Jagged Alliance 2 - Retrospective @ PC Gamer

Couchpotato · October 15, 2013

PC Gamer reinstalls Jagged Alliance 2 and gives their opinion on how the game has hold up after all these years.

Like other excellent TRPGs (Fallout, Dragon Age) JA2 isn’t afraid to make freedom (including the freedom to fail) a key trait of its combat system. Almost all the fighting you’ll do is unscripted. Heroics arise from planning, improvisation and a little luck. The fact that an automatic weapon can accidentally fire more rounds than you intended—as an interaction between the gun and your character—is such a sweet, surprising nuance.

The other side of that coin, of course, are the grueling, random situations you stumble into: turning a blind corner can reveal an SMG-wielding enemy ready to instantly send your top commando.But that fear of lost characters feels meaningfully frustrating to me. When my recon guy, Marty McFly, died in a swamp, I had a 10-minute debate with myself over whether to revert to my last save game. If a game’s goal is to stimulate emotion, JA2 succeeds.

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screeg · October 15, 2013

I find it sad that so many words are spent on retrospectives. Don't we see two or three every week? Nice if somebody would make a game like JA2 instead of sitting around remembering how completely awesome it was.

ChaosTheory · October 15, 2013

screeg said:
I find it sad that so many words are spent on retrospectives. Don't we see two or three every week? Nice if somebody would make a game like JA2 instead of sitting around remembering how completely awesome it was.

http://www.jaggedallianceflashback.com/

Alrik Fassbauer · October 15, 2013

screeg said:
I find it sad that so many words are spent on retrospectives. Don't we see two or three every week? Nice if somebody would make a game like JA2 instead of sitting around remembering how completely awesome it was.

It's acting like some pressure towards the gaming companies, too : "Just look ! How great these games once were ! And now - you just suck !
Do more of that ancient art again !"

screeg · October 15, 2013

I don't think the AAA companies acknowledge that kind of pressure, and the indies must already know (don't they?)

@ChaosTheory: I'm already signed up for that one. Fingers crossed!

Soulbane · October 15, 2013

I like to be reminded of such games every now and then, for pure nostaliga. There were so many I need to reminded of their greatness every from time to time… even though JA2 is so high on the Awesome List that I'll never forget it. The sheer amount of time I had spent with the game is embarrassing.

What I don't get is when they write retrospectives about games 8 months old.

Jagged Alliance 2 - Retrospective @ PC Gamer

Couchpotato

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Alrik Fassbauer

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screeg

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Soulbane

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