Jagged Alliance - Back in Action [Download]

by Kalypso Media

Product Details

• Downloading: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United States and who have a U.S. billing address.
• Note: Gifting is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B006X5ASAS
• Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,366 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Jagged Alliance Back in Action is a contemporary remake of the latest title in the much-loved Jagged Alliance series of turn-based mercenary-themed strategy games. Designed from the ground up to offer a modern gaming experience, Back in Action showcases an updated isometric 3D look and interface, highly detailed character models and a variety of new gameplay features. Back in Action takes players to the fictitious country of Arulco, where a ruthless dictator has seized power and only a small group of rebels stand to resist him. Tasked with freeing the island from the dictator’s iron grip, players will command rebel and mercenary forces while using tactical, diplomatic and economic tools to keep troops supplied and ready for the next flight, all while commanding them directly in nail-biting battles. Back in Action's innovative "plan & go" combat system combines real-time strategy (RTS) with turn-based elements to guarantee that the intricacies of tactical warfare are rendered in dynamic, exciting gameplay. This challenges would-be commanders to master not only strategy and tactical combat, but also to maximize their team's capabilities through RPG-like character advancement. System Requirements   Minimum Specifications: OS: Win 7, Vista and XP Processor: i5 or i7 CPU RAM: 4 GB Hard Drive: Unknown Video Card: GeForce 9800 with 1 GB Ram or better Additional Info: Requires Steam account for game installation and activation

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Jagged Alliance: Back but Not the Same Action February 12, 2012

By L. Fawcett

Amazon Verified Purchase

I agree with the previous two reviews by Old School and Icejon.

My biggest complaint is that the game is no longer turn-based when it comes to the the combat sequence. It is now a real-time game where you have to hit the spacebar to pause the action and give your mercenaries orders. Gone are the action points.

Other issues that I take umbrage with are:
1) Much of the management that made the JA2 series fun is gone. Tasks are non-existent except in real-time. Moreover, what is even the point of having a time clock if all of the mercenaries remain permanently hired? Why have different speeds of time?
2) The player inventory has changed as well. There is no place to store keys or money. Can we forge weapons? As far as I can tell - no. Even more annoyingly, the mercenaries cannot drink liquor!!!!
3) The player is not allowed to create their own personalized character.
5) It is difficult if not impossible to switch between the world map and the location map where your mercenaries are positioned unless you move them to another location. Even then, to get into a location map your mercenaries must run into some of Diedriana's men. You cannot simply go back and forth between the two map interfaces.
6) One can buy all of the weapons they want from Bobby Ray's. It is unclear how one gets them from the Drassen Airport once they are sent.
7) The world map of Aruclo is much smaller and the game has the same premises as JA2 - take out Diedriana.
8) In the location map, there is a small map showing the detail of the location and who is in the area. It would have been nice to be able to actually use this map to move to different characters and locations. Currently it is worthless....
9) If the mercenaries move and then bump into each other, they stay in suck in postion until you move them individually. What it looks like is a bunch of kids playing shove. The reason why this point is significant is becuase the mercenaries bunch up and this is a real-time game where there is no time to correct bunching up

The greatest improvement is, of course, the graphics. They well should be considering the lapse between the JA2 series and this new version of Back in Action. However, if you are a real fan of the series, you will already be aware of the game titled Jagged Edge which has equally as good graphics and is closer to JA2 than this version of Back in Action. Jagged Edge also provides an easier method to manipulate the camera. Back in Action's camera controls are fiddley.

One must ask: did the developers/designers ever play JA2? Did they appreciate the game as it was? Why fix something when it is not broke? If anything they should have produced the graphics and a new story while improving the mechanics - not remaking the same game with completely new mechanics. This should have been sorted out in the Beta version.

In summary, if you liked the old JA2 series, you will probably have issues with Back in Action. To me this new version is a disappointment. Good luck with hitting the spacebar on time! Read more ›

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Expect different from JA2 and you may be surprised February 11, 2012

By Icejon

As a long time fan who has been playing the original Jagged Alliance series for over 12 years, I can say the new Jagged Alliance is not exactly a faithful sequel and that is fine with me. Jagged Alliance Back in Action takes the story of the first game, and simplifies some aspects while providing unique improvements. There are 3 improvements that make Jagged Alliance Back in Action (referred to as JA BIA) worthy of buying: an exciting new combat system, faster paced gameplay and respect for the source material.

The combat system is no longer the turn based system from JA2 v1.13. Even though I am a fan of JA2, especially JA2 v1.13 there were always flaws to the cover and suppression system, machine gun balancing, and enemy AI. In JA BIA, they completely change the system from turn based to plan and go. This system is reminds me of Combat mission, Xcom Apocalypse (not the original) and Commandos. With this new system you can breach a door, throw a grenade through and close a door, using multiple mercs all by arranging a simple timeline. Overall combat resolves more dramatically, and with more action. A quick burst from a LMG can throw several enemies across the room simultaneously. Without a turn based system, combat is more about positioning and firepower, than remembering to use everyone's action points.

