Jagged Alliance: Rage!

I enjoyed it, good game.

Good game but it's not comparable to JA2, it's not a serious and realistic game but it's fun
pros:
- Nice graphics, really pleasant gamma
- Squary landscape, quite original
- Funny voiceover
- Improved stealth mechanics
- Mercs suffer from everything which affects their perfomance
cons:
- Poor drawn portraits
- Always a turn based combat
- Loot is picked up from the ground (no sector inventory such as in JA2)
- Little amount of mercs
- Sometimes bugs happen, e.g. game freezes sometimes while skipping dialogs, so don't do that

Rage was the last Jagged Alliance spin-off to be released during the long wait between the second and the third game in the series. At the time, many people, myself included, were getting increasingly disillusioned with the future of the franchise. As previous spin-offs had generally been either poor remakes or unsuccessful attempts to ape the style of the great canonical games in the series. Things considered, the expectations from Rage were quite low indeed. So despite an initial interest, I didn't end up giving the game a fair chance when it released. I suspect, not many did. Rage though was unlike these previous attempts. Neither a remake, nor an imitation, instead, it tried a very different approach. Now, that I have finally finished it, it's time to write down a few thoughts.

Let's begin with the most fundamental statement. Rage is not really a Jagged Alliance game. Yes, it is set in the world of Jagged Alliance, 20 years in its future, yes it shares some characters and some of its tactical DNA with Jagged Alliance, but the combination of elements present is completely different. The strategic aspect is effectively removed, only a rudimentary map remains that allows you to select which areas to visit next. The RPG elements are also completely excised. There are no quests, or meaningful NPC interactions. Even the number of mercs that you can initially hire is merely 2. Rage instead tries to replace the missing parts with survival elements. Thirst, disease, inventory management and scarcity are key features now. Areas can only be visited once and the items you can carry are painfully limited, often forcing tough choices. The survival focus reflects in the game's plot too. Prisoners on an island controlled by a tyrannical madman, the goal to escape first and foremost. This creates quite the radically different mix. But is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, no.

The game has a fair few pluses in its arsenal. Tactical combat being perhaps the most important among them. The game's battles are fun to play. There is a proper stealth system present that can help you clear up large portions of the map. Which is absolutely necessary considering how precious few mercs can be fielded and also how purposefully fragile they are, with low health bars and various debilitating conditions that can hinder them further. There are numerous weapons to be found and used. The item scarcity, specifically ammo scarcity, enhances this element as it forces you to not immediately jump to the best weapon available. As the game progresses this becomes less and less of an issue, but even by the very end with some bad RNG luck the very best guns may not be practical to use. Good armour actually provides for extra inventory space, which felt like a very organic way to grow your characters too. Graphically speaking, I totally enjoyed the fact you can see what a merc is wearing and which weapons he is carrying by checking his character model. Finally, there is the titular Rage abilities, special abilities unique to each merc that they can use if they are angry or excited enough. Not all of them were made equal, but they do help make each merc more interesting.

Moving on to negatives now, of which there are plenty. Let's start with a plot that really won't impress anyone. 20 years after the events of the previous game, a few veteran AIM mercs are captured on some island by a megalomaniacal dictator who turns out to be... Elliot. Now if that doesn't scream bad fanfic, I don't know what does. As far as the mercs themselves go, Rage yet again is not like previous spin-offs where they lacked character, no, here each merc is suitably unique alright. Sure they are few in number, but unique. The problem is how the creators chose to evolve the backstories of those returning characters. It's like I'm reading some sadcore, cryfest, unsatisfying misery porn. His nephew died of a drug overdose and he turned into an alcoholic, her husband died and she is all sick with depression, he got cancer and trusts nobody etc. I mean seriously, did you guys have something personal against those characters? To be fair, I did not hate it as much as I initially thought, the characters are at least consistent, but I'm not too pleased with the direction, no. Of course, there are gameplay issues too, such as the atrocious loot system. Most of them though are oversights, like cover sometimes not working as intended, or an overreliance on RNG. Things that could have been easily fixed with patches, had the company not gone the way of the Dodo.

