Jagged Alliance 3 - Review @ ACG

[HiddenX]

ACG reviewed the upcoming Jagged Alliance 3:

Jagged Alliance 3 Review So Far - Stop You Are Already Dead!

More information.

 

[Tony]

I can't wait until tomorrow. This looks so good.

 

[JFarrell71]

Got a good review at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

 

[Gwendo]

I was afraid of this. I don't know if I'm one of those patient enough to restart the game a lot. I really just tolerate the strategic parts to get to the good tactical parts...

 

[Kordanor]

I was afraid of this. I don't know if I'm one of those patient enough to restart the game a lot. I really just tolerate the strategic parts to get to the good tactical parts...

You can set the difficulty a bit so you got more money available. Also you can just not hire the most expensive team
I also posted some tipps over here: https://rpgwatch.com/forum/threads/...ips-to-get-you-started.56033/#post-1061720709
That will also help you avoid to restart multiple times because you got your character or team wrong.

 

[HiddenX]

If it's like Jagged Alliance 2 I will restart the game at least 10 times and will play it to the end each time

 

[Silver]

Going by the Steam reviews its not performing well with good computer setups. It was also stated that the maps are quite small and tactically its a bit too dumbed down. I will be interested to hear what players here think about it.

 

[Kordanor]

Going by the Steam reviews its not performing well with good computer setups. It was also stated that the maps are quite small and tactically its a bit too dumbed down. I will be interested to hear what players here think about it.

Well...it's a bit of a matter of perspective, but generally: No, No and No

Reviews are probably mostly by people well...who can't play. The players who can play are busy playing. So at first there were a bunch of reviews with technical issues (instead of trying to solve them). As former tech support I would think that in the majority of the cases it's the players fault.
During the last hours the overall reviews also changed to the batter.
I am not saying that there can't be technical issues, but they seem to be rather rare and in between.
The game is running pretty good on very old hardware.

The maps are not small, they have various sizes. Some are smaller, some are quite big, and I think some significantly bigger than in JA2. However they might feel smaller, because you can usually run around more freely. Especially on the Tutorial island, the zones mostly consist of just one enemy group, which you would then surround from 2-3 sides and then kill. And of course in that case the combat area is smaller than its in JA2, where its potentially the whole map.

Bascially this in JA1/2
OEOOOE
OOOEOO
OEOOOE
OOOOEO

VS this in JA3:
OOOOOO
OOOOOO
OOOEEE
OOOEEE

O just being "empty map" and E being potential enemy spots. Both "zones" would be the same size, but you would probably think the first example is bigger, because...enemies everywhere.
Doesnt mean they are always all clustered, but especially at start they are.

And lastly regarding tactically dumbled down:
Well...are you aware of the bad AI and the interruption traps you can easily set up in JA2 to exploit the AI? So...what does dumbed down mean?
It does feel a bit different. But in my opinion not because it got simplified in any way. But because of the point I made before regarding the level one the one hand, and the focus on a good opener on the combat on the other. So its quite "front loading" the combat. I think you can say that the course of the combat is a bit less tactical, because the weight is put into the setup, and that one has some issues with the stealth approach in my opinion.
Furthermore JA3 got much more RPG aspects now.
And with that I would say that the new JA3 is NOT XCOM (that makes no sense at all), JA3 is rather a mix of JA2, Commandos and Wasteland 2/3. It often feels very Wastelandish.

 

[bjon045]

The game is performing very well on my 5600X, 6700XT GPU on a Samsung 980 pro ssd. Load times are a couple of seconds tops and no/minimal frame loss on max settings.

 

[Redglyph]

Going by the Steam reviews its not performing well with good computer setups. It was also stated that the maps are quite small and tactically its a bit too dumbed down. I will be interested to hear what players here think about it.

I have a decent system (RTX 3070, i7 10700K, NVMe) and it's maintaining 60 FPS on full HD without any effort despite most settings on Ultra; I don't even hear a difference with the fans. Maybe I'll hear it in night conditions because of the lighting, though their engine seems well optimized so I don't think so (it's not Unity).

