I know I am going to get major flap for this - but I actually like JA BIA. Its not that bad at all. Solid engine. Its a refreshing feel to the JA series. Yes, JA2 1.13 was amazing but it did get old with the mechanics. We cant expect perfection from any developer because there are so many variables and "wants" for this new game. But regardless, it is still enjoyable and I will play this over JA2 1.13 for a while.

I am sure there will be MORE DLC (right now the 4 DLCs are pretty useless) on the way. And yes, the game is screaming to have more weapons and tweaks, but overall this game is fun. So to all those crabby people who deleted it within 5 minutes - get over it. Still fun. And I will argue with anyone that thinks this game is unplayable. Massive potential here.

I hate to admit this,too. But I like it more than I thought.

New system is solid, it need some tweaks (in fact,a lot of it) but it has much potential here.

What! How dare you like it.

Just kidding, it is decent. My main problem is realizing a small amount of additional effort could have made it so much better.

The demo at least surprised me, since it turned out the thing was even worse than I had imagined.

LIke it?

Hell, I confess, I'm addicted!!

75+ hours playtime.

3 or 4 restarts. Deciding on my starting team.

At day 16 I'm only in control of the top half of the map. But I do have 2 full 6 man teams and another 2 man squad.

Does it need work? Yes. But, that can pretty much be said about every game ever made.

And the developers do seem to be trying, they're up to v1.06 and supposedly have at least 2 major patches in the works that will do more than just tweak the game.

Thank you for confessing you like it. Glad WE all had the balls to say it.

People come into this game with so many different expectations it's normal that some will absolutely hate it and some will think it's ok.

There's such a shortage of good non-scifi squad games on the market due to the pew-pew-pew madness that BiA should be given a chance just for that.

To give you a short personal example: there are many people who love Fallout 3. I hate it. I am sick of 1st person RPGs. I got bored of Skyrim in under a week and that's supposed to be the coolest thing to hit the planet. And I have a feeling I'll hate Mass Effect 3, too, judging from the demo.

Beside JA2 and Company of Heroes, I've only really enjoyed Dragon Age in the last years. I mean like really savour it. But they managed to mess that one up too. And don't even get me started of the mess they made out of x-com.

So the gaming industry kinda lowered my standards. BiA fails to meet the standards JA2 set. But remember, judged by the standards of JA2, JA2:UB was a major fail too. Two bit story and a quick campaign, whambam thankyou madam.

So although I can't blame people for blasting BiA for not being a true follow-up to JA2, I can see some potential in it. And since there doesn't seem to be another willing party ready to invest 100 million into the franchise to make it the best looking game of all times, I'd say we should take what we have and see what we can do with it.

Moaning forever won't help.

Dunno about the actual game , but the demos hard enough !

On the plus side , scenery really good , figures , weapons all look nice , movement seems as good as it might get . One thing , how do you rotate the battle screen ?

Ha, Company of Heroes is such a underappreciated game. Why they havent made a 2nd one of that frustrates me. Stupid consoles and their lame games killed the market for PC games.

to rotate the battle screen i think you hold alt?

CTRL and ALT are your friends. Hold them and magic happens. Doing the tutorial also helps.

CTRL is actually just an inconvenient replacement if you lack a mouse wheel.

Btw, if you think militia are useless you're wrong. Mine are all chicks and they strip for me at the flick of a finger!

Tutorial ? Tutorial !! I don' need no steenking tutorial !

I've bought BiA yesterday off Steam and I had a white night playing it. I took it at a very slow pace, zooming in to watch the scenery.

And boy, I am impressed.

The scenery looks bloody awesome, on par with ANY modern game engine. BiA's remake of JA2 world is also jaw dropping (i am talking about eye-candy, not functionality). Seeing Drassen in a fluid sector brings back the memories of the modders struggling with Big Maps. Only this one makes sense visually.

Heck, I've zoomed into a home and there was a bloody frying pan STIRRING on the gas stove!

Talking about mercs, it's true, someone decided to sacrifice the interface and give the FUGLY faces. They look like my 5 year old tried to draw them. But the 3d models, from isometric perspective, are way way over what we dared to expect from a JA2 mod. I mean you can see clothing details such as different boots, t-shirts, cammo types! Even the slightest detail such as mounting a telescope or a laser sight on a weapon is visibile...

Combat is on par and better than JA2, too. I mean, things go FUBAR extremely fast in BiA if you fuck up. Doesn't matter your squad is wearing spectra armor and have top of the range weapons, if you go 2 vs 5 hoodlooms with some machettes, you will be hacked to death instantly. At least if you play bad and forget to set things as "Guard" (automatic retaliation) on. And I respect that.

