Jagged Alliance 2

A masterpiece of video gaming. I'm old enough to have played it at the time of its original release but I never really did before. At the turn of the century I had only an office pc incapable of handling even an essentially 2D title like JA 2. Indulging myself now with some retro-gaming mostly on Linux, I played the vanilla campaign with the help of 'stracciatela' cross-platform remaking of game's engine which used the assets taken from GOG Windows installer installed via wine. Aside the initially intimidating interface and somewhat steep for my capabilities learning curve, this was an engrossing experience of true tactical playing. If you are new to JA 2, overcome the initial shock and you'll get compensated for sure. JA 2 puts to shame many modern turn-based strategy games with hugely better graphics and more advanced mechanics because it is bestowed with good writing, distinctive visual style and cohesive vision. Genuine labour of love, I suppose. Sign of a dedicated creative team for which creating a video-game was more or less another kind of art-form.

Users of linux or bsd, check out the ja2-stracciatella project! It is a port of the original with a bunch of bugfixes and runs natively. So it is also suggested for windows users if they don't plan on using the 1.13 mods.

Best Game ever!

Jagged Alliance 2 is one of the greatest games ever made. Ever, no joke. It's a complex turn-based tactical squad game, with incredible depth, _hundreds_ of memorable characters, and a plethora of items and weapons to suit whatever playstyle you choose. If you like strategy games and have not played Jagged Alliance 2, your have a hole in your education a mile wide. Now get the latest v1.13 patch, and multiply all that by a million.

The game does work when you install Stracciatella or some other mods. Hence only three stars. The game is a classic and I bought it out of nostalgia. It still has good tactical depths, however it's an extreme grind. If you thought, X COM has an annoying accuracy calculator, play JA2. Don't get me wrong: the game is 23 years old and still fun but it can be extremly frustrating, ie when you need 12 shots at an enemy, despite very high marksmanship and despite the enemy being in range. that really kills the fun. A challange is nice but needing 15 minuets and an enourmous amount of turns to hit an enemy that is not covered just does not live up to todates standard of a game anymore.