Jagged Alliance 3’s new trailer shows a few seconds of the only feature I care about

THQ Nordic announced Jagged Alliance 3 during their September showcase last year. It’s only fitting that it returned during this year’s showcase, bringing a much more detailed trailer to show off how combat will work.

I’m not hot on Jagged Alliance, but there’s a lot to like in the trailer above. It’s neat that you can spend AP points to increase the accuracy of your shots; I like the sound of an enemy “mishap chance”, because mishaps are always fun; and there generally seems to be a lot of granularity, from how you pose your mercenaries (stand, crouch, prone), to what body parts they target, to what type of shot they’re taking (single, burst, auto, etc. ).

Sadly, the trailer shows the most appealing part for only a few seconds near the end. The best stories about classic Jagged Alliance normally involve its dynamic campaign map, which provides the context for the individual turn-based skirmishes you lead. That feature has been absent or poor in some of the lesser, modern Jagged Alliance games, but it’s seemingly returning here.

The other thing giving me hope is that JA3 is being developed by Haemimont Games, the makers of Surviving Mars and several Tropico games. I wouldn’t say that Haemimont have made any classics, but I do think they’ve typically punched above their budget. Their recent track record is certainly better than the Jagged Alliance series. Chris Bratt reviewed Jagged Alliance: Rage for us back in 2018 and found it mostly a chore.

Jagged Alliance 3 has no release date but, as always, can be found onSteam.