Jagged Alliance 3

Dropped halfway through because it started to feel like a chore. The resource/base management is quite tedious and the combat feels kinda same-y after a while. Game balance is also quite bad, with some guns (snipers and shotguns) feeling way better to use than SMG and pistols. It's also baffling to me why they didn't have chance to hit and I have to use a mod (officially developed mod, but still) to enable it. Perhaps I'm just not hard-core/old-school enough to appreciate this "masterpiece".

Back to the classic fun of Jagged Alliance. It's difficult to find good tactical, turn-based CRPG nowadays.

I really love this game. It came with a bit of a learning curve for me but the payoff is great. I see each sector as a little combat puzzle to solve. I love working with all the perks and mods to really 'engineer' my mercs.

i played this game with a friend and it was a real blast. the characters were awesome and the permadeath led to some great stories during the actual gameplay. we had two guys who didn't particularly like each other, then one of them went down, the other guy tried to help im and went down too. i like to think they basically died together finally earning each other's respect. wish there were more co-op games like this! highly recommended.

This is a great tactical game, coming from games like XCOM it took me some time to adapt to it´s systems, It has a very "CRPG" feel, with sidequests and skills and perks and a pretty good amount of customization available, at the beginning it felt really weird somehow not having probabilities to hit that somehow fail at 99%, it´s interesting to note that is very likely something like that happened, maybe multiple times, but I have no way to know since it didn´t show the percentages and that was... liberating, suddenly I was thinking less about a number and more aboout where my enemies where in relation to my troops, the line of sight and the possible obstacles in the way that could affect my chances to position my troops accordingly.... and it was great, then I was coordinating stealth ambushes, pre positioning in real time before positioning my troops in what I felt were optimal spots and it was all great fun. The co op is pretty nice tho (it does have some bugs remaining but nothing gamebreaking)

Overall I would say I had a great time with this game, even trying a solo run with only 1 merc tha felt more like a stealth game than a tactics game, and would totally recommend it.

You can't just shove quips into EVERY line of EVERY character's dialogue. You can't. Every click of my mouse doesn't need to be met with "Gee, I sure could use a snack right about now!" Get it? It's funny because he's in the middle of combat, but all he thinks about is food! Laugh track!

That's not how comedy works. That's how being the most insufferable entity in any room you occupy works. You can't just be "on" every single waking second. 100% of your dialogue can't be quips. It might work for iPad babies, but I pay taxes and cannot handle hearing "Well, that was a thing!" every other second.

Even the writers acknowledge their failures by putting a disclaimer after starting a new game saying that it takes "jabs at contemporary issues and pop culture." When your satire/sarcasm/humor/etc. is so bad that you feel the need to preface it, you as a writer should either put more thought into it or do something else. This isn't a hot cup of McDonald's coffee. Don't put a disclaimer up for satire; the people whose opinions matter won't need it.

It's a shame that a potentially good game is buried under such mediocre writing because it seems kinda fun. I could just turn the dialogue volume down to zero, but I'd rather just take back my $22.49 I had mistakenly given to a bunch of fanfiction.net writers who somehow wormed their way into a having a job peddling diarrhoea into my ears.

Buy this game if you hate yourself.

It was fun until I ran out of money. And the game is pretty broken when it comes to cash. The first story mission takes way too long to get to and all my mercs contracts ended. So this game is garbage don't believe the other reviews.

Took a leap on this one as a lover of the newer X-COM’s. But X-COM it is not. The game is way too hard even on the medium level. Combat is just slow and arbitrary with too many enemies even in the first few missions. The In-game economy is too austere. And if you go online to look for help, the games community are all a bunch of sweaty games telling everyone to “get good”. Even at 50% off, I regret buying this game, you should pass.

A worthy successor to the Jagged Alliance series. The transition to 3d was good and the movement system got visual cues like the X-com series did. Also it was nice to see all my favorite mercs back with some new faces. Very well done

So far so good, more review to come after more gameplay. But the game certainly has that fun sense of humor from the original JA2 and its a challenge starting out, which is good.

Judging by the large amount of mods, the game seems popular too.

Also I'm wondering early on if there are some plot twists and its not the standard story...

