It’s not for everyone. The combat is extremely tactical; you have different firemodes, different ammo types, the ability to set overwatch zones, different stances, stealth, the ability to choose exactly what body part you’re aiming at (you can literally shoot people in the junk), and the game expects you to fully utilize all of these tools right off the bat.
This is a total sandbox. There are quests that will be presented to give you some guidance, and the game starts you off on a very small island compared to the rest of the map, but other than that there is zero handholding. You’ll get advice, you’ll get hints, but you’re fully allowed to fuck up in any way you like from the moment you press start (down to and including fucking up your team selection). Helpfully though, the game does keep an extensive history of autosaves, including your last three turns in combat.
Thing is, if this game is for you, then everything I just described sounds fucking awesome.
And let me tell you, it is fucking awesome. This game is like Elden Ring as a tactical squad based RPG. It presents you with an array of tools, and a vast world to use them in, and then just says “Go, have fun!” and takes all the constraints away that most games like this would have.
Aside from the lack of hand holding, the B one other thing that will turn some people off is the tone. What Jagged Alliance has always gone for is “pastiche of eighties action movies.” This is Rambo meets Die Hard meets The Expendables. The dialogue is cheesy as fuck. Every character is a stereotype, including the westerners. Most of them are awful people, because they’re mercenaries. You’re literally funded by blood diamonds. But, FWIW, your enemies are explicitly fascists. You’re basically killing West African Jan 6ers. So that’s neat.
The humour is mostly dumb. The writing is cornball. And I completely get that for some people this goofy tone might feel strongly at odds with the brutally unforgiving combat. That’s just how it be I guess, and if you can’t jam with that, I understand.
The one other point of contention I’ve seen in a lot of reviews is the lack of a hit percentage. The game gives you a detailed breakdown of every single factor that affects your shot, but never the actual numbers. This is a conscious design choice. If you hate it, the game is extremely modabble and there’s already a mod for that. But I’m begging you to please try playing as is first. I didn’t know how I’d feel about the lack of hard numbers but going in, but now I absolutely love it. It’s so freeing. I find myself actually thinking about the tactics I’m using, looking at the battlefield and the enemies instead of just running down a spreadsheet.
I've never played a Jagged Alliance game, but I'm a huge fan of Haemimont for Tropico and Surviving Mars. Even though this is a totally different genre, the fact that OG Jagged Alliance fans are hyped about this game's reception is pretty much making this a must play for me.
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