Jagged Alliance 2
Description official descriptions
The political situation in the democratic monarchy of Arulco has gone from bad to worse. The country has been taken over through a coup d'état by Queen Deidranna Reitman, the wife of Enrico Chivaldori - rightful heir and son of late King Andreas Chivaldori. Enrico was reportedly killed in an assassination attempt during his trial for the murder of his father. Enrico however is alive and has contacted the Association of International Mercenaries (A.I.M.) to help him retake the island. Making contact with Miguel Cordoba, the head of the resistance team, A.I.M. will hire mercenaries and coordinate battle plans to control towns, organize militias in a quest to overthrow Queen Deidranna.
Jagged Alliance 2 is an isometric, third-person perspective turn-based tactics game. The role-playing elements of the game refer to (mostly) character development. The game is also able to switch between two different styles: sci-fi or realistic modes. From a new game, players will use their laptop to review information and hire mercenaries. Following that, the political map shows a satellite top-down position of the island of Arulco. From the map, equipment and funds are managed, as well as a review of enemy movement, and planning can be made to capture towns, mines and other locations. From the map, mercenaries can be deployed into a specific sector. Hostile sectors and enemy counter-attacks initiate combat mode.
The combat screen is where most of the actual gameplay occurs. Traveling in towns, exploring houses (with the purpose of stealing stuff of course!) and most importantly combat, occurs here. An encounter with an enemy team (either offensive or defensive) will prompt a battle in the area of contact. If on the offensive, players may opt to place mercenaries in favorable positions. Each team plays in turns, unless their action in interrupted by an opposing member. Enemies come in all shapes and sizes: enemy soldiers, tanks, bloodcats, and (in sci-fi mode) insect-like monsters. The team that remains alive will control the sector.
In order to recapture the island, players must engage in town militia management. A defense system must be organized for newly conquered towns to defend against enemy troops. Only loyal towns however may have its population trained into militia (indicated by a green percentage on the town via political map). A maximum of 2 mercenaries may train militia in any given town. The militia has 3 different training levels: green, regular, and veteran. The first 2 may be acquired through training, while the veteran status may only be acquired through combat.
Spellings
- Агония Власти - Russian spelling
- 铁血联盟2 - Simplified Chinese spelling
Groups +
- Boss Fight Books games
- Gameplay feature: Brothels
- Gameplay feature: Character development - Repetition
- Gameplay feature: Fog of war
- Gameplay feature: Simulated Internet
- Gameplay feature: Squad management
- Gameplay feature: Targeting system
- Games with officially released source code
- Jagged Alliance series
- Middleware: Smacker Video
- Protagonist: Female (option)
- Software Pyramide releases
- Sound engine: AIL/Miles Sound System
- Video games turned into board / card games
- Weapon: HK G11
- Weapon: OICW
- Weapon: Pancor Jackhammer
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (Windows version)
226 People (195 developers, 31 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 87% (based on 31 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 142 ratings with 10 reviews)
The best turn-based squad combat strategy game around
The Good
This game got all the details right. First and foremost, JA2 only operates in turn-based mode when an enemy is spotted or one of your soldiers is attacked. Non-combat movement happens in real time. This makes the game exponentially more enjoyable to play than many similar titles. Combat--the meat and potatoes of the game--is a blast.
There are plenty of items to choose from - a veritable cornucopia of guns, ammo, armor and assorted stuff. A mechanically adept character can often combine two or more apparently useless items into something useable, like a gun barrel extender or a trip-wire booby trap.
The characters are all distinctive and they let loose some great sound bites, especially during combat. If you liked the character of Minsk in the Baldur's Gate games then you'll find plenty to enjoy here.
All the potentially mundane management tasks (character generation, recruiting personnel, buying equipment, tracking your finances) are actually enjoyable, thanks in no small part to a wonderful pseudo-web browser interface.
The Bad
This doesn't detract from gameplay at all, but it's worth mentioning. JA2 is supposed to be set in a tropical island nation. The NPC natives of the island don't seem to realize this; they speak with a variety of Russian, South American and African accents. The voice acting is good, but the accents don't make any sense.
