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Jagged Alliance is a tactical role-playing game released in 1995 for MS-DOS and in 2009 for Nintendo DS. It is the first game in the Jagged Alliance series. It was re-released in 2008 on Gog.com and in 2010 on GamersGate, both with Windows support.

Jagged Alliance: Rage is due for release for $20 this autumn, published by Handy Games, which is a recently-acquired new fork of THQ Nordic, and developed by Cliffhanger Productions, they of the ill-fated Jagged Alliance Online and the not-terrible Shadowrun Chronicles. There’s a website with more details and screens here. More from me on.

• 2Gameplay

Plot[edit]

Jagged Alliance takes place on the fictional South Atlantic island of Metavira, a former nuclear testing site. The nuclear tests altered some trees on the island and several years later it was discovered by a scientist, Brenda Richards, that those trees, known as Fallow trees, produce unique sap that proves to be a medical marvel. However, Brenda also discovered that the trees could not reproduce.

Her assistant, Lucas Santino, realised how profitable this sap would be. He managed to convince Jack Richards, the leader of the scientific mission, that it would be beneficial to have two independent science teams. Santino consequently established a new base on the other side of the island. He immediately began to recruit new people and gradually took over the island by force.

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When the game begins, the player is contacted by Jack Richards and is invited to the island. There, Brenda and her father request that the player hires mercenaries through the Association of International Mercenaries (A.I.M.^[4]) to reclaim the island from Santino's forces sector by sector.^[5]

Gameplay[edit]

The player starts the game and every following day in a room. Here the player can load and save the game, change settings, hire new mercenaries or sleep until the next day.^[6]

Map screen[edit]

When the player starts a new day, the game is transferred to a screen displaying Metavira on a square grid.^[7] The map includes information such as the number of Fallow trees in each sector, whether the sector is enemy or player controlled, how many guards and tappers are in a sector and the terrain information. The player can also decide what mercenaries and equipment to take and what player-owned sector to start from.

Mercenaries, guards and tappers need to be paid; if needed, the player can raise the guards' and tappers' salaries to make them happier. Mercenaries can be left at the base to either heal, train skills or repair items.^[8] Occasionally, Jack or Brenda Richards contact the player with an important objective, such as securing a clean water source. These requests can be ignored but usually cause some kind of hindrance to the player at a later date.

Tactical screen[edit]

When the player has chosen the mercenaries and equipment to take to the mission, he is taken to the sector he chose earlier overseeing his mercenaries from a top-down viewpoint.^[9] The player can now directly command his chosen mercenaries and issue movement orders. The player may move the mercenaries to one adjacent sector. The player is limited to a single save slot during the day.

When player characters and enemies are in the same sector, the game switches to turn-based play.^[10] Both sides take turns to move and perform actions, which uses their action points.^[11] The number of action points is determined by the character's attributes. Tougher terrain surfaces on the ground use up greater numbers of action points. Interrupts are possible. Mercenaries can also crouch to make themselves a smaller target or take cover behind objects. It is possible to walk backwards and move stealthily so the mercenary can avoid being noticed by the enemy, though both of these actions uses more action points than normal moving.^[12]

When attacking, there is a certain chance that the mercenary will hit. The chance to hit is also affected by the number of action points the player uses to aim.^[12] Attacks can be done in a wide variety of ways, using firearms, close combat weapons like knives, throwing weapons such as hand grenades and explosive devices like land mines. When the day ends mercenaries return to the base for sleep.^[13] The day can also end during a battle and mercenaries might suffer additional injuries as they retreat from the enemy sector. The sector is conquered when all the enemies are killed or is lost when all the player's mercenaries, guards and tappers are killed or otherwise neglected from posting guards.

Characters[edit]

The main characters in the game are the hireable mercenaries along with other NPCs, such as the player's employers Jack and Brenda Richards, and the main antagonist, Lucas Santino. There are also four native characters that might be offered to the player as guides. The player can only control the mercenaries. Guards, tappers and enemies are controlled by the AI.

