It's clear that a lot of effort went into the game with a lot of love for the series, too. If you're a JA veteran I'm pretty sure you'll have a great time; the gameplay is good and all the personality is there.
I can't even complete a single ground combat without save scumming every turn, and even then prepare to commit yourself to multi-hour combats where you save/reload constantly to temper the AI throwing it's units at you with no regard while you are their inferior in every way. The alternative, of course, is not to save scum and just lose the game. Cool, cool. I almost put my fist through the wall playing on normal difficulty. I'm betting that the insane difficulty setting just uninstalls the game to mess with you. Just play the OG X-COM, or Jagged Alliance instead.
If you want to play against a computer that can: - Have an infinite amount of manpower - Have infinite funds to recruit said infinite manpower - Have infinite lords in which to command infinite troops - Have no restrictions for upgrading troops (no horses/war horses needed) - Have far reduced XP requirements for upgrading troops Then this game is for you! There is no beating the AI with attrition. You will never gain an advantage in a war for longer than it takes the AI to magically respawn strong, experienced armies. No matter how many heads you lop off, more will come whether the AI faction commands 1 city or 10. Conversely, a loss of your army is debilitating and effectively ends the war for you as it's impossible to replenish your army and regain it's experience at even a fraction of the speed that the AI does. So, eventually, if you decide to press your perceived advantage in a war, the AI will wear you down no matter what. My bet is that these "cheats" are used in order to prevent a stronger foe from completely steamrolling a weaker faction in one conflict, but it just delays the inevitable and makes the game play an unending slog.
ATOM RPG is an obvious love letter to Fallout's early entries (1, 2 & Tactics), and I like what they've done. I could go on why it's not as perfect as it's muse, but it wouldn't be fair since my nostalgia will selfishly ensure that nothing will ever measure up. If you enjoy similar titles and can approach it as it's own succinct story and world, I think you'll enjoy it as I did. I'm looking forward to Trudograd.
