Разработчик: Full Control
Описание
It is 1988 on the Caribbean island group of San Hermanos. A corrupt leader has the islands in his grasp ... yet a group of rebels fights for democratic values and freedom. However, once the head of the rebels is arrested, the insurgents quickly dissolve. Arriving on the island, the player’s mission is to help the rebellion before things take a turn for the worse.
Take control of your own band of mercenaries, lead them into battle and manage your resources wisely. Fight back for freedom, sector by sector, turn by turn. Like the original Jagged Alliance series, Jagged Alliance Flashback gives you the choice to use your preferred tactics and build your squad around it – rush in with heavy armed troops or take the high road of distance shots and sniping.
More features and content will be added on a regular basis, and together with your feedback and support we will shape this game to be the best Jagged Alliance game yet! Please feel free to give us your comments, your thoughts and your recommendations. We listen to every one of you.
Поддерживаемые языки: english, german, polish, russian
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7
- Processor: Intel i3 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel 4400 / AMD HD 6670
- Storage: 5 GB available space
- OS *: Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1
- Processor: Intel i5 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeFirce 600 series or AMD equivalent
- Storage: 5 GB available space
Mac
- OS: Mac OS X 10.6.0 or later
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5000
- Storage: 5 GB available space
- OS: Mac OS X 10.9.0 or later
- Processor: Intel i7 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 700 series
- Storage: 5 GB available space
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu 13.04
- Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: Intel 4400 / AMD HD 6670
- Storage: 5 GB available space
- OS: Ubuntu 13.04
- Processor: Intel i5 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 600 series or AMD equivalent
- Storage: 5 GB available space
Отзывы пользователей
This is one of those "I am more meh on the game and my review is intended to more have the game's rating be skewed towards neutral than negative" reviews.
JA Flashback is an enjoyable lower budget JA game by a small indie team that didn't have much of a budget.
The game suffers from some drastic changes (such as handguns having better hit chances than rifles at close range, morale penalty for being outnumbered being especially if fighting solo/small group or shotguns almost always hitting at close range despite visual chance to hit as that's just for the center of the spread) that aren't actually bad but more not actually communicated to the player, this combined with the early game being kind of terrible gear-wise (The game does a very bad job pointing the player towards a good merchant that sells higher end guns or even decent body armor.) which means the early game blind is very annoying for wrong reasons.
This game also suffers from some really bad maps for the "unimportant" battles (AKA random stretches of road) and enemy spawns have no restrictions to make sure they don't spawn too close to your squad so you can definitely get extremely unfair battles on the roads where you spawn next to little to no cover and a large enemy force that out numbers you with good gear, basically forcing you into an unwinnable fight, save in multiple slots and trying to fight only in towns is my recommendation.
Militia are just auto-resolve only, you don't see them, you can't fight alongside them and if the enemy attacks a town you are inside, the game will auto-resolve all the Militia combat before you start combat.
You also can't retreat from encounters which is a baffling missing feature, you can only "retreat" if you move *into* a sector with hostiles, if you enter into a sector and are in battle or the enemy moves into your sector, you can't retreat.
That said once you recognise that JA Flashback works different, it is an ok JA game, not the best in the series but not completely awful like some make it out to be.
Get it on sale if you want more JA after playing other games.
game is not that bad with good combat system and fresh graphics but cant load game during action and there is no sneaking fight in this game.
4/10
Following the recent release of Jagged Alliance 3, I thought of revisiting some of the spin-offs of the series that have come out through the years. Flashback was key among them. A kickstarter project promising a return to "the true spirit of this legendary series". Promising to let you, once more, manage a squad of unique mercenaries with crazy personalities through intense turn-based tactical battles. Promises, promises. So many promises. But making promises is easy, actually delivering is often less so. I'm not going to beat around the bush too much, Flashback fails to deliver. Let's see how.
