Jagged Alliance 3 from Haemimont Games

[Yosharian]

Inventory Management is fucking awful.

I got some mods on my page, one of them is basically mandatory for managing your sector stash. No fucking sort button, what were they fucking thinking??

 

[raeven]

Inventory Management is fucking awful.

I got some mods on my page, one of them is basically mandatory for managing your sector stash. No fucking sort button, what were they fucking thinking??

I don't know.. this one floored me tbh. Hoping it's coming in a patch.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Games UI is seriously lacking and one of the worst I have seen. It is kind of an achievement.

 

[Feyd Rautha]

Is Calvin Barkmore in this game?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Is Calvin Barkmore in this game?

Alas, this is the principal failing of Jagged Alliance 3.

 

[ArchAngel]

Is Calvin Barkmore in this game?

Alas, this is the principal failing of Jagged Alliance 3.

It is just one of many failings.

 

[Beowulf]

Seems like some nice mods are already coming in:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3019207726&searchtext=

This mod introduces a suppression system, which is reflected in 5 new combat effects. While a counter tracks the suppression for each unit in the background, your units and opponents can acquire the following statuses:

• Shot At
• Under Fire
• Under Heavy Fire
• Suppressed
• Pinned down

The higher the status, the fewer APs are available to your characters in the next round and, in the case of interrupts, also in this round. In addition, units run the risk of panicking or going berserk.

 

[3 others]

Yeah, having played this a bit more on the mainland, the annoyances are getting more prominent. The inventory management screen is indeed an unbelievable abomination once you start getting more stuff and soldiers to play around with, just a total misfire on a PC screen. Especially repairing equipment in a sector with multiple squads is a total nightmare since the mercs assigned to the task can only fix their own squad's stuff.

The game economy (and some leftover assumptions from JA2) is starting to bite me in the ass too. As noted before, single shots are generally superior to burst fire even in close quarters so I'm starting to run low on ammo because I stubbornly kept firing those 3 shot bursts wondering if there's something I missed. I can definitely see where the sniper strategy comes from: the Gewehr campers are picking up kills left and right while my assault squad goes around tickling goons to death. It's like the sniper rifles are the only gun in the game that actually FEELS right. They're not necessarily overpowered per se, but everything else is underpowered in their main function... killing enemies. And if single shots are the best way to get some mileage from your assault rifles, why not go all the way with sniping?

That being said, a well-placed machine gun with a bipod racks up fearsome body counts too, and melee attacks, explosives & shotguns have their moments to shine in close, but it's a bit deflating to see how the game mechanics drift towards a singular advantageous approach. Maybe someone will eventually figure out a way to balance this all out, the game certainly seems moddable.

Other thing I'm having trouble with are the Meds (but enough about Nassim Nicolas Taleb). They aren't being sold at the flea market and since I generally try to roll with how the combat goes, my guys are getting wounded often. The early game stockpiles are a long gone memory, and I may have to start getting used to having slightly injured mercs taking part in firefights. As a double-monocled long-time Jagged Alliance enjoyer, I made the assumption that wounded mercenaries are increasingly useless in combat the closer they get to death, but it doesn't seem to be the case here at all (the same applies to enemies, better nick down those "almost dead" Zulus before they run across the map to slice Igor's ear off). Wounds reduce maximum HP but that seems to be the extent of it. Maybe autistically doctoring the squad to full health after each firefight wasn't the way to go but still... Though I admit that the idea of a ragtag group of mercenaries headed by a Polish bodybuilding retard having their own Anabasis scavenging for herbs in the Central African savannah is kind of entertaining. And not that out of place, I mean. 50 years ago we had Swedish noblemen flying personally procured WWI-era biplanes in the Biafran war. It's a strange continent.

Having got all that griping out of the way, Jagged Alliance 3 is still nothing less than glorious and just oozing with incline almost everywhere. It's just as good as JA2 at the time of its release, and I'm tired of pretending that game didn't have its set of issues - or areas of improvement - especially back then.

Every night after the kids are asleep and I've slap-and-tickled my wife to her fleeting satisfaction, I sit down on my PC and hit Grand Chien with as much enjoyment as we all got from Arulco back in the day. It's a good time to be alive.

 

[ArchAngel]

Yeah, having played this a bit more on the mainland, the annoyances are getting more prominent. The inventory management screen is indeed an unbelievable abomination once you start getting more stuff and soldiers to play around with, just a total misfire on a PC screen. Especially repairing equipment in a sector with multiple squads is a total nightmare since the mercs assigned to the task can only fix their own squad's stuff.

