Jagged Alliance 3 announced - I guess this can be a general Jagged Alliance thread too

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

Jagged Alliance 3 Announced – RPGamer

THQ Nordic and Haemimont Games are reviving the Jagged Alliance strategy series. Jagged Alliance 3 will include multiple RPG elements as players command a mercenary force in the fictional country of Grand Chien.

rpgamer.com

THQ Nordic announced Jagged Alliance 3, a new entry in the strategy series. The game is being developed by Victor Vran developer Haemimont Games for PC, with no release window announced.

Jagged Alliance 3 puts players in charge of a mercenary force in the country of Grand Chien, which is in chaos following the rise of a brutal regime known as the Legion. The game features turn-based combat and new RPG elements including character levels, perks, loot, and equipment. The game’s campaign sees players fighting for control over territories, training local forces, and establishing multiple squads. It will include a co-op multiplayer mode.

Does anyone here like Jagged Alliance? I bought Back in Action completely blind during a Steam sale, and while the base game is jank I ended up really enjoying it after installing the realistic rebalance mod. From there I played Jagged Alliance 2 and had a lot of fun with it.

I'm honestly surprised at this, considering every Jagged Alliance game since 2 from my understanding has been seen as mediocre at best.

I'm going to assume that the major Jagged Alliance fanbase will hate it, as they apparently hate everything that isn't modded Jagged Alliance 2. Still, it looks like it could be fun and at least the trailer shows what looks to be gameplay.

 

[RadicalCentrist]

I'm going to assume that the major Jagged Alliance fanbase will hate it, as they apparently hate everything that isn't modded Jagged Alliance 2. Still, it looks like it could be fun and at least the trailer shows what looks to be gameplay.

None of the original developers are on board, THQ Nordic's only connection to the franchise is acquiring the IP, and this has been preceded by a multitude of "official" sequels that were, at best, slav-jank.

I mean if it turns out good, great! but I'm not holding my breath.

Fun fact: Calvin Barkmore from JA2 (this guy) was based upon Cleveland Blakemore, perhaps the most infamous of the Neolithic-Internet's lolcows, when he worked at Sir-Tech.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

None of the original developers are on board

It's been over 20 years, to be fair.

And I'm holding out hope since it's the Tropico people working on it.

 

[Llama king]

Looks like a xcom mod

 

[Bezmenov]

JA2 with 1.13 mod or bust. New one looks like it's been dummied down for multiplat kiddies and it'll probably be mediocre as shit.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Oh god. When I saw the thread, I dreaded how IdPol would massacre my boy. Then I had a glimmer of hope that it might not be as bad and that JA3 in full 3D and with some modern polish could be pretty epic. Then I clicked on the trailer and see this:



Big oof.

Could be worse though, so I watched the trailer and the cinematic itself is decent. The gameplay looks ... I dunno. It doesn't really blow me away, that's for sure.
Just like @Bezmenov, I think this will be dumbed down. JA2 was a terrific game, cause it had dozens upon dozens of guns, you could craft doodats like a mine seeker or barrel extension. It had different kinds of ammo doing different kinds of things, you had mines, missiles, poison gas. Hell it was amazing just how large the scope of shit was. I've never again seen a game with such a wide variety of firearms and they all differed from one another and how effective they were. It was amazing.

This? Well, if it keeps these core aspects, it might be decent, but I doubt it. I guess it will be "streamlined" for "mass appeal", it will take all the bad cues from all the wrong games. And I dread to imagine what kind of storyline we might get in CURRENT YEAR+5.

Also lol:

 

[Super Sad Smile]

Biggest problem for me is that all the wit of the game will be gone. That's one of the best parts of JA1-2, it's diverse when it actually meant something with a variety of personalities and not treating places like europe as one big racial block. You're not gonna have moments where Buns call Gumpy an inbred retard. Although they made vicki look like the most stereotypical Jamaican possible, so maybe they'll say fuck it.

 

[The tired cat]

JA2 with 1.13 mod or bust. New one looks like it's been dummied down for multiplat kiddies and it'll probably be mediocre as shit.

Oh yes, unless the game has all the bullshit of the old game, then course we need the oldschool fags crying "Reeee!!! Nut like.muh owiginal game!!!" If thats the case, go play the old JA2 and circle jerk yourself till your dick falls off. Also funny thing, this game is just gonna be for PC, so no consoles at all. But hey, lets ignore that and make assumptionts itll be on consoles.