It's not that the creators didn't make an effort. It is, as expected from a Jagged Alliance game, split between a strategic and a tactical aspect. There is an overmap that allows the player to plan his squad's next moves, attack revenue generating sectors and capture points of interest. There is even some rudimentary quests present. It's just that every single one of those aspects is so poorly implemented that they can, at best, be described as half-baked. The strategic aspect is extremely limited and somewhat ugly. The tactical combat is boring and poorly implemented, focusing too much on positioning and moving from one cover area to the other instead of engaging the enemy. The graphics are plastic-like, without proper shading and look like some cheap mobile game knock-off. Even the UI is clunky to use. Finally, the NPCs giving quests feel more like signposts with some text written on them than actual characters. In short, the execution is very poor.
It is the mercs though, that deserve extra mention. The game's blurb specifically advertises their inclusion. With good reason, they are the heart and soul of Jagged Alliance. Well, here that heart and soul is dead and buried. The game, as its title indicates, is a prequel to the series. A flashback to events that took place in the 80s. So the returning mercs are all younger versions of their more famous selves and you can even encounter some favourites on their first steps in the mercenary world. This is a very interesting idea. If it was executed well, it could have been an interesting experience. If. It wasn't. In this case, the game didn't even try. Gone is the banter, gone the fun interactions, gone the vibrant commentary. There is just nothing, no content. The mercenaries are just a bunch of models you move around in the tactical map and a portrait. This isn't Jagged Alliance. I don't know what this is.
Sadly, this was an incredibly disappointing experience. I remember trying this game in the past and having similar feelings. I thought I may have been too harsh, but revisiting the game now, I realise, I wasn't harsh enough. The game promises the stars but delivers absolutely jack. There are hints of a good concept here, there is a lot of promise, but something along the way just went very, very wrong. My understanding is the developer went bankrupt shortly after its release and abandoned this project. It's likely they simply never had enough money to fund the game in the first place. Whatever the case, not recommended.
I bought JA Flashback during the 90% sale in August 2022 for 2 euros only.
No major bugs, at least not game breaking ones.
The path finding system is tedious, many of the mercenaries' voices very annoying and the graphics rather unimpressive in my opinion.
Nevertheless, I had fun playing JAF so far, managed to get most of the achievements and may try a few of the mods in the future.
So, I think it was worth the 2 euros I spent, but definitely would not recommend this game at full price.
▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱▱
This game does not live up to the Jagged Alliance experiance. While the 3d graphics were cool, the game play mechanics fall just short of JA1. If you are looking for something comparable to JA1 or JA2 this game is not for you.
This is not a negative review, because I am a long time fan of the JA series and hate every developer that tries to innovate the formula and give us a game with more modern mechanics. I gave it a try, after all. This is a negative review, because it is a bad, unsupported (read: dead) and therefore overpriced game. And the fact that it is still up on Steam shows, that the devs still hope for unsuspecting fans to buy it. Don't buy this game for nostalgic reasons or for some of the positive reviews. It's a scam! Even the official site turned into a porn chat/you have won a new iPhone site. And that's always a sign of a professional product.
I liked the way the devs approached the concept, giving you little tasks to accomplish the final one. The other games of the series dropped you on an island with one big task ahead: liberate it. For beginners they were not accessible. I think the devs managed to push JA: Flashback more in the direction of easy to pick up, but hard to master. That's why I gave my money to them in the first place and decided to buy in on Early Access. Which turned out to be a big mistake.
The game started buggy and unfinished, got patched a bit, left Early Access as a mess (broken game mechanics, performance issues) and stayed like this. I played it again today and it was almost in the same state, when it left Early Access. If there were improvements, I was not able to notice them. I am sure there wasn't anything new anyway, because the devs dropped the game completely. Why? Because they got bad reviews on Steam for the game's technical state and the devs took offence. Instead of fixing things.
Don't buy it, I beg you.
Finished it (on Hard and as a JA veteran) but despite "Thumb up" one of those games you rationally can't wholeheartedly recommend; 5/10 game and it has some serious problems:
Really bad:
- inventory! (in all possible levels)
Bad:
- AI
- looting (lack of it)
- interactions
- feels unfinished
- lack of content (about ~25% vs. modded JA2 GOLD)
- lack of immersion via content
Most of the salty JA veteran reviews are correct in a many parts. So how and why did I finish it and even recommend it? Well, as a whole it did sometimes reminded me of those great and magical JA and JA2 / Unfinished Business days. It still has it's charm, now and then (and if you can overcome some of the bads) there is something to be found. There is some heart in it..and it was an a effort from devs, you know!