The game economy (and some leftover assumptions from JA2) is starting to bite me in the ass too. As noted before, single shots are generally superior to burst fire even in close quarters so I'm starting to run low on ammo because I stubbornly kept firing those 3 shot bursts wondering if there's something I missed. I can definitely see where the sniper strategy comes from: the Gewehr campers are picking up kills left and right while my assault squad goes around tickling goons to death. It's like the sniper rifles are the only gun in the game that actually FEELS right. They're not necessarily overpowered per se, but everything else is underpowered in their main function... killing enemies. And if single shots are the best way to get some mileage from your assault rifles, why not go all the way with sniping?

That being said, a well-placed machine gun with a bipod racks up fearsome body counts too, and melee attacks, explosives & shotguns have their moments to shine in close, but it's a bit deflating to see how the game mechanics drift towards a singular advantageous approach. Maybe someone will eventually figure out a way to balance this all out, the game certainly seems moddable.

Other thing I'm having trouble with are the Meds (but enough about Nassim Nicolas Taleb). They aren't being sold at the flea market and since I generally try to roll with how the combat goes, my guys are getting wounded often. The early game stockpiles are a long gone memory, and I may have to start getting used to having slightly injured mercs taking part in firefights. As a double-monocled long-time Jagged Alliance enjoyer, I made the assumption that wounded mercenaries are increasingly useless in combat the closer they get to death, but it doesn't seem to be the case here at all (the same applies to enemies, better nick down those "almost dead" Zulus before they run across the map to slice Igor's ear off). Wounds reduce maximum HP but that seems to be the extent of it. Maybe autistically doctoring the squad to full health after each firefight wasn't the way to go but still... Though I admit that the idea of a ragtag group of mercenaries headed by a Polish bodybuilding retard having their own Anabasis scavenging for herbs in the Central African savannah is kind of entertaining. And not that out of place, I mean. 50 years ago we had Swedish noblemen flying personally procured WWI-era biplanes in the Biafran war. It's a strange continent.

Having got all that griping out of the way, Jagged Alliance 3 is still nothing less than glorious and just oozing with incline almost everywhere. It's just as good as JA2 at the time of its release, and I'm tired of pretending that game didn't have its set of issues - or areas of improvement - especially back then.

Every night after the kids are asleep and I've slap-and-tickled my wife to her fleeting satisfaction, I sit down on my PC and hit Grand Chien with as much enjoyment as we all got from Arulco back in the day. It's a good time to be alive.

Switch to JA2 1.13 and you will skip the kids and wife and go straight for gaming.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

 

[Jinn]

Eh, an interesting take from a veteran Jagged Alliance 2 fan, but he's also coming from the "I'll replay the same games forever" perspective. Who asked for this game? People who aren't satisfied with playing the same stuff over and over again, I guess. I also think he's a little hard on the setting and writing. I've had a plenty of genuine laugh out loud moments, and find most of the characters to be quite memorable.

Overall, he seems to enjoy the game. It's just diminished when placed in the shadow to his favorite game of all time. One of the few videos of his I find myself mostly unsatisfied with.

 

[ArchAngel]

Storyfag complains about story and characters but says combat is OK. LOL wtf!
Storyfags everywhere!

 

[Zombra]

The more I play this, the more I realize that not only is it a solid strategy/tactics game, it's secretly the full fledged RPG I never knew I wanted. Character advancement is much less stingy than earlier titles, with enough level-ups and new perks to keep your squad evolving even if you never hire more than a team of 6. But you CAN hire more, and in essence have multiple "parties" operating at once, calling back to the team splitting mechanic in Wasteland, which I always expected more from. Turns out this here is the realization of that ideal. When I look at the map, my primary concern isn't conquering territory (although that's important too); I'm mainly checking the Notes tab for unfinished plotlines. It's a quest log. There's so much more to pursue here than "paint the map and kill the enemies", and building up not just your roster but each individual merc scratches the RPG itch so satisfyingly. My mind is kinda blown.

 

[ArchAngel]

The more I play this, the more I realize that not only is it a solid strategy/tactics game, it's secretly the full fledged RPG I never knew I wanted. Character advancement is much less stingy than earlier titles, with enough level-ups and new perks to keep your squad evolving even if you never hire more than a team of 6. But you CAN hire more, and in essence have multiple "parties" operating at once, calling back to the team splitting mechanic in Wasteland, which I always expected more from. Turns out this here is the realization of that ideal. When I look at the map, my primary concern isn't conquering territory (although that's important too); I'm mainly checking the Notes tab for unfinished plotlines. It's a quest log. There's so much more to pursue here than "paint the map and kill the enemies", and building up not just your roster but each individual merc scratches the RPG itch so satisfyingly. My mind is kinda blown.