And just to add, almsot every character in JA1-2 was a cartoonish stereotype in way or another, so Vicki sounding and looking like a hardcore Jamacian isnt that far from the realms of JA2.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

Oh yes, unless the game has all the bullshit of the old game, then course we need the oldschool fags crying "Reeee!!! Nut like.muh owiginal game!!!" If thats the case, go play the old JA2 and circle jerk yourself till your dick falls off.

You know, the old fans are what make this franchise popular enough to milk its name for a new game, I would suggest these fans have some legit investment in the franchise and thus can point out when the game doesn't live up to their expectations. If the game wants to appeal to a different set of gamers, that's fair and all, but the game should not forget its roots.
What you're doing now is what Disneydrones did when the Star Wars sequels came out and turned out to be shitting all over the originals. Or Ghostbusters 2016 for that matter.

That being said, yeah, the game can deviate from the old ones and still be fun, but here's the kicker: it will very likely be far less complex, far less detailed and in areas where it could make progress (such as AI), it most likely won't. The old game was janky as shit, no one's denying that, but it had a great sense of humor, the gameplay -janky as it might be- was fun and engaging. It had depth to it.

Given how literally every IP, be that games, movies or comics, turned out over the past 20 years, being weary as a fan of the originals is a natural reaction at this point.

Fans of the originals want something that expands and improves upon the originals. Something with a similar gameplay, style and content. If the game goes an entirely different way, why even use the title if not to solely whore out the fame of yesteryear?

Old fans can be autists that will see any change as bad, I agree with you there, but disregarding their opinions wholesale is unfair and uncalled for. They are the stakeholders of that franchise and have been for decades. To shit out an uninspired game that only uses the name as a marketing stunt is a slap in the face for these fans.
Maybe this game will be good, maybe it won't, I can't tell just now. But I am not getting my hopes up until after it hits the market. I've seen too many beloved franchises get obliterated by shitty sequels.

 

[The tired cat]

You know, the old fans are what make this franchise popular enough to milk its name for a new game, I would suggest these fans have some legit investment in the franchise and thus can point out when the game doesn't live up to their expectations. If the game wants to appeal to a different set of gamers, that's fair and all, but the game should not forget its roots.
What you're doing now is what Disneydrones did when the Star Wars sequels came out and turned out to be shitting all over the originals. Or Ghostbusters 2016 for that matter.

That being said, yeah, the game can deviate from the old ones and still be fun, but here's the kicker: it will very likely be far less complex, far less detailed and in areas where it could make progress (such as AI), it most likely won't. The old game was janky as shit, no one's denying that, but it had a great sense of humor, the gameplay -janky as it might be- was fun and engaging. It had depth to it.

Given how literally every IP, be that games, movies or comics, turned out over the past 20 years, being weary as a fan of the originals is a natural reaction at this point.

Fans of the originals want something that expands and improves upon the originals. Something with a similar gameplay, style and content. If the game goes an entirely different way, why even use the title if not to solely whore out the fame of yesteryear?

Old fans can be autists that will see any change as bad, I agree with you there, but disregarding their opinions wholesale is unfair and uncalled for. They are the stakeholders of that franchise and have been for decades. To shit out an uninspired game that only uses the name as a marketing stunt is a slap in the face for these fans.
Maybe this game will be good, maybe it won't, I can't tell just now. But I am not getting my hopes up until after it hits the market. I've seen too many beloved franchises get obliterated by shitty sequels.

I'm just reminded when the new Xcom came out, every nostalgia fag cried their autistic tears about "REEE!!! MUH CHILDHOOD WAS RAPED!!!" despite it getting a much bigger welcome and enjoyment from people. To these people, it's not about getting new players interested in the franchise, it's not about a series being returned, it's about how it must cater to them and only them, the "muh tru gamah! Back in mah days" type assholes and the game must stay a 100% to their liking and any changes done will involve them shrilling their virgin balls off. Also, please don't give me that bs they want improvements or expenditure of the original, they want the shit to stay the same so they can act all smug about it. I've seen fanboys cry and piss over the most minor of changes, even when the core gameplay was the same and it retained the core idea.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

JA2 with 1.13 mod or bust

This is an unrealistic expectation as 1.13 has been worked on for like 13 years at this point.

I think we could get some legit entertaining content from JA2 spergs over this. I've already seen some people getting upset that this game has gone "cartoony over realistic" despite the fact JA2 actually featured subterranean monsters and fantastical sabretooth tigers.

