I grew up playing strategy games on my family’s home computer, tucked comfortably away in a corner of the dining room where my parents could supervise everything I did and played. They weren’t overly protective, thankfully, and I managed to experience countless exceptional games, like Company of Heroes and Jagged Alliance 2. These types of games were my bread and butter for the longest time, and I still fondly play both series. In fact, I’m excited to once more dive into a mercenary-fueled adventure with our Jagged Alliance 3 review!
Note: The developer/publisher was kind enough to send us a copy for review, but this does not impact our review or opinions.
Related: How Did the RTS Genre Begin? A Look at Its Origins and Evolution
How Does it Play?
As a turn-based tactics game with role-playing elements, Jagged Alliance 3 (Steam) combines the best of both strategy and RPGs with its broad selection of unique mercenaries that level up, gain new skills, and master dialogue choices and skill checks throughout the game. It’s the perfect melding.
The mercenaries you choose to start your journey genuinely do matter, and I found myself restarting once or twice to improve the composition of my first squad. I would make it nearly through the first island, only to discover those I chose did not mesh well with each other. Your mercenaries should complement each other’s skills and abilities.
Upon finding a squad that worked well for my playstyle, I flew through encounters relatively easily. I won’t say too easily, as I did lose a few mercs in my adventures. But that’s okay, I had a roster of over 40 to select from, plus the ability to create a custom mercenary.
With mercenary selection out of the way, players are thrust into the world with two different views: the tactical map and the world map. The tactical map is where all of the action takes place, with total control over the squad, including combat and exploration. The world map provides a greater overview of general operations, from movement between tiles to squad operations, like rest, healing, repairing, and training.
You’ll spend a fair amount of time in both views, though the majority of the gameplay takes place on the tactical map.
Here, we’ll carefully position mercenaries, flank enemies, and unleash devastating firepower. At least after a little while because most of your mercenaries start with nothing more than a pistol or knife.
The goal of the campaign is to take back the country, one tile at a time, and save the president, all the while getting rich off diamond mines. It’s an addictive and satisfying gameplay loop that rewards creativity, careful planning and well-maintained firepower.
Graphically Speaking, How is Jagged Alliance 3?
For the most part, with a few outliers, the strategy genre has never been one focused on graphical fidelity and groundbreaking advancements visually. It’s about mechanics, more so than anything else, but Jagged Alliance 3 features both. In many of its maps, it’s graphically beautiful. I mean, take a look at the above screenshot. It’s detailed down to the rubble in the street and the cracks in the sidewalk. Hell, even the grass looks fantastic.
Of course, whenever there’s a top-down view in video games, some textures wind up blurry or muddy, and JA3 is no stranger to such occurrences. Do they distract from the overall experience? No, not at all.
Alongside the environment, the character and weapon artists did an exceptional job. Every character is visually unique, from the iconic logo on Mouse’s sweatshirt to the cigar-smoking Fidel; they look unique and visually appealing. And of course, every weapon is exquisitely modeled, with a ton of customization options that change how each gun looks and performs.
Bugs?
During my countless play sessions with Jagged Alliance 3, I came across one bug. It was present in a few of my campaigns, though, repeatedly. It wasn’t generally a deal-breaker, either.
When administering first aid, Doctors tend to crouch to use the item. Furthermore, when entering stealth mode, characters crouch and slowly-walk about the map. But when either action was canceled, my characters would occasionally remain in those slow-moving crouch-walk. It was frustrating at times, but again, not game-breaking.
Otherwise, I never ran into a crash or corrupted save in my playtime, and that’s nice in today’s messed-up video game industry.
Is Jagged Alliance 3 Replayable?
Absolutely! With over 40 mercenaries to choose from, various play styles to experiment with, and an entire map to explore, fans of the series and genre can easily put hundreds of hours into the game. In fact, it’s entirely possible to put in 100 hours in a single playthrough.
For long-time fans of the series who have eagerly awaited a new release, Jagged Alliance 3 offers enough content at launch to keep everyone playing for many months. Add in additional content post-release, like DLC and expansions, and a vibrant modding community, and JA3 will last a lifetime.
Jagged Alliance 3; Yes or No?
Yes! Jagged Alliance 3 is exceptional in more ways than one, and whether you’re a fan of strategy games, tactical RPGs, or the Jagged Alliance franchise as a whole, it’s a winner worth every penny at full price.
I highly recommend Jagged Alliance 3!