In the end Rage was surprisingly entertaining. This is largely because its tactical combat encounters play well and that's where the overwhelming majority of the game will be spent. Certainly, I do have complaints, the game is not free of irritations and I do question the direction of the plot and characterisations present. But having properly played the game now, I believe its biggest sin is that it wasn't Jagged Alliance 3 at a time when that's all the fans of the series wanted to see. Maybe now that the clamoured for sequel has been released, Rage can be re-evaluated. That certainly was the case for me. I do recommend this game to fans of the series that want to see a different approach, but also to fans of tactical combat games in general.

A run-of-the-mill turn-based tactics game with everything you expect in this genre - take cover, flank enemies, sometimes use special abilities. In an attempt to distinguish itself from the usual X-Com clone, this game introduces stealth, and survival mechanics, and A LOT OF BUGS!
- The fights are uninspired, and not particularly challenging, but serviceable.
- The stealth mechanics is mostly just boring, especially considering that everything happens in turns, so you spend ages waiting for guards to move around and to position your characters for the stealth kills.
- The survival elements were just annoying. It mostly boils down to having less space in the inventory, because you need to carry ton of water, antibiotics, and other stuff. Also, all the guns seem to be made of wet tissue paper and spit, because the break down after every third or fourth shot (this is obviously a hyperbole, but the guns do break down very fast).

This all would be ok, if you are a hardcore turn-based tactics fan, and want to spend some time casually murdering people while listening to your favourite podcast, if not for the omnipresent BUGS!

What more to say... did I mention the ton of BUGS?

I really want somebody to make a remaster of JA2 or make game with same/similar game mechanics. So far every new game with JA name has less and less features and game mechanics.

If you remove Jagged Alliance from the name, and dont play expecting it to be Jagged Alliance 3, then this is a GREAT game......
it's nothing like jagged alliance though, it's more of a streamlined adventure turnbased RPG-ish.... some new features, like rage meter (which gives u special abilities) and the drink water-immune system-infections system keep it somewhat fresh (you need water to keep hydrate, and rest so ur immune system doesnt drop, you can also catch shrapnel from gunshots and have to remove it) it's just little things, but everything else seems to be on rails, you progress on missions linearly, and there doesnt seem to be stats or levels to improve on the mercs.....
overall, it's fun, but IT IS NOT JAGGED ALLIANCE. dont expect it to be, or u will be dissapointed.

Controls aren't that great and it's excessively difficult. There are better JA games out there. Just play them

Mission bugs, AI bugs, control bugs, micro-freezing, regular freezing, clunky UI, no key mapping, tedious looting, and the list goes on...

If you're patient enough to put up with all that, though, the gameplay isn't bad. It just feels oversimplified, the maps are small, and the tiny group stash prevents collecting a wide variety of weapons to try different tactics with. I still had fun with all the puzzle-like stealth killing and occasional gunfights.

Because of the bugs and shortcomings this game isn't worth the full price, so wait for a discount of at least 50%.

Jagged Alliance: Rage! is a "inspired by" games. It has a special "rage" ability for each merc, but the rather clumsy inventory management (and post-combat looting), the art style (caricatures), lack of variety for each merc's sayings made it a luke-warm recommendation at best.

Set 20 years after the last JA, many of the mercs you know are retired. But when Fidel called out a mayday from an island promising a big payout even as his chopper was shot down, AIM will send someone in. Choose two mercs from the list, and you may recognize some familiar names. Do you want a close-quarters specialist or a long-range sniper? What role will your teammate bring? Later in the campaign you have the option of bringing a third or even a fourth member into the team. even as you found that Elliot is back, and he will not tolerate any interference of his plans on this island...

JA is now a 2D tactical combat game on a 3D map, with a system reminiscent of XCOM (the new one). You have X action points for shooting, moving, reload, and so on. For each shot, you can choose to aim better by spending more action points, up to +3. And you can choose to aim at head, torso, or leg. You can also engage overwatch, which lets you fire on enemy turn if they come into your view arc.

At night, mercs has reduced visibility range and lowered to-hit chance unless your merc has night-fighting training... or is wearing night-vis.