So there's a lot to like about BiA.

But then a lot to hate. Interface work is absolutely horrific. And the superb engine is layerd on makes it look even more horrific. Oh that strategic screen... oh that laptop... omg those faces.

Anyway, I am back to playing. And I hope I find at least and equal ammount of things to like as those I'll dislike.

I don't care if it isn't on par with Ja2. What can be? I remember getting the demo in a gamer mag in 1998 and playing it so much that my eyes swelled shut from the prolonged radiation exposure coming from my monitor. I have played every title in the series except the one on the DS. I did the same thing for Fallout and will do the same thing for X-com. These are the games from my childhood. Im nostalgic and ill play any of them even if they suck. Chalk it up to brand loyalty.

It's just too bad they had this kind of great engine and they slapped such a poor interface on it. Basically most of the bad things in BiA can be solved with a better interface - just give it the options JA2 had and bingo.

To be honest I do like the game as well, it has it's flaws (like any other game) but overall I can look past them and for the most part, enjoy the game. I also think that the dev's made the game and then just assumed that modders would do the rest for them, as all they are doing at the moment is fixing bugs (it's their job) and not really adding any content (or extra options such as FOW) that has been requested 1000 times.

The problem that its diffcult level is strange after 33% of game you have a lot of money and annoying enemy with strong armor.

I rather like BiA, the fact that I can see all modifications I do to my mercs is very appealing. But my biggest gripe with the game is the interaction between my mercs. As in, there doesn't seem to be any.

That's what really made the JA series a cult classic as far as I'm concerned.

A lot of money + lots of enemies with strong armor.

Sounds like the ideal setup to go in with 2 teams with heavy weapons and grenades. Why see a number called in-game money increase? shoot 120 rockets in a sector (12 mercs X 10 rockets) and tell me if there are any "strong" enemies alive.

It isn't like the first couple of cities and mines are hard to defend! As you said, a LOT of money and the merchants don't have infinite guns, but bobby ray does. So give 20+ people FN FAL + good vest and have Ira stand there and watch if the enemy ever sends enough people to take the central city. If i understand correctly, most peoples problem is that they give militia handguns and no vest (i did that too) and that they arm 3-5 militia and complain about loosing all of them. If you wait and store 10-20 sets of Assault rifle + vest + helmet, and then equip ALL the militia at the same time, they are not to be messed with.

they released 3 expansion packs for company of heros and still a few thousand people will be playing at any one time, its not as dead as tribes yet, give it time before they release a sequal

ToV and OF, did I miss something or do you count the main game as well?

whoops only 2 then

First few days that I was playing this, I was "Meh, this is all they could come up with?" But now, I'm starting to appreciate it, it does need a few tweaks especially most of the features from good ol ja2. I just hope the developers dont give up on this project.

The more I play it the more I like it. If it was a different setting and not called JA then it would have come in for more praise I think.

I'm using the Blue Sun mod. Even with no FOW with the BS mod things are getting really tough. With FOW I'm not sure how playable it would be, they'd have to cut back the constant growth of enemies. At the moment I'm dealing with 30+ in one go and it's rising.

Constant attacks and having to equip the militia all the time drains my resources. I may have come to a stalling point to be honest. I'm 35% of the way through.

The combat really does grow on you, it's a shame it isn't loaded with all the features JA 2 has but it's still good fun. I think this day an age we should all support developers who are willing to make these sorts of games.

I went into it with little hope, after a fair few hours of playing I find it's become my main spare time eater. Love the animations, even dust kicks up when your running.

Also it's alot more newb friendly than JA2. I personally am quite happy not having to worry about keeping my mercs due to funds. When I first played JA2 having no idea how much money your going to make etc means your not sure how much to spend when hiring your first mercs. No worries here. However it needs a sector Inv and some form of transport from the airport to sectors, as ferrying weapons is a pain. I'd like the training aspect back and I'd also like to see the hospital used for badly injured mercs rather than just speeding up time for a few hours.

I hope it gets more features though and I really hope a sequel is made. The game does have a charm of it's own.

I must say that I downloaded from steam and although there are many features that could be improved, in general terms, I enjoy it.
of course, many things should be modified to make it more realistic (a guy with a machete and a bit of stealth is almost a killing machine in this game).
I'm still trying to learn how to get around the game, but in this couple of days i've had quite fun.

After playing JA, JADG, JA2, & JA2UB thousands of times, I've decided to give BIA a shot. my big question is, in the "plan & go" system, how do I make it "go" after my plans are made/

How about pressing SPACE again?

