Let's go to the next generation of JA2: Liberating the Alruco Island
Jagged Alliance 2 takes place four years after the Metavira incident. Now the action takes place in a little country called Arulco. Rightful ruler of Arulco has been pushed from the throne and the country is ruled by cruel Deidranna's army. And you are again contacted to put things in the order, so it's your job to hire the right mercenaries and direct 'em to win in a much improved turn-based combat. The game is again sector based and has a main plot. Jagged Alliance 2 also has more of the loved role-playing elements - you can for example chat with the locals, get side quests, even get some of the civilians to join you in the battle field. The tree sap has been replaced with real sources of wealth, so you have to conquer back Arulco's mines to get more cash. There's also a completely new internet style interface in your laptop, that you can use to contact the mercenaries, handle the equipment, buy and sell equipment, read email etc.
What is the status of Jagged Alliance 2 at the moment?
The german version of Jagged Alliance 2 hit the stores April 19th 1999, and has sold pretty good, and has got many good reviews. The retail version has some bugs in it, but Sir-Tech Canada has already released a german patch, which can be found at Topware's Jagged Alliance 2 site at
www.ja2.de.
[updated 10.10] Jagged Alliance 2 English version hit the stores in US on 23th July, and was released in other countries soon after. The reason why the english version was so late was that Sir-Tech Canada lost it's publisher Sir-Tech software in 1998. Sir-Tech Canada eventually found a new publisher, TalonSoft, 12th may 1999, but because the box art, manuals and deals with local dealers had to be made the release date was not until 23th July.
Features of Jagged Alliance 2
Real-time gameplay, Turn-based combat.
New internet style laptop interface.
640*480/16bit Graphics.
Isometric perspective, third person view.
Multiple levels (cliffs, rooftops etc.)
Lighting effects and day cycle.
200 Sectors to conquer (original Jagged Alliance had 60)
You can use cars and helicopters to transport your mercenaries.
Over 50 mercenaries, each with own personality, attidudes and voices.
Hire 18 mercenaries, split 'em to teams and do multiple missions.
Create one own mercenary.
You can hire mercenaries with different contract lengths.
New skills: Leadership and strength
New morale system.
The mercs learn skills immediately when they have enough experience.
Buy and sell weapons
You can talk with the locals and get side quests
Train militia and get locals to join your cause.
You can continue your mission over the clock.
Mercs can now also run, crawl, climb and jump
Huge amount of realistic guns, even real machine-guns
Mercs can now also fight with their bare fists if necessary.
Modify guns with silencers, scopes, laser sights, even grenade launchers.
Bullets behave more realistic, they can sometimes pass through trees etc.
You can shoot with two one handed weapons at the same time.
Many ammo types (armour piercing etc.)
Grenades won't blow immediately, so you can bounce 'em from walls.
Enemies also pick up stuff from the ground
The bodies no longer disappear
Optional Sci-Fi mode, with huge bug like insects.
And there's the forum for you:
http://www.ja-galaxy-forum.com