35 hours or so in, loving this game. Like how each area is custom designed rather than procedurally generated, characters are great, weapons are fun. The loot gets hard to manage after a bit but so what. Setting is great, team management nice. Would recommend

The game is quite entertaining once you get past the opening part of the game - unfortunately without learning about how to play the game and understanding the mechanics it quickly ends in defeat so the learning curve is a bit high to start with. I had several false starts that ended badly and I ran out of money quite early both times. After some utube videos on strat and tactics I was able to get into the game and I am now enjoying it. Stay with it and get over the hump and you'll have a great time.

A great game that could have easily been a masterpiece if some changes were made. Highly recommended to people who enjoy games such as Xcom, Fallout (1 & 2), Commandos and Wasteland.

First of all, I want to thank the developers for their hard work and dedication to bringing Jagged Alliance 3 to life. It’s clear they had the right intentions, and there are aspects of modernization in the game that I truly appreciate. The updated graphics and the effort to reintroduce beloved mercenaries are noteworthy, and it’s great to see the series revived for a new generation of players.

However, as a long-time fan of the series, I feel that JA3 missed the essence of what made Jagged Alliance 2 so special. The charm wasn’t just in the mechanics; it was in the little things—like the way mercenaries bantered, the thrill of assembling your perfect squad, and the immense satisfaction of surviving a tough firefight. These details made it feel personal and immersive, more than just a tactical game.

With JA3, while the modernization is appreciated, the soul of the series feels diluted. Perhaps this is because the focus leaned more toward surface-level improvements (like graphics and accessibility) rather than capturing the depth and charm that resonated so deeply with players of the earlier titles.

P.S. This is purely my personal opinion, and I respect the hard work that went into making this game. As an old fan of the series, I simply wanted to share my perspective and hope future updates or installments can bridge the gap between nostalgia and innovation.

I really liked this game. But for over one year now I can't play it anymore. It just stopped to work. And I haven't managed to get it back to work again. At the moment the loading screen starts then it keeps loading until it eventually crashes to desktop. A year ago I could reach the main menue and start a new game. But the moment I created a charakter - crash to desktop. I don't know what happened but some patch fucked this game up. Therefore I can't recommend buying this game.

I liked the story line and the variety of characters. Liked the turn-based combat mechanics.

Somebody finally made a Jagged Alliance sequel that actually feels like Jagged Alliance.

JA3 feels like a reboot of JA2. That doesn't seem like it should be hard, but pretty much every attempt to do that in the 24 years since JA2 shipped has fallen flat. The best JA2 sequels were the community-made mods.

The game has a very similar feel to the original, with lots of updates that improve the experience. Every system has been tweaked just a little: better representation of stealth and shadows, explicit list of factors contributing to hit/miss, expanded melee, visible cover elements, better control over in-sector operations, more gun mod options, more quest lines, etc. By and large the changes are all improvements that don't change the general feel of the game.

The quest framework is more prominent in JA3. In JA2 it was pretty easy to miss some of the stuff going on in the cities. In JA3 they're largely optional, but there are many more of them.

The only thing I'm not entirely fond of is the stealth-kill mechanic. Once you hit a certain point, most map incursions can be fought entirely with silenced sniper rifles.

On the whole, this is a solid game, worthy of the Jagged Alliance name.

It is a fun turn based strategy game. It is non-linear story and you can decide where to go first.
A lot of different weapons to choose from.

Still JAG2 feels superior in many ways.
Although, I have to say that the graphics are nicer, the UI is nice too but ... common you cannot rotate the guy? you cannot do a rollover? JAG2 was so well made that JAG3 should have been just UI+graphics upgrade and possibly weapons update

It was fun 20+ years ago, its superfun now. Great turnbased game with mercs that keep the game fun and interesting.

Prigozhin approved


On a serious note, this game is incredibly good. Out of all the XCOM style combat games this one is probably my favorite so far, coupled with destructible environments it can make for some interesting engagements. Different playstyles are also encouraged, instead of relying on the most meta playstyle, which is nice. The economy system is interesting and is something you have to keep in mind at all times, but it's fun instead of being a burden. The mercs are all unique and have their own personalities, some are little tamer and some are a little over the top but regardless, they're all there. I never played Jagged Alliance 2 where this is pretty much standard material already, but for someone completely new to the series this game feels like a breath of fresh air from all the other games in the genre.

