Jagged Alliance 3 from Haemimont Games

[Ghulgothas]

The cornball humor won't gel with everyone and there ain't as many hits as there are misses, but I have to give this game credit for actually making me laugh on more than one occasion.

Spoiler

 

[Zombra]

I got sucked in last night until 1am which is always a good sign. All the combat grannies died to the last, but took out half the attack force in return, and I got to loot their guns. Win-win.

On Commando difficulty, I was able to preserve the lives of all but one. Rude Trudy just starts too isolated to rescue in time.
To be fair I save scummed after seeing where the town defenses were actually deployed (in my mind we were able to coordinate after I basically sat there waiting for 3 days).

And yeah I already have 15 hours in the game over 2 days played, while still trying to do normal weekend things. It's different, which we all knew it would be, but it goddamn sure scratches the itch.

 

[Ghulgothas]

I got sucked in last night until 1am which is always a good sign. All the combat grannies died to the last, but took out half the attack force in return, and I got to loot their guns. Win-win.

On Commando difficulty, I was able to preserve the lives of all but one. Rude Trudy just starts too isolated to rescue in time.
To be fair I save scummed after seeing where the town defenses were actually deployed (in my mind we were able to coordinate after I basically sat there waiting for 3 days).

And yeah I already have 15 hours in the game over 2 days played, while still trying to do normal weekend things. It's different, which we all knew it would be, but it goddamn sure scratches the itch.

I was lucky enough to stumble on an FN FAL early on along with a pair of 40mm shells for its underslung launcher; two shots from Nails exposed the west force to Buns' sniper fire while Hitman and Q handled the guys in the north. In the end, only lost two militia troopers.

No essential NPCs here, and I've had two battles after this where keeping a named character alive for the whole fight was an exercise in frustration; but in both cases each had a reward to give and something to say afterwards. And both accounted for gunning them down after the fight for what they had on them.

 

[Darkwind]

Maybe they started working on it, finished half way and just commented out all the code?

Probably, you can see the clothes clipping through the armor in the above clip. Fair amount of work to make sure every model plays nice. Only games I've seen do proper armor/clothing layering is Silent Storm Sentinels*, KCD, and Examina. (*and thus Hammer and Sickle as well).

Also looks to be modeled but not textured. Those bright white smooth models are what your typical Blender model looks like before you've applied normal maps, and then textures, etc. to it.

 

[Darkwind]

I'm honestly surprised by the writing, I expected gen xer cringe and an inability to discern tone (especially with slavs)

You are either confusing Xers with millennials / zoomers or you are an actual retard if you think Xers are cringe spend even a nanosecond in the presence of a Zoomer or Millennial with their stupid ass everything is ironic jokes aren't we edgy with our totally self-aware humor. Hurr durr...

 

[Zombra]

On the subject of civilian deaths, I had a great moment in that same sector where my whole team was on the upper floor of the "vantage point" market building (the intel system in the game is a super cool addition). The civilian merchants were all running out as the enemies were coming in one by one. I lined up a perfect sniper shot to the head of an enemy as he entered. The bullet passed clean through the enemy's skull, through the doorway and into a fleeing civilian's spine, killing him instantly and costing me loyalty with the town. The type of thing I might consider save scumming but luckily there is the "TO THE BITTER END" setting that disables saving during combat! Nice!

 

[bobocrunch]

I'm honestly surprised by the writing, I expected gen xer cringe and an inability to discern tone (especially with slavs)

You are either confusing Xers with millennials / zoomers or you are an actual retard if you think Xers are cringe spend even a nanosecond in the presence of a Zoomer or Millennial with their stupid ass everything is ironic jokes aren't we edgy with our totally self-aware humor. Hurr durr...

This insistence on being not cringe in the really tryhard way is why you guys are cringe, it's a different type. You are the fat gut-having bar dwellers like Hitman

Raven, ex-LAPD SWAT killing a black guy and his pet hyena: "This country desperately needs an animal control unit... other than me"

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Zed Duke of Banville

Tried to replicate:

Spoiler

Other fitting responses from the random generation:

• Most likely.
• You're better off not knowing.
• You may rely on it.
• Yes, definitely.

 

[Vityaz]

Looks like modders are already fixing some of the stupid design decisions of the game, like armor not showing up on your mercs.



Apparently, someone just enabled a code that was already in the game for it.

What an excellent demonstration of why this was a bad idea in the first place.

I mean it obviously looks bad since the model is unfinished, lacking a texture and is not properly fitted to the body, but my point was that the code and intention was there. And something can be done about it if the mod tools are at least half as good.

 

[Beowulf]

Do I really need to kill all the commies in Pentagruel to take control of the mine?

Not that that's a problem.

No, you'll get to 50 loyalty just by fighting the Legion, then you can do 1 or 2 quests (preferably including distributing this work of propaganda).

And the commie leader will realize that the revolution betrayed its own ideas and will step down giving you the mine.

 

[raeven]

The sector size varies by a huge degree. Many are smallish but some of these sectors absolutely dwarf anything in JA2.

 

[Beowulf]

Yes. I fell in love with the game.
There is only a handful of things that disappoint or frustrate me.
The biggest one is the UI and inventory management, which is pretty barebones (and might be the reason why there are no real vendors, but you purchase predefined items by interacting with the map).
And for the combat it's this damage reduction. At the beginning I didn't think it would be that big of an issue, but the way this damage reduction works for bursts and full auto actually promotes the degenrate silent sniper gameplay.
Basically if single shots are preferred, than why not use those with highest single shot damage - hence why sniper rifles trump assault rifles in this game. And if you pick a sniper rifle, why not attach a silencer.
Machine guns have their own niche and are actually useful, but you need to manage your ammo well if you are using one of those - either craft a lot of your MG ammo, or switch to a different ammo standard for the rest of the team.