Oh, most important part: wait for -75% discount: it's not worth the 20€ pricetag.
After reading all the negative reviews, I still decided to pick this game up, a year after its release - it's was on sale for about $4. It's arguably still not worth it, but is perhaps a better execution than Back in Action.
The good:
- Looks "better" than BiA, but also just barely better than JA2
- Improved camera over JA2, imho, ability to change perspective is a plus
- Can create your own character, which make the story slightly more bearable
- For the first hour or two it felt similar to JA2 in style and feel
- Feels better than Back in Action overall
- Game loads quickly
- Theme music is great
The bad:
- Imersion breaking conversation system which doesn't take into account who is talking to who, completely ruins the vibe of the game
- Clunky UI and poor execution of merc hiring and weapons merchant
- Not nearly enough lootable containers
- Poorly executed looting system with no sector-wide loot view post-combat like in JA2
- Atrocious voice acting: Ivan sounds like a mentally challenged Scottsman for some reason, Buzz sounds like a raging feminist; voice talent choice is very lazy and totally breaks the atmosphere of the game
- No choice in player character's voice
- Almost no mods a year after release, nothing seems to have been fixed or improved
- At just 4 hours in I'm really struggling to find the motivation to continue this "journey"
The idea itself was good, and some effort in development is clear, but feels like devs gave up after some time and just released the game to cut losses. Unfortunately this is another flop sequel which could have been much more but fell flat at the execution stage. At the end of the day, all this game did is make me want to just replay JA2 again.
1. Has about 15% of the content in JA2.
2. No feeling or caring about the mercs at all as done so well in JA2.
3. About the only real thing this has in common with JA2 or JA is some artwork and names of the mercs.
4. Not even a finished or complete game as a stand alone product, and a galaxy away from the awesome JA2.
5. One product I wish I could just get my money back. Now jaded about backing or early accessing anything at all.
6. It should be a crime to take a classic title of ANY great game and screw it up this bad.
This is the first Jagged Alliance game I've played that I wanted to be over. At one point, I was only playing just for the tactical combat, which is a sad thing because as any JA fan knows, the game was about much, much more.
Where the original franchise shone (JA, JA2, Deadly Games) was the attention to detail, the amazing voice acting and characterizations, the humor, strategic depth, the fact that all the mercs and NPCs felt "alive". It felt like you were in an interactive movie, not playing the game.
I logged hundreds of hours playing the original JA series, and I didn't want it to end! Sadly, I couldn't wait to finish this one...
(updated 25 June: since i realized some readers may want to know why)
Pros:
Not many. Tactical combat is acceptable. Weapons appear to be realistic and follow physics models when deciding outcomes. The battles made the game bearable.
Cons:
Voice acting nowhere close to the original JA series. Characters feel empty and 2-dimensional. NPCs could be developed more.
Storyline was blah. I guess they did the best they could with a couple of twists here and there. Anyone remember a company called Sir-Tech and how they developed stories??
Neutral on graphics, etc. They don't impress me that much for this type of game anyway, which is driven by other things.
Lacking overall strategic depth. Apart from the tactical battles, the strategic management aspect of the game is pretty mild to non-existent. In the original JA, you could commandeer vehicles, travel by chopper, meet strange NPCs at random, etc. On this strategic map you can... train guards... oh wait...we do that already...
Verdict:
If you're REALLY REALLY curious and the game is on sale, pick it up and give it a test drive, otherwise don't bother. Hopefully some other devs can pick up the JA franchise and give it the attention that it (and the fans) deserve.
