Jagged Alliance 2

One of the best games ever. Played the heck out of the demo, then got it on CD in paper magazine and played the heck out of it again. JA2 vv1v13 mod is great.

First of all, ignore people who say that JA2 has "slight" RPG elements or some such. It has ALL the elements ESSENTIAL to what an RPG actually IS. People don't like to hear it because there is some silly meme that causes people to stick their noses into the air and droll on about "role playing" as if it had something to do with drama class, improvisational acting or something. RPGs are tactical simulators and always have been. JA2 is simply one of the best of the tactical RPGs ever released for the PC. Now if you are more into interactive fiction, along the lines of Planescape: Torment...reading page after page of ho-hum writing rather than playing a game- then steer clear of JA2. It does not pretend to be the next great novel and the developers never encouraged anyone to sit behind their monitors with LARP gear on speaking in bad accents. JA2 is all about tactics and strategy. Don't get me wrong - You will not find a CRPG with better dialog or character interaction anywhere. JA2 blows Planescape out of the water on this matter! But it does not take itself too seriously and is not afraid of comedy. As for those strategies and tactics, hold onto your hats! JA2 aptly demonstrates why real-time games cannot hope to compare with turn-based games for tactical matters. You can control up to 18 different PCs in this game in a single combat! Interrupts, aimed shots, firing two handguns at once, mortars, planted explosives, tossed grenades, hand-to-hand/martial arts, stealth...JA2 has it all! There is no better feeling than sneaking your commando up behind an armed guard and slicing that guy's throat while your sniper makes his/her way up to the rooftop and your explosives expert plants dynamite along the back wall of the compound. Yes, THIS is what the "role" in "role playing game" is meant to indicate.

12 years later and $50 lighter thanks to "Jagged Alliance : Back in Action", I turn back to the one true turn-based strategy game that rules them all. To be fair, the plethora of Mods give it quite more replayability (GET v1.13 !), and the graphics are still from 1999, but I'm loving it ! :). Given the price, Wildfire and Unfinished Business are thrown in the mix as well.

JA2 is by far the most played game in my library. I can play it forever and there is no equivalent on earth that represents its tactical complexity and depth. JA2 may not be the perfect title to begin with, if you are interested in turn-based strategy games. Also, the beginning can be quite frustrating what to do and how to organise the micro-management part in the game. But if you dive deep in the Jagged cosmos, you will see hours becoming minutes and days will pass like klicking on a forward button. JA2 is one of the biggest time killers I've ever played, but I loved every minute in the game. It's challenging even for veterans!

Very open ended and detailed game. Lots of things to do and see within the game. I spent countless hoursplaying this game late into the night. You can even capture cities and build a troops to protect them while each city earns you money. In tern you can buy more mercs and better weapons. There are also a some good Mods from the game around