Command: Northern Inferno Reviews

This is a challenging campaign and you will learn a lot about military assets in the mid 1970s. In addition my strategic skills were advanced. However, I would not buy this as a stand-alone package, without the full game and community tutorials I would have spent way more time in forums and YouTube than enjoying this. My suggestion is you find the full game on sale, get good at the interface and tutorials, then add this to your library. Oh...this isn’t a dynamic campaign, it’s a set story.

+ Incredible level of details + straightforward interface that allows total control... or let the IA do the job + tons of fan made scenarios (you will need CMANO though) - 50 years ago, owning the information contained in the database will have sent you to jail for spying activities - nuking is fine... and fun - you will need to sleep at some point Northen Inferno is an excellent introduction to Command Modern Air Naval Ops, I have played many wargames and this simulation is the top gun.

A rather short one, but there isn't that much to say really. A great expansion for a really great game. This campaign feels very plausible and was certainly very carefully researched. TV reports make it even more immersive.

Really clumsy and opaque mission editor: played about 4 or 5 "tutorials" and still can't figure it out. I was really hoping this would be a worthy Harpoon successor, but the control system is so un-intuitive it's painful. I'm getting fed up and frustrated even before getting into the game. Also really slow map scrolling and zooming, it's like clunk clunk clunk as you're trying to see what is happening. Anyone know where I can re-buy the old Harpoon? It was miles better than this.

This was a great idea by the CMANO PEOPLE. I didn't want to drop 90 bucks on the full game, 20 bucks is much less of a risk and allows you to try the whole game engine in only 15 scenarios. i now have 130 hours in and am only on #10. lots more gaming to do, i consider this a steal. It has a very high learning curve but if you spend time on the tutorials, do them several times, it all will click in. Modern battle systems are much more complex than i realized and this simulation has definately taught me a ton about modern warfare in the electronic age. This is not a button smasher game, but there are times when you have to play at real time to get things done because alot is going on. Download the picture mod for the data base and game on, two thumbs up, i now know i will buy the larger complete CMANO once i survive this battle simulation first!

I have not put a lot of time into this game as it is a very deep simulation and I just bought it. This is a good entry point to this series but be aware that it is also very limited. Since this package does not include the mission editor you will not be able to create your own scenarios. Nor will you be able to play the over 200 community developed scenarios. You will only be able to play the 15 Northern Inferno scenarios plus the 5 tutorial missions. This program costs a quarter of the full game and if you are a casuall player this probably will work for you. But if you want more playability than you should consider buying the full game.

Top of the line cold war command simulator and a sensible gateway to the full CMANO product. Needs a stack of tacit knowledge on weapons and sensor systems that it doesn't teach. The mission editor is critical to avoid micro management hell, but documentation is light and logic is less than intuitive (e.g. CAP / AAW behaviours) so the product takes some learning.

I've owned and played the base CMANO game for a long time, but hadn't put in many hours recently. That's changed with Northern Inferno. The use of a Campaign system - even if it is just a series of scenarios aids immersion, and the 1975 Cold War setting is one I find fascinating. The introductory video is great (I wish every scenario had something similar) and the range of platforms - some common, some more unusual (D43 HMS Matapan anyone?) - maintains interest. If I had one wish it would be that the database descriptions for involved units be expanded a little with some narrative to back up the exhaustive stats (maybe with a few hints on how that particular platform could best be employed) and a somewhat better selection of photographs. Overall this is highly recommended, either as an introduction to the game or as DLC for more experienced players.

I played "Harpoon" from when it was new until long after it had disappeared then re-appeared on the web. This game is infinitely closer to the reality of the periods it is set in. The ranges and models of the various machines are excellent and it is obvious a lot of time was spent on getting them correct. A lot of the information in the various fact sheets does not have images or stories and bare facts are a little disappointing. The quantity of items is breathtaking but I would still like to see more images and stories. The creators of this version have gone to great lengths to improve the complexity and control. I missed some of the aspects of the old games. The ability to apply air patrols into geometric selections around the ships and airfields and so on made it easier to set up a fleet action. Those patrols were then invisible until they were forced into action which saved some clutter on the screen. The current game has various ways to set up patrols that allow a lot more control but begin to become tedious and adds that clutter I was talking of It may be that the years of playing Harpoon spoiled my appreciation of this game but I am finding difficult to get the same enjoyment from it. It is recommended by me for those people who need to get their minds off many hours of life and bury themselves in complex but not always satidfying tasks. It is borderline to being an excellent game. I will perservere and perhaps find what it seems to be missing at the moment

Why do people think this game is going to be difficult to play? I suppose it must be all the icons and range circles that put people off this sort of game but I must admit I am very surprised how simple this game is to play. After reading many comments about it I was expecting a massive learning curve but that just isn't the case. Admittedly I am used to playing complex flight sims like Tornado and EF2000, not to mention games like ARMA3, Silent Hunter and Paradox's strategy games. But this game seems to me to be rather intuitive. I was surprised for example to find out you cannot manually deploy the towed array on the subs. But when I thought about it I realised that well you don't have to lower the landing gear on the planes or manually taxi them so why have to carry out the sub routine operations? When that clicked I realised that this game is not about micromanagement. Its about knowing how to use your assets, and having them ready when they are needed, and in the right place at the right time, and whether they are employed in stealth or in active detecting mode. Yes you have to know about how to use them to their best advantage - employing BVR weapons high up to get the range, having attack aircraft low down to mask their approach etc. That is all modelled in the game. But its not about determining how the units perform their missions in detail, that stuff is left to the AI. Once all that clicked I realised this is actually a very easy game to play once you know your way around the panels, but a difficult one to master. And its a lot more fun that I was expecting too. (Just started playing it again in Oct 2019 after seeing new version of CMO is coming out - started the campaign from scratch, finished the first mission, then realised I had started the game in standalone mode rather than Campaign mode and had to do it all again, but its a good game so didnt mind lol. Not the first time I have done this though!)