Posted on: January 18, 2025
Games: 0 Reviews: 1
Both awesome and terribly flawed
This game is so great on so many levels, and yet some of its mechanics are so dumb they spoil the fun for me. Every battle in its late stage turns into a boring hunt for the last surviving enemy, who still insists on fighting, but should have escaped or surrendered by then - it's not a lot to ask for even in 1999, many games from the era feature far more rational enemy AI. The real-time to turn-based transitions are weird and annoying, there's no good reason to force the player into the turn-based mode unless the team has been spotted by the enemy. It's a tactical game, where your actions in real-time mode also matter for the outcome of the battle, yet there is no active pause - which is super annoying especially when your mercs are bleeding and you need to apply first aid quickly. Oh, and BTW, where can I purchase binoculars, so that I can see enemies from far away? Nowhere, they are alien technology in Arulco. Yes, this game is awesome in so many ways and was extremely ambitious for 1999, many people love JA2 for a very good reason. But there are many, many annoyances and some fundamental flaws which may spoil your fun. Flaws that many other titles from that era didn't have. Which is a shame, because this game is so unique in many ways and could have been better.
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