Man, Jagged Alliance 3 is just what I needed. It’s like, finally, something to scratch that XCOM 2 itch I’ve had for ages. This game’s got it al: managing your squad and their gear, messing around with skill trees, and exploring a map full of cool little tiles to conquer. And the campaign? It’s got this great sense of humor that keeps things from ever feeling too serious.

One of the things i like is managing multiple squads. You’re out there feeling like a tactical genius, commanding this army across the map, but then chaos hits cause it's not going acording to your plan. Like, you’re trying to take a tile, and suddenly the enemy’s hitting you somewhere else. Or you are setting up for an ambush and they got guys on the map on different locations, so gathering intel is really important as well. You’re juggling squads, running back and forth, and praying you’ve got enough manpower to hold it together. Stressful? Yeah. Fun? Also yeah.

But I gotta say, the contract system kinda bugs me. You can only hire mercs for 14 days, and renewing their contracts can be really annoying. You have to do it one at a time, and when you’ve got a bunch of mercs across multiple squads, it’s just tedious. Why can’t I renew all their contracts at once? Or better yet, hire them for longer up front? Would’ve saved me so much time. Or maybe i'm just a dumb ape and haven't found a way to do it.

That said, the little details in this game are just awesome. Like, you’ve got emails, notes, even an online gun shop. It’s such a cool way to make you feel like you’re running a real mercenary operation. And dude, I’ve legit gotten attached to my mercs. They’ve got these funny personalities, and after spending so much time with them, it’s like they’re your crew, you know?

The locations you fight in are super cool, too. Each one’sa bit different, and figuring out how to blow up the environment to your advantage is so satisfying. The graphics? Pretty great. The effects? Amazing. But oh man, the rage when a merc misses a shot from, like, a foot away. It’s hilarious and infuriating all at once. Like, I had this one time where my whole team kept missing their shots on some poor dude right in front of them. Next thing I know, I’m scrambling to keep my whole squad alive because back up arrives. Absolute chaos, but honestly, I kind of love it.

At the end of the day, Jagged Alliance 3 is a blast. It’s messy, it’s funny, and it’s got all the tactical goodness I’ve been missing. If you’re into strategy games, or you’re an XCOM fan, you’ve gotta try this one. Just be ready to yell at your screen when your mercs screw up.

A good fun tactical and strategic game that captures the feel of 80s action movies.
Faithful to the previous games in the series while updating the systems in a very functional way.

I wish I would have found this game when it originally came out but I was in rehab when it did. I have been glued to this game during every free minute that I have had. I also love the wide variety of workshop items available and made a squad made up solely of 80s action movie stars. It is absolutely awesome having Ripley command Rambo and Die Hard with Sterling Archer carrying the rear. I give this game the maximum positive rating possible.

Excellent sequel for JA2. People complaining about the RNG do not understand the way hits work in JA games. I have a couple hundred hours on JA2 and the "rng" on JA3 feels perfect and natural (and not that random actually).

This game is the best game I've ever er played, it has statergy and multiple tactical screens to play with and interactive with - absolutely amazing

It's pretty cool, tho its kinda stupid I can't sell all these guns I keep stockpiling. It's got a lot of little oddities that set it apart from XCOM or Wasteland, but I honestly enjoy the theme and setting a lot more then either game so far.

One of the best games of all times... My hours don't show the truth as I realized it looked good and bought it for my PS5 where I have 100+ hours of lazy Saturday morning couch play.

Yes, I have always liked turn based games like XCOM, JA2 and the original Baldurs Gate etc. For many years I have waited for some new versions to get here. And this is finally the golden era with Xenonauts 2, Baldurs Gate 3 and this great revival of Jagged Alliance. There is so much love poured into a great turn based tactical shooter that you start to realize after rather many hours of playing. Dialogs that are tailored for specific encounters where your fellow mercs have some cheesy comment while you are thinking about what to respond in a discussion with an NPC. The perfect amount of upgrade options for real guns that make sense. Small side quests where you are investigating haunted mansions, weird sanatoriums with zombie like patients, nazi bunkers with rusty mg-42s and underground tunnels... And rather interesting dialogs that have good voice acting. And the strategic interface where you train soldiers to defend places you have "liberated" etc is rather fun as well.

