Jagged Alliance 2

About Jagged Alliance 2

Jagged Alliance 2 (1999) is Sir-Tech Canada's tactical RPG in which hired mercenaries and local rebels fight to free the Latin American country of Arulco from the ruthless Queen Deidranna.

Jagged Alliance 2 in Depth

The fictional country of Arulco has been ruled for years by the ruthless Queen Deidranna, and the player must overthrow her and restore peace. To do it they hire mercenaries and enlist local citizens, who can provide information or join the fight. A strategic map divides Arulco into sectors, where the player moves squads, controls the flow of time and uses a laptop to read email, buy equipment and hire or fire mercenaries. Mercenaries can be assigned to treat the wounded, repair gear, practise or teach skills, and train local militia to defend liberated sectors, and captured vehicles speed travel.

Sectors are explored on an isometric tactical screen in real time until someone spots an enemy, when play switches to turn-based combat. Each side spends action points to move and act, some unspent points carry over, and a character with points left can interrupt the enemy's turn. Mercenaries can run, crawl, swim and climb onto flat roofs, and there is no visual fog of war, though enemies appear only when someone can see them. The arsenal spans pistols, rifles, machine guns, knives, grenades, mortars, rocket launchers, mines and bombs, with hit chances depending on skill, obstacles and the action points spent aiming.

Making Jagged Alliance 2

Sir-Tech set out to keep the freedom of movement, character relationships and flexible story of the previous game while adding a real-time mode and character creation. Designer Ian Currie said multiplayer was left out because the non-linear story and role-playing elements did not suit it, and the engine was rewritten from the ground up several times, with much time spent on physics and ballistics, delaying it past October 1998. Released for Windows and later ported to Linux by Tribsoft, it was praised for its freedom, memorable cast, non-linearity and tactics, scoring 85 per cent on GameRankings. It was TalonSoft's second-largest hit and sold an estimated 300,000 copies by 2006, though only 24,000 in North America by the end of 1999. The Unfinished Business expansion followed in 2000.