Jagged Alliance: Back in Action

 PC
User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 189 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 189
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 189
  3. Negative: 70 out of 189
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  1. BattleXer
    Feb 11, 2012
    8
    In my opinion, this game is a rough diamond. As someone who has never played the original JA or JA2 games, I am still aware of the legendary reputation these games bring to the franchise. And thus the level of expectation which the community has towards this third installment.

    However, as a standalone game, not taking into account its heritage, I am immensely enjoying the experience.    In my opinion, this game is a rough diamond. As someone who has never played the original JA or JA2 games, I am still aware of the legendary reputation these games bring to the franchise. And thus the level of expectation which the community has towards this third installment.

    However, as a standalone game, not taking into account its heritage, I am immensely enjoying the experience. Gameplay reminds me a bit of the Men of War series of games. But with the added depth of a 'persistent' world map, which will feature random counterattacks from the defending forces on Arulco.
    Liberated towns or mines give you daily income, which can be spent on hiring new mercs or better equipment. Enemies drop loot, which can be sold or used to keep your mercs going. Militias can be equipped with guns from your stores to defend your holdings. All this and more makes for a very complex and satisfying game, with levels of interaction and tactical options rarely seen in games these days - mainstream RTS included. And just for trying to bring this experience to a new audience 10 or more years after the originals the developers deserve a 10.

    I do however have to subtract one point from my final rating due to sometimes flaky camera controls, which can be responsible for getting your mercs killed in tight situations. And another for samey, predictable AI, which will send all their goons out in the open and after your squad once one of them is spotted, rather than making use of their well entrenched positions.

    I can see how Fog of War would have made this game an even more intense experience, and it is a shame the devs decided to not include it in the final game. And I am sure that veterans of this series will have many more bones to pick, but JA:BiA as it stands, is head and shoulders above anything in the RTS realm that is currently on offer on the PC. And with patches already coming out 1 day after release, I am sure this game can be polished to an even brighter sheen.    … Expand
  2. Flashman
    Feb 11, 2012
    2
    This game is infuriating and sub-standard for so many reasons. It's riddled with bugs and seemingly inexplicable phenomena. To name but a few: I've had mercs spotted through walls, enemies alerted to a mercs presence for no apparent reason (yes I understand the stealth mechanics), enemy AI is appalling (you can eliminate a building full of enemies but just running a merc around theThis game is infuriating and sub-standard for so many reasons. It's riddled with bugs and seemingly inexplicable phenomena. To name but a few: I've had mercs spotted through walls, enemies alerted to a mercs presence for no apparent reason (yes I understand the stealth mechanics), enemy AI is appalling (you can eliminate a building full of enemies but just running a merc around the perimeter of the building, thus alerting the enemies, and then shooting them all as they come out of the door), the game is riddled with typos (e.g. some of the mercs have a trait called 'though', which is obviously meant to be 'tough'), the voices acting is poor and annoying (who honestly wants to have their merc scream the same phrase over and over again every time you select them?), the towns are lifeless and dull (filled with aimlessly wandering NPCs who interact with nothing, they remind me of playing Ultima). There's also myriad other infuriating gameplay problems, such as when you stealth melee someone in crouch mode, you inexplicably change to run mode after the kill, which means if you move, you automatically alert everyone in the area to your presence), NPCs also have a tendency to block you into confined spaces (I've had a merc stuck in a garage for an entire mission because a child decided to sit on the floor in the only exit and refused to move). Dialogue is appalling and the sub-quests uninteresting. Combat is unfulfilling and tedious (the rag-doll bodies are about the most satisfying part) and generally consists of endlessly having to reload whilst you try and make-up for the non-sensical mechanics (e.g. tell a merc to shoot an enemy that is running towards them, and if the enemy passes out of sight for a second (e.g. to run around a tree) the order is cancelled and your merc generally ends up dying unless you continually re-tell him to shoot the target. Other problems elevate the game to the height of tedium (why, for example, when buying and selling items can you not just cycle through the various mercs, rather than having to individually move each merc to the vendor?). The game feels like an unfinished b-movie. You might overlook these things if it were £10 (but even then it'd annoy the hell out of you) but for £30 you expect a game to have proper A.I., a user-friendly interface and acceptable game mechanics. Back in Action has none of these. It is a franchise that has clearly not moved on since the last decade, which is a shame, because I really wanted to enjoy it.… Expand
  3. Skyy
    Feb 11, 2012
    5
    The biggest problem of this game is it's name. The original Jagged Alliance 2 is just such a big and popular game that it's incredibly hard to compete with, especially if you make a remake and remove most of the critical gameplay elements. While not being a bad tactics game, Jagged Alliance Back in Action is a mere shadow of JA2, with lots of problems ranging from horrible controls, awfulThe biggest problem of this game is it's name. The original Jagged Alliance 2 is just such a big and popular game that it's incredibly hard to compete with, especially if you make a remake and remove most of the critical gameplay elements. While not being a bad tactics game, Jagged Alliance Back in Action is a mere shadow of JA2, with lots of problems ranging from horrible controls, awful character images, removal of almost all tactial-map features and more.… Expand
  4. YourNeighbour
    Apr 19, 2013
    3
    First of all, warning to the people who are planning on buying:
    YOU CANNOT MAKE YOUR OWN MERC AS OF PATCH 133(E)
    Apart from the graphics, everything from game mechanism to scenario looks like a downgrade. There's a lot of limitations that comes with BIA compared to JA2. You cannot plant bombs anywhere you want You cannot DIY your makeshift traps with landmines You cannot bash    First of all, warning to the people who are planning on buying:
    YOU CANNOT MAKE YOUR OWN MERC AS OF PATCH 133(E)

