A classic that captured the minds of countless tactical role-playing game enthusiasts back in 1999. It had superb turn-based combat, mercenaries with larger than life personalities and loads of guns and gadgets. Overthrowing queen Deidranna and freeing Arulco was a quest for the ages. Jagged Alliance - Back in Action is a remake of Jagged Alliance 2, but fails to capture the magic of its predecessor. Turn-based combat is gone and the mercenaries have lost their edge. The visuals are up to date and roaming Arulco is still a treat, but getting rid of fog of war is a huge mistake. Back in Action is not a bad game, but pales in comparison to its father. [March 2012]
Before I wrote this review, I spent 30 hours with Back in Action and I don't even know when this time flew by. I regret that the remake is not as complex and deep as the original game by Sir-Tech but some things are just gone and will never return. [April 2012, p.64]
JABIA is an awesome JA 2 follow up, while it might lack some of its predecessors features it brought a tone of its own. The 3D game-play, the setting of actions for real time combat and seeing how it all plays out. The communities patches and mods! It also does not crash even with the 2 common mods installed!
game is better than most of the JA wannabe including the recent JA Flashback, get this game when its on sale and get the 2 mods either combat evolve or realism and u not look back.
game is like a real time strategy game u need to plan the attack and positioning of your mercs is important as in real life combat.
It's still a little distressing that a game with all the potential in the world to be one of the most spectacular gaming experiences of the decade is instead... a middle-of-the-road title. It may not crash, and it may not really bore you, but it isn't polished, and doesn't fully engross you.
Surprisingly, the new, controversial real-time-combat isn't the expected game breaker for Back in Action. Its much too aggressive, oftentimes stupid AI is. Add to that a bulky interface and cumbersome inventory and soon the liberation of Arulco becomes more of a chore than an enjoyable trip, motivating level-ups and non-linear gameplay notwithstanding.
The Jagged Alliance series has a lot of potential to be excellent, it just requires a lot of attention to the little details to construct a product that acquires that perfection. Back in Action isn't quite that product, though after a few patches it'll likely be heading in the right direction.
It has some good ideas to reinvent the series and it tries to offer something different, but it has too many problems and falls far below Jagged Alliance 2. Its interface and awful AI make the game too limited.
I hope to God the guys at Firaxis are watching this, because Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is, and probably will for many years hence be, the definitive textbook example of how to mess up by the numbers when attempting to "relaunch" a classic franchise.
Before I start I will say that I am true fan of the whole jagged alliance series. Even two weeks ago I started to play again Jagged Alliance 1 with lovely chats of Ivan Dolvitch in russian. I completed Jagged Alliance 2, JA2 Unfinished Businesses and also played modded versions of JA2. Ok.. so what I expected from JABIA (Jagged Alliance Back in Action) ? I expected the same turn based game and was really disappointed that game will be playable on in real time...... but when I started playing more and more I have to say (and please don't hang me on the tree... :)) that this version is really good!! Now why? Before I go into the details I will start with small items which makes the game better in many aspects then JA2:
1. knives and matchetes are finally usable - in JA2 you can do nothing useful with the knife, knives were useful in JA1, but in JABIA you can kill the enemy with single cut
2. you can but good weapons, grenades, armors almost from the beginning of the game (in JA2 new guns most of the time where to week for current power of enemies)
3. armours can not be repaired - this is wonderfull (!) - you need to buy new instead of repairing them
4. explosives are finally usefull... the same with land mines.
5. you can join militia defending cities in the middle of a battle
6.... there is a lot more which I won;'t name at the moment.... just play it and discover
And in general is the game worse comaring to JA2 ? Nooo.. it is different. Real time fight is realy realistic. You can create ambushes hiding in woods with good camuflage without beeing spoted by enemym, you can play command style - taking knife and silently killing enemies who does not expect attack from the back, you can play sniper style by killing each and everyone from distance. What is better? Enemies IQ is quite good for me. Enemies at certain levels of experience does not come close to you, they can try to ambush you, snipers can shoot you from distance and you will not see them without mercenaries with good perception (but even then they can have good camo so that killing them is hard). I could write about many aspects which makes this game worthwhile, but I really suggest to try (playing tutrial first to see what options there are)... so does the game lack anything from JA2? Yes many things:
1. there is not SCI-FI - oh well... for some people this was redundant part from JA2
2. Faces of mercs are not cartoon-like - oh well... this is 3d world so they are 3d, but still they are different and people saying that they are alike are wrong... take a looke at your friend sitting next to you. Maybe you will notice that in real world we are all alike - and this is how JABIA presents mercs - if you give to all them the same helmets and glasses they will look almost the same... wow like soldiers in real world.. so is there any problem with this ? I don't think so.