Mercenaries[edit]

There are 60 hireable mercenaries and the player can recruit up to eight mercenaries at a time.^[14] Some mercenaries will refuse to join at start, as they want to see if the player can be trusted to lead them, either through acceptable performance or enough days on the island.

Every mercenary has four attributes - health, agility, dexterity, wisdom, and four skills - medical, explosives, mechanical and marksmanship.^[15] Health determines the amount of damage a mercenary can take, agility determines how many action points they have, dexterity helps in using weapons and other items in their various conditions, wisdom enables mercenaries to get experience quicker, medical helps to heal wounded characters, explosives helps to disarm bombs and activate the mercenary's own explosives, mechanical helps to pick locks and combine items together and marksmanship helps to get a better aim and shot on enemies. The mercenaries employed by the player gain experience from the actions they perform. For example, a mercenary that bandages a wound might improve his medical skill. Mercenaries may also permanently lose attribute points from an injury. For example, a hit in the head might reduce mercenary's wisdom or a hit in the leg might reduce his agility.

Additionally, every mercenary has an experience level that determines how much he gets paid; and when a new level is obtained they demand a raise that the player either has to agree to, or lose the mercenary.

Each character has a number of health points. When a mercenary is injured he slowly bleeds losing health points; bandaging the wound stops the bleeding. This gives the mercenary temporary 'bandage points' that change back to health points over time, but may be quickly lost if the mercenary is injured again.^[16] Of course, mercenaries who die are permanently dead and cannot be revived or replaced.

Each mercenary has a unique personality. There are several characters that are not fond of certain other mercenaries, and can decline joining the player's team for this reason. Some characters can still be hired but will later complain about the other mercenary. Either mercenary may leave the player's group during the night and is shown to be missing on the A.I.M. site. There are also stubborn characters that might refuse to move until an enemy they were targeting has been killed or the enemy moves out of the mercenary's line of sight.

Equipment[edit]

There is a large variety of items in the game - some of them play a significant role in the plot while others are there for use.^[17]

When the player hires a mercenary he arrives with weapons and equipment. The player can equip the mercenary with various body armour, helmets, goggles and radios. There are standard vests that have pockets along with vests with no pockets that act as body armor. The vests with pockets may have two to five pockets and each one can hold either one particular item or a number of identical items like magazines or hand grenades. Mercenaries can also carry things in their hands.

The player can store an unlimited number of items in the base, but has to transport them with the mercenaries from the sectors to the base.

Nintendo DS version[edit]

On 26 August 2008, Empire Interactive announced that a Nintendo DS version was in development by Strategy First Inc. and Cypron Studios.^[18] The game was originally announced for release on 17 February 2009,^[19] but was later pushed back to 5 May 2009 in America^[1] and 26 June 2009 in Europe.^[2]

The game differs in many ways from the DOS version. Graphics have a smaller scale and a very different texture on the sector maps. There are completely new music tracks and improved cinematic cutscenes. Features removed include item repairs, item conditions, bandage points, moving backwards, door manipulation closeups and deadly eels in the water.

Reception[edit]

Jagged Alliance was a commercial success.^[25][26] According to William R. Trotter of PC Gamer US, 'JA wons plaudits from the critics and became the best-selling non-Wizardry title in Sirtech's history.'^[25] That magazine's Marc Saltzman similarly noted that Jagged Alliance 'sold reasonably well' and received critical acclaim.^[26]

Next Generation reviewed the PC version of the game, and stated that 'don't expect a deep roleplaying experience from this one – but if you're looking for an entertaining mix of RPG and strategy, grab it.'^[24]

The editors of Computer Games Strategy Plus named Jagged Alliance the best turn-based strategy game of 1995, tied with Heroes of Might and Magic: A Strategic Quest.^[27]

