Posted January 04, 2010
JA2 is in my top 5 computer games of all time. Most games loose their luster as graphics advance and genres refine, but this game is as good today as on the day it was released.
JA2 is primarily a turn-based tactical combat game, set in the modern era. The tactical combat engine is wrapped around an extraordinarily open-ended strategy layer. You to recruit mercenaries, fight battles, buy equipment, train militia, and direct your team or teams all over a huge map.
Here's an small example of the emergent gameplay in the strategy layer alone:
I've just taken the last sector of the town of Drassen with my five mercenary team. I'm low on cash, have three injured mercs, my best gun is low on ammo, and enemy troops will likely attack withinn the next 24-48 hours. My guys probably won't survive in this state.
I'll start my doctor healing the wounded.My main repair guy is one of the wounded, so while he's being tended tot, I'll have my uninjured second best repair guy fix that old Thompson SMG and that shotgun I just found. I'll spend some money having another merc train up the local militia. Do I use what's left of my funds to buy new equipment and some SMG ammo, which won't arrive for days? Or do I hire a few throwaway mercs from the company that doesn't require cash up front? Or do I spend it all on the best merc I can afford, maybe even foregoing buying his or her standard equipment, just giving him stuff I've salvaged? But waiting for that new merc to arrive would take time. Instead, I could heal up one or two guys, and come nightfall, use my team to attack the smallest of the enemy patrols outside of town. If I'd win, I'd eliminate a big chunk of the threat, and would likely gain new ammo and equipment that would make a defensive battle easier. But I'm also low on medical kits, so if I take too many hits my team could end up more vulnerable than they are now.
And I haven't even touched on the tactical combat engine, which is by far the best I've ever played, or on how fun it is to eqip each merc with just the right gear for their talents, or on the over-the-top personalities of the mercs, or on the 1.13 mod and the HAM mod . . .
JA2 is primarily a turn-based tactical combat game, set in the modern era. The tactical combat engine is wrapped around an extraordinarily open-ended strategy layer. You to recruit mercenaries, fight battles, buy equipment, train militia, and direct your team or teams all over a huge map.
Here's an small example of the emergent gameplay in the strategy layer alone:
I've just taken the last sector of the town of Drassen with my five mercenary team. I'm low on cash, have three injured mercs, my best gun is low on ammo, and enemy troops will likely attack withinn the next 24-48 hours. My guys probably won't survive in this state.
I'll start my doctor healing the wounded.My main repair guy is one of the wounded, so while he's being tended tot, I'll have my uninjured second best repair guy fix that old Thompson SMG and that shotgun I just found. I'll spend some money having another merc train up the local militia. Do I use what's left of my funds to buy new equipment and some SMG ammo, which won't arrive for days? Or do I hire a few throwaway mercs from the company that doesn't require cash up front? Or do I spend it all on the best merc I can afford, maybe even foregoing buying his or her standard equipment, just giving him stuff I've salvaged? But waiting for that new merc to arrive would take time. Instead, I could heal up one or two guys, and come nightfall, use my team to attack the smallest of the enemy patrols outside of town. If I'd win, I'd eliminate a big chunk of the threat, and would likely gain new ammo and equipment that would make a defensive battle easier. But I'm also low on medical kits, so if I take too many hits my team could end up more vulnerable than they are now.
And I haven't even touched on the tactical combat engine, which is by far the best I've ever played, or on how fun it is to eqip each merc with just the right gear for their talents, or on the over-the-top personalities of the mercs, or on the 1.13 mod and the HAM mod . . .