Each character can wear headgear, backpack, torso armor, leg armor, and if available, specialty tools unique to that merc. Each piece of gear (except headgear) can add inventory slots, and you will find a LOT of different weapons, ammo, armor, and so on. Add improvised weapons, mines and IEDs, grenades, and more... plus first aid kits, bandages, water, surgery kits, and it's hard to decide what to keep and what to dump.

Hostile army has blocked off the water supply and clean water is hard to find. Drinking dirty water can bring about an infection that can lower HP. Same with wounds and shrapnel... Wounded in battle and bleeding means losing HP every turn unless bandaged, but dirty bandage chances infection as well. If you get parched you can start to lose hitpoints and combat effectiveness. So it's about balancing risks.

The map has some hotspots you need to visit. There is also sometimes a pursuit force that you can choose to run from or confront. There is also sometimes a convoy you can intercept. Any way, you go into tactical combat.

You can engage from long range, or get stealthy and stab them in the back. Attack is made against enemy armor, if he's wearing any. If the armor rating is higher than your weapon's armor penetration, there is a chance that the shot will be "stopped by armor". So getting better armor is a top priority.

You get rage by getting hit, making kills, or suffer from pain (which includes shrapnel wounds). And the rage abilities are usually quite powerful, and they can turn the tide of battle. You can also artificially induce rage by consuming the poison "Bliss" but it has side effects...

If your teammate got knocked out from damage, you could revive him/her with an adrenaline injection.

On most maps your objective is to eliminate all hostiles, but there are some missions where you have time limits, like save as many hostages as you can, kill enemies before they get away... or don't let them poison the water.

Once you have eliminated all hostiles (they may be one or two exceptions) you get the ability to "remote loot" which means you can loot any bodies or crates on the map, no matter how far away they are. But the process can be quite tedious. When you are ready, move your team to the "exit square"

Between combat, you can rest at the rest spots and make camp. In the camp, you can use your mercs special ability for the group, if any. You can build weapon or armor attachments if you got the right materials, or you can just sleep a little and get some HP back. Or use a surgery kit to remove the shrapnel, cure infection, recover HP, and so on,

Later in the game you also gain the ability to call in rebel squads to ambush enemies or attack a location with you. If they battle alongside you, you can outfit them with better gear that you find... and they will stay outfitted that way, making them much more survivable in battle.

All in all, the looting is tedious, and the infection mechanism rather unexplained. Some rage abilities are simple to figure out. And the caricature look doesn't quite suit a serious game. I wish there were more dialog variations, and less tedious inventory and looting. This game has the feel of JA, but not quite there.

Can someone please just make a remastered of JA:II, you know like the EE-Versions of the Baldurs Gate games, or the remastered Command & Conquer?

This isn't Jagged Alliance. The character pool is small, and lacks many of the "better" mercs. And while the game acknowledges that a significant amount of time has passed and all of the formerly great mercs have aged, none of them have any personality. The voice acting is terrible, to the point that it sounds like the actors are just reading lines.

The gameplay is bland and feels like something I would expect from a mobile game. AI is wonky, survival elements feel like a last-minute addition and there's no character progression to speak of. Rage! is what happens when you take a classic franchise and wring out everything that made the franchise great in the first place.

So many regrets.

Jagged Alliance, But Not!

1. Short & Fairly linear story: Not a lot of chance to just mess around and improve your mercenaries and their equipment like you did in the older games.
   
2. Limited Character pool and squad size: You start with 2 chosen units, and end with 3, max 4, depending on the in-game choices you make.
   
3. Small scale maps.
   

1. A pretty good turn-based Tactics game
   
2. Somewhat compelling story.
   
[*]Some fun to be had in gearing up characters, but very limited overall.

So. 7 hours in. We bought 2 of these and thought we could play it as a coop game. The familiar mercs basically drove us into playing this.

First of all, it was extremely fun as a coop experience, however the constant inventory management will drive anyone nuts. You need to have a gun, ammo, bandages and preferably water + something else when you attack a sector. Problem is. The game is extremely stingy on inventory space. Painstakingly.