In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Jagged Alliance the 114th best computer game ever released.^[28]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'DS Games of Spring 2009'. IGN. 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
2. ^ ^abJordan, Jon (2009-02-20). 'Empire spills the beans about the DS remake of tactical RPG Jagged Alliance'. Pocket Gamer. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
3. ^East, Thomas (2011-07-18). '3D Classics Xevious coming to eShop this week'. Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
4. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 4.
5. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 1.
6. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 2.
7. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 8.
8. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 9.
9. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 16.
10. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 18.
11. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 27.
12. ^ ^abMegapak 5 Userguide. Megamedia Corp. 1996.
13. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 34.
14. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 28.
15. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 5.
16. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 32.
17. ^Jagged Alliance Game Manual, p. 36.
18. ^'Empire Interactive Announces Jagged Alliance for Nintendo DS'. IGN. 2008-11-26. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
19. ^'Nintendo Q1 09 Lineup Revealed'. IGN. 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
20. ^James, Jeff (July 1995). 'A Jolt of Jungle Juice'. Computer Gaming World (132): 148, 150, 152.
21. ^Trotter, William R. (July 1995). 'Jagged Alliance'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on December 25, 1999.
22. ^Butcher, Andy (June 1994). 'Playable'. PC Gamer UK. 1 (7). Archived from the original on May 23, 2002.
23. ^Ryan, Michael (October 10, 1995). 'After Hours; Mercenaries and Mayhem'. PC Magazine. 14 (17): 634.
24. ^ ^abStaff (July 1995). 'Jagged Alliance'. Next Generation. No. 7. Imagine Media. pp. 70, 72.
25. ^ ^abTrotter, William R. (November 1997). 'SCOOP!; Jagged Alliance 2: Feeding Grounds'. PC Gamer US. 4 (11): 56–58.
26. ^ ^abSaltzman, Marc. 'Mercs with Perks'. PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on February 18, 1998.
27. ^Bauman, Steve (November 2000). 'A Decade of Gaming; Award Winners of 1995'. Computer Games Magazine (120): 56–58, 60, 62, 66, 68, 70–76.
28. ^Staff (November 1996). '150 Best (and 50 Worst) Games of All Time'. Computer Gaming World (148): 63–65, 68, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 84, 88, 90, 94, 98.

External links[edit]

• Jagged Alliance at MobyGames
• The Jagged Alliance series at Curlie

Jagged Alliance is a series of turn-based tacticsvideo games. The first games in the series were released for DOS. From Jagged Alliance 2 on, the games were developed using DirectX for native Windows operation. Jagged Alliance 2 was also released for Linux and is available on Steam and on GOG.com for Windows.

• 3Games in the series
  • 3.1Jagged Alliance
  • 3.2Jagged Alliance 2
    • 3.2.5Jagged Alliance: Back in Action

Overview[edit]

The Jagged Alliance games center on strategically controlling mercenary squads, on and off the field, who complete various missions such as freeing countries from oppressive dictators. The games feature a mix of turn-based battle simulation, 4X (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate) elements and role-playing.

Humour via spoken character comments is a trademark of the series. The personalities of the individual mercenaries range from mildly eccentric to disturbed. This contrasts the games' setting which is otherwise closely linked to such subjects as war and death.

Each mercenary is an individual with their own traits. Part of the strategy was the player's freedom to select a multi-faceted team to win the game in different ways. Not all teams would work; for example, Ivan and his nephew Igor, who work well together, are hated by Steroid, the Polish bodybuilder. 'Buns', a Danish markswoman, hates 'Fox', a medic with centerfold looks. In contrast, 'Fox' loves working with 'Grizzly,' on whom she has something of a crush.

The mercenaries may be out on various assignments, determined randomly, so that the available pool of characters is never the same for each game.

The player has to maintain a level of reputation in the Jagged Alliance games. If the player gets their troops killed often, regularly hires and dismisses members or generally is insensitive (such as not paying for deceased merc body shipments back home), their reputation will lower. Bad player's reputation affects all mercenaries. Mercs may demand a significant pay raise to consider working for the player. Hired mercenaries may quit unless the player discreetly pays them a bonus. And only desperate-for-work mercs will agree to work for really notorious players.

