We get our first look at bitComposer's graphical overhaul of Jagged Alliance 2 at the 2011 Game Developers Conference.
The 2011 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco is winding down, but there are still plenty of new and exciting games being shown, including Jagged Alliance: Back in Action, a graphical overhaul of the cult-classic 1999 turn-based strategy game in development at German studio bitComposer. Back in Action will essentially be a 3D face-lift that renders all characters and battlefields in full 3D but that otherwise seeks to faithfully re-create Jagged Alliance 2. The story is still the same--you're still a mercenary captain contracted to liberate the oppressed (and fictional) island nation of Arulco, and you still use the services of the Association of International Mercenaries to hire soldiers of fortune for your cause. The version of the game we saw was very early along and was lacking many features, including some of the early game's interfaces, but we were assured that the final game will, in fact, have the original game's Web-browser-on-a-laptop-computer interface for both your starting character's personality test and the in-game AIM website. However, it sounds like bitComposer may be planning to rerecord the audio dialogue for its mercenaries--if so, hopefully the developer can recapture the personality and humor imparted by Jagged Alliance 2's original creator, Sir-Tech, way back when.
Just like with the original Jagged Alliance 2, the meat and potatoes of Back in Action will be tactical battles that take place in Arulco's oppressed villages and military bases, eventually culminating in climactic battles in the compound of the evil Queen Deidranna herself. And just like before, the game will give you the choice to play these battles in real time (if you happen to be totally insane) or in turn-based mode (if you're sane).
From what we can tell from our brief demonstration, Back in Action brings back all the elements of the classic tactical strategy game, including limited action points for each mercenary to spend each turn on movement, reloading, firing, throwing grenades, using explosives, patching up wounded teammates, and so on. If you happen to be carrying an automatic weapon, you can also still set your firing mode to single shot, burst, and full auto. Back in Action also uses Jagged Alliance 2's line-of-sight system, which displays each character's field of view as a triangular cone on the ground radiating outward, and just like in the original game, your best bet, at least early on, will be to stay low, stay out of sight, and pick off enemies one by one.
The early version of the game we saw was still using placeholder in-game assets, but the 3D environments are a definite step up from the original game's classic but sadly dated 2D forests and burned-out shacks. If nothing else, the game's 3D foliage and environmental features seem to make it considerably easier to tell when you or your enemies are behind cover--an occasionally problematic issue with Jagged Alliance 2's pixelated 2D environments. Everything else seems to check out so far. Back in Action will take the outstanding tactical strategy of Jagged Alliance 2 and refresh it with much-cleaner-looking graphics. The game will ship later this year.
I'm really hoping they improve the environments from JA2. Fighting on the same perfectly level terrain with a few shacks to climb onto was a real bore after a while. It would be nice to have some rougher terrain (like in the mountain sectors) and some large multi-story buildings. It would be freaking awesome to defend a sector like that.
I enjoyed this gem almost a decade after its release... it was great... now I expect the same from its 3D counterpart.
Oh no...looks so bad and untactical. Why dont bioware remake it into DA-style(DA 1 of course) game. I spent 8 hour straight back then... Its one of my and i'm sure many favorite
@tanuremeister Like it or not, traditional turn-based games ARE dead. There's not enough of us out there who will buy them to make it a worthwhile risk for the game developers sinking a lot of money (and their reputation) into creating a game nowadays. One game deemed mediocre or a flop is enough to sink most modern game development companies, so it's not surprising to see them hedge their bets on more of a "sure thing" whenever possible.
You guys have it all blown out of proportion. This seems more like an asset update rather than any change to the gameplay mechanics.
Ok. First they took X-Com and turned it into horse dung. Then they took Fallout 3 and, again, crapped all over it. Now it's Jagged Alliance's turn. ALL MY FAVORITE GAMES ARE GONE!!! Well, at least Silent Storm isn't famous enough to be screwed up. Unfortunately, it's already pretty crappy when compared to Jagged Alliance, Fallout and X-Com. Seriously, tactical TBS/RPG is dead. It's so sad that today everything has to become RTS or worst, FPS. R.I.P., turn-based games. (I hope all the trolls around are smart enough to realize that when I mentioned "they", I meant "game developers" in general).
hope its not buggy... if its solid, this is gonna be so amazing. Jagged alliance 2 is so fun. I can only hope and pray for a remake of the first game also!
And another thing! If BitComposer turns my most beloved game into some generic action turd, like 99% of the games out there, I'm going to do everything within my power to make it fail! They can count on that!
I seriously HATE the combat in BG and DA! Jagged Alliance with such a system is fail. It doesn't allow for any deep tactics at all, it's just a crappy system that caters to users with an insatiable thirst for continues action and fools them into thinking they're being clever. That's all. I want a TBS!! Not some fancy promoted pause and play system! Also, this article is misleading. BitComposer already confirmed it's not TB as in JA.