    Apart from the graphics, everything from game mechanism to scenario looks like a downgrade. There's a lot of limitations that comes with BIA compared to JA2.

    You cannot plant bombs anywhere you want
    You cannot DIY your makeshift traps with landmines
    You cannot bash enemies with a crowbar
    You cannot unlock a door with a shotgun
    And the list goes on, there's a lot of things you could do in JA2 that is totally missing in BIA, playing BIA is more of a chore than fun. Ten minutes into the game and you can tell that the developers have not really played Jagged Alliance 2.

    It's not that exciting. Another example of failed resurrection by developers who wants to make easy dollars    … Expand
  5. greywolf00
    Jun 27, 2013
    6
    Definitely a deviation from the JA series but is an ok game in it's own right. By far, my biggest complaints are with the AI.

    Your soldiers are absolute morons and can't do anything without being micromanaged. Even when set to guard your Mercs often won't shoot at enemies within range and sight zone, you have to manually tell them "Hey kill that guys who's raping your face." They see a    Definitely a deviation from the JA series but is an ok game in it's own right. By far, my biggest complaints are with the AI.

    Your soldiers are absolute morons and can't do anything without being micromanaged. Even when set to guard your Mercs often won't shoot at enemies within range and sight zone, you have to manually tell them "Hey kill that guys who's raping your face." They see a mine? Better halt em or they'll run over it. This is super annoying when splitting a squad into smaller teams for flanking. Want them to go talk to someone? Better hope there's no closed doors in the way. They are incapable of opening them to get to somewhere on their own. Also ran into several issues with game freezes & crashes.

    For a real time squad based game, which I tend to hate in comparison to turn based, it isn't too bad thanks to the ability to pause and issue commands. Though sadly, even that system has it's flaws. Once your guys run out of shoot commands, they'll stop shooting. I often found myself just staying in real time or loading up with dozens of shoot commands to cut down on the micromanaging.    … Expand
  6. yogibbear
    Aug 12, 2014
    9
    Played this when it first came out and got < 1 hr into the game having cleared the first airport. Gave up in dissappointment and I remember at the time I moved onto a host of other brilliant and amazing games at the time. My major complaint was that the game didn't feel "tactical" because I could see all the enemies...

    Well I reloaded the game the past few days and have now put 18 hrs    Played this when it first came out and got < 1 hr into the game having cleared the first airport. Gave up in dissappointment and I remember at the time I moved onto a host of other brilliant and amazing games at the time. My major complaint was that the game didn't feel "tactical" because I could see all the enemies...