Anyway, planning stuff with a friend then executing that said plan and watch it not go as planned. Fun stuff. Extremely fun.

Now the cons. The game doesn't look appealing. Looks like a kid drew the characters by eating a bunch of crayons, then sneezing on a piece of paper. There's your concept art.

And the story doesn't offer much new. Another rebel leader, another baddie to kill. Should've gone for something else. Although this has potential, but i guess the devs don't care anymore, considering the last and worst con in the game.

It's buggy af. Items seem to disappear from inventory. And it crashes on co-operative play CONSTANTLY. We really couldn't play anymore, as the game got way too tedious to play as you had to do stuff over and over agian, just to get past some point that crashed the game.

It's sad that a game, which has potential, especially on the coop side (4 player coop would be crazy fun), doesn't work.

For those old school Jagged Alliance players. This isn't a Jagged Alliance game. It has a few of the characters, but that's where the similarities go.
Poor Ivan got turned into a fat drunk...
Shadow is a shadow of himself (pun intended).
Raven is probably the best "written" character in the game.

All in all. This would be a 7/10 for me and recommended, but in it's current state with coop bugs running rampant, it's a 4,5/10. I'll change the recommendation if the devs fix this game.

Хорошо! Я буду работать на тебя, проклятый капиталист!
Fine! I will be working for you, you bloody capitalist!
~Ivan Dolvich

I tried to like this game I realy did, but even if you ignore all the other issues there are just too many bugs.

The AI lockups completely - the only fix to tab out, kill the game and try again.
The AI can randomly attack you at stupid ranges (in the fog) and ignore the cover rules, the only fix reload and try again.
The AI, is supposed to be trained elite mercs. So why do 20 guys all run into the killzone -
apart from the sniper shooting me from insde the fog of war through 3 walls of a building.

Pros -
A great looking game and a very nice turn based engine. Multiple levels to combat and ammo / inventory management.
Nice cover options, that make a difference in combat.
Crafting modifications for weapons and armour that make a big difference to your gear.
Humorous and interesting characters, fully voiced.
Rage skills are interesting and work well as do character traits -
My sniper with a 3 shot burst assault rifle was able to kill 3-4 enemies a turn and having a mechanic made repairing weapons and armour a doddle

Cons -
Weapon degration, an awesome feature implemented so badly. How many modern assault rifles stop working every 3 shots?
Very little replayability. Your not going to mix it up alot choosing different mercs.
When a merc is unconscious they are removed from battle and magicaly get better again if you clear the map -
Without there equiped weapon. You know that awesome assault rifle you put 3 mods on. Gone
An infuratiing inventory management/ map looting system at the end of a map. That on some occasions will take longer than clearing the map did.
You HAVE to loot becuase you NEED the upgrades, new weapons, new armour, ammo, water and antibiotics.
This means you have to loot every container and corpse on the map. Some that are now out of range in the fog of war.
Small maps and repetition depending on how you play. Have you got free roam? NOPE still turn based with NO enemies.
WATER - a limited resource in a tropical jungle. Unless, I dunno you liberated an entire water treatment plant maybe, but nope.
ANTIBIOTICS - a limited resource. Unless, I dunno you liberated a plantation with an onsite doctor.
And then after you have put up with all that for 15 or so hours you get to the end map and are
expected to kill 25 enemies whilst taking no damage as you get ZERO chance to heal or repair your items before your onto the next stage.
You cannot remove shrapnel or use surgical kits in a map so good luck in stage 2. Your guys have 2/12 HP and your about to take 4 grenades in the face.

Game should not have been released to way it is now. Cooperation works horrible, if you quickload friend gets kicked out. The Game gets stuck in random places. There is always problems with inventory space/storage. If didn't have bug I might give a rating of 3/5 but. Since many features aren't polished it is maximum of 2/5.

You need lots of patiance with these bugs. Story is barely so-so. If there would be overhaul update that gives levels, more space, bigger maps, more charaters that might make game to be considered to buy.

Update: I apologize about the statement I made originally about this being ported to mobile after six months - that did not happen. Turns out this game is so bad they likely decided not to port it to mobile at all, which is probably for the best.