When you open the journal, the inventory, or the character sheet, it takes a little time to load a separate screen for that. It's barely noticeable but it contrasts with games where it appears instantly with the game in background. I think the loading is emulated on purpose to mimic the 90's hardware & software (the UI is based on that theme). Maybe some players were confused by that? Otherwise the game and the maps load very quickly - much more than the Pathfinder games and many others.

I've only seen a few maps, who had a normal size. Not big, but not small. The combat wasn't hard but I can't judge, having just finished the tutorial part. @Kordanor has played much more though.

Bottom line, I don't think it's justified. Many players have given bad scores because of the faulty multiplayer mode. I've also seen players complaining about the UI being barely readable. I suppose they were playing in 4K UHD, but on full HD it's perfectly fine. Finally, I heard they were still tweaking it for the Steam Deck, so some may find it more difficult on that device.

 

[Silver]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Super helpful.

 

[Gwendo]

Can we make stealth skills? If I manage to approach an enemy's back, I can't find a way to make a stealth kill. Only the usual options to shoot or throw a knife (not to stab).

 

[Kordanor]

Can we make stealth skills? If I manage to approach an enemy's back, I can't find a way to make a stealth kill. Only the usual options to shoot or throw a knife (not to stab).

Yeah, there are two different ways.

But essentially you need to be hidden. And when you aim at the enemy you will then see the sysmbol and at the top of the tooltip even a chance (i think in 25% steps) of your chance to succeed.

So you just shoot and if you are lucky it works (instakill). That doesnt mean you stay hidden. You might be too loud, or an enemy sees the guy dieing or the corpse.

The other way is melee stealth kills. You need to have the knife as active weapon. This one actually works much better in terms of controls. You can first aim at the throat for example. And this is then "locked in", now as soon as you arrive at the enemy (next to him) this action will automaticall executed.

 

[Redglyph]

I think you have to throw the knife, by the way. I've tried to approach and use it as a melee, but I didn't find how to do it or it's just not implemented. It's hard to know since the game is really badly explained. When I click on the enemy, it shows something like "prepare approach" but, after trying all combinations, I just gave up. my merc approaches the guy but stays there without doing anything, and the enemy finally detects me and starts the fight.

Throwing the knife means you need to recover it, I think. It's not clear either.

 

[Kordanor]

You dont need to throw the knife. Thats a "special attack".
Have the knife selected, prepare, and then approach. It will automatically be executed.

I think it actually tells in the tooltip that if you throw a knife it will need to be recovered.

Exception being Blood...he got a special item.

 

[Redglyph]

It would make sense if it had to be recovered, but the 2nd time I used that ability, I found my knife back in my inventory after the fight. Weird.

As for the approach action, it just wasn't working. Clicking to confirm the approach only moved my merc, then he just stayed there, doing nothing. I've tried a few times but the result is always the same. I'll have to try again when I get the chance. That being said, throwing the knife is less risky since you don't have to run all the way back to cover when the fight starts.

 

[Kordanor]

The preparation doesnt make your character run towards the enemy. You need to manually navigate it to the enemy. He will then automatically attack.

I think I will make a video about stealth

 

[Redglyph]

The preparation doesnt make your character run towards the enemy. You need to manually navigate it to the enemy. He will then automatically attack.

I think I will make a video about stealth

I tried that a few times, but I guess I don't have the knack of it yet. I'll try to save a game next time, to experiment a little more.

A video would be very useful. I think there's a good potential for those videos, since there's many different mechanics that aren't always obvious, and other hidden things like those you've already covered. You can see all the questions scrolling in their Discord.

 

[Couchpotato]

Well my opinion even though many probably don't care is the game is to damn complex to fully enjoy. Sometimes simplification is your friend developer's.

A.K.A simplify your damn game systems.

 

[Kordanor]

If you simplify JA systems you would en up at a game which isn't JA anymore.
It should rather explain it better.