Multiplat Jagged Alliance 3 - more realistic XCOM

[GtehMVP]

Was checking out a few video-reviews for this, and something hit me.

X-Com2 came out in 2016, and a sequel hasn't even been announced for beginning development.

It had several problems at launch that are still there today, and its poorly optimized on PC & consoles. If they're ever going to make X-Com3, they're going to have to step their game up. Not just because such bugs & issues would be far less forgivable but because several of X-Com2's best features have been copy&pasted into overall better games like Wasteland3 & Jagged Alliance 3.

I'd love a new X-com. I always look for these type of isometric strategy games (or RPG's) to have the same kinds of dynamic camera angles the Firaxis X-Com games brought in. It's not a deal breaker if they don't have them, but they just immerse you into the world far more. It made even the dullest Final Fantasy 7 battles more exciting.

I'm so glad to see that this game has them, gonna have to buy! The fact mods are coming too...

edit, well shit, there's already workshop support on Steam!

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I'd love a new X-com. I always look for these type of isometric strategy games (or RPG's) to have the same kinds of dynamic camera angles the Firaxis X-Com games brought in. It's not a deal breaker if they don't have them, but they just immerse you into the world far more. It made even the dullest Final Fantasy 7 battles more exciting.

That reminds me... have you played Gears (of War) Tactics? It had many concepts that'd advance CRPGs into modern gaming.

*No grid-maps (always seemed limiting).
*3 action points rather than 2.
*Well Optimized Engine - 120FPS/1440p.
*Very interesting upgrade trees for every class.

Very unique how you only get enough points to fill up two of the 'branches' of the tree.

This is a significant upgrade over X-Com2's.

That said, its expansion improved it significantly.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Damn this games getting great reviews. I saw that it was being made a while back but didn’t follow it- I thought it was just going to be an average indie game. Looks like I was wrong. I might have to pick it up tonight

 

[Gandzooka]

Update 1.3 is here and it has brought the most requested feature since the launch:

It unlocks a couple of days after capturing the town on the first island or loading an existing save game, just click a link in your ingame email to access it.

You even have armor and utility items (including meds & parts) available:

I ran couple of times into a situation where I didn't have locksmith's kit available due to rng nature of the game so this should really help. Of course, they only deliver to the western part of the map so you still need someone to pick them up. Items appear in sector inventory automatically.

The ammo economy has favored sniper rifles until now but this should make machine guns more viable choices.

 

[tehdude]

Is there a scifi option? I remember you can fight aliens in 2 with the scifi option.
Can you still punch cows to gain strength?

 

[Mack Yancy]

X-Com2 came out in 2016, and a sequel hasn't even been announced for beginning development.

It's because they made Marvel Midnight Suns.

The game bombed horribly, but I still applaud them for trying something very different then just another soulless capeshit cashgrab like Marvel Avengers or Gotham Knights. It was a very interesting Visual Novel/Roguelike/Turn-Based Strategy mashup that I think deserves a look.

X-Com 3 will sell just because it's X-com regardless of quality.

 

[Mack Yancy]

Update 1.3 is here and it has brought the most requested feature since the launch:

It unlocks a couple of days after capturing the town on the first island or loading an existing save game, just click a link in your ingame email to access it.

You even have armor and utility items (including meds & parts) available:

I ran couple of times into a situation where I didn't have locksmith's kit available due to rng nature of the game so this should really help. Of course, they only deliver to the western part of the map so you still need someone to pick them up. Items appear in sector inventory automatically.

The ammo economy has favored sniper rifles until now but this should make machine guns more viable choices.

Might have to reinstall this.

 

[Bob Gray]

It's because they made Marvel Midnight Suns.

The game bombed horribly, but I still applaud them for trying something very different then just another soulless capeshit cashgrab like Marvel Avengers or Gotham Knights. It was a very interesting Visual Novel/Roguelike/Turn-Based Strategy mashup that I think deserves a look.

X-Com 3 will sell just because it's X-com regardless of quality.

It sucks because Marvel Suns was a great turn based strategy game. It was a little lacking in the writing and the hero conversations/activities dragged a bit. But it was still overall a great game, especially the combat mechanics. Solomon left Firaxis afterword and he was lead on Xcom 1 and 2, so dont really know whats gonna happen with the franchise from this point forward.

 

[Mack Yancy]

It sucks because Marvel Suns was a great turn based strategy game. It was a little lacking in the writing and the hero conversations/activities dragged a bit. But it was still overall a great game, especially the combat mechanics. Solomon left Firaxis afterword and he was lead on Xcom 1 and 2, so dont really know whats gonna happen with the franchise from this point forward.

With or without solomon, there is no way that another X-Com isn't being released, the franchise is bigger than any one director. I'm not saying the game will be of the same quality but the game will come out.

 

[Gandzooka]

Is there a scifi option? I remember you can fight aliens in 2 with the scifi option.
Can you still punch cows to gain strength?

No, there is no scifi option in JA3. No cows either if I remember right. There are however crocs and hyenas.

 

[GtehMVP]

That reminds me... have you played Gears (of War) Tactics? It had many concepts that'd advance CRPGs into modern gaming.

*No grid-maps (always seemed limiting).
*3 action points rather than 2.
*Well Optimized Engine - 120FPS/1440p.
*Very interesting upgrade trees for every class.

Very unique how you only get enough points to fill up two of the 'branches' of the tree.

This is a significant upgrade over X-Com2's.

That said, its expansion improved it significantly.

I played a bit of it on gamepass at one point. I remember really liking it. What was the enemy variety like?

