Jagged Alliance
Tactical role player that defined a genre back in the day
Jagged Alliance is a tactical role player in a setting where automatic rifles are common. The game drops you in the fictional island of Metavira, somewhere in the South Atlantic, in a rather bleak future, where nuclear testing is still common and where nuclear radiation has caused a lot of havoc on these remote island where the game takes place. The game packages each mission as a standalone one. From the headquarters, you will choose your next mission, hire your desired cannon fodder, the mercenaries and then allow the day/night cycle to pass. New missions become available all the time, and you will have the option of choosing whichever you prefer from the active mission. On the tactical grounds, you will control your mercenaries from above, issuing orders and trying to use the scenery to your advantage. This is not a mindless shooting game, it requires that you use all your forces in concert to be able to finish your mission objectives properly. Thus, a classic game was born, Jagged Alliance, which was much loved back in the day and still presents a good challenge and a good level of playability, even today.
A great break
This is one of those games where you can take a break from more mainstream games, such as the Call of Duty series or StarCraft. It's a pleasant break, because it offers a new direction in gaming, more like a turn-based tactical squad management type of game. But is it any good? Well, let's see. The story takes place on an island know as Metavira, where a nuclear bombing test took place. However, this altered the trees on the island, making them a valuable resource. Howeverm the father of a scientist known as Brenda Richards, has put you in charge to command a group of mercenaries to harvest as many trees as possible and stop a villain known as Lucas Santino and put him out of business. From here, the game begins. The game is not too bad, however, for those of you who don't have the patience to sit through group management, you might find this game to be quite difficult. In the game you have to equip each mercenary with certain weapons or armors or items and once you consider that they're ready, it's time to move around the island and perform the various tasks you need to complete. The gameplay is turn-based, meaning that you have to plan your moves before executing them. The game is played from a top-down view perspective, however you can zoom in and out. The graphics are quite good and the people in the cutscenes are well animated. Overall, Jagged Alliance is a pretty good tactical game, but it can be hard for some gamers, but this does not ruin the experience they will have with this game. If you ever stumble upon it, go ahead and play it!
