Jagged Alliance 2

Discount Price: $14.99

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine	Alien: 20th Anniversary Edition [Award Series]	Aliens (Special Edition)

Customer Reviews:

Extremely detailed but lacks soul [Posted on 2001-12-11]
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.

Late night gamer. [Posted on 2001-12-28]
The game put me in a night mode that you completely forget what time it is. Yes it does have long fight battles and you have to save your game alot. They should improve thier scale of dying. (I mean come on, 4 shots point blank to kill a guy) But, overall the game will keep you playing for months.

Realistic Strategic/Tactical Assault Game [Posted on 2002-04-10]
Jagged Alliance 2 is a Stragety / Tactics game with some RPG and adventure elements. The benevolent and rightful ruler of Arulco has been living in exile for some time, collecting funds for a military retaking of the island. You are the talented and competant mercenary he chooses to plan the assault and lead the insurgence. The game features faux internet connections for locating and hiring mercenaries to assist you and later to procure weaponry and armor. A strategic map is used for planning large movements and assigning your mercs to key duties (like training militia and repairing worn items). The key of the game however is the tactical scenarios. Once you have entered an area (or the nearly 200) you are alerted to an enemy presence and will automatically be sent to the location to control your mercs to a stunning victory. The system works on real-time until you or your enemy sight each other. Then the system uses a complicated turn based system. The combination of these elements can be used to a great advantage and enjoyment but requires a steep learning curve to understand the system.

When I first played this game I suffered through many hours of frustrating battles. I would choose a place to attack, send in my best team, but would get hammered during the battle and either lose half of my team or everyone would be half dead from wounds. After a bit of this I gave up and found other interests. Later, I returned and concentrated on the tactical advantages of cover and position and found the keys to success.

One of the main elements of the game is that constant improvement is absolutely necessary, as is conservation. To operate successfully with a minimum of cash, movement, and ammo (especially the limited amount of explosives) will help save you from difficult if not impossible situations later. Any setup you find successful in a scenario will be compensated for shortly down the road. Also, the wide range of mercs and weaponry will make keeping the integrity and organization of your team an important but entertaining goal. As is the case with most stragety games, the amount of time required to master the system and the resulting addictions afterwards may be the main deterrance to playing the game.

Due to a slightly buggy nature, I cant advise this game below PII 300mhz and even then some some situations cause the game (not the computer) to crash. This is somewhat rare however. (twice in 200+ hrs.)

Great story, great gameplay, great game. [Posted on 2004-04-17]
Arulco is a tiny South American country that runs under the unique system of a democatic Monarchy...a family rules the throne, but every 10 years elections are held to assert their legitimacy. Enrico Chivaldori, trying to keep his family in power, took a wife, Deidranna Reitman, in order to boost his popularity as a candidate. Then everything began to tumble...
Deidranna killed Chivaldori's father and framed him through a large amount of circumstantial evidence. She turned him over to his political enemy, Miguel Cordona, in the hopes that Cordona would kill him, instead, they helped him flee. Deidranna has since turned the peaceful country of Arulco into a destitute land ruled by the whim of a rutheless dictator, acts of genocide are common, and anyone not of value of swiftly removed from the population...Now it is time to remove her.
A shadowy figure...you...meets with exiled Enrico Chivaldori in the Czech Republic, he explains what he wants you to do: build an army out of mercenaries, and topple Deidranna's regime.

This shows how rich and deep the story is, but it would be irrelevant if the gameplay wasn't good. Thankfully, the game play is brilliant. Using an ingenious laptop interface, you take the money given to you by Chivaldori and hire the best mercenaries you can. You figh from town to town and in the rural areas, killing Deidranna's forces with firepower and tactics. This is no mere "shoot-em-up," the player must train militas, guard mines, take down SAM sites to clear the skies, make sure your mercs interact well, train your mercs,talk to characters, some of whom can be recruited to your cause, some of whom will attempt to kill you.
But you also get to take on Deidranna's forces with over 25 weapons and other items. There will be weapons you haven't seen and creatures native to Arulco (more so if you choose the Sci-Fi) option. Combat is great fun, and there is a lot of it. Moreover, the game is completely non-linear, so if you wish to make a run on the Capital City of Meduna and Deidranna herself only 2 hours into the game, by all means do so, just dont worry if you're sent back in a body bag.

I can't reccomend this game highly enough...it has funny, interesting characters, outstanding gameplay, and a story that the game adheres to throughout the game, something that few games can claim credit to. Buy it, buy it now.

Realistic Squad Tactics [Posted on 2005-12-01]
Jagged Alliance 2 is by far the most realistic and fun squad tactics game. Getting shot in this game has ramifications that is almost real-life: A grazing wound is ok, but any solid hits will have the following effects:

In the head: you may permanently lose wisdom ability points.
In the torso: You get knocked out or almost knocked out unconscious if you are wearing armor.
In the limbs: possible permanent loss of agility points.
Anywhere: Bleeding wound, handicapped action points and manuverability, and speed, until healed during down-time.

On top of the wound system, taking cover and using smoke grenades for concealment has never been more important. Often times I will have one guy knocked unconscious or crippled, another guy administering first aid and revival, while two other guys laying down cover fire to ensure successful rescue, all the while exposed on a well-concealed but zero-cover cornfield, bullets flying everywhere.

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