I can be rather picky with games but really have no major thing that I think they should have done in another way!

Proof that turn based strategy games are not dead.
Less streamlined than modern X-com, little bit more refined than the games of old, sure did hit the sweetspot.

Only flaw is, that game is somewhat opinionated about certain things (base game hides hit percentages from you) for no obvious reason other that the game simply chose to do so. As a result, the first steps/learning experience can be somewhat unpleasant but once you figure out the mechanics, its a joy.
I would say, use the official mod - it turned the game MUCH more enjoyable for me - it smoothes the learning curve and you will understand why certain things work and others dont with actual player feedback, not guessing and chance.

I am quite unsure. I would not really recommend it if you were a fan of the original series.
First of all, the game does a good job of capturing the spirit. It reminds me of JA2 in a good way. So I was really excited. Alot of mechanics are improved which is GREAT.
But...

Somehow the combat is f*ed. The first few missions felt fine, although I started to notice lots of unfairness - as usual the AI relies heavily on unfair advantages, although I did not play on Veteran mode or anything. For example: You position all mercs hidden in Order to start a combat. You take good covering positions... and once the combat starts the AI "Repositions" all their goons - how?-why?. The game is supposed to be about tactics - look for good places to set up your mercs in order for an advantage in fighting. Pointless if the AI gets the first move basically free.
Also stealth is stupid. You can take down one enemy fine, but as soon as there are two, you have a problem. You take one down and Combat starts (can't take down two simulationously, even with paused commands).
Then you do have an option to attack and silently kill the second goon, which usually, for some reason, fails.

Also the AI seems to have the move ability (moving for like 10 points) and then shoots, twice, or even three times. And reloads. I mean wtf man? My mercs have like 10-12 AP and the AI has what? 20?.

Furthermore - you take an AK, set it to burst fire to an enemy RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, aim Twice and Miss? What the fuck? an Untrained monkey would be able to hit someone by putting the gun on their chest. Your mercs won't (Aim >70).

I do understand that mercs can get hit, or even killed, and you have to be smart about placement, enemy routes, cover, etc.. and you can have bad luck. But I play the game in order to have a challenge (e.g. the combat in BG 3 was great - even though it looked like you could easily loose, it always was worth fighting till the end because you never knew, and I lost very few combats, or - aside from story - combat in the last of us 2 was great if prepared right) and not to hit the reload button a bunch of times, because my merc with >85 Aim can't hit a van with a sniper rifle from 5 meters away.

I therefor stopped playing after 15ish hours.

Not a good game. Physics make no sense... enemies shoot you easely under cover but you cant shoot them even when close range.

Very cool adaption of the old mechanics. Really great. GIves back the feeling of Jagged Alliance 2.

I was a big fan of the oldest Jagged Alliance games and this game is exactly in that spirit, everything's the same but better graphics!

As an OG gamer who has been gaming since the 70s, I can honestly say this is one of the best turn based games out there. Much better than any Wasteland or XCOM game. Of course it’s the best in the Jagged Alliance series by a landslide.

I just love everything about this game. Unlike any other game I can think of, I have no serious complaints about the game. Sure some of the voice acting could be better, and I wish they had a larger assortment of weapons and mercs, but all in all it’s fantastic!

Having to manage your finances is a nice feature, and once you have a few diamond mines you should be in good shape.

I had started to play the game and got a good bit into it, before reading some tips and decided to start over. I’m glad I did as I’m doing much better the second time around. I just found my first real sniper rifle and I’m popping some heads.

If you’re into turn based games, get this on a sale and you won’t be disappointed!

If you like turn-based tactics and squad management, I definitely recommend this game for you. I think of it as XCOM Lite, but not in a bad way.

very entretaining turn based game. It feels like a turn base rpg with plaenty of elements to pick up and modifications that give a boost to the game experience. Totally recommended

99 expert trying trying to disarm the bomb in port cocoa, but cannot touch the damn thing. Was trying to get back to this game after a few years, but still clearly buggy af. Also could not send a bug report even though it was offered in the game.

