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Extremely detailed but lacks soul

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 12
Date: December 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let me be the first to say the mechanics are there. There is so much detail to the game it hurts. It's got elements of RPGs and strategy mixed in with tactical combat. The tactical combat engine is ridiculously detailed. No other game comes close. It could have been a great game.

But the problem is, it's not fun unless you have a lot of time and like tedious details. After a while your strategy will be the same all the time for the most part. You'll spend most of your time on LOGISTICS -- getting ammo and medical supplies from place to place, redoing your inventory, deciding who gets what gun, filling up clips, etc, etc. (...).

Next, the tactical combat engine is so complex that the computer AI cannot handle it. So to balance it out the designers have the bad guys have much better aim that any of your characters. It's stupid and it takes away the fun of it all. What's the point of having your characters be all realistic if the computer is going to be a bunch of cartoon super heroes?

Here's an example of why this game has been erased off my hard drive. It's midnight, I have class tomorrow somewhat early so I want to call it a night. There's one guy left in the level, I can't find him. I take 4 mercs on a search party for him. All of a sudden a shot comes out of nowhere, hits my custom merc (the best one -- your self-modelled merc) and he's mortally wounded. If he gets hit again or doesn't get medical attention QUICK, he'll die. Plus he's receiving permanent damage as he bleeds to death so this is a lose-lose situation no matter what. I haven't saved in a while because IF YOU SAVE A LOT YOU GET LESS STUFF OFF THE DEAD BODIES. The game punishes you for saving. Now, the sniper is protected on two sides by a neck-high cement wall with bushes and trees on his other side -- he's camping in a great position.

Now, what to do? Well I tried everything. Smoke grenades to cover the wounded guy, charging the sniper, coming in at all different angles. Result is the same -- at least one guy dies no matter what. I charge the wall, jump over it and lay into the guy at point blank range with a burst of .45 rounds from my Uzi. Not ONE point of damage. Not ONE. The sniper turns and blows my guy's head off. Okay next turn. Uzi lays down cover fire while my other merc hauls butt into position. He's about 15 yards from the cement wall when he fires his grenade launcher at the wall. The grenade fires at a 90 degree angle from where I wanted shoot and hits a building 20 yards away. The guy firing was an ex-Ranger with 94 marksmanship so I don't think that was the problem. Oh did I mention the sniper stood up and shot said Ranger in the head after this? After about 45 minutes of this (...), this game was off my hard drive. I'm not having much fun anyway and this is the last straw.

Games are supposed to be fun. Realism can be fun, but this isn't realistic! It's just frustrating and tedious. Overall the game had some good design but it just lacks the fun factor.

Editorial Reviews Missed some Key Points

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 13
Date: July 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

As a fan of the X-Com games and Shadow Watch, I was really looking forward to this game. Based on the Editorial Reviews on this site, I was expecting somethiing in a similar vein.

Unfortunately, there are some subtle problems with this game that make it vastly inferior to the previously mentioned titles, and cause the game play to be rather slow and frustrating.

Problems with the tactical level:

#1. Extremely long fights: Most of the weapons in this game are frustratingly innacurate and don't do much damage. As a result, fights go on and on and on and on and on and . . well, you get the idea. In X-Com and Shadow Watch, fire fights tend to be relatively quick and decisive. If a bad guy steps out in front of you without cover, he goes down. In this game though, he can stand right in front of you at a range of three or four spaces and it will still take a few turns to kill him. You shoot and miss, and shoot and miss and so on. And then when you finally do hit the guy, it takes five or six shots to take him down. Your mouse hand will get sore from all the point and clicking. Both the accuracy and the lethality of all the weapons in the game should be about doubled or trippled, which would lead to shorter, more decisive engagements. 2. Computer controlled characters have a huge advantage in accuracy: This is a weird glitch that becomes really obvious from about the second fight onwards. All computer controlled units are roughly two to three times as accurate as your (supposedly elite) mercenary units. What does this mean? A couple of examples: a.) One of your mercenaries (with a high accuracy rating) is lying on the ground, firing at an opponent lying on the ground, with no intervening cover. The computer controlled character will hit you about four times for every time you hit him. b. You have a unit which has carfully positioned itself crouching behind a tree for cover, shooting at a computer unit standing in the open. You will hit each other with about the same frequency.

While over all game balance is preserved by the fact that your mercs can just take so damn much damage, it still makes game play awefully frustrating. Here you are, knocking yourself out to find good covered positions to protect your guys, and the computer still hits them easily, while you're missing its guys that are out in the open. The problem becomes even more annoying once you start training local militia to protect your villages. Being computer controlled, the local militia also benefit from this huge increase in accuracy, which means that they completely outclass the mercenaries who trained them. Which makes you wonder why they needed your mercenaries to come liberate them in the first place.