You've got my ear! HA! Nice reverence GS... Ira's dialog used to drive my girlfriend crazy! As for this game, so many of us told BitComposer what we would want in a remake... and then they took the many pages of carefully written intelligent (mostly) suggestions and multiple fans saying "it's perfect the way it is!" and completely ignored all of it! So BitComposer can go and... fly a kite! (being polite here)!
I don't see how JA2 could have both real time and turn based battles? Unless their talking about the "auto resolve" feature when you go into a non-city area, which is hardly battling in real time more like pot luck. I don't think its much of a bad thing for them to revoice the mercs, although I did completely LOVE the old voices and quotes I do think its time for something new, that and the fact that the voice actors may have moved on/too busy/refused....Ivan, Igor and Reaper need to stay the same though!
@TurinTur: "The game pauses itself when somethng happens, so you don't even have to be aware when it's needed to pause. " Automation. Even worse than I thought! Just sit back and watch the graphics! No need to play at all! No skill required! Seriously, that's worse than a dexterity-oriented game "strategy" (self-proclaimed) game! Do you seriously need more? It's a well-known proven fact that this game is NOT a hybrid of TBS and RTS but a RTS with pause feature (they use the "pause" feature as an excuse not to call it a RTS). Seriously, I 'd rather start to develop my own game and sell it as "Jagged Alliance: The ORIGINAL" without even buying the IP. It will be so much better unlike this shame! And as for calling me not intelligent, go ahead, I believe in freedom of speech, and I also believe that whoever you are trying to appeal to has the right to decide whether or not they take the author as credible or not, you state that I have low intelligence yet you make no warrant of this whatsoever thus I have no need to actually counter that attack. Have a nice day.
"If you still believe that I am wrong and that you are right, then enjoy this dexterity-oriented wanna-be hybrid of TBS and RTS." Wow, Agent Smith_pro, you are really lost. What dexterity are you speaking about? The game pauses itself when somethng happens, so you don't even have to be aware when it's needed to pause. And you can pause the game, change the speed to a very slow pace, etc. And you admit you haven't played the game and you haven't played games with this sytem, and even then you believe you are right. And i thought hardcore strategy gamers were... intelligent.
Also, when bitComposer asked what to change and what to keep on the combat system (in the same forum topic as my link), every single person told them to keep the combat system exactly as it was and just add new things to it. But instead of listening to the fans, they ignored them and did the opposite that the fans wanted by bringing a RTT gameplay. And to answer your question, I haven't ever played the Brigade series nor Dragon Age. I had played Baldur's Gate 2, which I disliked cause I hate d&d gameplay (it's just not my taste), and because I prefer action-RPGs of such type. To end with, the "Pause" is obviously, an excuse not to call it a (common) Real Time Tactics game. Well, I hate the whole idea about "pausing", Jagged Alliance series had nothing to do with pause (except @ mod 1.13 which allows you to pause the game if enemies haven't spotted you at first, but then again it forces you not to play real-time but turn-based instead). So, if they bring the pause feature that you like too much, it just won't be even close to the JA series, which proves that my point is right. That is all from me, for today. EDIT: Just because "pausing" is more realistic (which isn't), that doesn't mean that it's more fun. Realism =/= fun (at least not necessarily).
@ GODSPEEDseven: Thank you for your long counter-argument. I actually never said that a hybrid Real-Time/Turn-Based system isn't good. Instead, I support it! The Jagged Alliance series are a hybrid of RTS and TBS by themselves, since the gameplay involves real-time strategy (when not in combat, or when you and your opponents haven't spotted each other yet), and turn-based strategy (combat!). The problem is that "Jagged Alliance: Back in Action" is real-time oriented. The developers indirectly supported this and are going to implement it (just read again the description of "Plan & Go" combat system). So it won't be actually a hybrid, but an ostensibly hybrid (because real-time will take over turn-based gameplay) game. The original developers have no connection to this re-make, and this re-make is a combined collection of different unfinished development attempts , since the developers just bought the IP and got everything that was done by the previous developers (MiST Land South,Akella, etc.) In addition, as I said before, the specified 3D engine looks incompatible with the isometric projection by the means of gameplay - it will never look like actual JA sequel. Instead it will look like a generic Real-time Tactics game (the market is full of such games). I already know that I 'm repeating myself, but this is my personal opinion (which many of JA fans follow too, just read bitcomposer forums and bear's pit forums).
@ Agent-Smith_pro: Who says a hybrid Real-Time/Turn-Based system isn't good? If you've ever played the Brigade series, it uses a smart-pause system; which was the only good point in the whole game. I would like to see a Jagged Alliance style isometric view combined with a "smart-pause" type system (a la Baldur's Gate / Dragon Age). While the turn-based system in Jagged Alliance (x-com, fallout) was ok, it wasn't the best really. What really made the game stand out was the characters, story and humour. If they can properly incorporate all those into the new game.. who cares what kind of pausing system they incorporate; as long as you can pause to plan. You're taking it to an extreme by saying it'll be a button mashing game. The brigade series was NOT button mashing, nor was Dragon Age or Baldur's Gate. Those were great to plan strategy and see the action come alive. I could not think of a better system for a tactical game like Jagged Alliance. Action points limit gameplay flexibility. While I understand where you're coming from, I also hate most games nowadays for being very shallow and rushed, remakes are also very often ruined for the classic players. It still isn't a reason to blast these guys for making an awful game; we don't have any gameplay videos or anything yet. If you've played the above games you should know that most players actually would rather a smart-pause over action points. It's realistic, timing becomes important. That does NOT = button mashing!
