Jagged Alliance

Jagged Alliance is a series of turn-based strategy computer games. All games are for the PC. The first games in the series were for DOS, but they work well under all flavors of Microsoft Windows and in emulators like DOSBox. From Jagged Alliance 2 on, the games were developed using DirectX for native Windows operation.

Description

Jagged Alliance's gameplay centers around running mercenary squads who fulfill various missions, such as freeing countries from oppressive dictators. A sticky phrase describes the game as "X-COM with personality." It features a unique mix of turn-based small arms battle simulation and roleplaying. Sharp humour via character comments is a trademark of the series. The character of the individual mercenaries ranges between eccentric and obviously disturbed, and their spoken lines give the games a cartoon-like quality, although it can be argued that it is inappropriate for a game with a subject manner linked so close to war and death. Each mercenary is an individual with their own traits, and fans quickly selected their favorites from the lot (such as the dour, bearskin-cap wearing Ivan Dolvich, who spoke only Russian in the original game and broken English in the sequel).

Many fans claim the turn-based combat system is the best that has ever been created in a 2D isometric environment. They feel that from both viewpoints of tactical depth and practical playability, especially the second part of the series, the series is the yardstick of the genre. Jagged Alliance mercenaries can choose to save up their alotted action points during their turn to attempt an interruption of the enemy turn. This provides for a simple, arcade-style system of switching the initiative and break out of the normally sequential flow of turns during battle.

The Intellectual Property

The Intellectual Property (IP) for Jagged Alliance has been bandied about a great deal. The series and IP were created by Sir-Tech with the original game and its add-on. The second game, Jagged Alliance 2, was also started by Sir-Tech but when its publishing arm went bankrupt was transfered to its development house Sir-Tech Canada, and published by TalonSoft. By the time Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business was released, Sir-Tech was out of business and the game was published by Interplay . Subsequently, Talonsoft went bankrupt. At the moment, Strategy First owns the IP and has published Jagged Alliance: Wildfire and is extending the series with Jagged Alliance 3D and Jagged Alliance 3.

Titles in the series

Jagged Alliance

Released in 1994 for DOS this first game of the series tasks the player with freeing the land of Metavira. The player must recruit mercenaries as they explore, capture, and hold new territory. The natives harvest the valuable trees from which a revolutionary medicine can be extracted. The more trees the player holds, the more income they make. Income can be used to hire native guards or hire more mercenaries to take the offense and clear sectors of enemies.

This game featured a top-down perspective of the game field for battles, with character portraits framing the view on the left and right sides. A separate map view showed the entire country broken up into bite-size conquerable sections.

Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games

Released in 1995, Deadly Games was a DOS sequel to the original game. It featured a different format, however, and therefore is considered by some to be more of a spin-off than a sequel. This game featured the same top-down perspective as the original game.

In Deadly Games, the player takes a group of mercenaries through a series of missions. The missions are linked chronologically, removing the need for micro-management on a campaign map. Mercenaries are hired and fired between missions, and the first equipment trader of the series offers his services. The most innovative aspects of Deadly Games include a wide variety of special ops mission types like hostage rescues, demolition and infiltration missions. Strategic features like turn limits and a boosted AI as well as networked multiplayer capabilities make this the most complete package in the series. The integrated scenario and campaign editors allow for the creation of custom strategic scenarios, adding to the replay value.

Jagged Alliance 2

This game was released in 1999 for Windows, and was later ported to Linux by Tribsoft. The mission of this second official game of the series is to free the country of Arulco from its evil dictator Deidranna. Gameplay is similar to the original grand adventure style of Jagged Alliance, but features higher-resolution graphics and an isometric pseudo-3D view of the battleground. The terrain has two height levels (ground and rooftops) for player/enemy sprites and a basic physics engine for thrown objects and ballistics. It also features "destructable terrain" in that players are able to blow open walls and buildings with explosives. The weapons arsenal has grown considerably to include automatic weapons. There are some more roleplaying elements like specialty professions and the possibility to create a custom mercenary as well.

Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business

This 2000 release is a somewhat short, more mission-based sequel. At the time of the release, Sirtech was already financially in dire straits and the product title is rumored to reflect the quirky Sirtech humor about a somewhat rushed product. Nevertheless, a number of very good mods add a lot of replayability. The release added some tweaks to the enemy AI and the combat engine, as well as a somewhat limited scenario editor.

Jagged Alliance 2: Gold edition

This release added the improvements from Unfinished Business to the final release of Jagged Alliance 2. Unfinished Business is included in the package. Like the rest of the series, this version of Jagged Alliance is out of print.

Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire

Originally a user mod, Wildfire was released in 2004 as another official add-on by the new publisher. It features a campaign that is decidedly less of a cakewalk than other user mods. The game's sourcecode was also published in the package, albeit under a slightly restrictive license.

A renewed commercial release of Wildfire 6 through European publisher Zuxxez in the spring of 2005 sees the Jagged Alliance series stay on shop shelves five years after the debut of its second iteration.

Jagged Alliance 3D and 3

Strategy First and Game Factory Interactive announced in June 2004 that Russian developer MiST Land South would develop the next two games in the Jagged Alliance series: Jagged Alliance 3D (JA3D) and Jagged Alliance 3. Details are as of yet unclear, but apparently, though a full game, JA3D will be used to test the 3D engine which will be used for Jagged Alliance 3. MiST Land South will also be developing an unrelated title for Strategy First, Disciples III, for their Disciples series of games.

Jagged Alliance DS (tentative title)

Purportedly, an unknown version of Jagged Alliance for the Nintendo DS is in the works.

External links

• Official Jagged Alliance website (http://www.jaggedalliance.com)
• Official Wildfire website (http://www.ja2.de/wf/index.html)
• The MobyGames' entry on the Jagged Alliance series (http://www.mobygames.com/game_group/sheet/gameGroupId,159/)
• Press release on new Jagged Alliance games (http://www.strategyfirst.com/press/DisplayArticle.asp?sLanguageCode=EN&iArticleID=3043)de:Jagged Alliance