Problems with the Strategic Level:

Unbalance Economy: Simply put, the amount of money running around in the game doesn't balance out against the cost of most items. Local Militia, for example, can be trained for $750, a sum so small by comparison to what your mines are turning out that it doesn't even enter into your strategic thinking. Similarly, the rewards for completing quests in the game are ludicrously small wnen compared to your income. What do you say to a major NPC who is trying to get you to do some major quest by offering you 20K dollars. "Hello, I make more than that in a single day of mining. Why should I bother?". The numbers on a lot of this stuff need to be adjusted. 2. A preponderence of innefectual hand guns: For some reason, most of the mercs that you can afford at the start of the game come equipped with hand guns rahter than assault rifles. Excuse me? A professional merc who's going to airdrop into the middle of a civil war with only a pistol? This is particularly ludicrous when you realize how innefectual handguns are in this game. Even at close range, an NPC is likely to die of old age long before you ever manage to finish him off with a .38 revolver. Adding to this problem is the fact that you can't buy rifles. Oh sure, the nice mail order company that you do business with will send you ammo, but not big guns, grenades, night vision goggles, or any of the really cool stuff that you want to play with. To get that stuff, you have to ever so slowly find it off the bodies of dead enemies. In the course of 15 hours of play, I managed to find only two rifles. Unfortunately, they were of a calliber that I couldn't buy ammo for. Arrg. Why can't you just buy decent armaments in this game?

Overall, I would have to encourage people to buy all the X-Com games and Shadow Watch before buying this one. And even then, I would replay the former titles again before sending buying this one. Firefights in Jagged Alliance are needlessly long and indecisive, there is little variation between combat locations and opponents, and there is a lot of built in frustration in the fact that your units are so vastly inferior to those controlled by the computer. This is a game with a lot of subtle problems that should have been caught in the beta testing.

A great game, but difficult for the 'casual gamer'

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: February 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game about three weeks ago and have been playing it basically non-stop ever since. I've played lots of tactical squad games like this such as the XCOM series and "Soldiers At War." I've never played any of the Jagged Alliance games until now however.

Personally, I find this game a tad difficult for the casual gamer. It is incredibly fun, incredibly complex and detailed, and incredibly well made. However it can be incredibly difficult. As the reviewer from Gamespot says, the difficulty ramps up exponentially at the end, even on "Novice" level.

Maybe I'm just being a crybaby. :-) But really, this is an awesome game. You will really need to learn proper 'tactics' and ways of fighting Jagged Alliance battles to win though. Deidrianna's troops will give you no breaks, except if its the head of your troops!

turn-based strategy strikes back!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 25, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Thank God this game finally came out. After playing the three-level demo for a full year I was almost getting sick of it. That said, the full version of JA2 lived up to my expectations and then some. The variety and quality of the mercs is outstanding (I still reload the game whenever any of them gets killed). There is a huge selection of weapons from the Glock 9 to the AKM to the LAW rocket launcher to keep things interesting, and the battle interface expands on the brilliant simplicity of X-COM. Replay value is better than any game I`ve played besides Fallout, with loads of secret quests, mercs, and locations. A few minor gripes: The "Create-a Merc" feature could have been better implemented; it`s more or less a case of building a custom merc from readymade portraits and sound file groups, and a wider variety of locations instead of the same rundown, nondescript towns would have been nice, plus the game has a tendency (at least on my rig), to crash a lot. Still, these minor setbacks don`t keep me from playing at least 1 1/2 hours a day and enjoying it the whole time.

Best strategy game I've ever played

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: June 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

What struck me the most about this game was the attention given to detail. I don't mean visual detail (although the graphics are good), I mean the details that make any game good.

This is a combination turn-based and real-time, role-playing and strategy game, and it takes the best elements from all worlds.

All player attributes (health, strength, HP, wisdom, etc.) are used and monitored. Players have their own abilities, personalities, likes, and dislikes, and gameplay is affected by them. Abilities increase with use and experience, but can decrease due to injury. Each player has it's own morale, and performance will vary with morale level.

Combat is intense. There is a suprisingly wide array of weapons, explosives, accessories, and other items that can be used, and each behaves in a unique fashion. Various parts of enemies can be targeted.

Gameplay is non-linear. You are able to go anywhere in the game at will (although it may not always be advisable to do so).

I've played this game three times, and I'm still not tired of it. I never buy games right when they come out -- but I bought this one. Download the demo and take a look!

