Jagged Alliance: Back in Action PC
  • Publisher: Kalypso
  • Release Date: Feb 8, 2012
User Score
5.4 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 131 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 61 out of 131
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 131
  3. Negative: 51 out of 131

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  1. socokid
    Jan 20, 2013
    9
    I am a gaming hobbyist from the early 80's, record dozens of hours a week to this day, and write very few reviews. However, I felt a need here. I just purchased this game a few weeks ago, so I may not have experienced the issues recorded in much earlier reviews, but this is a good game. It really is. I recently finished re-playing Silent Storm 2 and 3, so this game felt very, very familiar.... Throw in arming civilians in towns you have liberated, usually with the guns and armor you find on bad guys, a need to help protect these areas from warnings of incoming hostiles, and better graphics. There are a few frustrating bits that become much less of an annoyance after playing several hours. Using the camera view becomes more fluid with use, for example. I also see complaints here about things that they obviously fixed (assuming the original reviewer was accurate to begin with), like how you can check "fog of war" before starting a new game if you want.

    I am about 20-30 hours into the game and am having a good time, which is the best review a game can receive, IMO. I've been a video game hobbyist since the early 80's, and still play dozens of hours a week. I rarely submit reviews, but a 5.4 user score is not in line with the current version that I am playing.    … Expand
  2. dapac
    Aug 29, 2012
    10
    A lot of people are disappointing by this game, and I understand their perspective. I`ve been a long time fan of JA, finished it back when there were no mods, and even installed it again a month ago, with version 1.13, which is AMAZING. Now, the topic here is back in Action. At first, I didn`t want to buy the game, the lack of fog of war was making the game pretty unplayable, and the interface in general didn`t seem polished enough. Later on, I got into reading about it, getting more information about the company, and my mark of 10 is given in context of the bigger picture I`ve come to see:

    1. I bought the game, JABIA, when I saw patch 1.13, especially because of the major improvements the devs brought since launch. 2. A team of 12 people was working on JABIA, and I think they managed to accomplish amazing things together. 3. some of the original game mechanics are very difficult to remake into a 3d game from a development standpoint, even though fans "expect them" to be there

    If Blizzard released this game, with all the resources they had, my mark would be much lower, but I believe in this development team, think they have great potential ahead of them given enough resources, as well as if they change their business plan a bit to be more reactive to fans and critics feedback.

    Looking forward for more productions of JA,

    All the best,
    Alex    … Expand
  3. aWolf
    Aug 3, 2012
    9
    As a fan of the original game, I was quite skeptic to this remake, especially after seeing the metacritic score... But I gave it a try a few months after launch, and it's quite good! I can't say how it was at launch, but now there are very few bugs so it's totally playable.
    It's hard enough without being frustrating, worthy of the jagged alliance name :)
  4. BleedingQuasar
    Apr 2, 2012
    10
    Great game. Good game play. The familiar story is a little tired but they told us about that before the game was released. The game is as advertised.
  5. kaosushijin
    Feb 16, 2012
    10
    I would ask that anyone who comes to the review section of this game to notice that there are MANY positive reviews, MANY negative reviews, and few in between. This game suffers from the "uncanny valley" of game revivals; It happened to Fallout 3 as well.

    Whenever a beloved game series is taken over by another developer and it's game mechanics are changed, the fans of the original have n    o way of venting their frustrations except to come to review sites and rate games badly. The problem with this is that some people use these review sites to make purchasing judgments, and there is FAR too much collective bias against games that try to revive old cult classics.

    As to the game itself, it's good. It's difficult if you don't know what you're doing, easy if you do. It's going to take you a day or two to get the hang of things. You might want to restart the game once you get the hang of it. This is one of the best RTS/RPGs in existence right now (still hoping for a worthwhile UFO remake); Please give it a chance and ignore the butthurt babies who want to rate it down out of their spite towards the choices the developers made with game direction.    … Expand
  6. Joshua_Northey
    Feb 14, 2012
    9
    I look at the extremely negative user reviews from people who "loved" JA2 and I wonder what game they are playing. Now this game (and JA2) are not for everybody, but if you like JA2, XCOM or squad based tactical games I don't see what is not to like here.