 

[X Pac Heat]

Oh god. When I saw the thread, I dreaded how IdPol would massacre my boy. Then I had a glimmer of hope that it might not be as bad and that JA3 in full 3D and with some modern polish could be pretty epic. Then I clicked on the trailer and see this:

WTF are you talking about? Vicki would literally yell "Cool Runnings!" in the most stereotypical accent when she killed people. The fact they have her looking like a dreaded out rasta actually goes *against* IdPol if anything...

Yeah, it's not going to be JA2 1.13. A game which is damn near impossible to play without weeks of online tutorials because of all the weird options and bullshit the mod has added over a decade. What a shock. I bet if it was the exact same as JA2 1.13, people would cry foul that it "hasn't changed at all" too.

That being said, it could still be shit but after seeing it's the Tropico dev's working on it I have a little hope it could turn out to be a fun little game. IIRC the problem with Flashback was that it was a crowdfunded game so lol and RAGE was a mobile game that was pushed onto PC. If this game could get people interested in JA like XCom: Enemy Unknown did that'd be cool.

 

[The tired cat]

This is an unrealistic expectation as 1.13 has been worked on for like 13 years at this point.

I think we could get some legit entertaining content from JA2 spergs over this. I've already seen some people getting upset that this game has gone "cartoony over realistic" despite the fact JA2 actually featured subterranean monsters and fantastical sabretooth tigers.

Or the fact you had a character Fidel who looked like Comrade Castro, you had an Asian Merc who loved Westerns so much he dressed as a cowboy and carried a six-shooter with him, Ivan Dolvich (who in JA1 actually wore a Ushanka hat in tropics while talking just in Russian to Western players), hell that's not even getting into the plot of JA2 where Arulco is supposed to be a banana republic and yet it's more vaguely Eastern European.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

JA2 where Arulco is supposed to be a banana republic and yet it's more vaguely Eastern European.

I found it really funny when someone pointed out to me recently that Arulco is located between France and Turkey based on Hamous' bio. I'd thought it was meant to be some sort of island nation off the coast of South America.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I've always wanted a JA3 but I'm not getting my hopes up right now. Like others have mentioned there's more to the game than the combat and I hope it doesn't turn into a Silent Storm with one liners.

 

[An Ghost]

Didn't they already do a JA3? Oh right it was "Back in Action." It removed planning, fog of war, and this review calls the gameplay "an atrocity."
Can't be worse than that! It won't be modern xcom but I really hope they keep the open, consistent world from 2.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

I'm just reminded when the new Xcom came out, every nostalgia fag cried their autistic tears about "REEE!!! MUH CHILDHOOD WAS RAPED!!!" despite it getting a much bigger welcome and enjoyment from people.

NuCom sucked
#dab

 

[The tired cat]

Didn't they already do a JA3? Oh right it was "Back in Action." It removed planning, fog of war, and this review calls the gameplay "an atrocity."
Can't be worse than that! It won't be modern xcom but I really hope they keep the open, consistent world from 2.

I mean, aside from Back in Action (which was pretty much a remake of JA2), the closest you had to JA3 was Flashback, which was a huuuge disaster of false promises and not reached goals.

 

[X Pac Heat]

Didn't they already do a JA3? Oh right it was "Back in Action." It removed planning, fog of war, and this review calls the gameplay "an atrocity."
Can't be worse than that! It won't be modern xcom but I really hope they keep the open, consistent world from 2.

Back in Action wasn't JA3. It was literally JA2 turned into a real time tactics game instead of an turn based tactics RPG. This would be like complaining that Tetris Attack wasn't Tetris.

Games actually a lot of fun with mods. If everyone is going to give New Vegas a pass due to mods I'll give Back in Action a pass due to mods.

Also, the game has fog of war it's a toggable option. Stop relying on no name sperg journos for all your info.

 

[RomanesEuntDomus]

WTF are you talking about? Vicki would literally yell "Cool Runnings!" in the most stereotypical accent when she killed people. The fact they have her looking like a dreaded out rasta actually goes *against* IdPol if anything...

Hollywood has shoved black token characters into anything, at this point it just makes me cringe when it's the first thing I see in a trailer.

Depending on how this game is handled, it might turn out okay, but also understand that based on previous experience, I will expect this game to be about HURR WHITE COLONIALISM DURR until proven otherwise.