    Well I reloaded the game the past few days and have now put 18 hrs into the campaign. This time around the game has received several patches since and one of them added is a "tactical FOW" mode which literally fixes ALL of my complaints and make the game feel truly great. I have no idea why this wasn't in place from day zero, but it literally is the different between scoring this a 5/10 and giving it a 9/10.    … Expand
  7. gas
    Jul 31, 2012
    3
    Duno if they were out of money, out of time, or just out of skills, but this 2012 edition falls badly compared to the 1999 original one, also the ja2 got one of the biggest and most impressive mod out there (1.13, there are also some others very good btw) which makes the comparison even more bashing this new one.
    This Back in actions is half finished, its bugged, and mostly its ridded by    Duno if they were out of money, out of time, or just out of skills, but this 2012 edition falls badly compared to the 1999 original one, also the ja2 got one of the biggest and most impressive mod out there (1.13, there are also some others very good btw) which makes the comparison even more bashing this new one.
    This Back in actions is half finished, its bugged, and mostly its ridded by terrible developer choices.
    The camera controls are awful, in some maps the point of view is so low that i was wondering if they ever tested it.
    The line of sight/cover system is full of bugs and also when it works it goes against common sense in many cases, like covering behind a tree results in having half los blocked by the tree itself.
    For some reason they stripped out half content which was in the original, there are less mercs, less traits, no training, no cars, no chopper, less npcs, less quests, and they changed the story in a manner that make no sense.
    To mention also the very sub par voice acting, which is instead superb in the original one.    … Expand
  8. netcoder
    Jul 9, 2012
    1
    I have been a big fan of JA2 back in the days. I've read some reviews before buying this one and got the demo. The reviews were bad, but the demo was sort of okay so I gave it a shot by buying it on Steam.

    Well I don't see anything fun about this game, which is the reason you play games in the first place. It's not that it's not like JA2: it's not and it's fine. It's just not fun,    I have been a big fan of JA2 back in the days. I've read some reviews before buying this one and got the demo. The reviews were bad, but the demo was sort of okay so I gave it a shot by buying it on Steam.

    Well I don't see anything fun about this game, which is the reason you play games in the first place. It's not that it's not like JA2: it's not and it's fine. It's just not fun, period. The AI will spot you out of nowhere even if you're crawling behind them and make no noise at all. Your squad member will take 2 seconds to aim a gun even if he/she has 90 Marksmanship skill. If your character gets hit, it resets the counter too. That basically means that a guy running over 200 meters with an axe will kill you even if you have a shotgun and is facing him, because of the weird randomization of the game (in this case, the aiming speed).

    The auto-save is horrible, it basically saves you "just" before you start combat. Most of the time loading an auto-save means getting blown to smithereens because for some reason, loading a save will not pause the game for you (even with all the auto-pause events activated). Enemies are clearly overpowered. I was used to overpowered enemies in JA2 but this is even worse, because of the counter-reset thing. Enemies will just blast your squad in seconds even if you play very tactical.

    There's no strafing possible in the game, which means everytime you go around a corner you get shot if someone's there, because your character will not "spot" them until you face them (line of sight). The controls are poor: they give you tips during loading screens about aiming manually yet give you no clue about how to do it. Hell, I even get most tips in German for some reason.

    I have really no idea why this game passed QA. If you liked JA2, don't buy this game. If you hated JA2, don't buy this game. If you don't care about JA2, well don't buy this game. It's not a game at all anyway.    … Expand
  9. prymekbad
    Oct 26, 2013
    5
    It is not a bad strategy game, but is not good either. And having in mind how long it took to get in done, and how huge the fan base od original JA is (they could limit marketing spending to zero and even then fing millions of potential buyers), a mediocre game is not an option. And it is sadly a mediocre game. Damn You Kalypso...
  10. Whizkid
    Oct 24, 2014
    10
    game is better than most of the JA wannabe including the recent JA Flashback, get this game when its on sale and get the 2 mods either combat evolve or realism and u not look back.