3. turn-based combat - yes...I love turn based games.. I love XCOM and like to play chess... but this is JABIA - it is not turn based game - it is realistic game, so just deal with it
4. ... probably even more, but the point is that almost for every "lack of something" there is a reason behind it and this reason is in most cases "realism"
I don't want to say that the game is better, worse or equal to JA, Deadly Games, JA2.... it is simply different but really exciting and I love playing. I'm treating it as a different approach to the series - having similar plot, the characters (mercs), place (Arulco) and rules (jamming weapons, lockpicks that needs to be taken etc.).
People who are giving bad reviews are, in my opinion, mostly frustrated that it is not turn-based and forget to pay attention to what is good... and there is a lot of good in JABIA.
Good thing
-RPG system
-Combat system "Plan and Go"
-World map which not many games of this genre have that
-Squad customization
-satisfactory graphics
Bad thing
-inability to control militia which is a little annoying thing especially in late game
-Minor bugs
-It lack of some depth of game play such as random event's on world map
lack's of some side quest
Overall
I give the game 7
The game could be expanded in terms of exploring Alurco territory and quest to do
I've never played the previous games. This is my first Jagged Alliance experience. Fun game and most of the time, I feel its potential. The game's major downfall is its lack of realism: Highly experienced and trained mercs are being gun-downed easily by these so-called bad guys. Often times, I find the enemy has quicker firing and reflex timing on average than my own mercs!
For the most part, it should be the opposite. If anything, have lots of enemies for my mercs to have to deal with in any given circumstance in order to circumvent this strange phenomena. I can understand if there are a few crack elites, but even on easy, bad guys have better response and accuracy time than even Wolf or Raven. The lowest of mercs should have a better response and firing timing than the "average" opponent. Not only that, a lot of bad guys come better equipped than most mercs!
Other than that, I enjoy the game. The constant demand on having to be critical all the time against the "average" enemy is kind **** breaker. I'd rather bugs than this. And I'm not looking at an action game experience. I understand strategy and critical analysis. Problem is, the tactical side, given the environment, doesn't fit the mold.
Another drawback is inventory management at a base level. Poor. In addition, not having the ability to pre-plan base defense before an attack is also a drawback. Very critical factors in any tactical strategy endeavor.
Despite these drawbacks (which have nothing to do with my personal difficulty level as it does not wanting to crunch through worthless battles of superior militia), the rating I give I feel is complete and whole. The game could have been better.
A cheap and of low quality copy of JA 2, not reaching even a fraction of its qualities. Same story, same map, terrible face models, ubiquitous copy&paste and inappropriately cut and simplified content of the original game. Messed gun names. Typos. Bugs.
Few copy&paste examples: The A.I.M. terms are word by word taken from JA 2, including the article 2.0 "Length of Engagement" and daily, weekly and bi-weekly time periods (from JA 2) regardless it was simplified to a lump sum payment in JA:BiA. The biography of mercs are word by word taken from JA 2, regardless there are different traits in JA:BiA (so while you can read "heavy wepons are his specialty" in his bio, the merc is actually melee expert).
If you're still looking for an ultimate argument for how bad this game is, here it is: All the mercs carry their guns unloaded, magazines out. Anytime they reach for a knife, they unload their gun and detach any accesory (silencer, scope) from it first. For their own safety. Nobody want a merc to accidentally shoot his leg, right? On the other hand, maybe the shot in a leg is still better than playing this game.
Frustration. This is the first thing that comes to mind while playing this game. Especially when you fight in buildings (try throwing grenades in buildings). The enemy's are hitting you from impossible angles (for example i got hit with a shotgun which was fired four times out of weapon range), they spot you no matter what you do and they charge right up front. Only thing you need to do is clicking at them repeatedly so your mercs shoot em down while they charge (without taking any cover). If you like this kind of game play (not turn based,etc.) try frozen synapse, its cheaper and way better.
SummaryJagged Alliance: Back in Action revives the top-selling Jagged Alliance series of mercenary-themed strategy games with significant updates to visuals and gameplay. Back in Action will showcase a fully updated experience, with modernized gameplay, state-of-the-art graphics and premium production values.