The Bottom Line
Don't be fooled by the ultra-cheesy box cover - this is a fantastic game. Essentially this game is a member of the turn-based squad combat genre pioneered by X-Com UFO Defense, with a healthy dose of role playing thrown in for good measure.
Windows · by Kurt Sample (1071) · 2001
The Good
Good graphics, the whole "personalize this and that" feature, good sfx and an attempt to keep old characters.
The Bad
This game is a complete insult to the original. It steps on all genius things from JA 1 and adds too many clichés and that nerdy feel that just keeps on and on in all "modern" games! How so? Well, for example, the voice talents and characters are so watered down they look and hear really cartoonish, when will game developers understand that a credible character and a believable voice talent make so much a difference just as a good or a bad actor does inside a movie!?
Also the characters' relationship with others and personality traits don't matter much anymore as it used to in JA1, something that made the game be truly unique and added a fun strategy to deal with.
Also the mobility and gameplay is completely different.
JA1 made the player be in total control and gave you a great deal of free will, you could plan your strategy well and conquer your enemy step by step according to your strategy. JA 2 however, is way more linear, almost as if it would be a turn-based beat 'em up game with guns. The characters also seem weaker in the game and characters that used to be excellent mercenaries in the original game, now are soft and slow witted. Graphics in general are good, but really important thing such as the mercenaries faces are terribly cartoonish or simply unattractive.
The Bottom Line
Terrible Sequel, but can make a good game for players as a whole different game.
Windows · by andvari a (2) · 2007
The Good
This has to be my favorite game ever. It's a perfect mix of strategy and role-playing. You control a squad of up to 18 characters as they try to wrest control of Arulco from the evil dictator Deidranna and return the country to its former monarch. You take control of sectors on a map, gradually leading up to Deidranna's seat of power in Meduna. Along the way you combat green and elite troops, meet individuals who help you along the way and upgrade your units.
The game runs very smoothly on even low-end systems. There's no interface lag like in many other video games. The graphics are nice and the controls are functional. The sound, music and humour are also great! The tactical gameplay is superb and some of the best you'll find in any video game. I'd rate the tactical combat even higher than X-COM's. The interaction with characters and side-quests, while less prevalent than in some other role-playing games, is interesting and adds a nice break from the combat.
The Bad
The only complaint I can think of is the lack of multiple levels in structures as in X-COM. While it is possible to walk along the ground and climb on the roof of some buildings, multiple storeys within buildings would have been nice. The sci-fi aspects are also not so good.
The Bottom Line
Probably as close to perfect as any video game as ever come! The game is always interesting and never leaves you wanting to play something else.
Windows · by SharkD (425) · 2013
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Not 4x but x-com like squad/turn based tactics | Dim Gri (30) | Jan 2, 2012 |
4X (eXpand, eXplore, eXploit, eXterminate) | SharkD (425) | Aug 31, 2007 |
Anyone know what those switches are for? | Indra was here (20755) | Jun 16, 2007 |
Trivia
Character Responses
- When Ivan sees someone hitting an enemy in the head he says, "This is why my brother became an alcoholic."
- Mercenaries (mercs) are known to have certain personality problems with other mercs. One instance is Enrico, the Arulco rebel leader (and his bodyguard) who dislike German and Austrian mercenaries (due to German occupation of Arulco in World War II).
Cover Art
The talent (model) on the front box cover bears a remarkable resemblance to one of Jagged Alliance’s top mercenaries: Sheila 'Scope' Sterling, a British sniper, though this might be purely coincidental.
Awards
- PC Player (Germany)
- Issue 01/2000 - Best Round-Based Strategy Game in 1999
Information also contributed by Chentzilla
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Related Sites +
-
Jagged Alliance 2 FAQ
A FAQ discussing Jagged Alliance 2. -
The Jagged Alliance 2 H.Q.
Fansite for JA2. Includes downloadable save games and editor tools. -
The Official Homepage of Arulco
This is a page about Jagged Alliance 2
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Heikki Sairanen.
Linux added by Trixter. Macintosh added by Cavalary.
Additional contributors: Andrew Hartnett, Shadowcaster, Brian Robinson, Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, Trond Berntsen, Patrick Bregger, Plok, Dimi Morabito.
Game added November 1, 1999. Last modified April 23, 2024.