Overall the gameplay is faster because the strategic level of the game is simplified. Gone are the overall doctoring, repair and training militia tasks. These tasks are all simplified and limited to the tactical level. There are no more vehicles, or rigid squares to conquer. Mercs do not need to paid per day, merely paid in full for a campaign. This removes almost half of the meta game of JA2, and focuses the game on the combat....

The environments are realistic and beautiful. With JA2's terrible tile based graphics, I often imagined what Arulco would look like. The new JA BIA shows off combat with realistic armor. The Merc dialog is almost the same to JA2, but is a little cheesy. JA BIA plays in the same sandbox as JA2, but with frantic and fast paced action rather than slow and methodical planning.

Altogether I have had fun, but there are still some bad things about JA BIA:

- Without fog of war the lower tier enemies just ask to be setup like action movie set pieces. Its almost a joke how well you can distract them, and blow them away without being surprised yourself.
- Some of the guns don't use the right ammunition as they do in real life, and only one attachment per gun
- Tedious maintaining of armor and equipment. Armor falls apart too easily.
- Almost superhuman aim and vision of some higher level enemies
- General instability, some save game corruption
- Inconsistent voice acting. A mercenary will just repeat "I dont have any ammo" if their gun runs out while given orders
- Too simple dialog tree

This JA BIA is a flawed and unpolished game just like JA2 was unpolished when it was released. It took 12 years of fan made patches and DLC to make it into an epic masterpiece. I am confident JA BIA with a few patches and upgrades will be better. As for now I am having fun in Arulco once again, and that makes it worth it. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty good successor March 1, 2012

By Steve

Amazon Verified Purchase

As a fan of the Jagged Alliance series from the very beginning, this is a decent retelling. For those coming straight from JA2, setting up the smart pause feature is vital for a decent game play experience, as close quarters engagements can happen extremely fast. There are some things I would like to see in future patches to make this game almost perfect.

The mini-map is just that, a map. clicking on it does nothing. I wouldn't mind the map being clickable to check out other areas quickly

While in the world map, the only way to enter an area, is to get into an engagement, or enter a city/location. Stopping by empty areas is no longer possible.

Weapons need more attachment slots

A percentage to hit indicator would be nice.

Merc portraits are not very good. This is really the only graphical issue the game has.

All in all, this is a pretty decent game, and to pass it up simply because it's not turn based would be a shame, even if you have never played Jagged Alliance games should give this a try. The price is very good for a brand new game these days as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Jagged Alliance 2 Remake Doesnt Live Up To The Under-The-Hood Quality of the Original February 16, 2012

By Michael A Brannon

I will pretty much join the chorus of reviewers who state that, while this is a Jagged Alliance game in title, it's not quite what you would expect.

This is not actually a sequel but a REMAKE of 2, where you go to Alruco to have it out with the despot queen Diedrianna. The 3d graphics are improved from Jagged Alliance 2 (as I'd hope, as that title was over a decade ago), but the rest of the game is decidedly lacking.

The game has pared down a lot, such as the weekly management of the mercs (who would get random dislikes, hangups and tantrums you'd have to deal with in JA2), and while we have the Merc Roster intact, they seem somehow flatter and less characterized. Plus, the combat zone is real-time -- while I thought this would be a breakthrough (like it was for X-Com: Apocalypse), instead it severely limited your strategic options: gone are your percentage estimations for hits, action points, and a lot of the intricate detail, which X-Com preserved in their real-time engine. Here, it's give them the orders and let em go. It leads to a lot of wasteful screwups and inefficent coordination.

Not just that, but many features from Jagged Alliance 2 are just missing. For instance, the chopper and the vehicles are just gone. You can no longer participate in the sector defenses.

Plus, the game crawls. The map scrolling can really go to snoozeville when you try to check out areas. Your characters are very slow to react -- it seems like the enemy can sprint 20 meters and stick a knife in your liver before your merc can be bothered to fire more than one shot off a fully loaded revolver.

But, all that aside, it's still a Jagged Alliance game at heart...... pick your mercs, load em up and just wade in blasting against baddies in a comic-book like action setting. The original story is still here -- which was quite good for an actioner. All your faves are here, Grunty, Fox and Magic (Snapperheads!), and there's, as always, a wealth of big guns and slam-bang action.

This game could have been a real treat if they would have spent a few more months on it -- but it does have an overall unpolished feel. Jagged Alliance 2 became a superlative game when the community modded the hell out of it and rebuilt it with tender loving care. Here, it was obvious it was rushed to market, and many features dropped.

If you're a Jagged Alliance fan, it's certainly worth a look. But it's a cut below the game that inspired it. Read more ›