Jagged Alliance 3

This game has a long way to go before it can stand up to JA2, much less 1.13. Many missing features or baffling design choices. My complaints: -Barely-existent economy. -No real shops, online or otherwise. -No pausing while in real-time. -Extremely streamlined """crafting economy""" that is supposed to make up for lack of economy, bartering and suppling your mercs with weapons, ammunition and gear, yet fails to satisfactorily achieve so. -Extremely sparse loot, from combat and exploration both. The ammo shortage is severe. -Linear gear and weapon upgrade paths. -Extremely simplified inventory. All mercs have the same loadout inventory, and additional backpack size is solely determined by individual merc strength. -Squad size limited to 6 mercs. -Finicky looting/action UI, where actions(skill checks) will be performed by the closest merc instead of the most proficient merc.

First of, the game is decent. If you like games like these, and you've played JA 1, JA 2, X-com enemy unknown, and whatever other true masterpieces within turn based squad combat are out there, this one is not a bad pick to continue scratching the itch. The leveling system is also very fun to play around with and optimise. But that is sadly where my praise ends. One big gripe, is the guns, though i realise its down to preferance, the differance between an AK47 and an M14, for insance, is next to none, which for some might be interesting but not to me. One of the most fun things about JA 1 for me, was managing weapons, ammo, planing which weapons to use when, when I could skimp out and use weak ammo, which mercs to give the best guns etc. But when all the guns are more or less equal, and ammo management is made very simple... There's little for me to like. A lot of the player interaction with the world, is also replaced by character skill checks. Find a note with a clue? Deciphering it yourself is replaced by a "do you have a merc with 90 in the correct skill right now this very second?" check, making it feel optimal to carefully plan yoru squads, not for optimal combat or strategy, but just to make sure you have at least one merc with 90 in any given skill at all times. The maps all feel identical, with little factical differance, there's never any reason to try to do fancy stuff. The days of carefully positioning your mercs as you send your demo to blow a hole in a wall to give you an entry point that isn't a deathtrap are gone. There's only ever open fields. Or close to it. The only real exception is soured by the fact you'll spend 90% of the fight waiting for the animation of mortar fire. For all of its faults though, it is still decent. If you don't care about the poitns I mentioned, you'll probably love it. But for me they took it down from the "fantastic" of the old games to a still acceptable "Somewhat fun"

Very nice. Bit of "coming in" with a Jagged Alliance in 2023 and renewed "retro" mechanics but it has me. Damn thats fun! A lot of vibes from the earlier games and very charming new stuff here and there. I'm for my part feelin that they wanted to make it right, and from my point of view they got it right.

I hadn't played any JA games before this one, so I'm pleased to say it's a good introduction to the series for old-school strategy fans. However, be warned that it's also quite tough - even on normal difficulty. The most obvious difference from most modern turn-based games is the lack of a displayed CtH percentage in combat. Rather to my surprise, I found myself enjoying the change - it forces you to really pay attention to all the factors affecting your accuracy (range, cover, light levels etc.) It took me a while to grasp all the nuances of the system - for instance, when targeting an enemy, certain body parts can be 'obstructed' (i.e. impossible to hit) while others are not. Unfortunately, the tutorial is fairly barebones and doesn't always explain these things well. The strategic layer is similarly unforgiving, and you'll need to play cautiously in order to avoid running out of money and supplies. There is an optional 'forgiving mode' in difficulty settings which makes this aspect a bit easier. The game really shines in its writing and characters, which deliberately hark back to old action movies of the 80s and 90s. The mercs are all larger-than-life characters with funny personality quirks, and every player will have their favourites (Kalyna is adorable). The visuals are also very attractive, at least for a mid-budget TBS game, and I love the African vocals and rhythms in the soundtrack. I do have some minor gripes, particularly the wonky stealth system and the time needed for strategy map operations. Healing wounds takes an absurd amount of time for something you'll likely need after every large battle, and time in this game is precious (and expensive, since you're paying your mercs by the day). These and other small QoL issues slightly detract from the experience for me, but most could be easily fixed. Overall, this is a pretty good game which could be really excellent with some minor refinements. Here's hoping we get to see these in future patches.

After waiting for more than 20 years, we are finally graced with JA3. The game does live up to its name and provides good tactical combat, varied locations and quests and avoids any politically correct bullshit. Unfortunately, the dumbing down of some mechanics, as well as some unexplainable decisions prevent it from reaching true greatness like its predecessor. Pros: - Good tactical combat. The environments are varied and most of the maps have good use of verticality. - Diverse (in a non-PC meaning) and well acted roster of mercenaries, with many banters and interjections. - Good quests, writing and plenty of choices and consequences (especially for not a full-fledged RPG). - Mercs receive skills when leveling up. - Plenty of guns and armor - Contains well executed satire of our culture. Cons: - Some dumbing down of the combat mechanics: weightless and shared ammo, incorrect weapon calibers and behavior (dragunov being fully automatic and shooting 7.62*39 ammo). - Removal of the stamina bar. Now you can just charge the enemy, get hit multiple times, and still have the maximum amount of action points. - No standard UI for vendors. In order to buy or sell something, you need to interact with special objects (boxes or crates) located near the vendor. - Uneven difficulty throughout the game. The game starts moderately challenging, then as you grow stronger, the game becomes easier. Then somewhere mid-game, something happens, which skyrockets the difficulty, and then the difficulty slowly decreases till the end of the game. - Perhaps the most annoying and ridiculous decision in this game: Bust fire damage is nerfed. If a weapon inflicts 12 damage with a single shot, it will inflict only 6 in a burst. Or even less in full auto. Why?? Who thought of this decision? All in all, JA3 is a solid game, head and shoulders above the entries in the franchise, released this century. Some ridiculous decisions, as listed above, hold it back from receiving the full 5 stars.