Intellectual property[edit]

The intellectual property (IP) for Jagged Alliance has been exchanged between many companies. The series and IP were created by Mad Labs Software,^[2] who later became a part of the publisher for the first game, Sir-Tech Software, Inc., along with a transfer of IP. The second game, Jagged Alliance 2, was also started by Sir-Tech. When Sir-Tech's publishing arm went bankrupt, the game rights were transferred to its development house Sir-Tech Canada and published by TalonSoft. By the time Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business was released, Sir-Tech's publishing arm was out of business and the game was released by Interplay. Subsequently TalonSoft went bankrupt. At the moment Strategy First owns the IP and has published Jagged Alliance: Wildfire. Strategy First made several attempts to extend the series with Jagged Alliance 3D and Jagged Alliance 3, both of which never saw the light of day. Strategy First was acquired by Silverstar Holdings, which then ran into financial problems and was delisted by NASDAQ.^[3] It is unclear what effect this will have on future games using the Jagged Alliance IP, though in the final SEC filing before being delisted Silverstar stated that it had reached a settlement of some issues with Russia-based Akella: 'Akella and 3A Entertainment have the option to acquire certain intellectual property rights for the Jagged Alliance and Disciples franchises for an additional $100,000'.^[4]

The first Jagged Alliance game was developed by MadLab Software, Montreal. Qc, the following three games were developed by Sir-Tech Development based in Ottawa, Ontario. Ian Currie, Shaun Lyng and Linda Currie were the lead designers on the Jagged Alliance series. MadLab was absorbed by Sir-Tech Canada but the company shut down in late 2003.^[5]

Games in the series[edit]

Jagged Alliance[edit]

Released in 1995 for MS-DOS, this first game of the series tasks the player with freeing the fictional island of Metavira from the greedy Santino. 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; a result of the island having been used as a nuclear testing ground in 1952. The more trees the player holds, the more income they make. Income can be used to hire native guards and hire more mercenaries to take the offensive and clear more sectors of enemies.

This game features 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 shows the entire country broken up into distinct conquerable sectors.

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Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games[edit]

Released in 1996, Deadly Games is a DOS sequel to the original game. It features a different format, however, and is considered by some to be more of a spin-off than a sequel. This game features the same engine and top-down perspective as the original game.

Jagged Alliance 2[edit]

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 Queen Deidranna. Deidranna married the democratically elected King of Arulco, then launched a coup d'état eight years ago, deposing her husband and taking power for herself. The player is 'hired' by the exiled king, Enrico Chivaldori, to free his homeland of Deidranna's dictatorial regime.

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 'destructible terrain' in that players are able to blow open walls and buildings with explosives. The game also takes place across diverse and rather imaginative locations, including a multi-level prison facility, a school, a hospital, surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, a swamp and a junkyard.

The weapons arsenal has grown considerably to include a variety of weapons based on real-life counterparts (such as automatic weapons, shotguns, rocket launchers) and also fictional weapons like an auto firing rocket rifle. There are some more role-playing elements like specialty professions and the possibility to create a custom mercenary as well.

Mercs can talk to one another during missions, usually spouting one-liners and other comments to each other.

JA2 has been extensively modded by fans of the series. Most notable include, but are not limited to: v1.13,^[6][7][8]Urban Chaos,^[9]Deidranna Lives,^[10], Renegade Republic.^[11] and JA2-Stracciatella.^[12]

Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business[edit]

Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business, alternatively known as Jagged Alliance 2.5 is a short, mission-based standalone sequel released by Sir-Tech in 2001. This release adds some tweaks to the combat engine, as well as a scenario editor,^[13][14] yet the gameplay remain largely unchanged.^[15] It allows importing of the character created for JA2 with his or her final stats, improved stats of other mercenaries will then be imported too.

A new plot is introduced in Unfinished Business. The original owners of Arulco's lucrative mines have returned and established a missile base in the nearby country of Tracona, demanding the mines are returned to them. They destroy Arulco's now-empty Tixa prison as an example of what happens if their demands are not met. The player must put a team of mercenaries together to infiltrate Tracona and disable the missile base.

Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack[edit]

Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack was published by Strategy First on August 6, 2002^[16] and adds the improvements of Unfinished Business to the final release of Jagged Alliance 2. Unfinished Business and a scenario editor are also included in the package.

Gold Pack introduces notable changes to the difficulty setting. The player choosing an advanced difficulty level may also decide to make the player turns timed and whether to disallow saving during combat, as opposed to the original Jagged Alliance 2, which set these settings automatically.^[17]

Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire[edit]

Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire, version 5, was programmed by i-Deal Games and published by Strategy First in 2004 as an official expansion pack.^[18] The game's sourcecode was also published in the package, albeit under license. The project had started as a hobby add-on by Serge 'WildFire' Popoff, who decided to make it commercial since version 4.^[19][20]

Compared to the original Jagged Alliance 2, Wildfire 5 has not altered the game engine or controls and can be considered a mod. The focus was instead directed into designing revamped environments, new items and stronger enemies.^[20] This presents players with a more challenging campaign, however the goals and progression remain the same. In terms of gameplay features, the game remains almost unchanged.

Soon after release, i-Deal Games terminated relations with Strategy First stating '..SF fulfilled none of it's [sic] obligation of contract and paid no single cent to i-Deal Games..'.^[21] Consequently, WF5 remains largely unpatched, only minor hotfixes were published. I-Deal Games also stated that buggy version were released by Strategy First.^[21][22]

After the falling out with Strategy First, i-Deal Games developed another version of Wildfire, identified as 'version 6', with Zuxxez Entertainment (now TopWare Interactive AG) as distributor.^[23][24]

WF6 contains changed source code, a tweaked graphics engine that allows for a higher resolution, introduces new mercenaries and increases squad size from 6 to 10. It can be patched up to version 6.04 (for English version), up to 6.06 (for German version), or up to 6.08 (for Russian version).

WF5 can not be upgraded to WF6 and patches for WF6 can not be applied. See Digital distribution for further details.

Jagged Alliance Online[edit]

gamigo AG and bitComposer Games announced at Gamescom 2010 that a new title, Jagged Alliance Online, a web browser tactical MMORPG was in development and due for a 2012 release.

The MMO offers the usual Jagged Alliance game mechanics, a mix of turn-based combat and real-time action. From a 3D isometric perspective, each player controls and maintains a group of mercenaries and is tasked to use their abilities to complete missions and collect money and build reputation. To succeed, players are required to train and equip their mercenaries with better weapons and tools. Players can also help each other working together to complete battlegrounds and there are also player versus player battles. Players operate from a Headquarters which can be built up and improved upon. From here players can send their mercenaries on over 100 missions around the globe. Although the game is free, there is additional single player content that needs to be purchased, which can be done so online.^[25]

Jagged Alliance Online was developed by Cliffhanger Productions using Unity and features full 3D graphics. In July 2013 a free-to-download version was made available on the Steam marketplace.^[26][27]

Jagged Alliance: Back in Action[edit]

On August 20, 2010, bitComposer Games announced Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, a full-scale remake of Jagged Alliance 2. It was originally titled Jagged Alliance: Reloaded.^[28] The game was demonstrated at GDC 2011^[29] and released on February 9, 2012.^[30]

The stated goal of the remake was to improve the original game concept as well as the visual weaknesses of the original. The story and content are noticeably different from the original as well, with key strategic elements such as boardable vehicles and training of militia removed. Mercenaries are easier to train and permanently hired for a one-time fee rather than the time-based pay of the original. Conversation trees with NPCs have been replaced with linear 'talk or stop talking' dialogue. Humorous cut-scenes featuring the exploits of the Queen have also been removed.^[31]

Jagged Alliance: Back in Action features then-modern 3D graphics in an isometric perspective. The user interface was completely redesigned and includes a new detailed tutorial that helps new players to learn how to play the game properly. The new real time 'Plan & Go' system optionally removes the classic Jagged Alliance staple of turn based gameplay. It also initially removed the fog of war, making the tactical element of the game simpler and faster to play as it was unnecessary for the player to prepare for enemy surprise attacks or ambushes with all enemies immediately visible.^[32] A fog of war system was added to the game post-release called tactical mode, which requires mercenaries to acquire a line of sight on an enemy for them to become visible.^[33] The developers estimate that the remake will take players around 70 hours to complete.