    game is like a real time strategy game u need to plan the attack and positioning of your mercs is important as in real life combat.
  11. Distortion
    May 7, 2015
    0
    TBH i was soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited when i heard they're going to make another Jagged Alliance... But when this came out, everything that I've hoped for is destroyed. From tons of bugs, **** voice actors to a changed game mechanics, this is one hell of a embarrassment to the Jagged Alliance titles. Gotta Admit I pirated this game first to see if its awesome as its predecessor orTBH i was soooooooooooooooooooooooo excited when i heard they're going to make another Jagged Alliance... But when this came out, everything that I've hoped for is destroyed. From tons of bugs, **** voice actors to a changed game mechanics, this is one hell of a embarrassment to the Jagged Alliance titles. Gotta Admit I pirated this game first to see if its awesome as its predecessor or not, but now it has no room in my HDD (even for a pirated version).… Expand
  12. Megatanis
    Aug 24, 2012
    3
    What a pity. I played all the XCOM, fallout, jagged alliance etc games, and I must say I really enjoyed them. Especially the xcom series, with that mix of tactics and strategy, economic management and R&D, so freaking awesome. And JA2, I discovered this game quite "late", and wow what a gem! Fun, difficult, nice humor, very immersive. Jagged Alliance Back in Action has some very seriousWhat a pity. I played all the XCOM, fallout, jagged alliance etc games, and I must say I really enjoyed them. Especially the xcom series, with that mix of tactics and strategy, economic management and R&D, so freaking awesome. And JA2, I discovered this game quite "late", and wow what a gem! Fun, difficult, nice humor, very immersive. Jagged Alliance Back in Action has some very serious flaws, for a tactical squad level game. 1. No fog of war. Are you kidding? no, really. No fog of war. Try to understand the deep meaning of this statement. Try thinking xcom without fow. Try to imagine a tactical engagement where you are aware of EVERY single enemy position right from the start. Magic! Telepathy! Just..why? 2. Inventory management. What inventory management? to sell items, you have to select every single merc and talk individually with the merchant. If I want to SWAP items between my mercs, I can't do it from the strategic map. You must load a tactical map and do it from there in real time. Try thinking when you have I dunno, 8 mercs, ten maps full of items, and you have to manage this mess. Of course, no sector inventory, so you have to load maps and run around fetching stuff left over from that time when you were too loaded to carry other suff away. For the first time in my life, I disregarded drops from enemies in pure frustration, since if you don't pick up something as soon as you kill an enemy, well good luck running around the whole map. Not fun.
    3. Militia: now this is really ridiculous. Apply all that was said for inventory management, and now imagine that you must equip EVERY SINGLE militia (auto generated guys that fight to defend your territories when you are not there) manually, by giving them weapons and armor. Tedious is an euphemism. It literally takes hours. But don't worry, militia is useless in any case, you're much better off just selling your stuff to equip your mercs.

    I don't know, instead of going forward in terms of innovation, immersion, gameplay, in one word FUN, this game is a huge step back if compared to JA2. And since it's called "Jagged Alliance back in action" well..you are gonna get comparisons. JA2 is what, 10 years old?? shame shame shame..can't give a higher score to a TACTICAL game with no fow, sorry. Yeah graphics are ok.

    So they destroyed the fallout series, crippled heroes of might and magic, utterly smashed to pulp that miracle of a game that was civilization, and really did a bad job with Jagged Alliance.. now what? oh right, xcom! i would not be surprised if it was a spaghetti western in a post atomic world where you must hunt down dinosaurs. BUT...hey it's 3D!    … Expand
  13. undaunted1
    Jan 6, 2014
    0
    They ruined all the good things about jagged alliance. What the people who love jagged alliance want is a new jagged alliance, different missions, more characters, and more guns and gadgets. Not the same old story tossed on a totally different game with the same name. they threw out all the awesome aspects of the gameplay and gave us a terrible interface and confusing controls. terriblyThey ruined all the good things about jagged alliance. What the people who love jagged alliance want is a new jagged alliance, different missions, more characters, and more guns and gadgets. Not the same old story tossed on a totally different game with the same name. they threw out all the awesome aspects of the gameplay and gave us a terrible interface and confusing controls. terribly disappointed with this lame excuse for a jagged alliance. It had so much potential and fell extremely short.… Expand
  14. pazmacats
    Apr 19, 2012
    0
    The difference between 1999 and 2012 in video games. 2012 releases a half-finished game that lacks any kind of creativity, but has 3D environment.
    The UI of this game is terrible and a whole lot inferior to Frozen Synapse. The gameplay is okay for about 2 or 3 hours, but after that you start to notice the AI issues (either rush or camp) and the lack of ... everything.
    No destructible    The difference between 1999 and 2012 in video games. 2012 releases a half-finished game that lacks any kind of creativity, but has 3D environment.
    The UI of this game is terrible and a whole lot inferior to Frozen Synapse. The gameplay is okay for about 2 or 3 hours, but after that you start to notice the AI issues (either rush or camp) and the lack of ... everything.
    No destructible environment.
    No throwing weapons.
    No Fog of War.
    No Stealth kills.
    No story.
    No cash management.
    No (global) inventory screen.
    No merc friendships or personality.
    No aliens.

