Jagged Alliance 3 – Preview, Tactics & Strategy

A heavy legacy

Jagged Alliance 2 is a round tactics legend. The strategy classic, published in 1999, about a group of mercenaries who are supposed to free the wife of the president of fictional Arulco, convinced with its strategic claim,

precise game mechanics and strong characters. In complete contrast to all other games with Jagged Alliance in the title: It doesn’t matter if it’s Rage! or the half-baked remake Back in Action: the magic of tactics seemed to have evaporated with the dissolution of Sir-Tech 2001.

The Haemimont Games crew, who lined up to prove themselves worthy of the three behind the game title, are also aware of this heritage. At Gamescom 2022, the developers presented me with their vision of a Jagged Alliance 3 that should enable a real restart for the series. And what should I say? What I saw gives hope!

Strategic mercenary struggle in Africa

In the fictional African state of Grand Chien, the newly elected president is kidnapped by his opponents – and his daughter turns to our mercenary group for help. Incidentally, the events take place only a few years after Jagged Alliance 2, i.e. shortly after the turn of the millennium. A time period that the minutis developers have recreated with their technology and optical trends, from PDAs and thick laptops to the Pali cloth. For this reason, the first menu surfaces of mercenary recruitment, equipment and Co. also remind me pleasantly of the predecessor.

Playfully, Haemimont Games relies on the usual round tactics with a strategic superstructure. The mercenary squads are sent into battle on a world map, and enemy groups and bases are shown. This is also where the funds must be managed and new mercenaries recruited. According to Haemimont Games, several of your own combat groups will be able to be deployed later in the game, which must be skillfully moved around the strategy map. Because: Places can be taken, but they also have to be defended against recaptures, since the enemy squads are mobile themselves. In the combat zones, you first drag your own group of mercenaries across the map in real time. Here you can also interact with civilians, traders and other characters, whereby the skills of the dispatched fighters should also play an important role in the dialogues.