Jagged Alliance 2

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Jagged Alliance 2
Developer(s) Sir-Tech Canada
Publisher(s) TalonSoft (Windows)
Titan Computer (Linux)
Platform(s) Linux, Windows
Release date 07/23/99
Genre(s) Tactical role-playing game, Turn-based tactics, RPG
Mode(s) Single player
System requirements Pentium 133 or better, 32 MB of RAM, 16-bit capable video card, 2x CD-ROM
Input methods Keyboard, Mouse

Jagged Alliance 2 is a tactical role-playing game for PC, released in 1999 for Windows, and later ported to Linux by Tribsoft. It is the third game in the Jagged Alliance series, and was followed by two expansions: Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business (2000) and Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire (2004). The original Jagged Alliance 2 and the Unfinished Business expansion were combined in the Jagged Alliance 2 Gold Pack, released August 6, 2002.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

Jagged Alliance 2 takes place in the nation of Arulco, ruled until the late 1980s by a unique democratic monarchy- a monarch led the nation, but elections were held every ten years to assert their legitimacy. In 1988, election candidate Enrico Chivaldori took a wife, Deidranna Reitman of Romania, in order to boost his popularity and consequently was victorious. However, Deidranna proved to be far more than a simple pawn; showing an unquenchable thirst for power, she soon framed Chivaldori for the murder of his father. Removing all other obstacles from her way, she soon consolidated her power and converted the nation into a totalitarian state.

When the game begins, Chivaldori has hired the player to remove Deidranna by whatever means necessary. He puts the player and his team of mercenaries in contact with a rebel movement in the northern city of Omerta, led by Miguel Cordona and a handful of his trusted advisors. Omerta suffered a massive raid shortly before the events of the game, leaving the town damaged and nearly deserted. Miguel guides the player to the city of Drassen, though the cities and countryside may be captured in any order, at the players leisure. Capturing cities opens the facilities they house.

[edit] Gameplay

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Please improve this article if you can (April 2008).

[edit] Map screen

The map screen is where the game begins. It displays Arulco in a square grid, its terrain and cities, and the forces deployed by the enemy and the player. This is the strategic side of the game, as the player directs their forces, and controls the progress of time, which may be sped up or paused. From here, the player can also access the game's email and internet functions, allowing the player to receive emails from characters in the game, buy weapons, equipment, and hire and fire mercenaries. The player may recruit up to eighteen mercenaries (commonly shortened to "mercs"), who can be formed into teams, with a maximum of six mercenaries per team.

This screen can also be used to give mercenaries tasks. Mercs with medical supplies and some medical skill can be set to doctor wounded mercs. Wounded mercs heal slowly over time, but healing them with a doctor quickens the process. Those with a toolbox and some mechanical skill can be set to repair items. Doctor and repair duty drains the items needed. Mercs can also be set to "trainer" and "student". Doing so trains the student in one of many skills, such as marksmanship or medical, the effectiveness of which is based on the leadership of the trainer and the wisdom of the student, as well as the current skill level of both mercs. The trainer may also train local citizens into a militia to defend sectors while the mercs are away. Mercs may also practice skills on their own.

[edit] Battle

Battles occur whenever the player's and enemy forces occupy the same square on the grid. These take place from an isometric viewpoint, and in real time until a member of one force spots an enemy.

The game then switches to turn-based play, as each force takes alternating turns to move, attack, and perform various other actions. Each character has a limited amount of action points, which must be spent to perform actions, and are renewed at the beginning of each turn. The amount of gained action points depend upon the physical state of the merc. A maximum of 5 unspent action points will also be carried over to the next round.

Mercs can run, walk, crouch or crawl. When mercs move, this can be done in either normal or stealth mode. In normal mode, the merc does not really care how much noise they make during movement. This saves action points, but can give away their position.

When attacking, there is a certain chance that the merc will hit. This can be done in a wide variety of ways, using firearms, close combat, throwing weapons such as knives or grenades, and heavy weapons.

[edit] Management

In addition to the battles taking place in different sectors of the game, the player has to manage both mercenaries and supplies. This is done mainly by means of the laptop, a game mechanism where the player can receive emails, contact mercenaries and buy weapons through the in-game Internet.

[edit] Characters

Characters in Jagged Alliance 2 are all the people within the game: mercenaries, enemies, allies and the normal townfolk.

Skills increase when the mercenary intensively uses them or by training. They can also decrease if a character is wounded. Next to this, a merc can also have two special skills like rooftop sniping, night missions, throwing or martial arts.

When a mercenary is injured with 15 or less HP, the character drops to the floor, dying, meaning that they cannot do anything and has to be bandaged in order to be able to become active. Every turn that passes without medical treatment will result in a permanent loss of 1 HP from the merc's total health.

When health is lost, the first thing required to regain this is bandaging, or first aid. The merc can apply this to their self, or to another character, unless they have no medical skill or is dying. It also requires a first aid or medical kit. When a character is fully bandaged, they are no longer bleeding and all of the lost points will be replaced with bandaged points. If a character is shot, health will be drained, the amount of bandaged points stays the same. Turning bandaged points in normal points requires either time or a doctor.

[edit] Mercenaries

The game is played almost entirely through the mercenaries chosen. These mercenaries can be hired from online websites, or recruited from the local citizenry for a one-time or daily fee. The player may also create one personalized, unique mercenary.

[edit] Modification

Several mods and modding tools have been developed for JA2. The 1.13 project has introduced many new features and items into a more thorough modding platform based from the source code released with JA2 Wildfire.[2]

[edit] Steam

In July 2006, the Jagged Alliance 2 Gold Pack was released on Steam. However, the version of the game available via Steam contains a bug which gives much more money than it should, destroying financial balance, a major aspect of the game. Another bug does not permit delivery of goods bought by the player online from the fictional in-game gunstore Bobby Ray's. No updates or fixes have been made to the Steam version of the game since its release, and it continues to be sold containing these bugs. It should be noted that the version sold by Strategy First does not contain the bugs present in the copy purchased via Steam.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
  2. ^ JA2 v1.13 wiki - Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13 Mod Wiki. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

[edit] External links