    It's a depressing piece of low-budget junk.
    0.5 points to the guy who designed the engine. Because the 3D environment sort of works alright.    … Expand
  15. modboy84
    Feb 14, 2012
    7
    For as many reasons this game upsets me it also makes me happy. The biggest disappointment was the lack of custom character generation. This was an integral part of Jagged Alliance 2 as it affected the balance of your mercenary squad to a point where you could not only control it by having money but by having a character generated to your spec. There is a lot to speak good about though,For as many reasons this game upsets me it also makes me happy. The biggest disappointment was the lack of custom character generation. This was an integral part of Jagged Alliance 2 as it affected the balance of your mercenary squad to a point where you could not only control it by having money but by having a character generated to your spec. There is a lot to speak good about though, you have the characters and the story you loved from Jagged Alliance 2 but the play style is different. It's different in a way that makes it more challenging, and makes you want to plan your infiltrations better. I liked Jagged Alliance & Jagged Alliance 2 dearly even though this isn't an exact remake it still hits an enjoyable note. Don't expect a true to life remake if you decide to try this, the turn based aspect is gone and replaced by a pause,think-and-move style. Overall the voice acting could be better, the AI could be better and they could definitely add IMP back. I would recommend giving this game a try if you haven't already.… Expand
  16. Kelemvor
    Feb 13, 2012
    2
    How someone can screw up a remake of such a great game is beyond me. They had everything. The story, the maps, the weapons etc. They could have just COPIED everything with better graphics, and most fans would have bought this game outright.
    The AI is very erratic. Most of the times it just seems stuck. It ignores weapon ranges and tries to hit you with a shotgun, 120 yards away. Other    How someone can screw up a remake of such a great game is beyond me. They had everything. The story, the maps, the weapons etc. They could have just COPIED everything with better graphics, and most fans would have bought this game outright.
    The AI is very erratic. Most of the times it just seems stuck. It ignores weapon ranges and tries to hit you with a shotgun, 120 yards away. Other times it moves in loops without actually doing something useful.
    There is no fog of war. You enter a map, and you can see where everyone is. No surprises, no suspense. The plan&Go is an ok mechanic but in no way as good as the round based system in the original.
    The management aspect has been botched extremely. You don't have to pay your soldiers regularly, you just "buy" them. An illogical and unnecessary streamlining. On the other hand you have to arm militia by hand like in XCOM. But the militia can be so numerous, that you have to arm 30 people by hand. Why?
    Even the story presentation is bad. How can someone make cutscenes which look WORSE and more ugly than in the 13 year old original, with its minimalistic graphics?
    Sorry, how someone can fail so badly in doing a remake with had nearly perfect mechanics is beyond me. Please don't buy this game, or we have to endure comparable **** games in the future!    … Expand
  17. tijauna
    Feb 13, 2012
    9
    it is getting more and more obvious. you can stick all these paid or "young and inexperienced" reviews up your a...

    if you know what you want you should definitely give this game a try. this is one of the truest reboots ever.

