The ever vagueness saying "AND MORE" couldn't be a more hopeful statement when it comes to the latest installment of the Jagged Alliance series: Jagged Edge Hired Guns for the PC. Brought to us by the company GFI (Russian so I wouldn't go screwing with them) HG is a total revamped game in the series which has traveled down the usual path of separation from the originals. The series is one of the rarest types of strategies in that it is a small squad turn based strategy. Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, the Commandos Series, Fallout, and Front Mission are some similar types but if you are looking for modern guerilla warfare strategies, you are even more limited in your choices.
This time set in Africa, HG takes you through most of the core values of the Jagged Alliance series such as laptop received directives to online purchasing of equipment and mercs to increased usage of action points for better accuracy per shot to the removal of an evil dictator. Hell, XEP624 is still the code used to start your psych test in the creation of your own character and many of the questions are still the same just reworded.
The squad screens within and outside the battlefields are very similar to the originals as well as the idea of needing to sap the resources of the land you are fighting on to make necessary expenditures unforgettable.
And this is where our journey through magical nostalgia land ends. The first step away is the utilization of three dimensions. The camera can be shifted every which way to get a good line of sight or to frustrate you to the point of launching your mouse pad across your living room. In order to not allow the camera to journey through objects (that's the way they set it up) you will find yourself spinning and angling until you give yourself a case of vertigo.
Most games of today will step you through some sort of tutorial and HG says, "um no" to that idea as they throw your face down in the muck to learn things the hard way. The learning curve for someone that played the originals multiple times through was still around 4+ hours. Someone entirely new to this type of game would sadly need 8-16 hours to get a good hold on how to play it. I am not exaggerating in the least about this as there are many mistakes that can be made and no way to catch them until it's too late.
For example, in the originals you could take over mining operations to help fund your mercenary needs which were payments for your equipment and guns for hire. This game however does not prompt you in any way except for small notes in the game manual and load screen tips that your hired assassins need cash more than once and must be paid promptly every day at 00:00. And where are you to secure means to pay your employees? Well, by taking over areas that have random amounts of income generation which cannot be known until you take over the area. You also can again recruit militia to defend your owned areas but in this game the amounts required are so enormous and non-refundable that it's worthless to do so.
Most of these differences stem from less micromanagement on the map screen. No more worrying about medkits vs first aid packs, vehicles, SAM sites, mechanical kits, need for leadership increases, landing zones, etc. Each contract for a specific merc is for one day reoccurring instead of choices of weeks. There is no way for a quick figure of next day income or contract expenses which again will lead to a mercenary leaving with good equipment to be forever lost if you can't afford their contract.
The battles are relatively good. Most show off modern techniques and keep bug issues to a minimum. You can now lob grenades easily through windows and even using bullets to help change the terrain around you. You can burn a few rounds into a door, creating a large hole and lay waste to everything behind it in a single turn. The battles are what make this series good and they are done with that intention. The available weapons are gigantically numerous and realism is abound.
But the major gap in the game is the storyline interlaced with environment. After a few days in the imaginary African nation, I forgot why I was even there. After a few more days I didn't care, I just wanted to finish the game. I didn't get the sense that I was raping and plundering the land for any good reason or any guilt for pumping a 40mm grenade right past the faces of African civilians into another group of people that just happened to be shooting back. You receive emails about your small triumphs over the evil dictator of the land but that's the only part of your progression that reminds you that you've, well, progressed. There were large improvements over translations from the demo version but still the occasional Englilsh problem would poke it's head out.
Overall, the Jagged Alliance series was one that I was glad to see resurrected, but I do not feel the need to replay this game compared to the old ones. I doubt anyone new to the series would even bother picking HG up, but for those that took a chance, will play through this feeling like they ate fast food even though a filet minot is what they were craving. Fills you up but are you satisfied?
Rating: 1.5 {on a -10 to 10 scale, 5+ being a must play}
On a different note while I was purchasing this game I noticed another on the same shelf that caught my eye purely because of its name. Space Siege made by the same guys (gas powered games) that did Dungeon Siege except this time is set out of the medieval fantasy realm and plunged into the space fantasy one. Reviews that I later read make it seem like a run of the mill dungeon crawler but I'm guessing someone that enjoyed the others for co-op play will probably enjoy this one too.
Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride
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