The critical reception was mixed at best, with armchairempire.com saying 'Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is, and probably will for many years hence be, the definitive textbook example of how to mess up by the numbers when attempting to 'relaunch' a classic franchise'.^[31] Even Finnish Pelit magazine, in one of the most positive reviews internationally, stated 'Back in Action is not a bad game, but pales in comparison to its father'.^[34]

Shades of Red[edit]

The first Downloadable content pack Shades of Red was released for Jagged Alliance: Back in Action on May 18, 2012.^[35]

Point Blank[edit]

The second Downloadable content pack Point Blank was released for Jagged Alliance: Back in Action on June 14, 2012.^[36]

Jagged Alliance Rage Characters

Jagged Alliance: Crossfire[edit]

On June 13, 2012, bitComposer Games and Kalypso announced the first add-on to Jagged Alliance: Back in Action.^[37] The standalone add-on, Jagged Alliance: Crossfire adds new mercenaries, new environments and new weapons.

The setting of Crossfire takes place shortly after the events of Jagged Alliance 2 at Khaanpa, a small micronation located somewhere in the volatile Asia region. A huge temple has been uncovered and with it a large vein of coltan ore. This triggers a destructive religious conflict funded by the resources which had led to the deaths of many innocent people caught in crossfire, as the leader of the Jenitenn Cult profits from the disaster through humanitarian aid. The United Nations is unwilling to send peacekeepers in a possible chance to fail in peacekeeping efforts and the ambassador of Khaanpa sends AIM to defuse the threat. Upon the death of the leader of the cult, a volcanic eruption occurs near Khaanpa and the UN finally sends in a peacekeeping effort to help rebuild the nation in the wake of the crossfire.

It was released on August 24, 2012, on Steam in a downloadable format and elsewhere on September 25, 2012 as a physical product.

Jagged Alliance: Crossfire was developed by the Coreplay Studio in Munich.

Jagged Alliance 3D and 3[edit]

Strategy First and Game Factory Interactive announced in June 2004 that RussiandeveloperMiST Land South would develop the next two games in the Jagged Alliance series: Jagged Alliance 3D (JA3D) and Jagged Alliance 3 (JA3).

Jagged Alliance 3D was envisioned as 'JA2 in 3D', or basically the same game as Jagged Alliance 2 but using a 3D engine. Jagged Alliance 3 would be the 'true sequel' to JA2, a full-fledged game in the same spirit as JA2, and using the engine developed for JA3D. JA3D would come out quickly, within a year or two of the release of the generally successful Wildfire mod, and be followed by Jagged Alliance 3. SFI choose GFI because GFI had already released Cops 2170, a tactical-strategy game published by SFI in North America. The two companies already had a relationship, and it was felt the JA3D project could be mutually beneficial.

From statements made by both Strategy First and Game Factory Interactive, it is apparent that GFI assumed the costs for the development, with SFI providing the intellectual property and the overall vision for the project. This arrangement proved to be very cumbersome, and prone to misunderstandings and confusion. SFI, naturally enough, had very ambitious goals for JA3D while GFI sought to control development costs and time.^[38]

The initial plan was for GFI to use a modified Cops 2170 engine to quickly produce JA3D. However, GFI already had a second strategy game in production, ALFA: Anti-terror, and they made the decision to use this engine for both games. GFI planned to set the game in Africa, which was fine with SFI. However, GFI ran into trouble with the strategic layer for Jagged Alliance. They proposed a mission-based structure for JA3D instead. There would be no free-flowing strategic layer, as in Jagged Alliance and Jagged Alliance 2 where the player made strategic movement decisions, and initiated attacks on a map. Instead, the game would be structured like Jagged Alliance : Deadly Games, with a series of missions, which were essentially combat-only levels. SFI was resistant to the idea, but agreed to it, feeling this would shorten the development time. Besides, JA3D was always intended as a bridge between JA2 and JA3, so it was acceptable that it was not a 'full game'.

