Back In Flashblack: Jagged Alliance Again
Flashback out of Early Access
Jagged Alliance sits in an uncomfortable middle-ground of nostalgia, where folks remember it warmly enough for companies to keep it alive, but not quite enough to pay for an all-singing, all-dancing, all-not-wonky modern version. In the last few years we've seen a pants Jagged Alliance browser game and a disappointing JA2 remake Back in Action (plus DLC and an expandalone). Perhaps the best recent hope has been Space Hulk devs Full Control's Kickstartered "reset" of the series, Jagged Alliance Flashback. After five months on Steam Early Access, yesterday it properly launched.
Full Control have talked up going back to ye good olde days, which is secret code for "It's better than Back in Action!" and "We have proper turn-based combat too!" Steam user reviews seem to broadly say it's one of the better Jagged Alliances we've seen in a while, but still no Jagged Alliance 2.
It does have mod tools and Steam Workshop support so I'm sure we'll see folks tweak a few things. They still need a solid-enough foundation to build on, mind.
Jagged Alliance Flashback is on Steam for £19.99, going up to £24.99 after next Tuesday. Jagged Alliance 2 is £6.19 on GOG, and for an extra 8 pence you can get JA 1 and JA: Deadly Games too.
Flashaback certainly has the cheesy rock music I'd except from a retro revival: