Jagged Alliance 2

This is a really excellent game - a standout. Solid campaign, unlike the rather brief one in Deadly Games, but graphically there's a bit more there than the original JA. Lots of fun with attachments and with your mercs getting on each others' nerves.

Squad turn-based tactic/strategic action. I own JA2 (box) from 1999, but I have found my way to it a few years later. And never stopped playing after that. This is one of my "Pick three games and be left alone on the island until the end of your life". The other one would be OpenTTD and I will have to think about the third for some time... Jagged Allience 2 gives you almost infinite replayability. You can have your own merecenary + some of around 40 hired mercs + some rebels and "civilians". You can create a unique mix of characters which have feelings abouzt others in your squad everytime. Game supplies you literally with "tons of guns", if you feel adventurous, you can go "sci-fi" and kill some bugs. On top of that are three difficulties and ironman mode. If you are new to this franchise, even easy would be pretty challenging. Considering that wounded characters get less action points and miss much more frequently. Jagged Alliance 2 is absolute gem and I still don't get it why you are reading this instead of buying the game already. One more thing to say. If you want higher resolution and/or another platform support (I play on Linux), you should check JA2 Stracciatella - open source port of the game engine. Just supply it with data from original game. "Elliot, you idiot!"

This game is a gem. A true gem. From beginning to end, there is not one thing that I would change except to make it longer. I bought this years ago and have repurchased it from GOG to continue playing it when I couldn't find my original discs. No game collection is comeplete without JA2.

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.