In 2004, initial screenshots of the new engine were released, showing a somewhat primitive 3D engine with familiar Jagged Alliance characters, such as Shadow.

In May 2005, the MiST Land South developers announced they would be discarding the turn-based combat system in favor of real-time combat. The turn-based combat had been a hallmark of Jagged Alliance from the very beginning, and it was a major reason why most fans stayed with the game. This announcement was a surprise to Strategy First, and was very quickly vetoed by Richard Therrien, VP product development of SFI.

In September 2005, SFI withdrew the rights for Jagged Alliance 3 from GFI, leaving them with the JA3D license only.^[39]

A pre-beta version of JA3D was shown at the 2006 E3 convention, and received a generally favorable reception.^[40] The gameplay appeared to be very similar to Jagged Alliance 2, with updated and improved graphics, as well as a 3D combat engine.

On July 20, 2006, Game Factory Interactive announced that MiST Land South was being dissolved, as of August 1, 2006.^[41]

In August 2006, SFI withdrew the rights to JA3D as well. GFI claims that the game simply did not fit within SFI's plans. SFI, on the other hand, states that JA3D was in an incomplete state and not ready for the scheduled release date. It was obvious that SFI, having faced years of development without any progress, had finally given up on the project.

This left GFI with no rights to use any of the intellectual property of JA3D, including characters and story line. GFI now plans to rework the characters and story to remove Jagged Alliance-specific details, and will publish the game under a different name. In a September 3, 2006 post on its discussion boards, GFI claims that SFI owes it money, but this is denied by SFI without further elaboration. One of the changes GFI plans to make to JA3D is the introduction of a strategic layer.

Strategy First intended to produce Jagged Alliance 3 internally, with head developer Thiessen promising a much more open experience than any other Jagged Alliance game. There were expected to be five separate factions to fight in JA3, instead of a single enemy. Characters were said to have their own agendas and allegiances in addition to randomization of various settings of the game upon startup in order to make it less predictable; a character who was allied with the player in one game could be their enemy in the next. Player actions were also said to influence how the characters of the world react to them.

In December 2006, Strategy First outsourced Jagged Alliance 3 again. The publisher, along with Russian developers Akella and F3games, were to create the game, setting an approximate release date of late 2008.

As of October 2008 the game has been delayed again, and Akella's website was displaying a release date of Q1 2010. This delay was likely due to publishers demand to improve graphics.^[42]

On December 21, 2009, a German language game site reported that Akella had stopped development on Jagged Alliance 3.^[43] Strategy First has made no statement on the future of the Jagged Alliance series.

On March 9, 2010, German outfit bitComposer Games (now bitComposer Entertainment AG) picked up the rights to the PC strategy series, and started 'preliminary development' on the third full game for release in 2011.^[44] In August 2015, Nordic Games acquired the rights from bitComposer. “The decision to acquire Jagged Alliance was an absolute no-brainer for us”, commented Reinhard Pollice, Business & Product Development Director at Nordic Games,^[45] although no immediate announcement has been made regarding their specific plans for the series.

Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge[edit]

In November 2007 Game Factory Interactive released Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge.^[46] The game does not have any storyline or characters in common with JA2, as GFI lost the rights to use any of the intellectual property of Strategy First. Still, it is seen as a spiritual successor; the game is structurally similar to Jagged Alliance series and features a mercenary-themed plot, turn-based gameplay, and a familiar game interface.

Jagged Alliance DS[edit]

In June 2005, Pocket PC Studios and Strategy First announced a conversion of Jagged Alliance 2 Gold for the Nintendo DS.

In May 2009, a Nintendo DS Jagged Alliance game was released, based on the original Jagged Alliance.^[47]

Jagged Alliance: Flashback[edit]

In April 2013, Full Control, a Denmark-based game studio, launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Jagged Alliance: Flashback.^[48] The Kickstarter campaign was successful on May 23, 2013, resulting in the game being fully funded including its firsts stretch goal. The game was released on October 21, 2014.

