Every square on the map is a bespoke battlefield, often with underground areas and loot-caches to find. One area where JA3 stands head and shoulders above its predecessors is its world map. Potentially frustrating, but each time I play the game I learn a little bit more. While it's relatively easy to replace lost mercs, too many setbacks can cause a doom-spiral. While the campaign is lengthy and non-linear, over time enemy aggression gradually ramps up, story events can force you into battles you weren't planning for, and dawdling causes mines to dry up, leaving you cash starved. Knowing what to do at any given time is initially difficult, and you can only really learn through feeling your way through it. On the map, mercs can spend time to heal each other, train local militia (adding allied grunts to territories you want defended), craft ammo, repair gear and modify weapons using parts scavenged from breaking down unwanted guns. There's diamond mines to capture for income, forts that spawn forces to recapture territories, ports for faster water movement and other strategic concerns. Grand Chien is an explorable open world, with towns full of mostly French-accented NPCs, many with side-quests. The strategic and RPG layers are what really set Jagged Alliance apart. Rambo Quest 64Įach time I play the game I learn a little bit more. There's less micromanagement in combat, but more tactical options giving JA3 its own feel. SMGs spray defensively while moving, machine guns dig in for accurate overwatch and so on. Honestly, I don't miss them, and there's interesting systems to fill those gaps.Įvery merc now has a unique ability-some passive (engineer Barry Unger builds a few custom shaped throwing charges), some active (steppe hunter Yuri Omryn has 360 degree overwatch), giving combat a different feel for every party. ![]() ![]() JA2's Stamina and Morale bars are replaced by simple buffs and debuffs. While enemies can be snuck up on (and taken down) during the real-time infiltration phase before the shooting starts, once turn-based combat begins all characters have 360 degree vision and facing isn't taken into account to shoot. Armor helps, but it wears down, forcing you to spend precious time between fights assigning mechanically minded mercs repair duty.Ī lot of JA2's more fiddly elements have been shaved down. A stray bullet can cause a lot of grief, encouraging cautious movement, swinging the camera around to make sure everyone's behind cover. Headshots are lethal, arm shots hurt accuracy and leg shots slow. Unless broken, cover stops bullets, but limbs poking out can be hit by stray fire or individually aimed at. Spending extra action points to aim tightens it up (a flashing yellow crosshair indicating that you're almost certain to hit), giving fights a naturally intuitive feel. There's no to-hit percentages, just an aiming cone based on gear and stats. If it hits anything along the way (a rock, wall or bystander) they'll do their damage there instead. If you've played a modern tactics game it's easy to jump in and start, but the process of putting bullets in bad guys is far more granular than a dice-roll.Įach bullet is a physical object leaving the gun's barrel, traveling towards a target. The movement grid shows a 'blue' move radius where you'll have enough AP to shoot from. Movement is action point based, affected by agility stats, morale, degree of rest and other factors, but it's visually intuitive. ![]() Projectile motion theoryĬombat in JA3 splits the difference between its predecessor's simulation-heavy approach and modern XCOM's more readable battlefields and systems. Some have friends and rivals they'll banter and beef with, and with 4-6 making a squad, there's enough to play the campaign repeatedly with entirely different vibes. Good for repairing gear, offering people snacks on long trips and also hacking devices using her custom PDA a permanent inventory item that the game notes is covered in cute stickers.Įvery character gets plenty of voiced chatter, in combat and out, often interjecting in conversations with NPCs. Special credit to Leili 'Livewire' Idrisi, a cheerful young Pakistani engineer. While the new voice cast have impressively nailed the returning characters, I liked the newcomers too.
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