By far one of the best of this year

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 12
Date: November 11, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Sir-Tech has rewarded our long wait with an amazing product. It actual gets 4 1/2 stars, but I rounded up. If you're tired (aren't we all getting there) of over-duped real-time strategy, you'll love this wonderful blend of RTS, turn based, and role playing.

Five Reasons Why JA2 Deserves Five Stars

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: August 03, 2000
Author: Amazon User

1) It's a wonderfully multi-layered strategy game. Everything from the position of each merc in a battle, to the level of confidence the citizens place in you, to the training and progress of your mercs -- and much more -- is carefully balanced. It's amazing, actually, how delicately fine-tuned the game is. None of your myriad concerns obscure any of the others, and each is dealt with in a level of detail appropriate to it. They intertwine smoothly, both requiring and rewarding a balanced, flexible approach.

2) The available mercs (there are plenty to choose from) are quite distinct, each with his/her own abilities, face, personality, voice, and play-affecting quirks. This is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game, and an area where JA2 markedly outshines the rest of the strategy genre -- yes, including X-Com -- and, in fact, much of the RPG genre. Every bit of dialog in the game is spoken aloud, and you'll likely find yourself laughing out loud frequently at the things that will pop out of your mercs' mouths. Most game situations draw from a basic set of responses (many of which are still quite enjoyable), but it's fleshed out by a large amount of dialog that's custom-tailored for specific situations in the game (and for each individual merc). Sir-Tech went far beyond the minimum here. And yet the "personalities" aren't just for fun: they're also practical. You'll have no trouble with confusing your mercs with each other, and vocal cues can alert you if, for example, you've accidentally selected the wrong one. It's quite a good idea, actually, and I don't understand why more games haven't taken this approach. It's a fairly simple system that doesn't reach for the stars, but enhances the game considerably on many levels.

3) The game lets you develop your own strategies. For real. The items, skills, and actions can be combined flexibly, opening the possibilities up to include your own wild ideas, instead of limiting you to those "allowed" by the programmers. There's no satisfaction like coming up with an unusual solution for a tough situation, only to stare open-mouthed as the game actually lets you do it. (My stock response to questions from new players: "Try it.") Furthermore, JA2 is chock full of "Easter eggs". There's a wealth of clever responses waiting for anyone who's crazy enough to do the ridiculous things that "normal people" wouldn't think of.(cough)

4) The learning curve is rather easy for a game this complex. Don't get me wrong -- there's plenty to learn, and it will take a while before you've discovered all of the details you can manipulate. But while details abound, they never become cumbersome, and you don't need to master them all in order to play successfully. The controls are easy to learn, and delightfully smooth once you're familiar with them. Shortcuts, audiovisual cues, and intuitive alternate input methods abound. The interface is really quite impressive, especially given the number of different things you have to handle. Almost always, it actively assists your gameplay, instead of interfering with it -- and that's unusual in a game of this type.

5) There's something indefinable... something that keeps you on the edge of your seat, that makes you say "I'll just stay up a little bit longer", and leaves the taste of the game in your mouth well after you stop playing. It's not just the addictive quality of a well-designed strategy game. I don't know what it is, but it's frighteningly strong. (If I had a dime for every hour of sleep I've lost...)

I cannot recommend this game highly enough. It is literally my favorite game I've encountered in the 15 years I've been playing computer games. I have a friend with no patience for turn-based strategy games (didn't even enjoy Civilization or Alpha Centauri); after much prodding, he reluctantly tried JA2, and much to his surprise (but not really to mine), he became thoroughly addicted, and has remarked repeatedly since what a fun, impressive game it is. I know that I can't stop playing it, and I've spent waaay too much time with it already in the past year+.

Keep in mind, it's not easy. (There probably should be an easier level for new players -- even "novice" has plenty of tight spots.) But that is really the best part of all. It will give your brain a thorough workout, requiring careful planning, attention to detail, and lots of creativity. If you consider yourself intelligent and are looking for good brain-toys, you owe it to yourself -- bigtime -- to pick this one up. At the end of your struggle, your hard-won victory will truly be sweet. And then, of course, you'll have to start over, just so you don't have to stop playing it...

The most overlooked GREAT game you ought to play.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: September 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most FUN games ever. Every game is slightly different, many mods have been made, I can't stop replaying this game!

While there is a good weapon selection (if you choose the tons-o-guns option), my only wish is that it were even more extensive. The game mechanics also over looked the fact that a .45 ACP slug (or 5.56N, etc) does the same damage regardless of what gun it comes out of (the damage results are different for the M1911A1, Thompson, and UZI, for example). The type of firearm determines reliability, effective range, difficulty to hit, number of rounds in a burst, but the damage from a caliber is the same. One other thing that would have added realism would have been the ability to pop .38Spec ammo into a .357Magnum revolver (they use the Barracuda). Beyond that the weapons system is great.

