This game is beyond monumental in scale it tackles. A spiritual successor to Lary Bond"s Harpoon, CMANO not only focuses on the tactics and strategy of the venerable title, but also turns it up to eleven. It is very clear what is the main goal of this game (or should I say simulation) is - not a shade of pretense about fancy graphical representation found in similar Fleet Command, whereas that game was much easier on the eye, as simplistic as it was it demanded proper 3D representation for the models it utilized... MEANWHILE a quick glance at CMANO"s database leaves you speechless. You will find ships, planes and hardware dating back to earliest stages of Cold War, up until now. Mechanics inside compute every single detail on mathematical level and take it into consideration. And the developers keep expanding those databases, fixing and improving their product - explaining a steep price which is by all measures a fair deal given the amount of fullfilling content you simply can"t find anywhere else.

Looking into units, you"ll find variants, details about electronics, engines, weaponry, capabilities, all those things providing modifiers in already robust simulation of conditions, weather, human reaction time, etc. Think of a bomb dropped on a target. The speed of the plane, altitude, wind speed and direction, all factors have an impact on final accuracy of the bombing run, and those things are calculated every second... for every object... on the entire map.
Despite being a game so simple in it"s plain presentation, the collosal work behind the scenes is exactly what a fan of realistic Modern Combat Simulators dreamt of. If ever wandered how it is feels to be a commander in an CiC room on a task force flagship, looking at the LCD screens and giving crucial orders... this is it. This is the game, and just to emphasize my point? CMANO is used by professional military personnel as a training device in it"s pro edition.

That said, it is a game we are looking at here and as such it should be judged. The game is not really modable in a sense, we cannot add or alter the databases - that said, I can"t say It"s an issue given how much hardware is already listed and the devs constantly adding, expanding and fixing already existing content. The UI still is quite jarring and upleasant though, it screams for overhaul that would utilize something as simple as color coding or icons to make it more managable. As it is, CMANO relies heavily on shortcut keys - which also can be quite unforgivable to returning players, who need to "ease themselves back" not into a thinking man"s game (which it absolutely is), but rather into the whole macro-memorandum. So get ready to sit on pause for hours, while browsing drop-down menues for what you actually wanted to select.

The game as it is ships with a hefty load of Scenarios, including elaborate tutorials, which in my case were more then enough to get a firm grasp of the mechanics. If that"s not enough for you, Steam Workshop has fantastic community scenario packs, which provide you ten times as much content. How is it possible? Well, CMANO comes with a scenario editor, allowing you to design disgustingly complex and deep operations, and share them with the community, if that is your wish.

My only two gripes with the game is still lack of official multiplayer support, which could elevate this product to my favorite thing ever... Another thing is, although the game has tutorials explaining HOW to play, it doesn"t explain WHAT to do. What I mean by that is, this game is very realistic, it"s job is to emulate realistic operations the best way possible. You are given tools, but not the knowledge how to utilize them properly. Of course, part of the game is figuring that on your own, however most people don"t understand ideas behind modern air/naval tactics, which can be quite intimidating for newcommers. You certainly can learn everything you need about picket ships, screening, suppression and doctrin the hard way, so it"s not a big issue for me personally, but trying to put myself into shoes of a potential client and enthusiast, I think that can be an intimidating aspect.

CMANO is certainly worth it"s price, as I said. Writing this review in 2018, quite late to the party, I still see regular updates and expansions being produced, providing hours of quality content, where some games with similar pricetag get completely dropped in support a year after it"s original release.

This game is beyond monumental in scale it tackles. A spiritual successor to Lary Bond"s Harpoon, CMANO not only focuses on the tactics and strategy of the venerable title, but also turns it up to eleven. It is very clear what is the main goal of this game (or should I say simulation) is - not a shade of pretense about fancy graphical representation found in similar Fleet Command, whereas that game was much easier on the eye, as simplistic as it was it demanded proper 3D representation for the models it utilized... MEANWHILE a quick glance at CMANO"s database leaves you speechless. You will find ships, planes and hardware dating back to earliest stages of Cold War, up until now. Mechanics inside compute every single detail on mathematical level and take it into consideration. And the developers keep expanding those databases, fixing and improving their product - explaining a steep price which is by all measures a fair deal given the amount of fullfilling content you simply can"t find anywhere else. Looking into units, you"ll find variants, details about electronics, engines, weaponry, capabilities, all those things providing modifiers in already robust simulation of conditions, weather, human reaction time, etc. Think of a bomb dropped on a target. The speed of the plane, altitude, wind speed and direction, all factors have an impact on final accuracy of the bombing run, and those things are calculated every second... for every object... on the entire map. Despite being a game so simple in it"s plain presentation, the collosal work behind the scenes is exactly what a fan of realistic Modern Combat Simulators dreamt of. If ever wandered how it is feels to be a commander in an CiC room on a task force flagship, looking at the LCD screens and giving crucial orders... this is it. This is the game, and just to emphasize my point? CMANO is used by professional military personnel as a training device in it"s pro edition. That said, it is a game we are looking at here and as such it should be judged. The game is not really modable in a sense, we cannot add or alter the databases - that said, I can"t say It"s an issue given how much hardware is already listed and the devs constantly adding, expanding and fixing already existing content. The UI still is quite jarring and upleasant though, it screams for overhaul that would utilize something as simple as color coding or icons to make it more managable. As it is, CMANO relies heavily on shortcut keys - which also can be quite unforgivable to returning players, who need to "ease themselves back" not into a thinking man"s game (which it absolutely is), but rather into the whole macro-memorandum. So get ready to sit on pause for hours, while browsing drop-down menues for what you actually wanted to select. The game as it is ships with a hefty load of Scenarios, including elaborate tutorials, which in my case were more then enough to get a firm grasp of the mechanics. If that"s not enough for you, Steam Workshop has fantastic community scenario packs, which provide you ten times as much content. How is it possible? Well, CMANO comes with a scenario editor, allowing you to design disgustingly complex and deep operations, and share them with the community, if that is your wish. My only two gripes with the game is still lack of official multiplayer support, which could elevate this product to my favorite thing ever... Another thing is, although the game has tutorials explaining HOW to play, it doesn"t explain WHAT to do. What I mean by that is, this game is very realistic, it"s job is to emulate realistic operations the best way possible. You are given tools, but not the knowledge how to utilize them properly. Of course, part of the game is figuring that on your own, however most people don"t understand ideas behind modern air/naval tactics, which can be quite intimidating for newcommers. You certainly can learn everything you need about picket ships, screening, suppression and doctrin the hard way, so it"s not a big issue for me personally, but trying to put myself into shoes of a potential client and enthusiast, I think that can be an intimidating aspect. CMANO is certainly worth it"s price, as I said. Writing this review in 2018, quite late to the party, I still see regular updates and expansions being produced, providing hours of quality content, where some games with similar pricetag get completely dropped in support a year after it"s original release.