4.0/10
Ok let's be honest here, I love Turn-Based games and I remember playing Jagged Alliance 2 when I was a kid.. But this here.... I tried, I really REALLY tried to like this game, but there is nothing to like about this game. It is shallow, not only shallow it is bare, empty... it is a empty void with few shells that are the "game". AI if one may even call it that way is next to non-existent. Enemies will just charge you head-on. Shops are only on several places, almost no loot, no interaction with environment. No character customization, no nothing. The arsenal of those few weapons that are currently present in the game won't save it either. The gameplay is extremely boring and by boring I mean you will enjoy more fun by throwing money out of the window than using them to buy this bad joke of a game. It feels unfinished it feels rushed it feels unpolished it feels rigid and empty. If you love Turn-Based games grab a Wasteland 2 or something especially if it's on sale. Keep your hands off of this... 2/10...
Jagged Alliance Flashback,
Is a game that recieved a lot of beating due to the fact that it doesn't really feel like the first ones.
Well, I can't agree with the fact that it's a bad thing.
During a game of Jagged Alliance Flashback you do basically the same as in all other Jagged Alliance games.
Free some poor nation from their evil ruler. Although it sounds corny and isn't very creative, it does work and provides a good environment for such a game.
To free this unlucky nation, you've got to hire some mercenaries that fight along your side. And, as you continue your journey to fill a truck with bodybags you're also allowed to do some quests. Some quests are even crucial to the story and without them you won't make any progression.
Anyway, the entire thing feels like a free roam campaign. You've got your overall objective and it's up to you to figure out the best way to do it.
And how does this game handle?
First of all, I do like the game X-Com Enemy Unknown and I mean the new one. The thing with Jagged Alliance Flashback is that the combat is a lot like in the new X-Com Enemy Unknown. It's not hard to grasp and it can still be pretty challenging and exciting.
The selection of gear is also good. There're all kinds of things ranging from pistols to god knows what. Some are even really funny.
The graphics are good for such a game and the sound effects also. So, there's not much to complain there.
But, if there's one thing I don't like that much, then it's the camera. Something feels strange about it. Maybe it's the angle or the minimum and maximum zoom level and how it handles this. I'm not sure what it is, but it needs some tweaking.
Gameplay is also good. It's fun, interesting and it allows to employ your own ideas.
So, my verdict is a positive one. The game might not be cheap, but the general quality and Steam Workshop addon is a cool plus.
The main problem of this game is a very, very, very stupid AI. Enemies are just running towards you, even if you are in cover. So the tactic is just shoot from the cover. I'v cleared 10 sectors without single wound just doing like this. No sense to continue playing this game, its too booooooooring.
Very dissapointing if you are just looking for a deep stratigy game experience, especially if you are a fan of Jagged Alliance. If you're a modder on The Bear Pit, then it's exactly what you expected.
As a fan of previous Jagged Alliance games, I've put more time into this title then I expected to. I did not do this becaues I felt like I was having a good time. I kept playing because I was convinced that if I gave it more of a chance it would grow on me. Almost exactly like how I felt with the older titles, as well the failed remakes like Brigade E5, and Back in Action.
Although unlike the other titles, this game just did not grow on me.
I had picked up the Early Access and gave the first island a shot. It felt simple at the time, melee wasen't even in it at this point, so I knew I was pretty early and so forgiving of the barebone features. Knowing that the game had much further to go, what was already there felt great! I was thrilled that this company was getting the basics of Jagged Alliance down, and I couldn't wait follow the updates as they came.
Except they didn't really come. I remember 1 or 2 monthly updates to the steam early access page, and then one day instead of an update there was an announcement that the game would be released. I was shocked.
Upon release, it still lacked soul. It lacked the many familiar features one can find in most other failed Jagged Alliance remakes. The developers and development community insist that many of these features are either not needed, too expencive, or coming in future patches.
A month later however, the only new feature is ammo types. In the meantime the company has released another project, a re-imagining of their Space Hulk game.
There is a quote from a post their Dev team made on the Forums that reads:
"In hindsight there were so many things we could and should have done differently, be more prepared, produce a playable version and not spend so much time on creating a website. Looking back we really should have spent more time producing solid high level designs to communicate our vision to you."
As a modding platform, it's supposed to be flexible enough so that one day someone at The BearPit might pump out a JA:F 1.13. But that kind of doesn't help the average Jagged Alliance fan who intended to back a videogame and didn't realize they were actually investing in moding utilities.
