Jagged Alliance: Back in Action Review [PC]

rating:3

First things first, I definitely missed JA: BIA when it was first released many moons ago. Truth be told, I've heard of a lot of games and this wasn't one. However, for the benefits of the internet is I've been able to get myself up to speed and into action (pardon the pun). Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is a remake of the second game in the series of a franchise that started life on MS-DOS. It is a full remake with all of the expansions packs as well. The franchise gained a cult following through the application of its gameplay and personality. The early games were a mix of turn-based strategy, building your mercenary outfit and role-playing companied with sharp and sometimes cheesy humour - a trademark for the series. JA: BIA is a real time strategy game with an isometric view. By all accounts it is a faithful remake in terms of content voice acting and characters but with an overhauled and improved graphics and certain gameplay aspects. The focus of JA: BIA is on recruiting and using mercenaries in a bid to complete various missions which in this case is to overthrow the cruel dictator Queen Deidranna and free the country of Arulco from her evil grasp. To over throw the queen you have a slew of mercenaries at your disposable. Each mercenary has a personality and background unique to them. On top on this each mercenary has their own unique traits. These traits range from the useful (team player, night ops, melee mastery) to inconvenient (unfit, nude). The first mission starts with a briefing where you can read email and Intel before you decide which mercenaries to pick to tackle that mission. What mercenaries you pick on the opening and subsequent missions is dependent on how much funds you have and your strategy to complete the mission. Any merc can go on any mission but depending on the force of the enemy and the skills of the merc you will pick accordingly, after a while picking mercenaries through personal preference rather than skill. However, some will opt to join and not to join depending on whom else is on the squad. For instance, while playing Igor wouldn't join the assault team. Later, when I added Grunty to the squad, Igor was more than willing to join. The various combinations of mercs you can choose is staggering and the reason why they opt to join or not brings a sense of levity to the game. There is also a levelling system. Mercenaries gain exp from completing different objectives, which largely involves killing the enemy and healing teammates. Reach the next level for that mercenary and you are rewarded skill points to distribute as you see fit, adding an extra dimension to playing. Once you mercenaries are picked you can customise their load outlets and fill up their kit. There is a large amount of choice available for you to choose from but as with most things these costs. The customisation range is extensive and any combination of gear can be given to any merc, however mercenaries utilizing equipment that they have traits in obviously provides a level of proficiency. So characters who have melee master work well with knives. Gear includes everything from weapons and ammo to clothes, fatigues gloves and shoes to utility items like crow bars, med kits and lock picks. There is three available slots for weapons then multiple for various items that you might pick up along the way. Once you€™re ready to go you can start doing missions. Once the opening mission is over the order in which you complete the rest is entirely up to you. The mission structure is freeform - open up the world map, select where you want to go and travel there. Travel takes place in €˜real-time€™ so there is options to speed up time. This also helps speed up time between daily money updates. The nature of the game allows you to complete missions as you see fit, it is not structured into a restrictive course of action - you are given the freedom to choose where to go and when - only limited by your skill and mercenary numbers. The world map is clouded by fog of war meaning only structures on map as well as the main hostile areas are visible. So you can€™t simply walk from point A to point B in most cases as road blocks will appear as you start opening the map. Areas that you have freed on the map will come under regular attack with a complete take over enaacted if you have no mercenaries in the area requiring you to retake the map or an automatic mission start if you have mercenaries in the area freed areas will come under at. The world map system is efficient and accessible and makes moving troops around and going on mission€™s simple and easy. As your funds build and you have regular attacks on more player occupied areas the mercenaries you hire and leave in specific areas becomes more and more important. Early in the game you will find yourself short of funds depending on which mercs you hired. This lack of cash will last a while and will play a part in how you go about things. Looting dead enemies occasionly nets you cash but the amounts in the being are very small so selling other items you find in the level becomes your main source of cash. Outside of this you make money from the areas you have cleared daily. the more you have cleared and keep free from enemies the more cash you will receive. The in-game UI is clutter free and streamlined. There is a clear emphasis on navigating the game with the troops at your disposal. Your screen is geared towards showing as much of the map as possible and with that in mind the information at your disposal (mercs in your team, their stats, the mini map or merc actions) are all unobtrusive, semi transparent and all the information is situated at the side of the screen, making for a more dynamic playing area. On top of this the use of the buttons on the screen are for the most part are negligible as the hotkeys that these button use are more accessible and easier to use. Played with or without a mouse you will find that you tend to use the hotkeys over the onscreen buttons. The game offers you a tutorial before you start playing and this effectively takes you through the use of all playing aspects of the game. Select your mercenaries making them engage with the enemy is familiar to anybody who has played RTS games before. There is no difference here. Select troops by clicking them or pressing their respective numbers and send them anywhere or engage with anyone on screen. You can also queue up commands and actions too making it easier to attack different enemies or points on the map. Pressing the spacebar pauses the action. From here you individually select a mercenary and issue commands - go here shoot, go prone, shoot that - then press the space bar again to watch the mercenary carry out your orders. To sync up their attacks simply set up commands for each mercenary individually then drag the shoot command icon from one merc on top of another mercs. When you press the space bar again the mercenaries will attack at the same time, with one merc waiting for another if he has more commands to follow or long to go to each his objective. Whether you are just sending your mercs in to pick off enemies or attacking more strategically - making choke points or attacking simultaneously - the game caters, effectively for man tastes. The further you get in the game the more this comes into play. What helps make this better is the environment and terrain. While playing you get a sense that you are playing at altitude. The areas are detailed and the various foliage, structures and obstacles make for a more strategic approach. Lying prone or crouched behind a vehicle or low wall while waiting for an enemy to pass will be a viable tactic. The isometric camera, as with any RTS game plays a big part in how you tackle the game. Taking in a big area navigating is simple and zooming in and out during the game will change depending on the situation. The one fault that arises is during fighting in structures. By and large enemies, once they spot you will follow you, however not all enemies do. This becomes a problem when an enemy decides to stay indoors just beyond the entrance. if you have a sniper on your team or there is more than once entrance no problem, zooming in and then selecting the target (not always an option)or going around and flanking them respectively. If not getting to the enemy will become a grind especially when the roof of the structure only disappears when you are inside. Not a big problem but at times irritating. The only other problem with the game (although not really a problem) is the lack of fog of war in the actual mission. It effectively makes the game easier then it should be. Seeing all of the enemies on the screen means at all times you know their every move. It takes way a bit of the mystery and fun that RTs games deal in. Part of the fun of RTS games is the exploration of the terrain, sending out scouts to look for the enemy on large maps. The team at Bitcomposer have done a serviceable job at bringing Jagged Alliance into the graphical age. It€™s a streamlined game that€™s fun, if not cheesy. It is easy to see that no harm has been done to a franchise that has reached a cult status. The content is fun and never feels repetitive and the graphics, while not making your jaw drop, adds enough detail and personality that playing never feels that a chore. There is quite a bit of replayability with 70 mercenaries, high customisation, levelling and areas to explore. While I never came across any bugs during my game time, there has been some reported but nothing that can be considered (as far as I ever found) game breaking. With that said the game never pulls out all the stops and takes the game to the next level or adds anything that you haven't seen before. it the task was to simply to update the game it is a job well done. But something always felt missing and the game was slightly flat without a fog of war cloud during missions making it easier planning strategies. Although with that said it was still a pretty fun game and was addictive. If you€™re looking for a more hardcore RTS experience you will probably be disappointed will this offering, everyone else though should have a good time playing. Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is available to buy now on PC only.