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Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it[message #304129]

Tue, 01 May 2012 15:32

Ramon

Messages:1
Registered:May 2012
Location: San Antonio, TX

I've been playing Jagged Alliance since the original DOS game was released in 1995. That initial game is one of the few that I've played repeatedly to completion (about 7 times now), and I've even purchased it, Deadly Games, Jagged Alliance 2, Unfinished Business, and Wildfire repeatedly over the years, both in physical (CD-ROM and Nintendo DS chip) and in digital (Steam and Good Old Games) formats.

I bought, several years ago, a game called Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge, in the hopes that it would be something akin to an updated form of Jagged Alliance, but couldn't even find the interest to finish its first combat mission since it felt so counterintuitive (and the mercenaries lackluster voiceovers didn't help, either).

I was afraid that JA: Back in Action would prove similarly disappointing, but so far, after investing 149 hours into it, I must say that I've been pleasantly surprised.

It isn't perfect, it's far from that. The voiceover talent isn't anywhere near as appropriate and professional as that with which the staff of Sir Tech spoiled us, the character portaits look worse than the regular VGA ones from 1995, and some elements of the game upon release, such as the inability to manage inventory and militia on the map screen, are tedium inducing and detract from the series's progression, though I'm thankful that those two latter issues have just, as of a few hours ago, been corrected in an update/patch. Day 1 DLC seems to be the industry standard these days, and though I don't like that trend, I will buy the content upon release (as opposed to later when it's sold at a discount) if the game or franchise to which it's linked is compelling enough, and the Jagged Alliance series certainly qualifies.

But I'm having quite a fun time with this new system, and this is from someone who traditionally strongly favors turn based strategy games over their real time counterparts. The development team for BiA seems to have gotten it right this time, and with a few tweaks (say holding the left mouse button while clicking the right one to move all squadmembers somewhere, or holding the right mouse button while moving the cursor to change where a selected merc faces) it could be a near perfect game engine, with the potential to be recycled and reused in many sequels as well as in titles that are far removed from the Jagged Alliance universe.

As I close this, I'd like to compliment user LokiOne for his review two posts ago on this thread. The in-game anecdotes were entertaining, the autobiographical bits were relevant and of interest, and the entire post was just well written.

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[Message index]

		I like JA BIA - deal with it By: GASK3T on Tue, 21 February 2012 02:14
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: judecca_hel on Tue, 21 February 2012 04:22
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: dinglehopper on Tue, 21 February 2012 07:21
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Fozzie on Tue, 21 February 2012 08:06
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: DaethWalker on Tue, 21 February 2012 12:28
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: GASK3T on Tue, 21 February 2012 17:25
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shanga on Tue, 21 February 2012 18:46
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: lockie on Tue, 21 February 2012 22:04
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: GASK3T on Tue, 21 February 2012 22:21
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shanga on Tue, 21 February 2012 23:04
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: DepressivesBrot on Tue, 21 February 2012 23:08
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shanga on Tue, 21 February 2012 23:13
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: lockie on Wed, 22 February 2012 10:48
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shanga on Wed, 22 February 2012 12:51
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shambone on Wed, 22 February 2012 14:08
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Shanga on Wed, 22 February 2012 14:39
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Omega on Wed, 22 February 2012 17:54
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: swatman89 on Wed, 22 February 2012 21:24
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: TazDevlin on Thu, 23 February 2012 17:37
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: nkoulaf on Thu, 23 February 2012 18:52
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: callanrocks on Mon, 27 February 2012 10:44
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: DepressivesBrot on Mon, 27 February 2012 10:57
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: callanrocks on Mon, 27 February 2012 11:18
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: 350zspec on Mon, 27 February 2012 18:04
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: UlrichVonBek on Thu, 01 March 2012 04:03
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: josemp73 on Mon, 05 March 2012 19:49
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: givemeabuzz on Wed, 07 March 2012 02:51
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Fozzie on Wed, 07 March 2012 09:45
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: berowe on Sat, 10 March 2012 09:37
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: ib2cool on Sun, 11 March 2012 01:39
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Walrick on Tue, 20 March 2012 17:31
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: josemp73 on Tue, 20 March 2012 17:48
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: LokiOne on Tue, 20 March 2012 19:08
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Nixou on Mon, 30 April 2012 22:30
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Ramon on Tue, 01 May 2012 15:32
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Cocapelli on Wed, 02 May 2012 10:27
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Nixou on Thu, 03 May 2012 06:28
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: EXile 150 Abyss on Sun, 06 May 2012 11:53
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Doc Croc on Wed, 27 June 2012 17:52
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Doc Croc on Thu, 19 July 2012 22:25
		Re: I like JA BIA - deal with it By: Anthropoid on Sat, 25 November 2017 21:25

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