Wow. Just wow. After completing my first full playthrough of the single-player campaign, I am thoroughly impressed and can 100% say this is the most enjoyment I've gotten out of a new game in a long time. Lots of interesting and quirky quests, a solid interplay between stealth/tactics and full combat, and a rich and detailed wealth of colorful and interesting characters with multiple paths depending on the decisions you make. Lots of options to add even more challenge and mix it up with different merc and squad builds give this one plenty of replayability too. Excellent dialogue and one-liners, great voice acting, rich environments, and an amazing soundtrack top it off for a 10/10 for the single-player experience. Looking forward to trying out the co-op features next!

This game is a lot of fun and there’s a lot of things you have to manage. which is excellent blend of action and strategy. Hire a squad of elite mercenaries that either hate each other or work well together, offer occasional pop culture gags; for example, there is a Karen that demands to see the manager to complain about the conditions… at a refuge camp! Or an obvious Arnold Swartznegger insert amongst many others. capture resources sectors on the main map and manage your money to hire new mercs, buy weapons, ammo and armor, buy R&R and special items. You can fail and run out of money if you don’t manage your money properly. People will die if you do something stupid, no slapped wrists (although there is a zero death option, why would you wanna do that though?). Train militias that can protect your resources, there’s an assortment of quests that range from mildly eccentric to the bizzare, the main story and setting is interesting and unique. The gameplay itself feels Great; positioning for an ambush or getting out of one, intercepting enemy shipments, watch out for friendly fire. and there’s a good amount of replay ability in a turn based rpg kind of fashion. I intend to replay it after I complete itand make some better choices.

TLDR: this is an excellent game if you love strategy and turn based action and have a brain that requires thinking puzzles.

Im getting stuck on the loading screen after that the game is crashing. Its so weird to get that after playing 90+ hours.

Its a nice approachable turn based strategy with plenty of options to keep you engaged

classic, just updated with new story line.

Fun game but way too hard.

I enjoyed the game, but one wrong move and your characters get wiped out.

Honestly, I love these types of games, but the controls are extremely frustrating. When I press the button to make my mercs set up a shot (1) you can either press space to confirm, or press one again.

Not only that, but if you don't deselect properly, your men can, and will just shoot their comrades instead of switching to them on a click.

Speaking of which, movement is not a default action. I needed to double click on my guys to get them to move...

The game is fine, but the control scheme feels oldschool, and designed to make you make mistakes. It's so frustrating to use, I quit playing.

Angles and FOV are not good. The game is fun and has potential but the angles and range of view for troops is just insanely game ruining. Enemies can find angles and shoot you cleanly through 2 sandbags+steel grates but you cant turn a mounted MG more than 10 degrees. An absolute fucking joke.

I nearly bounced off this, but have come to love it. It's a fantastic xcom-like, and the combat is great. It's always just "one more turn".

Pro tip: get the % hit mod from the devs on steam. It's far less intimidating/frustrating (and allows you to avoid guess work).

Game does not show you the Hit Chance by default. This is just such a strange design choice for a game.

You basically have to guess how likely you are going to hit. And you have to guess how / how much certain traits and perks and situations and weather influence your hit chance.

I guess, if you play this game for several hundred hours, you can probably get a hang of it. But for someone who just wants to have some hours of fun, it is soo weired.

So fucking boring. Enemies sit in place and don't move. Annoying voice actors and dialogue, and full to the brim of garbage woke shit. Incredibly squishy enemies. If you have 50 HP they have 200. Probably the only way they could add a challenge as they seem to lack the ability to program AI. Garbage sequel, should have let the series die.

Despite the turn based combat, has a very strong vibe of the original Commandos (which is a good thing). Overall an amazing game, different from other turn based games like XCom.

Jagged Alliance 3 is a perfect blend if you like strategy games and turn based tactic games such as Xcom this game is sure a delight for you and first time in a while that i finish a game and start over again.
The only complain i have it's that the AI is easy to cheese and make it fall in to simple traps.
But overall a really good gaming experience,packed with sense of humor and bizzare storylines.