I get all that with JA2 1.13 that I am currently playing and also I get good combat and big battles and whole thing feels like a war.

 

[Agame]

The more I play this, the more I realize that not only is it a solid strategy/tactics game, it's secretly the full fledged RPG I never knew I wanted. Character advancement is much less stingy than earlier titles, with enough level-ups and new perks to keep your squad evolving even if you never hire more than a team of 6. But you CAN hire more, and in essence have multiple "parties" operating at once, calling back to the team splitting mechanic in Wasteland, which I always expected more from. Turns out this here is the realization of that ideal. When I look at the map, my primary concern isn't conquering territory (although that's important too); I'm mainly checking the Notes tab for unfinished plotlines. It's a quest log. There's so much more to pursue here than "paint the map and kill the enemies", and building up not just your roster but each individual merc scratches the RPG itch so satisfyingly. My mind is kinda blown.

Getting similar feeling, and I am more compelled to keep playing this than Baldurs Gape 3 (Codex game of the year/Best game of all time etc).

Dialogues are great, snappy and to the point. Like the junkyard scenario is shown to you in quick cut scene and then you just immediately pick a side and slay some fools. Nice! AAA RPG would have walls of text explaining each sides motivations. Sometimes all you need is a few sentences and some visuals, and I as a player can fill in the rest. Not to say more in depth dialogue can be good for key characters when used appropriately.

Of course Fallout already nailed this 100 years ago...

 

[Yosharian]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1084160/view/3645154111876890482

Patch hasn't dropped yet but here are the notes. Some key points:

1. Modding tools
2. Source code is going to be released
3. In addition to diamond shipments travelling over the map, now there's weapon shipments too
4. Active pause option available, issuing attacks unpauses it
5. Leadership effect on travel time nerfed
6. Overwatch firing into cover tweaked (not sure about this yet)
7. Lots of bugs fixed but still some bugs present, Audaki's mods still required to fix these
8. Almost no balance changes

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I had way more fun with this than BG3. That game I had to force myself to play, this game I couldn't put down. Sad.

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Good shit.
Hope they stick to support this.

 

[Sacibengala]

This game is great and didn't even get years of early access. It should get much more praise than it has been given.

 

[ArchAngel]

Good shit.
Hope they stick to support this.

Yes. It has a chance to become a good game if they do stick with it and someone fixes the game for them.

 

[Pegultagol]

Wonder what their own patch v1.13 would be...a new difficulty mode and 'new' Bobby Ray's, anything less and I'ill be kinda disappointed.

 

[goregasm]

Still haven't picked this up, something about how the tone of it appears, is keeping me away.

It seems very..cartoonish? Or overly campy?

Is there anything remotely serious about the tone of the game?

Or is it essentially like what Bethesda did with fallout 3 in turning the campiness to 11?

JA2 had it's silly moments for sure, but I don't feel like it was the entire theme of it. JA3 seems like those moments are it's entire fucking identity...or am I off base?

 

[raeven]

Still haven't picked this up, something about how the tone of it appears, is keeping me away.

It seems very..cartoonish? Or overly campy?

Is there anything remotely serious about the tone of the game?

Or is it essentially like what Bethesda did with fallout 3 in turning the campiness to 11?

JA2 had it's silly moments for sure, but I don't feel like it was the entire theme of it. JA3 seems like those moments are it's entire fucking identity...or am I off base?

It does attempt some moments of seriousness, which clash somewhat with the otherwise campy tone.

The game is a blast though. Much more emphasis on the CRPG stuff, but also a lot more tactical mechanics to play with than previous games. The patch released yesterday plus the hotfix patch dropped today have really smoothed out the whole experience.

If you're hoping for gritty realism though you might understandably be disappointed.

 

[ropetight]

Still haven't picked this up, something about how the tone of it appears, is keeping me away.

It seems very..cartoonish? Or overly campy?

Is there anything remotely serious about the tone of the game?

Or is it essentially like what Bethesda did with fallout 3 in turning the campiness to 11?

JA2 had it's silly moments for sure, but I don't feel like it was the entire theme of it. JA3 seems like those moments are it's entire fucking identity...or am I off base?

It is goofy, but humor has different tone than self-aware fourth-wall breaking Marvel bullshit that infected everything.