Combat Mission Black Sea

About

Combat Mission Black Sea is a tactical war game set in the modern-day Black Sea region. Players command a combined arms force, utilizing infantry, armor, and artillery in challenging, dynamic environments. Realistic ballistics, line of sight, and cover systems require strategic planning and on-the-fly decision making for success. Experience immersive combat on both land and sea in this intense, thought-provoking simulation.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Local Multi-Player Play with friends in the same physical space using split-screen or multiple screens
2-Players Play with one other player, either online or locally, in a cooperative or competitive game mode
Multi-Player Compete or cooperate with other players online
Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo
PvP Player versus Player - Fight against other players in real-time, often in arena-style combat
Split Screen Play with multiple players on the same screen, often with divided or shared screen real estate

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 490 reviews

story28 positive mentions

graphics18 negative mentions

Combat Mission Black Sea is praised for its depth and realism, making it a standout military simulation game.
The game offers a challenging experience that rewards strategic thinking and careful planning, appealing to hardcore strategy enthusiasts.
Despite its dated graphics, many players find the gameplay engaging and immersive, with a strong community supporting mods and scenarios.

The user interface and controls are often described as clunky and outdated, leading to frustration during gameplay.
Performance issues are common, with many players experiencing lag and crashes, even on high-end systems.
The game is considered overpriced by some, especially given its technical shortcomings and the steep learning curve.

story
204 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
84%
2%
The "Combat Mission" series, particularly "Combat Mission: Black Sea," is praised for its realistic and detailed military simulations, set against the backdrop of modern warfare scenarios, including a fictional conflict between Russia and Ukraine. While the game offers deep strategic gameplay and a strong community for mods and mission creation, some players find it unforgiving and criticize its outdated graphics and engine performance. Overall, it appeals primarily to dedicated strategy enthusiasts who appreciate the complexity and realism of tactical military operations.
- “Combat Mission: Black Sea is a strategy enthusiast's dream come true.”
- “What sets Combat Mission: Black Sea apart from other strategy games is its emphasis on realism.”
- “The depth of the simulation, the detailed unit soft factors, the easy-to-learn mapmaker/mission editor, and the incredible community that has been behind the Combat Mission games for the past 20 years.”
- “Game is pretty good but there are just so many unbalanced missions where the scenario developers for some reason just don't give you the tools to actually win.”
- “This game will chew you up and spit you out upon the altar of a bad review because you wanted something easy or story mode.”
- “The tactical mission map during the briefing is useless.”
graphics
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
63%
20%
The graphics of the game are widely criticized for being outdated and not meeting modern standards, often described as reminiscent of early 2000s titles. While some players find the visuals serviceable and appreciate the game's depth and tactical elements, many report significant performance issues, including graphical glitches and poor optimization, which detract from the overall experience. Overall, the consensus suggests that unless players are deeply invested in the series, the dated graphics and user interface may be a major turn-off.
- “I was honestly hesitant at first because of the ancient-looking graphics, but after watching a couple of YouTube videos and realizing how deep the tactics and planning can get in this game, I decided to give it a go and boy do I not regret it!”
- “This is a realistic tactical war; the graphics may look dated but the depth of the game is unmatched.”
- “The graphics might not seem the best at first but the level of detail for each bullet, fatigue, morale, mental state of each pixeltruppen, communication delay, etc. lends this to be one of the best strategic games ever.”
- “In the end, this game is a literal headache with eye-straining graphics.”
- “It is absolutely unplayable unless you are obsessed with the series and accept to grind through trash menus, horrible graphics, awkward controls, to say the least.”
- “Performance is terrible and even when the game does run it's full of graphical glitches and optimization problems that range from annoying (horrendous pop-in and other texture issues) to genuinely bothersome (entire screen flashes white on every single explosion) to game-breaking (some of the worst input lag I have ever experienced in a game).”
gameplay
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
75%
6%
The gameplay is praised for its depth and attention to detail, offering a complex and immersive experience that appeals to serious wargamers. However, many players find the controls cumbersome and the lack of a proper tutorial can make the game overly complicated for newcomers. While the mechanics are rich and engaging, issues like unit pathfinding and performance stability can detract from the overall experience.
- “I really love the gameplay and depth of mechanics this game provides.”
- “If you wish to get into serious wargames, this game offers a great introduction with its 'easy-to-learn, hard-to-master' gameplay.”
- “It's a fun war game for small to medium scale battles with a lot of hidden simulated mechanics, regarding spotting, armor penetration, inter-unit communication, morale, etc. It's a modern realistic RTS, thus you will not be building up bases and pumping out units.”
- “Good simulation but controls and gameplay actually feel awful.”
- “It is too complex for its own good at times, and it does not have a proper in-game tutorial that teaches you how to play, how the mechanics work and what the game AI does.”
- “However, it gets insanely frustrating with line of sight and many game mechanics.”
optimization
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
71%
19%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, graphical glitches, and input lag that render it nearly unplayable on even high-end systems. Many users express frustration over the outdated engine and lack of proper optimization, leading to a poor gaming experience despite the game's potential. There are hopes for future improvements with an engine upgrade, but current performance remains a significant drawback.
- “Great series on how to improve performance and low resolution on laptops: make sure combat mission titles are using your GPU and not integrated graphics.”
- “There's news of a new engine coming out this year that's focused on performance improvements - hopefully that helps!”
- “I've read on Battlefront's forums that they are working on a free upgrade to the engine from version 4 to version 5, which should introduce some form of performance enhancements.”
- “Unplayable, no optimization, stuck on 720p.”
- “Performance is terrible and even when the game does run it's full of graphical glitches and optimization problems that range from annoying (horrendous pop-in and other texture issues) to genuinely bothersome (entire screen flashes white on every single explosion) to game-breaking (some of the worst input lag I have ever experienced in a game).”
- “The game is horribly optimized, like in the sense where a 2022 2K gaming PC can't run it smoothly.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is severely criticized, with users reporting frequent performance issues, including graphical glitches, texture pop-ins, and significant input lag. Even high-end systems like the 5950x and RTX 3080 experience sudden hiccups and freezes, making small stutters a common occurrence. Overall, the game's optimization problems lead to a frustrating experience for players.
- “Performance is terrible and even when the game does run it's full of graphical glitches and optimization problems that range from annoying (horrendous pop-in and other texture issues) to genuinely bothersome (entire screen flashes white on every single explosion) to game-breaking (some of the worst input lag I have ever experienced in a game).”
- “Running the game on a 5950x and RTX 3080 suffers from sudden hiccups and freezes, depending on the scenario.”
- “Small freezes and stutters are the norm.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, particularly when managing a large number of units. However, the satisfaction of seeing successful turns unfold adds a rewarding element to the experience, balancing the monotony with moments of tactical triumph.
- “It can get quite tedious, but watching those turns play out, especially when they go your way, is very rewarding.”
- “While that gives you more granular control to lay out your tactics, commanding a huge number of units can become a little tedious.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy is criticized as a poorly optimized cash grab, leading to an unstable user experience.
- “Unstable, poorly optimized cash grab.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its brutal and unforgiving nature, leaving players with a profound sense of heartbreak.
- “It is brutal, unforgiving, and heartbreaking.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers exceptional depth and replayability, making it a standout in both its genre and among mainstream and niche titles, though this makes it challenging to recommend within the series.
- “Recommending this title in the series is pretty difficult, since the kind of depth and replayability it delivers is incredibly rare in the genre and in mainstream and niche games.”