It brings me great pleasure to report that Jagged Alliance finally got another good entry after around 24 years since 2. I just finished my "first" run of the game (I had to restart in my actual first run because I found myself in an unwinnable situation) and I had an absolute blast. Taking place after Jagged Alliance 2, you're hired by the daughter of the president of the South African nation Grand Chien to rescue her father and stop a ruthless, yet mysterious, warlord named The Major. To do that, you'll be hiring a motley crew of elite mercenaries...or whoever you can afford.
The game strikes a really good balance between modernized, streamlined controls and old-school tactical depth to allow players to get right into the game and, over time, figure out the strategies and tactics needed to turn drawn-out gunfights into clean sweeps, that is until something inevitably goes wrong and everything goes to hell, of course.
If you've played XCOM: Enemy Unknown or XCOM 2, character movement will feel familiar as your order your mercs to run from place to place and take cover in the environment. However, unlike XCOM, bullets, rockets, grenades, etc. are all physical objects and will bounce off, ricochet or otherwise be stopped by walls and other objects. Cover isn't just a bonus/penalty to hit percentage, it's an obstacle that needs to be worked around.
With that in mind, positioning is key. You'll always want your mercs to have higher ground or otherwise advantageous positions so you have sight of the enemy while minimizing their sights on you. Other factors come into play such as whether you or your enemy are crouched or prone, and the type of ammunition that's being used and whether it has the ability to penetrate. Explosives are game changers, and can drastically alter the battlefield. Someone crouching behind a fence? A well thrown grenade will destroy it and leave them out in the open (and probably hurting). Explosives can also bring down floors and roofs of buildings and anyone on them will take falling damage. It's very deep, but I never felt overwhelmed.
It's not just the combat that's deep. The strategy layer is a whole other beast. You'll have to order squads to go from sector to sector on the world map, liberating towns, diamond mines (to generate income), ports (for travelling over water to other islands), and other facilities such as repair shops and hospitals. In the meantime, enemy forces will be sending troops to retake sectors, so you'll need to spend time and money to train local militia forces to stave off counter attacks. And on top of all that, you'll need to make sure your mercs are paid. It's a lot at first (and was the reason I lost my first run), but you'll learn more and more from your mistakes and you'll eventually be running a well-oiled army.
While the combat is very gritty, bloody and violent, the overall tone of the game matches more with 80s and 90s action blockbusters. It's very tongue in cheek, with lots of humor and playing into Hollywood action tropes. It may not be for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.
One of the game's biggest highlights, and something that's a trademark of Jagged Alliance, is the various mercenaries you can hire. Each merc has their own stats, unique ability and personality. They're not generic troops like in XCOM. These are more akin to RPG party members. Many specialize in certain tasks, such as marksmanship, stealth, explosives, medicine, mechanical repair or leadership, and they'll be able to improve their stats from experience, training with other mercs and other means. They all have a unique voice and look, and many times they'll have something to say during conversations with NPCs. Some mercs work well with others, while other mercs can't stand certain people and will sometimes even refuse to be hired if someone they hate is already there. The game encourages you to experiment with different team builds, and one playthrough may work out completely different than another depending on who you hire.
My completed playthrough took around 34 hours, but I'm certain I can shave time off in my next run now that I know what I'm doing. I've got some ideas on how I want to do things differently, and I'm considering upping the difficulty. Between this and Baldur's Gate 3 (which is probably next on my play list), it's cool to see old franchises returning in refreshing new ways. Huge props to Haemimont Games for knocking this out of the park. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Grand Chien.