Jagged Alliance: Back In Action In Action

When it was revealed that Jagged Alliance: Back In Action would use a 'plan & go' pausable action system rather than the turn-based trappings of yore, I expected the outcry to be loud and shrill. Mine was, until I played the game at which point I was forced to acknowledge that actual hands-on experience is more useful than spurious supposition. Who would have thought? I found something new to whine about when I saw the necessarily clear evidence that the game contains no fog of war. Then I thought it might be added for release. I was wrong, buried beneath crossed wires. Some people seem as unconcerned about the missing fog as they were about the missing turns, so perhaps this gameplay video will help everyone to have contrary thoughts.

As soon as the second area starts, you can see all those red blobs at the side of the screen representing enemies. That's my problem. It's not even particularly the fact that I know where they are, it's more that I know exactly how many there are. It might not be clear to someone who hasn't dabbled in the game, but the order system is effective. Situations like the big shoot-out with an injured merc to take care of feel urgent and demand impressive feats of time-juggling.

I wish there was more dramatic scenery damage when grenades went off though. And that Dr Q hadn't turned into a white guy.

It's out next month at which point I'll ramble on about it, possibly for the last time, and see how it all holds together through a couple of full campaigns.