Not the JA we needed OR deserved. I'm about 6 or so hours into the game and after struggling to make it that far, after giving it chance after chance, realized it's just not at all a game I am willing to spend time playing.

The only feature remaining from the original games is the turn-based combat.

Everything we loved is gone - the custom merc we got to make, the huge choice of mercenaries (there are SEVEN total in this game), the militia training, the chopper, the used gun shop, the detailed artwork, the laptop with all the extra value features, actually managing income/salaries/gear.

Everything that made Jagged Alliance a deep and rewarding experience is missing in this game.

In the same a way the bad guys chop down an entire forest in movies, leaving just stumps - that's what this developer created - a stump.

A once beautiful, blossoming franchise cut down to a bare bones mobile game (I give it six months before this is ported to mobile) with about 1/10 of the features of JA 2.

I wanted to take a bit of time and reflect on the game, without a knee jerk reaction, but here is the final verdict: not recommended.

I typically stay away from harsh criticism of games, but in this case it's hard to imagine that the developer released this thinking feedback would be in any way positive and this is coming from someone who really wanted to like this game.

Long time JA fan here. I helped Kickstart JA:Flashback and own all the other games. I still have my original sir-tek cd's! This game does have its issues, but I feel like it doesn't deserve the super negative comments its getting. JA:2 is the King of the Series and I think JA: Rage is unfairly being compared to it, rather than it's own merits. This is my take.

TLDR: I give it 6/10 Grunty's.

Pros:
* Some of the old AIM Mercs are back! Grunty, Ivan, Dr. Q, Vicky Waters, Shadow and Raven.

* The Tactics are solid. It's the classic Action points scheme. Each Merc gets their own pool. Certain moves cost certain points and you have to balance stealth or fast (loud) movement and the ability to shoot at targets. You can increase the aim percentage by adding action points from the points available to your mercs (right click), or target body sections like head, body and legs of enemies. I haven't seen any destructable walls or objects in the campaign missions yet. Terrain does play a factor in LOS. You can hide in tall grass or behind buildings and laying prone will effective conceal your Mercs. You can get hover over an enemy and get their field of vision to help plan attacks. Stealth and Time of day is a HUGE factor in this game. It doesn't seem like it matters at first, after your first night mission you definitely have the upper hand with Mercs that have Night Ops perks. Enemies respond to line of sight and radio calls from commanders and squad leaders. So you can use that to set up traps for them. Grenades are your friend in the early game and quicky get changed out for long range sniping and assault rifles with burst capability. Melee combat has an interesting mechanic where you can outright kill enemies by sneaking up behind them. This is Merc dependent though and some have better luck/skill than others.

* Rage mechanic is FUN. It has pulled me out of some tough scrapes for sure. For example, Raven gets the Rage ability to shoot a single shot that ignores armor, once she either gets shot enough or lands enough kill shots. Dr. Q can generate more AP's for himself so he gets more actions in a round to kill baddies with, or heal a teammate for a measly 2 HP.

* Some items are moddable. Guns can be modded with scopes, quick change mags, reflex sights etc. I have yet to find any clothing or armor mods yet. Vicki can craft both though, when resting in camp.

* The voice acting is passable. Some of the Mercs sound like their original voices. Need to check the credits to confirm. I think whomever is doing Dr. Q, Raven or Vicki, they are damn close to the JA:2 voices. The main antagonist also sounds like their original. I won't post the spoiler here. You will have to play the game to hear that voice. Banter between Mercs is entertaining though.

* Maps and Missions get more difficult as game progresses. Clearing a Map is a rewarding feeling as you explore chests and bodies for better items and weapons for your Mercs.

* You can control Rebel troops to intercept the Army. If you are in the same sector you can fight alongside and control them!

* Less than $20 bucks US.

Cons:

* No ability to create your own unique Merc and Limited number of available Mercs to chose from. I think their intent was to be similar to the original Jagged Alliance in this respect. In that game you could only hire mercs and not create a custom one. However, I think the 6 mercs you can choose from is too limiting.