    additionally "back in action" is technically flawless and preforms very well beside from most AAA titles today.
  18. gromit
    Feb 23, 2012
    3
    This is the Duke Nukem forever of the JA series. This game disappoints on so many levels, The extremely poor quality AI, the idiotic pathing, the bugs. The game has the look and feel of JA without the quality or fun factor. such a shame as I was looking forward to this game, they really didn't need to do much to the orginals to make this game a hit, just about every step they took in thisThis is the Duke Nukem forever of the JA series. This game disappoints on so many levels, The extremely poor quality AI, the idiotic pathing, the bugs. The game has the look and feel of JA without the quality or fun factor. such a shame as I was looking forward to this game, they really didn't need to do much to the orginals to make this game a hit, just about every step they took in this release was a backwards one.… Expand
  19. ThanatosMk2
    Feb 15, 2012
    8
    This is one of the few games in a while that I've played where the tutorial is mandatory. It is mandatory primarily because it is the only way to learn the non-remappable control schema. That being said, once you get going, the game-play is engaging. I started playing after several bugs were already patched, and the devs are patching more every day. Judging the game on its own meritsThis is one of the few games in a while that I've played where the tutorial is mandatory. It is mandatory primarily because it is the only way to learn the non-remappable control schema. That being said, once you get going, the game-play is engaging. I started playing after several bugs were already patched, and the devs are patching more every day. Judging the game on its own merits rather than it's predecessors, I can say that this is a solid game on it's own. Hopefully the modding community can get in gear to make the items we miss come back in this iteration.… Expand
  20. Aquariumterror
    Feb 16, 2012
    8
    No Way! They used to take a 13 year old game and put it into 2012 with some cool new things (Plan&Go) - but left a lot of cool features from the original (SciFi mode, Create-your-own-soldier, Crafting) - But it is a good game which takes me to Aruclo for more than 20 hours and I am still fascinated and explore everything.
  21. Rattlefinger
    Feb 21, 2012
    7
    First: I played JA2. Second: I loved it. Third: It was a cheating b***ard (don't tell me, that in the middle of the night someone shoots me in the head with a .38 repeatedly, from it's max effective distance, and it's not "cheating". Or when 2 consecutive bursts from an Uzi directed to an enemy 1 (one) step away miss completely....). Maybe JABiA cheats too, but not as hard, and frankly, itFirst: I played JA2. Second: I loved it. Third: It was a cheating b***ard (don't tell me, that in the middle of the night someone shoots me in the head with a .38 repeatedly, from it's max effective distance, and it's not "cheating". Or when 2 consecutive bursts from an Uzi directed to an enemy 1 (one) step away miss completely....). Maybe JABiA cheats too, but not as hard, and frankly, it needs it. The AI is not too bright, however it could surprise you a few times. Anyway most of the enemies can be eliminated by lure tactics, but when the AI is on the defence, you can count on that it will not send all its men to the slaughter; you have to go in, to finish the job. -- I like this game, although it's far from perfect. Sometimes I experience unexplainable slowdowns, mostly occurring when the roof of a building is removed for a better view. You can't remove the roofs of "distant building" (more than a few feet away...) so it's quite possible, that you can't issue a fire order, even if the enemy is in your mercenary's line of sight. You have to get used to the camera; in my opinion it's movement is too restricted. There are clipping problems, which will not only look weird, but will hinder you: f.e. your mercenary lies behind a cover, but their weapon and hands clip through it, making them a shootable target. Of course you can pull them back a bit, but still, it's annoying. There are problems with issuing orders, especially when you want them to shoot on a moving enemy at close range. They will aim, then state they can't hit the target, turn to face it, aim again, state it's impossible to shoot at it, etc. Especially annoying when they can't finish a single axe-armed guy off, and thanks to it he kindly chops a few of your men to pieces. The militia, in its current form is quite unusable, or should I say, it's not worth investing money, or loot in it, but hey, you have mercs, to defend your territory. -- What I mean to say is that this game has it's own share of problems, _but_ it's still a good, enjoyable game. The graphics are outdated, but it's far from ugly; the sounds and music are good (in my opinion), and when those annoyances mentioned earlier don't make their appearances, the action is quite enjoyable; for me, it has that certain urban warfare feeling with the heavy need to use cover, popping out from behind it just for a few moments, to harass the enemy with a handful of bullets. JABiA is not a genre defining product, it was never meant to be that, but I enjoy playing it. I would give it an 8, were it not for the number of minor, more or less avoidable glitches.… Expand
  22. steevm
    Nov 14, 2012
    8
    (Note: This is an updated review to reflect changes in the latest patches.) Ok, so it's not as good as Jagged Alliance 2. But how many games are? he new real-time system is quite fun (and I'm(Note: This is an updated review to reflect changes in the latest patches.) Ok, so it's not as good as Jagged Alliance 2. But how many games are? he new real-time system is quite fun (and I'm normally a TBS nutter!) and the ability to plan your strategy while the game is paused is well implemented. A number of patches have removed or alleviated some of the more blatant flaws in the initial release - the addition of sector inventories is a godsend, although equipping militas is still cumbersome (you need to run around and talk to each merc to equip them). If you can see past the lack of FOW and some of the other changes since JA2, there's a lot of fun to be had here. If you desperately want to play JA2, well, then play JA2, it's still the great game it always was.… Expand
  23. Vasot
    Feb 14, 2012
    7
    A good game but ithe gameplay is inferior compared to JA2. After Kalypso launched the latest patches for the game the A.I is improved and some bugs were fixed. Unfortunately still the game lacks a lot of the features of JA2 and the the combat becomes monotonous after a while. Anyway this is a good reboot of the series but it is not great
  24. Kris_
    Feb 16, 2012
    0
    If you're considering on buying this, DONT. This is exactly the kind of product that just tries to abuse a known franchise by making a half-assed sequel.

