Close Combat III: The Russian Front
Close Combat III: The Russian Front is a 1999 computer wargame developed by Atomic Games and published by Microsoft. It is the third game in the Close Combat series. It revolves around the Eastern Front during World War II, and takes players from the invasion of the Soviet Union to the final battle for Berlin in 1945. A remake, Close Combat: Cross of Iron, was released in 2007. Gameplay Battles follow the general pattern of the Close Combat series. Apart from a difficulty slider, there are realism settings which disable the fog of war, unit initiative, difficulty of access to enemy info, etc. The Grand Campaign follows the Eastern Front from the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa), to Stalingrad and ultimately Berlin. Players can pick either side. Development Reception The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. It sold 45,438 copies during 1999. Author James Dunnigan reported that it was the year's best-selling wargame. According to Marc Dultz of CNET Gamecenter, the title was profitable and achieved total sales of "well over 100,000 units" by April 1999. The staff of PC Gamer US presented the game with their 1999 "Best Wargame" prize. They