 

[gogis]

This game is a good reminder why we should be grateful for JA2's existence.

Are people actually playing JA2(1.13) regularly or am I missing something? My last run was last autumn and I already logged more hours in this than then. Probably because Drassen/mine/retaliation starting sequence became a bit stale with repetition. Game's fine. It's different, it's clunky, but it's much funneh than both Wastelands or whatever garbage we were fed in past 20 years

 

[raeven]

Yes. I fell in love with the game.
There is only a handful of things that disappoint or frustrate me.
The biggest one is the UI and inventory management, which is pretty barebones (and might be the reason why there are no real vendors, but you purchase predefined items by interacting with the map).
And for the combat it's this damage reduction. At the beginning I didn't think it would be that big of an issue, but the way this damage reduction works for bursts and full auto actually promotes the degenrate silent sniper gameplay.
Basically if you single shots are preferred, than why not use those with highest single shot damage - hence why sniper rifles trump assault rifles in this game. And if you pick a sniper rifle, why not attach a silencer.
Machine guns have their own niche and are actually useful, but you need to manage your ammo well if you are using one of those - either craft a lot of your MG ammo, or switch to a different ammo standard for the rest of the team.

Agreed on both points, in that order of importance too. The lack of sector inventory sorting is baffling to me. I was replaying JA2 recently in anticipation and I was thinking about all the cool new sorting options JA3 would likely have... Then the first time I closed and reopened sector stash with everything still unsorted I died a little inside.

Im curious why burst and auto fire needed a damage nerf. They are already pretty inaccurate without it. I do think it is funny that a lot of issues with the game are re-creating issues that existed in JA2 as well.

That said, also agreed about falling in love with the game. It feels like a JA game to me.

 

[Beowulf]

Oh - one more thing. It seems like raising your stats doesn't work for increasing your AP's or increasing the backpack space. Seems like your mercs are stuck with what they have from the start.

 

[bobocrunch]

Shaped Charge Mishap!

 

[gogis]

Yes. I fell in love with the game.
There is only a handful of things that disappoint or frustrate me.
The biggest one is the UI and inventory management, which is pretty barebones (and might be the reason why there are no real vendors, but you purchase predefined items by interacting with the map).
And for the combat it's this damage reduction. At the beginning I didn't think it would be that big of an issue, but the way this damage reduction works for bursts and full auto actually promotes the degenrate silent sniper gameplay.
Basically if you single shots are preferred, than why not use those with highest single shot damage - hence why sniper rifles trump assault rifles in this game. And if you pick a sniper rifle, why not attach a silencer.
Machine guns have their own niche and are actually useful, but you need to manage your ammo well if you are using one of those - either craft a lot of your MG ammo, or switch to a different ammo standard for the rest of the team.

The problem with burst on assault rifles is that for some retarded reason each individual bullet in burst mode does less damage than single shot. I don't know what were they smoking but if you have gun which have 26 damage, for some reason it becomes something like 3*10 (wtf??) I still use it to spend "bad" ammo like 5.56 and 9m and conserve 7.62 wp/nato for sniper/mg's. That's being said, in mid-range encounters two burst with high calibre rifle does the same job as headshot from sniper rifle, you basically choosing between "may I do some guaranteed damage" vs "my idiot sniper missed 3 shots in a row".

Also, you haven't mentioned other sources. Explosives and melee specialists with proper perks are bonkers. Barry wiping 5-6 enemies with one shaping charge on demand will put smile on your face. In hard battles (like mafia boss mansion if you choose "kill all" option) your snipers will be burden - killing one enemy per turn is just not enough when you fighting 30 people bum-rushing you

 

[gogis]

I heard all mines will deplete eventually, is that true?

Just like in JA2. One of my early mines depleted already. I am more interested if timer is running on mines I do not control

 

[Morgoth]

So is this game actually good?

 

[gogis]

So is this game actually good?

Yes

 

[Abu Antar]

So is this game actually good?

Good tactical game? Yes.

Good Jagged Alliance game? Opinions are all over the place.

 

[raeven]

So is this game actually good?

Opinions are like assholes, the only way to find yours is to look for yourself

 

[Morgoth]

So is this game actually good?

Good tactical game? Yes.

Good Jagged Alliance game? Opinions are all over the place.

Do you mean it's another XCOM clone?

 

[Abu Antar]

So is this game actually good?

Good tactical game? Yes.

Good Jagged Alliance game? Opinions are all over the place.

Do you mean it's another XCOM clone?

Combat initiation is basically like XCOM, but combat in general? No.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Yes. I fell in love with the game.
There is only a handful of things that disappoint or frustrate me.
The biggest one is the UI and inventory management,

That said, also agreed about falling in love with the game. It feels like a JA game to me.

Just to make sure I wasn't just relying on shaky/nostalgic memories I went and spent a couple of hours playing JA2 AGAIN yesterday.
After playing both games back to back, I honestly think they have some very solid foundations in place here. IF they decide to move in the right direction rather than make more poor decisions this could become almost as good as JA2.

It wouldn't take much more than some post-release support (or maybe even a DLC) to have a worthy JA successor.
Modify a bit the initial engagement phase (adding active pause or whatever solution they can come up with to make it less messy), re-tweak some formulas here and there to adjust balance/scaling, do some clean-up on the UI, maybe add a proper shop somewhere and we are basically there.