Everything described so far may sound like a faithful remake of Jagged Alliance 2 to current standards, but problems quickly pile up. The most obvious are how simplified the actual fighting has become. Using explosives to open up new ’doors’ in a building is now limited to specific, predetermined points and conversing with characters now follows a much smaller list of options than before. Removal of the ’fog of war’ also makes many fights far too easy: you can clear entire sectors by simply sending a fast mercenary ahead to bait enemies out one or two at a time, then lead them back to an ambush. In fairness, this tactic works best against early enemies since many of them only have close-combat weapons such as an axe, and it becomes less effective (but still useful) once they start packing guns.
There are some genuine technical problems too. The AI stands out, both that of the enemies and how your mercs carry out your orders. Enemy soldiers seem to have little risk assessment going on, and will happily march to their death even after they see one of their own get cut down in an obvious trap. Your characters have an odd tendency to get stuck on terrain or other people and may ignore cues such as being shot at, so you’re going to have to micromanage them. Combined with several cases of missing text, you have a game that plays like a late preview build rather than a full release; it’s functional, but has quirks. It should be noted that some of these issues became less severe over the course of this review, with several patches released just days apart from each other.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however. I could go on for pages about little details I miss (such as the famous "Elliot, you idiot" cutscenes with Deidranna, the original game’s sci-fi mode and ’I.M.P.’ custom character, and so on), but that wouldn’t be fair. It’s a fairly functional, enjoyable squad combat game. There are plenty of problems, but also several things that are improvements over the original or are just plain good ideas. This is rough (very rough) around the edges, but not bad. You’re still guiding some neat characters around a pretty big world, still collecting an increasingly impressive array of guns, and still shooting lots of enemies with a well-made plan. It may get the little things wrong, but the core is decent.
That leaves Jagged Alliance: Back in Action sitting in an odd position. It’s currently a decent game with the potential to be patched up to a good one, and they’re releasing patches quickly enough that ’potential’ could become reality. However, calling this a remake of Jagged Alliance 2 invites comparisons to that classic. They’re asking $40 USD for a decent real-time squad combat game, while the original is a superb turn-based squad game for half or less that price. If you can get the decade-old Jagged Alliance 2 v1.12 (final retail release) or v1.13 (the fan-maintained patch/mod) running on your computer, that’s a superior and less expensive choice. Otherwise, Back in Action is the next best thing and is enjoyable if you’re willing to tolerate its flaws.
This review was based on a retail (Steam download) copy of the game, provided by Kalypso.