***second review***
Fair is fair and the game has improved a lot in the past couple months. Interface has improved; NPC stores were implemented; stealth, melee and weapon attachments were added. The game doesn't look nearly as unfinished as few months back... but in the end the big problems are not addressed and probably will not be as they seem to be a part of the design.
On the turn-based tactical level the game is pretty good actually. You could wish for more destructible environment or say high-grounds system, but in the end the game is enjoyable as it is...
The island map though is just all wrong...
Healing is too fast - in the original getting a merc wounded would put him/her of commision for days, in Flashback chances are they'll be fine by next morning... so there is litle incentive to run a clean mission, as long as merc still breathing by the end of the fight you'll be fine.
Weapons and equipment is too easy to come by making a equipment management a chore where it used to be a crucial considiration.
Money is too easy to get - despensing with the whole fund mamagement component.
Squad inventory means you no longer need to decide what to take and what to leave in the sector - grab eveything, no worries
Militia is useless even on the easy dificulty, you are probably better off just leaving sectors unguarded and recapturing them as needed (map travel times in Flashback seem to be shorten too so you'll get back in no time)
Mercs lost their personality and uniquness - they have voices and background stories but when you have to make decisions about team building, equipment or tactical use - there is no significant difference between Ivan and Grizzly, Magic and Fidel.
And then there are also more obvious problems. You still can't open/close doors, can't climb to the roof, CAN summon mercs out of thin air, and CAN take cover behind immovable bulletproof cows.
In the end the game is OK, more than OK in fact... but you are still better of playing Jagged Alliance 2.
***original review***
I am afraid I cannot recommend the game as it is now.
The game is a very passable squad-based turn-based tactics, and to be fair it came closer to the original than any other JA wannabes in the past 15 years, but...
It's like someone have tried to replicate your favorite dish. They figured out most of the ingredients right (team management, strategic map layer, exploration, turn-based tactical combat), but they never got the original recipe so take their best guess to the proportions and processes.
This shows up in a number of way, but first and foremost in the lack of polish. JA2 sported the incredible level of attention to the details and polish that was trademark of Sir-Tech... Flashback - lack of polish shows in everything from ability to summon merc out of thin air, to clunky interface, to counter intuitive advancement system, to NPC names like beta_thug, to when and what your mercs say, to lack of balance in both strategic level and squad management.
On top of that Flashback is literally unfinished game (several features are unavailable or unfinished)
While the game had "Early Access" sticker on I kept hoping that all those problem would be fixed... in theory there is still a chance (developers promise patches that will do just that)... but until then... I do not recommend paying for this game.
Bottom line: It's an OK game with great potential, but at the moment if you want JA experience you better of playing JA2 (especially with 1.13 patch)
This game has a lot of potential but it isn't even close to living up to expectations yet.
I loved JA2, but this is more like a really buggy version of JA1.
To give a concrete example, here's my first playthrough:
Battle 1: AI is a moron and just runs up to my starting merc who guns them down without a scratch.
Battle 2: AI runs up to my team and starts knifing them without triggering an interrupt (it turns out you have to select a button to let the computer know you would like an interrupt. Lousy UI there.)
Battle 3: I'm walking through town and suddenly the AI starts shooting my guys through the walls of buildings. When I try to shoot back (and I'm using the interrupt button this time), I'm told I can't shoot back because there is no LOS to the guys that are shooting my team. Rocks fall, everybody dies.
Take my advice and just play the original JA2 (and/or any of the million and a half disappointing clones) until this improves.
My advice is to wait and see if it is developed further before purchasing.
Again and again, we, old time JA 2 players trust some guys who declare that "we raised JA 2 from the dead and returned it to present!". But each time all we get - a crushing and stunning dissapointment. The only thing that developers consistently do is copying mercs names, and filling the merc roster with our old pals. When you finish hiring guys to your party, you are thrown out of nostalgic dream and meet the harsh reality like when falling into dirt on your face.
