Where to get it

1997 · Mind's Eye Productions · Strategy · Turn-based strategy

Combat Chess

Play with living, battling characters! Combat Chess takes the basic chess game and adds an imaginative element for players bored with the simple "black vs. white" chess board. Beautifully done in rendered 3D graphics, Combat Chess adds stunning animation sequences during gameplay. Combat Chess is written to Grand Master standards and supports play against human opponents.

Released: 30 December 1997
Platforms: Windows
Genres: Strategy Turn-based strategy
Developers: Mind's Eye Productions
Publishers: Strategy First
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Country: United Kingdom
Age ratings: ESRB T USK 12
Languages: English
Time to beat: 1hmain story2hwith extras3hcompletionist

About

Combat Chess is a video game version of chess developed by Minds Eye Productions and published by Empire Interactive for Windows in October 1997.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Combat Chess follows the same rules as traditional chess, with pieces moving in an animated fashion and battles playing out so that the capturing piece defeats its target.

The game's options for the computer opponent include how much processing power it will use and how long it takes to ponder the move. The game's other features includes the ability to create your own tutorials, setting up the board to recreate famous matches, and being able to load PGN files from other chess programs. Camera can be set to either 3D or 2D view. Multiplayer options include serial, modem, IPX, and TCP/IP.

Reception

Combat Chess received generally average reviews. The game was often compared to Interplay's Battle Chess from 1988.

GameSpot called the battle animations a novelty that quickly wears off. Pelit said the graphics were not good and the camera perspective was hiding smaller pieces behind larger ones. It was recommended to instead download the free GNU Chess. Computer Games Magazine also had difficulty with the 3D view.