Upon release Jagged Alliance: Flashback received mostly negative reviews from both critics and players alike and, as a result of poor sales, the developers of Full Control announced that they would no longer be providing support for the game. Full Control went out of business shortly afterwards due to financial difficulties.

New Jagged Alliance Game Free

Jagged Alliance: Rage[edit]

New Jagged Alliance Game Online

Jagged Alliance: Rage is set 20 years after the first Jagged Alliance (1995). The game is being developed by Cliffhanger Productions and published by HandyGames with a December 6, 2018 release.

Film[edit]

In March 2007, Strategy First announced that they had penned a deal for the creation of a film based upon the Jagged Alliance property. The movie license was acquired by Los Angeles-based Union Entertainment.^[49]

Board game[edit]

In 20 October 2017, Underground Games announced a board game based on the franchise.^[50] The game was originally planned for a 2018 release but this was delayed to 2019.

Digital distribution[edit]

On July 6, 2006 Jagged Alliance 2 was made available to buy via the Steam distribution service.^[51] It is also available via download from Manifesto Games.^[52]

Jagged Alliance 2 Wildfire (v5) was distributed electronically by StrategyFirst.^[53]Jagged Alliance 2 Wildfire (v6) was distributed electronically by Zuxxez Entertainment.^[54]

Two versions of the same game (Wildfire) exist due to the game's publisher Strategy First, Inc. falling out after a disagreement with the game's developer, I-Deal Games Studios concerning expenses. Version 5 is the version published by SF before this spat and so is more problematic than v6, the version released through Zuxxez and others by the developer since the incident.

Jagged Alliance 2: Gold is available via GameTap.^[55]

Jagged Alliance Classics (which includes Jagged Alliance, Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, Jagged Alliance 2 and Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business) was developed by Full Control and published by bitComposer Games in GamersGate, DotEmu and the Humble Weekly Sale of bitComposer Games.

Jagged Alliance, Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, Jagged Alliance 2 (distributed by Strategy First), Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire (distributed by Zuxxez Entertainment/TopWare Interactive) and Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business (distributed by Interplay Entertainment) are all available from GOG.com.^[56]

Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, the DLC Shades of Red and Point Blank and Jagged Alliance: Crossfire are available to buy via the Steam distribution service.

References[edit]

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13. ^Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business scenario editor manual
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15. ^Jagged Alliance 2: Gold game manual.
16. ^'Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack'. Archived from the original on 2008-04-16. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
17. ^Jagged Alliance 2: Gold game manual, p. 46.
18. ^'Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire ships'. Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
19. ^The last free version, 3.xx, is still available for download (as of April 2011) at i-Deal Games's home site
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29. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2011-03-13. Retrieved 2011-03-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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35. ^http://www.jaggedalliance.com/en/allgemein-en/jagged-alliance-back-in-action-goes-into-extra-gameplay-time/^{[permanent dead link]}
36. ^http://www.jaggedalliance.com/en/allgemein-en/jagged-alliance-back-in-action-follow-up-dlc/^{[permanent dead link]}
37. ^http://www.jaggedalliance.com/en/allgemein-en/jagged-alliance-crossfire-2/^{[permanent dead link]}
38. ^'Jagged Alliance 3D Interview' from Absolute Games 1.5
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41. ^'MiST land – South ceases functioning'Archived 2007-10-17 at the Wayback Machine press release
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43. ^'Akella Drops Jagged Alliance 3' from games.on.net
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45. ^'Nordic Games Fresh From Austria Latest News Nordic Games acquires Jagged Alliance and other IPs from bitComposer'. www.nordicgames.at. Archived from the original on 2015-08-10. Retrieved 2015-08-06.
46. ^Hired Guns: The Jagged EdgeArchived 2007-10-13 at the Wayback Machine from gfi.sui
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56. ^'Jagged Alliance Series on GOG.com'. GoG.com. Retrieved 2016-06-02.

External links[edit]

• The Jagged Alliance series at MobyGames
• The Jagged Alliance series at Curlie

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