Step by step my dissapointment grew stronger and stronger, until my patience finally cracked and I shouted at my monitor and beated my mouse in an epic wrath.
So, these were my steps which I hope you don't ever feel by yourself:
Step 1: Graphics.
My first thaught was "really, guys? you forgot to draw a face on that character model?" I do understand that kickstarter projects are not supposed to have outstanding graphic design, but THIS is just a trash. Ok, in the real gameplay graphics are not looking so bad, but why then i have this enormous lags at my Core I7 GeForce 760 GTX???
Step 2: Interface.
At a first look, everything is in place, but when I tried how it really works, it pissed me off. Choosing all squad members at the same time is a real challenge, I need at least 2-3 tries before it works. And still they do not move together - just one by one with a great distance.
Dialogue buttons are written in such colours so I can barely see what I say. But, actually, it doesn't matter.
When I tried to buy a gun it was fucking torment. First of all - I can't sell my guns! Yeah, that's it - throw them out if you don't need them. And I thought developers can make something more comfortable that text trade interface.
Step 3: Sound
MY MERCS ALWAYS SAY THE SAME FUCKIN WORDS!!! I had to turn off voices to save my nerves.
You can turn all sounds off except gunfire, and you won't feel something is missing.
Step 4: Gameplay
There is no button like "stealth" or something - but the game insists that it actually has stealth. Actually, no matter how i tried, I haven't managed to get so close to the enemy to hit him with a knife.
There are no weapon mods: no silencers, optical zooms, laser pointers and all that stuff.
Amount of guns is too low, and MY GOD, look at the guns' brands - "Bolt", "Tinchester", "M1 Dagrand" and so on... This is ridiculous...
Mercs can not climb on rooftops, and even over small tiny garden fences. I haven't seen any locked doors, and even any CLOSED doors - there are just doorways.
Tactics is rudimentary... When you enter a sector you cannot choose entry point, you just go through the main gate. If you croos your ways in jungle with a traveling soldier squad, be ready to get surrounded right in a middle of a location by 7-10 guys. The only thing that saves you - is that they are extremely stupid and keep going on you like on a firing range. Fights come to this: pick a good position, and wait until enemy comes to your aim.
And the thing that fucked all the game finally - CALCULATIONS!
How the fuck my mercs cannot hit the target 5 times in a row with 82% chance ho hit???
It seems to me that accuracy calculations are just a fake, cause my actual hits don't confirm the chances.
When I had two turns with 2 enemies standing on a perfect range (8-10) and 3 of my mercs with 75 marksmanship an 75% chance to hit could even hit a single time, it was the last drop. And I thought: "why am I tortuting myself with this crap? It's a bad game, no matter what title it carries. If it wasn't called Jagged Alliance, I'd quit after a first very battle and deleted it forever". It's not JA, it's not even a decent game, it's another time that people make money of our good memories.
I'd like to think that I'm unbiased as I write this feedback (hoping that it will be a fair warning if you are researching the game) ... but I did really love Jagged Alliance 2, and felt it was a game ahead of it's time, full of personality, decision-making and fun.
I've had a BRIEF play of this 'reboot', and I really struggle to find the motivation to spend any more time with it. After an hour or two, I've had enough.
The problem is, it's shallow. I just see so many features missing or glazed over. At least with 'Back in Action', the game had a pretty robust combat system that innovated on the original .. if JaBia had delivered on it's promise to bring over the personality and substance of the original JA2, and bring with it the new combat, it would have been awesome, instead of a disappointment.
Flashback - well, it's even worse, I'm afraid. It has fewer features than JaBia, the combat is dull, the AI is pretty much utterly stupid (sorry, to be specific .. you can be shooting at the AI and it will run past you and stand to it's back with you so you and your buddies can kill it).
It has promise, and I really would be interested to play this game with another 6 months of rich development, but my feeling is that the people making it have exhausted all the upfront kickstarter money, and rather than grow a set of gonads and spend their own time and money perfecting the product - to yield the ultimate financial and reputation rewards of creating a wonderful, memorable game - they just launched early and incomplete.