    What you will find, is nothing like jagged alliance. You can't even call it "modernized" turn-based strategy. For a free game it might be ok, but it's nowhere near the quality any commercial product should been.

    Verdict: Not Fun At All.
  25. Diaord
    Feb 11, 2012
    7
    This game is an interesting experience, it provides the player with the kind of game-play that is oft ignored or unheard of in modern gaming. The game has a sense of tactics that many RTS games eschew in favour of faced based game-play. The game provides an interesting set of characters and a sometimes humorous set of Easter eggs. In addition, it seems the writers decided to bypassThis game is an interesting experience, it provides the player with the kind of game-play that is oft ignored or unheard of in modern gaming. The game has a sense of tactics that many RTS games eschew in favour of faced based game-play. The game provides an interesting set of characters and a sometimes humorous set of Easter eggs. In addition, it seems the writers decided to bypass copyright law by mixing names, like the hallowed SAM-AF and the Klock 18. Finally, the game provides a half-decent [not completely decent] UI that ranges from intelligent in some areas and even enlightened, to completely idiotic in others. There is a lot to be said for this game. It has its flaws and it has its pros. Among the many flaws of this game are the huge amount of system-crashing bugs one will experience when playing the game, which effectively limits the employability of the game with their continual and common occurrence.… Expand
  26. Admiral_Awesome
    Feb 25, 2012
    4
    Frustration. This is the first thing that comes to mind while playing this game. Especially when you fight in buildings (try throwing grenades in buildings). The enemy's are hitting you from impossible angles (for example i got hit with a shotgun which was fired four times out of weapon range), they spot you no matter what you do and they charge right up front. Only thing you need to do isFrustration. This is the first thing that comes to mind while playing this game. Especially when you fight in buildings (try throwing grenades in buildings). The enemy's are hitting you from impossible angles (for example i got hit with a shotgun which was fired four times out of weapon range), they spot you no matter what you do and they charge right up front. Only thing you need to do is clicking at them repeatedly so your mercs shoot em down while they charge (without taking any cover). If you like this kind of game play (not turn based,etc.) try frozen synapse, its cheaper and way better.… Expand
  27. Joshua_Northey
    Feb 14, 2012
    9
    I look at the extremely negative user reviews from people who "loved" JA2 and I wonder what game they are playing. Now this game (and JA2) are not for everybody, but if you like JA2, XCOM or squad based tactical games I don't see what is not to like here.

    Are there things this game is lacking that JA2 had? Absolutely. But it also has made some real improvements in many areas, and the    I look at the extremely negative user reviews from people who "loved" JA2 and I wonder what game they are playing. Now this game (and JA2) are not for everybody, but if you like JA2, XCOM or squad based tactical games I don't see what is not to like here.

    Are there things this game is lacking that JA2 had? Absolutely. But it also has made some real improvements in many areas, and the "plan and go" system is a great idea that works very well and will perhaps breath some new life into this genre. JA2 was a 10/10, especially considering when it was made. But just because this game has some glitches and needs a little more polish doesn't mean it deserves a "2" like people give an unfinished abortion of a game like Sword of the Stars 2. This game is substantially finished, playable and a lot of fun. And personally I play games to have fun, not to pick them apart with comparisons with a determined effort to find every way they could be better. I get the impression some people reviewing this either haven't played it, or bought it specifically to pick it apart, which is quite silly if you ask me.

    The voice acting could be better, but it is sufficient. The combat mechanics are not perfect, but they are fun and make sense. The interface could really use so work to make managing inventories better, but my understanding is that is in the next patch. I thought the music was quite good, and the graphic elements were absolutely excellent for a game like this.

    The strategy map is a real improvement over the old classic, parts of the interface are greatly improved (and other parts missing/lacking). Anyway if you liked JA2, or XCOM, or the UFO: A series, or Laser Squad Nemesis, et cetera and you would like to play a modern game with those elements than this is just the thing for you.

