After nearly a quarter of a century, Jagged Alliance is kicking my butt again, and I couldn’t be happier. Poor luck, hubris, cheaping out on mercenary contracts plus a drizzle of enemy mortar fire has ended a 25-hour campaign with little chance of recovery. I’m not even mad—that was a spectacular last stand. I know what I did wrong. I start again, hiring an all-new team. Next time it’ll be different.
While XCOM has become synonymous with squad tactics, I’ve always carried a torch for Sir-Tech’s 1999 gem Jagged Alliance 2. A heady, mix of tactical gunfights, mercenary management and RPG dialog, sidequests and looting. It was also hard, but frustration was kept low through depth of combat and a deeply irreverent tone halfway between Commando and The A-Team, riffing on action films of the era.
Until now, nobody has recaptured that spark. The darker, edgier and joyless felt like the end. Thankfully, developer Haemimont Games had other ideas. modernizes and streamlines while still capturing the original’s spirit. It’s old-school at heart, and goofy as ever.