I love this game! I hope that the modders really embrace it and make some cool stuff. I've lurked here a while so I hope it will be a hub for Jabia in the future too!!!

I was just on metacritic and am trying to figure out where the heck all of the JAbia haters are coming from! The player reviews there are so polarized... it seems like half of them are ratings of 0 with the review being something banal: "teh sux. is not JA2 1.13. merc portraits suxk"

I'm just glad to see a bunch of fans. Can't wait for the new patches/dlc/mods.

Yes, I love this game, just taking my time to enjoy it. Upto day 31, 20 mercs on my roster, 10 sector maps to go.

For rotating the battlefield press the Alt-key.

The cursor will change into an arrow pointing in two directions .... you can rotate it by moving your mouse.

Greetz, Walrick

just managed to get the million bucks from the kid in balime. now the fun can start. a team of 4 top players and full supplies are on their way to the airport.

There are times that turn it all around and last night I had just such an experience. I love JA going back to JA1 and Deadly Games and leading all the way up to the present. I have played nearly all of the mods and all of the games with the “Jagged” titles and clones (except for the on-line version – I avoid MMORGs because I don’t like getting my butt handed to me by a 10 year old). The only thing I get tired of is taking the same ground over and over again (I am a Vietnam War Marine that got tired of having to retake ground and then turn it back over to the locals only to have them lose it again). Hang enough tinsel on it but it’s still the same Christmas tree! Yes I know, Ja2:UB changed the basics but those mods too become a little too common after a dozen playthroughs.

I applaud the modders that have worked so hard to put a different twist on the JA2 framework and agree with most of the complaints about JABiA (though I have yet to experience a CTD or misplaced buttons) but last night I had a paradigm experience.

My team was attacking the prison (not the one near Alma) and as Trevor opened a perimeter door Raider was lying prone and covering the long hallway in front of him. Or so I thought. Suddenly an enemy soldier rattles off something to the effect “I see one” and comes running down the hall towards the open door. Raider tries to bring the running figure under fire but he gets nothing. Trevor is behind the open door and Blood is off to the side with no shot for either one. Raider grabs a grenade and tosses it down the hall at the approaching soldier. It lands and rolls forward towards the approaching runner and it hits the edge of a doorframe (I hadn’t noticed) and ricochets out of sight (into a hallway or adjacent room). Just as the running soldier runs past this doorway the grenade goes off and channels its blast into the runner killing him while also killing someone just out of sight in that hallway or room. Two for one! (I miss the usual Raider quips – this new voice just isn’t the same).

Elsewhere, another team arrives on the scene (different sector) and I find that they are just off the road with a line of concrete barriers blocking the view of several enemy soldiers standing out on the road. The six mercs drop to the prone position and crawl towards the concrete barriers. On cue four of them rise to a kneeling position and fires bursts of lead into the unsuspecting soldiers while the remaining two mercs lie prone facing ninety degrees to the left flank and engage several soldiers farther down the road. In just seconds the firefight is over and nothing left to do but police up the brass.

I have been playing computer games since my first console game (Pong) followed by Mac games, Atari 800, MSDOS, Apple IIGS, ColecoVision, 286, 386, 486, dual core and now quad core (I am in my 60’s) and always try to distance myself from the negative flak so many games have received (and many earned). This JABiA is a shadow of JA2 (but the modding community is bringing it around along with the most recent patch) but the graphics lend a whole new experience to the basic concept and I for one embrace it. Yes it is different but I am enjoying the ride. When you can ricochet a grenade down a side passage and catch a runner in midstride plus take out an unseen target this is an experience to be remembered long after I take over the country and deal with the Queen in the manner she deserves.

As bitComposer Games and Kalypso Media work to bring their game up to the standard we JA fans are demanding I can only marvel at the brilliance they have shown. Where else can you get the fans to do so much modding and patching for free? The game is getting better day-by-day and I for one am enjoying the experience.

I don't "hate" BiA nor its developpers in any way.


Graphics may be indeed more eye-candy than JA2



Some forgotten sectors of videogame suddenly get audiance and with major founding developpers are able to make unbelievable graphics, like fallout3, war of the roses, etc etc



But JA2 wasn't just the graphics. It was the immersion, the music, the character taking life when they were speaking, Ira disgusted when crows are eating rotten corpses, Razor not understanding that Haywire is really dead.

Different and proper behaviour and personality that every charcter had.