    I had very modest expectations and it has been the game I have had the most fun with since portal 2 was released (and I buy a game a week).    … Expand
  28. LordOsiris
    Feb 19, 2012
    0
    This game should have been a great game. However, they decided to sell "cheat codes" or extra gear as DLC. This is unacceptable for any modern game. I don't want anyone's success in a game based off of how much they paid to play a game. The game would have been great had they not based your starting situation off how much you were going to pay to play. I hope the company that madeThis game should have been a great game. However, they decided to sell "cheat codes" or extra gear as DLC. This is unacceptable for any modern game. I don't want anyone's success in a game based off of how much they paid to play a game. The game would have been great had they not based your starting situation off how much you were going to pay to play. I hope the company that made this goes bankrupt simply based on how they chose to market it.… Expand
  29. JKaylor
    Feb 14, 2012
    6
    It's such a disappointment yet I can't stop playing it. The game is clearly unfinished, from the bland character models, lack of the personality and charm from the original series, and no polish. You can even hear the gore exclamations, "Wow, that was gross!" and the enemy models fall in the same tired fashion. You know there is a horrific death animation that just wasn't added in. TheIt's such a disappointment yet I can't stop playing it. The game is clearly unfinished, from the bland character models, lack of the personality and charm from the original series, and no polish. You can even hear the gore exclamations, "Wow, that was gross!" and the enemy models fall in the same tired fashion. You know there is a horrific death animation that just wasn't added in. The mercenaries are all generic character models, with almost no details to distinguish them. How is it that the game from 1999 has better portrayals of these classic characters in terms of graphics and voice acting. Remember those cutscenes from JA2 that showed Elliot getting slapped around and feeling the genuine rage of the Queen and the progression of your campaign? Well, those are gone too. The tactical aspect of training rebels, and mercenaries has also been removed. You collect a weapon and hand it to an available freedom fighter. He becomes militia. Which you might as well give them all knives because the weapons and armor seems to make almost no difference, and they will lose the battle. Most of the game will be limited by retaking points and stationing your mercenaries near various parts of the map to intercept and defend the cities before the squads even get near them.

    But even with all the bugs, poor AI at times, and just lack of any type of production value, there is a solid game hidden behind it all. The mix of real time and planning during battles is challenging and addicting. You'll find yourself re-loading after getting wiped out over and over again and enjoying every minute of it. Learning from each approach until you find the perfect strategy to clear the immediate area and move on. There is still a large selection of weapons, armor, camouflage and items which stay true to the Jagged Alliance style.

    This game could have been so much more and it falls short on so many levels. I really hope the modding community can fix this mess of a game and bring out the amazing potential that it could and should have had.    … Expand
  30. urmumisanrpm
    Feb 12, 2012
    2
    If you liked jagged alliance, chances are you won't like this game. Whilst the developers have supposedly innovated with a plan and go system, they have clearly cut corners everywhere else and also while they are at it, robbed your grandma. The game feels like jagged alliance interpreted through creative ballet. Without fog of war the game is severely broken. It was in the early devIf you liked jagged alliance, chances are you won't like this game. Whilst the developers have supposedly innovated with a plan and go system, they have clearly cut corners everywhere else and also while they are at it, robbed your grandma. The game feels like jagged alliance interpreted through creative ballet. Without fog of war the game is severely broken. It was in the early dev version supposedly but became "too hard" to play. A sheer remake on a new graphical platform and fixing and improving would have been awesome. I get the distinct feeling the developers drank all day instead of coding, scratched this together in a week and are laughing all the way to the bank knowing the nostalgic steam users will grab it and give it a run, without trusting the overwhelmingly negative reviews.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

65
#65 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
62

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 27 out of 35
  3. Negative: 4 out of 35
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    May 16, 2012
    55
    Ignore Back in Action and just buy Jagged Alliance 2 to cherish the original version of a great game. Then again, if graphics are so important to you, go ahead and buy Back in Action- you might enjoy it but you will have paid four times more, for an inferior product. [May 2012]
  2. Worth Playing
    Apr 10, 2012
    67
    As you manage your squads and try to take down the Queen's men in Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, you can't help but feel that the game could have been a lot more. The open premise really works and allows for you to tackle nearly any obstacle in the game as you see fit. The game is fun, but it has a lot of baggage and head-scratchingly rough edges that dull the enjoyment. The title does a passable job of bringing the Jagged Alliance series back to life, but it's not as good as it could've been, and it doesn't live up to the legacy of its predecessors.
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  3. PC PowerPlay
    Apr 5, 2012
    50
    The real-time combat isn't the problem; it's everything else, which was done with a depth and confidence 13 years ago that this reimagining lacks. [Apr 2012, p.54]
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