Animations are absent .. like, taking cover seems to be just .. standing there.. there is no corresponding action from the merc (at least that I can tell??) that they've taken cover.. nor can I see any easily accessible stat/graphic/icon or anything that tells me that they are actually in cover ..
It's just .. weak.
It's a weak, disappointing title, and I have buyers remorse.
I regret buying it, and I actually don't give a flying poo-poo about twenty bucks .. I regret buying it because by doing so I'm supporting an outcome that I find increasingly unacceptable in the gaming world - releasing unpolished, feature incomplete, over-promise-under-deliver titles.
I'd recommend you steer away from this game if you are considering buying it, at least in it's present form as at 25 October 2014.
UPDATE: As at 7 February 2015, I've had a second look and injected some more time into the game (apparently, according to the defenders of the game - some vested modders from "the Bear Pit", you have to have a minimum of 3 hours gameplay to have a valid opinion .... although I can tell if a game sucks pretty much right away, and you'd have to be mental to hack away at something that sucks just to confirm it doesnt suck, right?). Anyway just to update, several months (and a few patches) later, the game is still quite awful .. it's boring, feature incomplete, poor AI, and as they fix other bugs, they apparently create new ones, like all the females for some reason now like to crawl around on their stomachs... if you're thinking about buying this game - think twice - you can get a lot more bang for your gaming buck elsewhere.
First, let me say that I LOVE the original Jagged Alliance games (JA, Deadly Games, and JA2). That said, this game is a huge disappointment.
Though they have progressed towards making a JA game, they have fallen FAR SHORT:
-No world interaction. You can't open doors, crates, climb onto roofs, or blow holes in walls.
-The UI feels a lot worse than those of yester-year. How is this even possible? It seems incomplete and clunky, making even simple tasks awkward.
-Character inventory is shallow. Though they have added a "squad inventory", lack of items in the world and the randomness of enemy drops makes this a collection of junk rather than an armory.
-In game engine is also clunky. The game looks out-dated (JAZZ: Hired Guns anyone?) and plays poorly, with AI taking far too long to execute turns. When a 2D game from 19 years ago looks more appealing, you might have failed.
-Combat is lacking. Enemies make poor decisions and don't try to flank, rushing at you and using the closest cover once in range. Line of sight is extremely limited, making some scenarios (firing at a diagonal around the box right in front of you) a case of leaving cover to shoot at enemies who will miss you from 6 feet away. It's honestly comical.
-Lack of video options. You can change "bulk" settings, but have to direct control over AA, V-Synch, texture quality, etc. This seems both lazy and cheap in this day and age.
-Sound design is weak. Most sounds and music are pulled from JA2. Again, this seems less of an homage and just a matter of frugality.
-Map size is small. This might just be an initial mis-giving, but there just isn't much there once you get into a sector. No hidden items, no containers, limited NPCs... Bland and empty.
Give this one a wide berth until they ACTUALLY finish it. As it is now, it has fewer features than that abortive JA: Online crap. Play JA2, Xenonauts, XCOM, or even the UFO series instead.
Additionally:
-Cover is NOT implemented well, with enemies shooting you without you being able to shoot back; in some cases, they even shoot you THROUGH walls.
-Militia is a joke. You can't fight alongside them. It's a cheaper version of the automated combat from JA2, but far simpler and with a graphic-less UI (at least JA2 had portraits), and the enemy is CONSTANTLY roaming in larger bands than you can train in 2 days time. I guess this makes up for the TINY map, as you need to re-conquer sectors.
-Inventory is poor, with no attachments and most enemies dropping ZERO items, despite shooting you from extreme range with assault rifles.
-Combat is a complete joke, with enemies being unaffected by traumatic gunshot and grenade wounds. Occasionally, they might "panic", but it's a die-roll and not something that makes sense. There is no suppression system, and the AP costs are so ridiculous that you will mostly be using snap shot and not moving once combat begins. The enemy, of course, seems to have a lot more AP than you, popping off three shots after moving when you can barely manage 2.