Example of gameplay: You start taking fire from a building, but you can't get a fix on him. every thing shifts from real-time to turn-based the moment the shot is fired. You could advance to the building until the sniper comes into veiw, or fire a burst of auto-fire into the offending window(possibly hitting the sniper), or pull back, wait a couple of turns so that the game goes back to real-time, sneak up from a different angle, and hope the enemy hasn't moved.

Bodies catch fire (and run around like headless chickens), chest cavities explode flinging the rest of what was the enemy backwards, heads come clean off with a fountain of aortic spray, and explosions take out entire sections of builings. Small arms, big guns, even chemical weapons, what more could you ask for (outside of more small arms, big guns, and chemical weapons:)?

The blending of RTS, Roleplaying, and TBS is great, and keeps the action pumping; the initiative system for interupts keeps you jumping; and the story line keeps keeps your heart thumping(watch out for Bloodcats and Big bugs in Sci-Fi mode).

The puff of smoke, sound of an RPK-74 ripping people into pieces, the thud of the body(parts:), man there's nothing like it:)

An immersive, addictive game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game was worth every penny when it came out. Now that it is selling for a deep discount, it should be on your list of must-haves if you don't already own it.

JA2 is an exciting, immersive game in spite of its slightly outdated graphics. The interface is fun and user-friendly and the replayability is outstanding. That's because the game has so many options with regards to which and how many mercenaries you choose to build your team, and what weapons and equipment you use along the way (you can even build items with stuff you pick up in the game). Also, the game is non-linear. You can attack the towns on the map in any order you wish, although like most games with a role-playing element, the increasing difficulty factor tends to encourage you along a certain path.

Again, though, it is the tremendous freedom this game gives you that makes it so great time and again. You can, as I mentioned, build your team from a number of mercs with very different abilities and personalities that have a genuine impact on gameplay. For example, mercs with high medical skill may be invaluable after a tough firefight, but in the heat of battle they may be more liability than asset. Snipers my be critical to one mission, while strength may be what's needed in another. As your mercs increase their skills, you may find yourself growing attached to them, like any good role-playing game. You can even break your team into numerous squads and send them all over the map. All these choices make the individual battles as much a puzzle-solving exercise as a combat action sequence. You are almost always outgunned, so rarely will a straight-ahead firefight get you where you need to go. You have to plan carefully and usually have to play a map several times, trying different strategies until you find one that works. In spite of all the planning and the fact the battles switch into turn-based mode, the battles themselves are pretty hairy and immersive, and will usually get your adrenaline pumping.

To summarize, this is a great game. Though violent, it's not overly gory and it is as much a mental exercise as anything. I heartily recommend JA2.

What a great game!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: October 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I just got this game, and am still figuring it out, but wow is it great. This game superbly incorprates many aspects of tactical combat that have been attempted in other games, but were done poorly. This game is sort of like a hybrid betwen X-Com, SWAT, and its own unique spin on Role-Playing. It is a RTS/TBS/RPG.

The game is set in modern day pseudo-cental America, and you are a mercenary that has been hired by a dissident of this war-torn region to come in and eliminate this evil warlord, and her army. To do this, you must hire other mercenaries via "the web" and bring them in to help with the task. You also train militia as you gain support of the local population, and various non-player characters join your army as well. You gain income from seizing control of numerous gold and silver mines in the region, and from selling weapons and stealing money. There are also other side quests/bounties, etc.

The game play is really excellently designed. You play in real time isometric view most of the time until you encounter an enemy, and then the game goes into turn based tactical mode, which is excellent. I personally think some of the interface could be cleaned up a bit, but once you memorize the hot keys for common commands this is less "clunky." There is also an overhead map view wherein you canb check the status of your various troops/squads, and direct them around the large grid map to different sectors.

Another aspect of this game I love is the depth of development of the NPC's and your own special merc or "player character" (you in the game). There are various attributes like in other RPGS (Strength, Agility, etc.) but then there are random special abilities your PC will obtain (based on a psych profile you fill out at the begining). These include stealth, martial arts, hand-to-hand, night ops, knifing, ambidextrous, heavy weapons, electronics, automatic weapons, teaching, camouflage, lockpicking, etc.

There are too many features to list, but this an engrossing well designed game with no bugs to speak of. I only hope they come out with a JA3 with fancier graphics, and perhaps some more portrait options for your character. ;^)

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