Combat Mission. and was an attempt to merge the strategic depth of turn-based gameplay with the intensity and realism of real-time gameplay.<!-- -->

Publication

Battlefront.com was established in May 1999. Combat Mission was released on June 14, 2000. but unexpectedly high demand exhausted Big Time's supplies by June 26, following the game's release on May 31. Moylan wrote that the team "drastically underestimated" the game's sales potential, which left them unprepared for and "overwhelmed" by its popularity.

Writer T. Liam McDonald highlighted Combat Missions online distribution model as an element of its success, since word of mouth would allow its audience to grow indefinitely, while wargames sold at brick and mortar retailers had limited shelf lives. McDonald similarly called Battlefront.com and Combat Mission positive signs for the future of computer wargames, after mainstream publishers had lost interest in the genre.

| CGW = 5 out of 5

| GSpot = 9.1 out of 10

| GameZone = 7.5 out of 10

| IGN = 9 out of 10

| PCGUS = 91%

| PCZone = 75%

| rev1 = Computer Games Strategy Plus

| rev1Score = 5 out of 5

| rev2 = Electric Playground

| rev2Score = 9 out of 10

| award1Pub = Computer Gaming World

| award1 = Wargame of 2000

Combat Mission received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings; PC Gamer US named it the best turn-based strategy game of 2000, The Electric Playground named it 2000's "Best Independent PC Game" and the editors of Computer Games Magazine nominated it for their 2000 "Wargame of the Year" award. Combat Mission was also a nominee for GameSpots "Strategy Game of the Year" and Electric Playgrounds "Best Strategy Game for PC" awards, which went to Shogun: Total War and Sacrifice, respectively.

Legacy

In 2010, the editors of PC Gamer US named Combat Mission the 53rd best computer game ever, and wrote, "Before CMBO, PC wargames were dusty, hexagon-littered creatures. Battlefront's dramatic 3D depiction changed all that." In 2011, Atomic magazine included the game on their list of best historical strategy games.

References

  • Official website