-Wound system, continued from above, does not remove APs from injured parties, but is based on hit location, with legs removing AP, head reducing next-shot to-hit, and body just causing damage. I was not impressed when an unarmored soldier took a .50 HP to the chest and proceeded to run up to me and punch me. STUPID.
-CTDs. On enemy turns, the game likes to crash (look for the tell-tale change of cursor and lack of animations). This is somewhat reminiscent of JA2 1.08, so I guess they were somewhat faithful? Try windowed (resolution hit) and you can cut back on the level of incidence. SESO, otherwise.
This was a regrettable waste of money AT THIS TIME. Luckily, they did much better with Space Hulk, so give them your money for that and HOPE that they don't abandon this one in the mean-time.
I almost never don't recommend a game, but when a game promises a remake of one of my favourite games, Jagged Alliance 2 (or JA2 for short), of all time and does not deliver; I have to do it.
Be advised; It is not recommended in its current state. It is overpriced for the rushed state it is in. I will state some of the pros and cons:
Pros:
-Graphics are nice, improvement over the original. Sectors look good, as well as weather effects, mercs pictures and weapons look great.
-Character Creation is added which is very good, I would have liked to have some sort of custom portraits (but that may be modded in in teh future)
Cons:
-Biggest con; The voice acting and quality of voices. They even added a merc with a computerised voice, appearantly a reward for a Backer during the Kickstarter Campaign. But although it gets explained ingame, the quality of that one (and the normal voices) is way below par. As FC has the license (and I can imagine also the original voices), they could have added the original JA2 voices.
-Sloppy, boring interface; Minimalistic (with a capital "M")- Nothing like the original. Copying and updating the original interface would have heldped with immersion very much.
-No laptop as in JA2
-The shop NPC has no UI. No pictures of what you buy, nor an indication how much money you have left. You just have to click blindly until your money is gone and you cannot check ammo-requirements for certain guns, without going out of the shop menu.
-Militia defending screen has been cut from the game, and now shows plain numbers. Militia are more useless than in JA2. Furthermore, you cannot assist in the defense of a sector together with militia, even when your mercs are in the same sector. The militiua get killed first, then your mercs can fight.
-The whole game feels rushed, you can see that funding ran out. The whole game does not breather the atmosphere of the game it tried to remake; Jagged Alliance 2 and continues the trend of JA2 successor failures. All praise go to the original makers from Sirtech, who made a game which cannot be remade, not even in the current market!
So I do not recommended the game in its current state. You better wait for either the price to drop and/or until the modders from The Bear's Pit got their hands on it. They made JA2 even better with patch 1.13, so it is possible to improve JA2. Surely someone can make a true remake of the game, it is a shame Full Control didn't have the funding to take this the whole way. I am very disappointed in the state of the game and it really should be renamed into Jagged Alliance: Under Construction.
I loved Jagged Alliance 2, particularly with the 1.13 patch. It was one of those games which despite its (often hilariously) simple production values, managed to combine rather deep tactical turn-based combat with tongue-in-cheek badassery. So I got a little excited when these folks put out their pitch about how much they loved Jagged Alliance 2 and intended to make a spiritual successor, and figured, "Hey. I'll support this."
Early access was basically unplayable, but I figured hey... it's early access. They're going to smooth things out.
But they never REALLY smoothed it out. What we ended up with at release was a rather lame reskin of the combat interface from the new XCOM, minus any of the polish and a lot of the functionality. For some reason, the game takes place in a country where literally every door is left open. There seems to be no useful stealth mechanic, or any form of suppressive fire.
Literally the only thing they've captured from the original -- and the only promise they really kept -- is the bad voice acting. Somehow they've managed to make each and every character in the game as grating as Ira or Biff.
Skip this. If you have JA2, download the fan-made 1.13 patch which refines the combat system and adds a wealth of new equipment. This isn't a spiritual successor. It's an abortion. If it were a $3 smartphone game, it would be mediocre.
Игры похожие на Jagged Alliance Flashback
Дополнительная информация
Разработчик | Full Control |
Платформы | Windows, Mac, Linux |
Ограничение возраста | Нет |
Дата релиза | 17.01.2025 |
Отзывы пользователей | 34% положительных (209) |