Jagged Alliance 3

The Jagged Alliance series was known for its addictive turn-based combat and punchy sense of humor, as the mercenaries hired by the player, each with different skills and personality, interacted and clashed with each other.

Jagged Alliance 3 is a suprisingly fine sequel; combat encounters are interesting, with hand-crafted maps and a good use of verticality.

The characters trade snappy banter like in the good old days as they fight their way through a fictional state threatened by a powerful enemy organization, the "Legion".

You get to assemble your squad and pick the characters you prefer, both in terms of in-game personality and of skills/specializations (sniper, doctor, explosive expert...), with many choices and combinations.

There are a few issues. The most wrong-headed choice is how enemies get to reposition themselves after your first attack, as it nerfs ambushes in an unwelcome way - basically, you fire the first shot then everyone gets a free turn to scuttle under cover. I get why the devs did it - they did not want five-six enemies dead before combat even started if the player made the right moves - but this feels deeply unsatisfying.

I also despise the way shops work in the game: there is no menu, you just click on different piles of ware to buy stuff. It's ugly, clunky and I cannot see in this day and age any reason not to have a proper store interface.

Finally, the mercenaries' contracts expire way too soon (a maximum of 14 days): once you have a medium-sized group you'll be clicking "renew contract" buttons nearly every in-game day. It's about as fun as real-life middle-management. Let me renew for six months paying a small fortune (if I want it and I can afford it) instead of enduring this boring routine.

Overall, though, a pleasant suprise. The combat in particular scratches my turn-based itch.

8/10.