Nomatter how much eye-candy and good gameplay a "modern JA" can be, JA2-1.13 will still remain unbeatable

I've been playing Jagged Alliance since the original DOS game was released in 1995. That initial game is one of the few that I've played repeatedly to completion (about 7 times now), and I've even purchased it, Deadly Games, Jagged Alliance 2, Unfinished Business, and Wildfire repeatedly over the years, both in physical (CD-ROM and Nintendo DS chip) and in digital (Steam and Good Old Games) formats.

I bought, several years ago, a game called Hired Guns: The Jagged Edge, in the hopes that it would be something akin to an updated form of Jagged Alliance, but couldn't even find the interest to finish its first combat mission since it felt so counterintuitive (and the mercenaries lackluster voiceovers didn't help, either).

I was afraid that JA: Back in Action would prove similarly disappointing, but so far, after investing 149 hours into it, I must say that I've been pleasantly surprised.

It isn't perfect, it's far from that. The voiceover talent isn't anywhere near as appropriate and professional as that with which the staff of Sir Tech spoiled us, the character portaits look worse than the regular VGA ones from 1995, and some elements of the game upon release, such as the inability to manage inventory and militia on the map screen, are tedium inducing and detract from the series's progression, though I'm thankful that those two latter issues have just, as of a few hours ago, been corrected in an update/patch. Day 1 DLC seems to be the industry standard these days, and though I don't like that trend, I will buy the content upon release (as opposed to later when it's sold at a discount) if the game or franchise to which it's linked is compelling enough, and the Jagged Alliance series certainly qualifies.

But I'm having quite a fun time with this new system, and this is from someone who traditionally strongly favors turn based strategy games over their real time counterparts. The development team for BiA seems to have gotten it right this time, and with a few tweaks (say holding the left mouse button while clicking the right one to move all squadmembers somewhere, or holding the right mouse button while moving the cursor to change where a selected merc faces) it could be a near perfect game engine, with the potential to be recycled and reused in many sequels as well as in titles that are far removed from the Jagged Alliance universe.

As I close this, I'd like to compliment user LokiOne for his review two posts ago on this thread. The in-game anecdotes were entertaining, the autobiographical bits were relevant and of interest, and the entire post was just well written.

id like to second the post from LokiOne... sums up my ideas of BiA... and he remembered ColecoVision!

and thanks to you Ramon for telling me how to make everyone move to the same spot... that is great stuff.

we Were spoiled by Sir Tech, and jagged alliance is the crown. Even XCom with it's base building can not quite reach the pinnicle that is JA2 1.13.

i guess i have to choose where my money goes, and i would rather pay someone to try to remake a jagged alliance game than pay someone to slaughter Fallout. although i have and continue to replay all my old favorites, i really need and appreciate this newblood to the genre. certainly much better than any other recent incarnation.

not sure how i feel about dlc though. really, how much do they plan on making me pay for this game. i bought JA2 4 times before i got a disk image, but it was a masterpiece of community loved software with more hours being worked on it than company could possibly afford. How much am i going to have to pay for my [tons of guns} checkbox?? Disgraceful. Not even a stupid 7.62mmWP machine gun. dumdumdumdum

in then end i will lay down my bucks and hope for a solid sequal (it took a second sequal for Burnout to make a good game, the first was freaking terrible).

i so wish i could drive one of the hundreds of pristine camouflaged Hummers just sitting around. Trevor would defiantly jump start it if we didnt have any keys.

Wow i just saw this vid of jagged alliance online:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lVL0muHbl44#!


And the Mercenary portraits are authentic JA2, action points are back too!

Looks amazing...


Edit: Tested it, quite a deception.

OK let's face it, nothing will ever beat JA2-1.13. We had better get over it

Perhaps but lowering our standards to this mediocre crap isn't the answer either.

Lets face it, they gave 3D and took the rest away.

It's been over a decade, and I would have welcomed a half decent JA.
But after finally coming around to play it. (I had a boring weekend.) It doesn't hold a candle to JA2, it's not even a light source.
And comparing to 1.13 is actually a killing blow. A group of amateurs (granted having 13 years) did a better job than a company full of professionals. The modders took a good game and made it into a behemoth still going strong after 13 years.

Now I must say I haven't tried the mods yet. Perhaps in another two months when I get bored again.

I'm just glad I downloaded this and didn't spend money on it. Maybe after it drops the price to the level of other indy games. Because that is how it feels. (Bastion was better!)

I just wish that BIA let us create our own custom merc like the original did. The new game is more advanced and visually impressive than JA2 but not being able to create my own custom character is a tremendous drawback.

The game looks great but took eight steps back from JA2. No IMP, yet to see merc, and awful voice acting, and I am not sure if the rebels will be around. I like the game, but it is no JA3.