I forgot the source: http://boards.jaggedalliance.com/index.php?/topic/101-turn-based-combat-system-2011/page__view__findpost__p__1045 EDIT: Do you seriously need more to believe that this game is going to be a common and boring RTS like hundreds of existing new games? If yes, then no thank you.
@GODSPEEDseven: You complain that I wrongly prejudged (bashed) the game before it's even out. Sorry to disappoint you, but I am right, because: According to bitComposer_Games (admin of their forums): "To ensure that Jagged Alliance 2 makes a successful transition into 2011 and that the remake is as attractive as possible to players who know the Jagged Alliance series and to those who have yet to play it, we will simply make a few changes to the existing JA2 combat system. We are calling the new combat system the"Plan & Go"system." [...] "The "Plan & Go" system removes the turn-based structure. If the player wants to react to an incident, he can pause the game at any time or allow the game to pause automatically by carrying out a particular activity (e.g. if a mercenary has run out of ammunition). The real-time elements in the "Plan & Go" system also add new and exciting features such as "Timing" for example. " If you still believe that I am wrong and that you are right, then enjoy this dexterity-oriented wanna-be hybrid of TBS and RTS. This will never , ever be close to the original Jagged Alliance 2 - at least from this kind of developers.
I'm still playing Jagged Alliance 2 to this day. One thing is certain; if they they actually come out with a good game that can live up to it's reputation, especially by keeping the same sense of humour found in the originals; I will GLADLY support this company. I'm not asking them to include all the features found in 1.13.. but to at least MATCH the original Jagged Alliance 2.. to keep the same balance and gameplay (keeping in mind the differences between a 2D isometric and 3D isometric view).. PLEASE, bitcomposer, do not ruin the characters in the game.. the humour and characters MADE the game! (I don't want to hear some messed-up voice-overs). Also, take all the time you need, just have a GOOD product that is above todays standards!
@ Agent-Smith_pro: Are you schizophenic? ALL the screenshots point towards an isometric view.. very much like the one found in Hired Guns. Who even mentionned buttong mashing or fast clicking? they actually just said the game would feature the same turn-based point system as in Jagged Alliance 2.. for shooting, reloading, healing... etc.. I'm not trying to say the game is a winner, because no one has tested it yet, we cannot know; but stop bashing the game before it's even out. If they fail, they'll know it.. but let's keep a positive attitude please! Wasn't trying to blast you rudely.. in a friendly/funny manner.. hope no insult is taken!
Shiny 3d graphics completaly ruined games such as Jagged Alliance 2. The isometric projection - the core of the JA2 gameplay - is completaly abandonded and replaced by a common and boring 3D engine. The market is full of such games. Jagged Alliance: Back in Action will obviously fail, only some kiddos will enjoy it, cause they will be amazed by the graphics (and then of course they will get bored with it). There is no need to play it - the screenshots provided are enough to prejudge it.
This game is being developed by a newly created company called bitComposer.It's completaly unrelated to Jagged Alliance 2. They only common thing that they both share is the title and the merc names. They abandoned the Turn-based combat system by forcing an "user"(children)-friendly, arcade, button mashing, fast clicking, easy and simple real-time "combat" system, that requires no skill at all unlike the original one. This game is made ONLY for the money and not for the gameplay! They don't even care about the fanbase who posted on their forums! They only care about the profit. Long live Sir-tech developers! BitComposer developers are no match to them.
Dave - true, but I think they're doing an overhaul of the Jagged Alliance 2, not 1? Either way, as Charlie Cheen would say...'WINNINNGGGG' - one of my all time favorite games, made by a Canadian gaming company originally no less ;-)
HELL YEAH!!! one of the classics making a return!! now that's what I'm talking about..more insane training of militia!!!
Oh my! Finally is back! There are not much turn based combat in the recent years. UFO was already a disappointment for the bad design game play and bugs 'infestation' after the x-com sequel. Don't mind to wait, hope they make the game as addict as the JA prequel.
Too bad the game won't have turn-based combat (a.k.a. won't be a true remake of Jagged Alliance 2). I'm very disappointed with bitComposer. I was hoping they would change their minds after the bombardment of complaints in the official forums, but they didn't. :( Edit: Sorry, I missed the part when they said you can choose to play the game in real time or turn based mode. Thanks God! :D
so.. fricken.. excited. I broke out Wildfire again last month. So few games have the staying power that the JA ones did, it's a shame they've been neglected for so long.
The series' transition to real-time strategy is a rough one in this flawed remake.
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