LADYDRAGON.COM - FROM THE MAKERS OF CLOSE COMBAT COMES… THE NEXT GENERATION IN WWII GAMING

Monday March 25, 2002

FROM THE MAKERS OF CLOSE COMBAT COMES… THE NEXT GENERATION IN WWII GAMING - G.I. COMBAT

Fans of the Close Combat series had a lot to talk about today, after Strategy First and Freedom Games announced that they have entered into a North American publishing agreement for the G.I. Combat series, the next generation of real-time historical strategy gaming. The first release will be G.I. Combat: Episode I, Normandy.

"We are very excited to work with Freedom Games, " said Don McFatridge, President of Strategy First. " I've always been a big fan of the Close Combat series and I see this as a great opportunity to publish a truly innovative new entry into historical real-time tactical combat games.

G.I. Combat is a welcome addition to the genre and we look forward to its release later this Summer." "The G.I. Combat series takes the historical accuracy of the award winning Battleground and Campaign series from Talonsoft and the dynamic playability of the Close Combat games and elevates it to the next level. If you like World War II, and the action of a true 3D, real-time strategy game, you will love the G.I. Combat series," said John Davidson, President of Freedom Games.

From the development team who brought you Close Combat, and from Strategy

First, winner of the "Publisher of the Year Award" by Wargamer.com, comes G.I. Combat, a real-time tactical combat game that engulfs players in the battles of Normandy, from the beaches to St. Lo, during the Second World War. The full three-dimensional environment provides unsurpassed detail of terrain, vehicle modeling and weapon effects. Although historically accurate, the game will be easy to play much like an action game.

Players will be fighting to hold vital crossroads and attempt to better the performance of their historical counterparts. With a detailed individual soldier model, consisting of 8 different psychological states and morale, players will have to take into account the effects of combat on the performance of their men. An accurate physics model allows G.I. Combat to model unprecedented levels of realism for both infantry and vehicle combat.

Each weapon has over 40 different data entries for ballistics, rate of fire, armor penetration, etc. Each vehicle is modeled in 3D, simulating all aspects of armor, including thickness, slope and hardness. Detail includes realistic ammunition load-outs, weapon performance and crew capacities for all type of vehicles present during the conflict in June 1944. Many different squad types will be available allowing the user greatly diversified organizations of their fighting forces.

For more information on G.I. Combat, log onto www.strategyfirst.com and www.gicombat.com.

About Freedom Games

Freedom Games was founded by John Davidson, an original co-founder of Talonsoft, and Eric Young, designer and producer of the Close Combat series. Based in Baltimore Maryland, Freedom Games is a developer, marketer, and publisher of interactive entertainment software games for the personal computer. The team is made up of eight industry veterans who have a combined total of 43 years of game development and production experience.

About Strategy First:

Strategy First Inc. is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for the PC. Founded in 1990, the company has grown rapidly, publishing major games in the industry and simultaneously developing its own in-house titles such as O.R.B., Disciples II, Nexagon: The Pit and Zero-G Marines. After winning numerous awards for games such as Disciples: Sacred Lands, Europa Universalis, Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns and Steel Beasts, Strategy First continues to push the gaming envelope with its own groundbreaking titles, while maintaining its reputation as a unique alternative for independent developers seeking to market their games to a worldwide audience.