    Are there things this game is lacking that JA2 had? Absolutely. But it also has made some real improvements in many areas, and the "    plan and go" system is a great idea that works very well and will perhaps breath some new life into this genre. JA2 was a 10/10, especially considering when it was made. But just because this game has some glitches and needs a little more polish doesn't mean it deserves a "2" like people give an unfinished abortion of a game like Sword of the Stars 2. This game is substantially finished, playable and a lot of fun. And personally I play games to have fun, not to pick them apart with comparisons with a determined effort to find every way they could be better. I get the impression some people reviewing this either haven't played it, or bought it specifically to pick it apart, which is quite silly if you ask me.

    The voice acting could be better, but it is sufficient. The combat mechanics are not perfect, but they are fun and make sense. The interface could really use so work to make managing inventories better, but my understanding is that is in the next patch. I thought the music was quite good, and the graphic elements were absolutely excellent for a game like this.

    The strategy map is a real improvement over the old classic, parts of the interface are greatly improved (and other parts missing/lacking). Anyway if you liked JA2, or XCOM, or the UFO: A series, or Laser Squad Nemesis, et cetera and you would like to play a modern game with those elements than this is just the thing for you.

    I had very modest expectations and it has been the game I have had the most fun with since portal 2 was released (and I buy a game a week).    … Expand
  7. SimmO
    Feb 14, 2012
    9
    this game is ....... so close to being great, once they iron out the bugs will be even better, one of the best reboots ever having great fun playing this as i did JA 2, if the devs fix the bugs, and listen to the reasnable fans requests it will be even better, great game!
  8. tijauna
    Feb 13, 2012
    9
    it is getting more and more obvious. you can stick all these paid or "young and inexperienced" reviews up your a...

    if you know what you want you should definitely give this game a try. this is one of the truest reboots ever.

    additionally "back in action" is technically flawless and preforms very well beside from most AAA titles today.
  9. berowe
    Feb 12, 2012
    9
    This is a very entertaining squad-based tactical action game. It allows for strategy, planning, and management without sacrificing action and pacing. You lead your heavily-armed squad as it carves its way through heavy resistance across the detailed 3D locations of Arulco. The main strength of this game is the Plan & Go feature. This allows you to pause the game at any time and issue detailed orders to your squad. These orders range from movement commands-- stances, facings-- to combat commands-- targeting specific enemies and specific body parts, throwing grenades. These waypoints can then be linked (synced) resulting in coordinated maneuvers and take-downs. Once the mode is exited the game un-pauses and your mercenaries carry out their orders as you watch the carnage. If something changes, simply press the space-bar, go back into the P&Go mode and adjust your tactic to the new situation. This system allows the best of both worlds: Old-school turn based aficionados (like myself) don't need to fear an RTS click-fest that our arthritic fingers can't keep up with. Young-pup BF3 lovers get the pacing, action, and exploding ragdolls that they love. Everybody wins. It's like Rainbow 6 (the original), with a birds-eye view of your troops and the ability to make on-the-fly corrections to your plan. In what other tactical sim can you actually plan a detailed breach and clear and watch the AI carry it out? The tenets of squad-based warfare actually work in this game.

    If you're looking for Jagged Alliance 2; this isn't it. If that fact automatically makes the game awful, that's fine, but I didn't buy it looking for its predecessor. The fans of 2-decade-old turn based games feel that their X-Com's and JA2's are becoming extinct. They are angry with developers who can't or won't fund their (admittedly unprofitable) type of game, and some of them have taken to trashing this game ever since the announcement that it wouldn't be turn-based, and that their precious mercenary characters would have new portraits...

    The game is not without bugs, it is coming from a small production team and lacks some polish. However, I have been able to easily overlook the bugs, inconsistencies and quirks of the game because it is far better than any of the recent X-Com knock-offs, and it is fun.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 35
  3. Negative: 4 out of 35
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    May 16, 2012
    55
    Ignore Back in Action and just buy Jagged Alliance 2 to cherish the original version of a great game. Then again, if graphics are so important to you, go ahead and buy Back in Action- you might enjoy it but you will have paid four times more, for an inferior product. [May 2012]
  2. Worth Playing
    Apr 10, 2012
    67
    As you manage your squads and try to take down the Queen's men in Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, you can't help but feel that the game could have been a lot more. The open premise really works and allows for you to tackle nearly any obstacle in the game as you see fit. The game is fun, but it has a lot of baggage and head-scratchingly rough edges that dull the enjoyment. The title does a passable job of bringing the Jagged Alliance series back to life, but it's not as good as it could've been, and it doesn't live up to the legacy of its predecessors.
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  3. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    50
    The real-time combat isn't the problem; it's everything else, which was done with a depth and confidence 13 years ago that this reimagining lacks. [Apr 2012, p.54]
    Read full review
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