* Tiny team size. You create a team of two at the start. That's it. I would like a larger team. Maybe this is intentional for 2 player co-op, I dunno.

* No skill progression/RPG element of Mercs as the game continues. Probably since the back story is that these are older versions of Mercs who are past their prime, and have gained some bad habits or physical ailments.

* Limited Merc relationship interaction. Just some entertaining banter between them. I don't think there is a friend/foe outcome between chosing what Mercs you have on your team.

* No strategic layer. Maps consists of mission and rest points. Random encounters can occur when an enemy patrol bumps into your squad, or vice versa. These encounter maps are 1/4 the size of average mission map. Time management is obtuse. There is a clock in the upper left that gives you the time and you can wait in a sector to the pass time by holding down backspace. This isn't explained to you at all.

* Mini survival Mechanic is tedious. Mercs have to stay hydrated and healthy. Infections and Injuries make the early game rough for your Mercs. If you don't have clean water to drink you could end up getting dehydrated or sick from drinking dirty water. It's easier to manage in the later game though.

* Line of sight can be glitchy. Some enemies can hit you from outta nowhere when they don't have line of sight to you. This happened to me on the Bridge mission. An enemy sniper was shooting my Mercs through the building they were behind!

* Inventory management and crafting are bad. It doesn't seem like you can control what you craft. Inventory management is very limited and unnecessarily difficult. Some items can only be used while you are resting. Other items you can right click on them to get available choices. BUT some actions still require action points! For example, after you've cleared out an area you can remotely loot objects/bodies at no cost. But if you wanted to top off your mag in a rifle it still costs action points to do so. Also there is no hotkey to highlight fallen items. You have to scroll over items and if they glow you can interact with it. Ugh.

* Random buggy AI pauses. The AI will sometimes takes forever make a decision and seem to be stuck. You have to manually close the game after Alt-Tabbing out. Restarting the game and loading the autosave will put you at the your turn before the hang. Lucky for autosave.

Hopefully the devs will keep at it. I think with some patches, more Merc choices and making inventory management easier this game could get more of some of the JA fans back.

Doesnt deserve to be called a jagged alliance game. No where near the quality of gameplay found in its predecessors.
Maps are tiny, AI is incredibly stupid, and only being able to play two prepicked chars is just stupid.

Another thing that is incredibly stupid is the fact that its turnbased out of combat. Ruins the fluidity of the gameplay when sneaking around.

Sadly, this game is probably going to be overshadowed by Mutant Year Zero, its low budget look, and the feeding frenzy of the internet dumbasses that are unable to look past the fact that this is not jagged alliance 3. Well you primma donnas can cry all you want, because regardless of your bleating this is a really good tactics game that, most importantly, is FUN. I don't like the cartoon esthetic and I could have done without the humor, although it doesn't bother me either, but to me this game shines were it matters: the gameplay systems are great, the difficulty just right and there are enough little twists to the xcom/JA formula to keep it fresh. It is not on par with the aforementioned Mutant Year Zero, which is just the perfect tactics game, but it entertains and it makes you plan carefully. I love it. Sue me.

Well, I really don't wanna be overly critic of fellow austrians, but this game is NOT a JA game. Yeah, it got action points instead of the "do 2 things per turn" turn action, and a jungle environment. It might even be an enjoyable tactics game, BUT

.) limited to two mercs instead of having multiple squads of up to 6 mercs.
.) only a handful of mercs at least initially, leaving out many fan favourites (where's fidel, lynx, speck, etc.)
.) The few mertcs there are share the names, but not the voice actors and personalities of the old ones. (why does Ivan look like Bobby "Steroid" Gontarski?)
.) no AIM
.) very "streamlined" aka dumbed down
.) gimmicky gameplay with the new "rage" mechanic.

After I played it for for couple hours, I would say I hate it! The first 5-10 minutes into the game I thought it was dumb already but I kept telling myself it was only a tutorial it would get better as I moved to other levels. I was wrong it! It was all the same thing over again.

Problems that make the game boring:

1. Too much talking in this game
2. Small maps
3. Movement
4. Little combat involve

*Don't waste your money on this game. It's not worth it.