Jagged Alliance Online

http://jaggedalliance.gamigo.com/en/

Revamped old school strategy game that can now be played for free in your browser.Just released.Give it a try while you wait for PoE open beta .Just stated trying it myself.Seems ok so far.has PVP areas as well.

This could be confusing as there's also a normal sequel
Jagged Alliance - Back in Action which is not free.

I only discovered the old ones a few months ago too although I haven't played much of them.

Personally, I found it dull, slow and far too simplistic, both in terms of available gameplay and its implementation of the Jagged Alliance mechanics.

To whit, the enemies react poorly (often running directly into your line of fire and, at times, right up to your face), most areas are littered with exploding canisters/barrels/crates for "cinematic" kills (quick and effortless, as I dub them) and all manner of things I'd taken for granted in Jagged Alliance 2 (v1.13) are simply nonexistent.

Worse yet, there is a distinct reliance on the Cash Shop for genuine power (weaponry and decent ammunition), a stamina-esque system that limits your daily playtime and the many characters who made the Jagged Alliance series so very memorable are reduced to ghosts of their former selves; indeed, although an effort has been made to implement voice-acting, veterans of the series will recognize it as little more than sound-clips from JA2, often poorly implemented.

My advice: stick to the singleplayer versions for now and hope that the beta resolves JAO into a passable, even enjoyable experience. At present, Back in Action is preferable to this dreck.


Postscript
The development studio responsible for JAOnline is also creating the forthcoming Shadowrun tactical online, browser-based game. Preliminary impressions seem to confirm that it is quite similar to JAO, save for the change of aesthetic, character types and weaponry. In short, the prospect of the gaming community receiving a proper Shadowrun game is dire.

...certainly that abomination in 2007 did nothing good for the franchise.

Having played more of it i can only but agree with you on every point you have made.It sucks steer clear.Do you happen to write for a living?If you dont you clearly should.

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SQUINT wrote:

Having played more of it i can only but agree with you on every point you have made.It sucks steer clear.Do you happen to write for a living?If you dont you clearly should.

Thanks, mate, but I'm just a simple student.

Shame about the game, though, isn't it? There's been a dearth of decent tactical games of late and, worse yet, all the truly grand franchises have or are being distorted into some grotesque mockery, a la Syndicate (FPS), XCOM (FPS), Age of Empires (Online Quasi-RTS) and, of course, this venerable series.

I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a head's up on anything decent you might chance across, as we appear to share similar tastes.
Best of luck...

I suggest you check out Frozen Synapse, it is probably the game with the best mechanics in the genre. Unfortunatly it lacks the charme of JA2 or X-COM when it comes to singleplayer but the multiplayer is incredible.

Instead of being turn based in the way of X-Com or JA it breaks the game into 5 second blocks. You can plan all your actions for this 5 seconds and even simulate the enemy reactions and outcome. Once you are ready you can submit your turn and the 5 seconds will play out in real time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVGu_ydmwm8

I think I dont need to say how awsome the soundtrack is.

The recommendation is much appreciated, Droggeltasse. I recall having read about Frozen Synapse early in its development but since lost track of it. The plan-and-go system it seems to embrace might take some getting used to (much as in JA: Back in Action) but I should be able to cope.

Thank you, again...

Think i will give this one a try thx! I grabbed Jagged Alliance Back in Action but theres alot about it that i think is a step backward.The militia is really annoying and its a tedious time waster trying to grab items left after clearing a tile.Still going to keep it with hope they do some fixes to make it more polished.the Modding community always help as well.

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SaintGraye wrote:

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SQUINT wrote:

Having played more of it i can only but agree with you on every point you have made.It sucks steer clear.Do you happen to write for a living?If you dont you clearly should.

Thanks, mate, but I'm just a simple student.

Shame about the game, though, isn't it? There's been a dearth of decent tactical games of late and, worse yet, all the truly grand franchises have or are being distorted into some grotesque mockery, a la Syndicate (FPS), XCOM (FPS), Age of Empires (Online Quasi-RTS) and, of course, this venerable series.

I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a head's up on anything decent you might chance across, as we appear to share similar tastes.
Best of luck...

An older one that was great for the first 2/3 of the game was Silent Storm. It's fantastic up until you get the mechs, and then it goes down hill. Unfortunately the balance was completely off at that point and all the time you spent investing in your characters' skills become mostly irrelevant. It's still worth a play through though.

You also might want to look at Frozen Synapse (available via STEAM and there is a demo to try it out http://store.steampowered.com/app/98200/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_4). It's a very unique tactical game where you try to predict your enemy's moves, set your way points and actions, then watch the action unfold. The graphics are nothing to write home about but the gameplay is both challenging and addictive and the music is cool. UFO: Extraterrestrials Gold and UFO: Afterlight are decent as well, though each of them have their problems.


If you like the fantasy based Turn Based Strategy games, Might and Magic: Heroes 6 is solid. It's easily the best one in the series since Heroes of Might and Magic 3. Granted that's not saying much considering 4 and 5 were nothing special. The remakes of the Kings Bounty series are fantastic as well.