 

[Mack Yancy]

I want to love this game, but dear lord is it difficult.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I played a bit of it on gamepass at one point. I remember really liking it. What was the enemy variety like?

Just finished playing through it yesterday and the enemy variety is... pretty good.

Basically if you've played a Gears Of War 3rd-person shooting game you know what enemies to expect.

Its a fine introduction for tactical-strategy games, and for the genre the graphics are 10/10.

The game does have some issues related to replayability and missions repeating, but they're minor issues if you're not planning on playing it five or six times over.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Anyone buy the console release?

Haven't seen many reviews.

 

[Gandzooka]

Patch 1.5 is out.

• New Extensive modding tools were introduced. Create new campaigns, and quests, edit maps, and much more.
• Lua Debug Adapter to debug your mods using Visual Studio Code while the game is running.
• Example mods that are included in game files
• 10 New Game rules introduced
  • Hard Lessons - Mercs level up at a slower pace.
  • Body Count - Increases the number of enemies in hostile squads.
  • Under the Weather - Severe weather effects are more common.
  • Bobby Pays - Increases the prices in the online store "Bobby Ray's Guns and Things"
  • Ammo Scarcity - Find less ammo, throwable items and explosives.
  • Heavy Wounds - Wounds also hamper Free Move and Accuracy. Affects all characters - mercs, allies and enemies.
  • Hiring Game Rules
    • A.I.M. Always Online - Mercs are never "offline" and will not refuse contracts without a good reason.
    • A.I.M. Legendary Deals - Starting salaries of all Elite and Legendary mercs are decreased.
    • A.I.M. Platinum - Unlocks legendary mercs on start (except retired mercs).
    • A.I.M. Union Rules - Mercs demand even higher salaries as they progress. Starting salaries are unaffected.
• Fixed issue where combat wouldn’t end after defeating Siegfried
• Fixed issue where game would softlock when trying to cheese active pause after "Combat start" sequence is initiated.
• Fixed issues where quests would break upon death of certain NPCs.
• Fixed issue where levelling up with XP from Scouting operation would not give a perk point.
• Fixed issue where Inspired would not give extra action points.
• Fixed issue where villagers would trigger alarms
• Fixed "Enemy Repositioning" softlock on the Twin Manors quest.
• Additional fixes and adjustments

 

[Gandzooka]

Currently -50% on GOG

Jagged Alliance 3

Grand Chien, a nation of rich natural resources and deep political divides, is thrown int

www.gog.com

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Currently -50% on GOG

Jagged Alliance 3

Grand Chien, a nation of rich natural resources and deep political divides, is thrown int

www.gog.com

Still full price on XBox, dammit.

 

[MRT]

Currently -50% on GOG

Jagged Alliance 3

Grand Chien, a nation of rich natural resources and deep political divides, is thrown int

www.gog.com

But no native Mac OS version

Loved the original back in the day...

 

[Your Salad]

But no native Mac OS version

Thats like going to a French bistro and being mad they won't provide chopsticks for you to eat with.

 

[Bob Gray]

OK. Finally got around to this.

Gotta admit. At first there was a bit of a barrier. The stealth attacks and some of the systems have a fair bit of jank. Its odd that a game that has a focus on more realistic aspects of squad based combat has things like stealthing your way up to someone 15 feet away while theyre looking at you in broad daylight. It feels like they started out with an Xcom 2 style ambush/set-up approach and then thought it was too effective and dialed it back a bit, but then it feels kind of awkward.

But, but but....finally it clicked. Dont get me wrong, Im not saying the jank isnt there. But I dont care. The worst aspects are still passably decent and can have fun set ups. And, then theres tons of stuff thats great. The absolutely nailed the feel of Jagged Alliance. That sort of intangible quality that certain games have that you cant quite put your finger on. Even when its not perfect, which is more often than Id like. Goddamn it, I dont care. I feel like Im spending time with old friends again. Igor + Ivan is still amazing. Fox is such a slut. My boys MD, Igor and Blood will probably be in just about every game. The banter is great, and the mercs feel wholly unique.

That said, sometimes the flow of the game is pretty unintuitive. Its fine to be open world and go about whatever business you like, but I think its pretty much impossible not to screw up several quest lines without even knowing it (looking at you, Biff Encounter). You'll basically have to figure out some of the non-combat systems through trial and error. I ended up restarted twice, and I dont regret it at all. The whole map encounters and mechanics could use some love. Theres an enormous difficulty spike at one point and its gonna feel like it came out of nowhere for most people.

One of the bigger problems is something that honestly plagued the previous games. There are some mercs that simply are not good, and the price doesnt seem right for what you get. Igor, Blood, Barry and Ice are absolute monsters and their price point is lower than some mercs that are just kind of crap (Hitman). I dont quite understand how they tried to balance things out when it comes to stats/effectiveness/price, but theres such obvious "Wtf"'s involved.
Personally, and Ive thought this in JA2 as well, wisdom is too overpowered. A merc with a high wisdom is guaranteed to be a savage if you grab them early. I get that they try to curb it a bit with some of the special abilities, but again, sometimes theyre hit and miss. Ice has flat out one of the best abiltiies in the game and his price is a paltry sum compared to some others.


Any way, I might seem like Im ranting, but fuck, I love the game. JA is back and Im ecstatic. It seems as though its been selling well and has had a fair amount of players. Fingers crossed a JA4 with a budget be on the horizon. If they could make a jump like Wasteland 2 to Wasteland 3 I would nut so goddamn hard.


P.S. Ivan is complete OP AND I LOVE IT.