Info about Jagged Alliance 3:

Official game description:
Grand Chien, a nation of rich natural resources and deep political divides, is thrown into chaos when the elected president goes missing and a paramilitary force known as “The Legion” seizes control of the countryside. Now, the President’s family has pulled together all their resources, including an arrangement with the powerful Adonis corporation, to hire a group of skilled mercenaries tasked with finding the President and bringing order back to the country.  
In Jagged Alliance 3, select from a huge cast of mercenaries all with their own unique personalities, quirks, and backstories. Then go out and explore Grand Chien as you meet new people, earn money, grow your team, and ultimately make your own decisions that will decide the country’s fate.
FEATURES
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*   Engage in rich, tactical turn-based combat  
*   Recruit from a large cast of unique mercenaries, including many familiar fan favorites  
*   Loot, salvage, and customize an arsenal of weaponry and equipment  
*   Choose from a wide array of special perks to customize your mercs as they level up  
*   Decide the fate of Grand Chien in an open RPG structure  
*   Control territory, train the locals, command multiple parties, and defend against enemy forces in an alive, active world  
*   Experience the campaign with friends in online co-op mode

Release date: 14 Jul, 2023

Categories: Turn-based Strategy, Character Progression, Resource Management, Management Simulation, Territory Management, Cooperative Multiplayer, Single-player Story, Mod Support


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Charismatic Mercenaries & Humor (weight 0.92): The game's mercenaries are a major highlight, lauded for their distinct, charismatic personalities, witty banter, and excellent voice acting. This strong character development, combined with the game's overall humor and nostalgic ties to the Jagged Alliance series, creates a highly engaging and immersive experience.
- Deep & Replayable Tactical Combat (weight 0.83): Players consistently praise the game's deep, engaging, and highly replayable turn-based tactical combat. Many compare it favorably to XCOM, highlighting its strategic depth, challenging battles, and satisfying mechanics that encourage varied approaches and squad compositions.
- Faithful Series Successor (weight 0.62): The game is widely considered a worthy and faithful successor to the classic Jagged Alliance series, particularly Jagged Alliance 2. Reviewers appreciate how it captures the original's spirit, humor, and core gameplay while introducing modern updates and quality-of-life improvements.
- Balanced & Accessible Difficulty (weight 0.19): The game's difficulty is generally well-received, offering a challenging yet fair experience. While some note an initial learning curve or late-game ease, many appreciate the balanced challenge, lack of artificial difficulty, and accessibility for newcomers.
- Impressive Visuals & Atmosphere (weight 0.17): The game's visual presentation is highly praised for its beautiful graphics, detailed environments, and immersive atmosphere. The attention to detail in character models, animations, and environmental effects contributes to a polished and appealing aesthetic.
- Strong Modding Support (weight 0.14): The game benefits greatly from robust mod support, allowing players to customize their experience, add new content, and address minor issues. The active modding community is seen as a significant asset, enhancing the game's longevity and enjoyment.
- Polished & Stable Performance (weight 0.14): The game is noted for its overall polish, stable performance, and minimal bugs, especially after post-launch patches. Reviewers appreciate the smooth gameplay experience, lack of crashes, and the developers' commitment to improving the game.
- Engaging & Well-Written Story (weight 0.12): The game features a captivating and well-written story with interesting plot twists and engaging narrative depth. Players find the storyline compelling, often surprising in its seriousness, and a strong motivator for continued play.

Common complaints:
- Steep Learning Curve & Poor Tutorials (weight 0.64): Many players found the game's initial hours frustrating due to a lack of clear tutorials, unintuitive controls, and poorly explained mechanics. This steep learning curve often led to early game difficulty spikes, confusion, and a general feeling of being overwhelmed, causing some to abandon the game.
- Repetitive & Unbalanced Combat (weight 0.63): The combat system is frequently criticized for being repetitive, unbalanced, and lacking tactical depth. Players reported issues with inconsistent hit chances, frustrating RNG, and a general feeling that combat becomes a 'slog' rather than an engaging strategic challenge.
- Clunky UI & Controls (weight 0.62): The user interface (UI) and controls are widely described as clunky, unintuitive, and poorly designed. Players struggled with navigation, accidental clicks, and a general lack of ergonomic design, which significantly hindered the gameplay experience.
- Inconsistent Hit Accuracy & RNG (weight 0.31): Players consistently reported issues with hit accuracy, where mercenaries frequently miss shots even at close range or with high aim stats, while enemies often hit through cover or from extreme distances. The lack of a visible hit chance percentage further exacerbates this frustration, making combat feel arbitrary and unfair.
- Weak & Exploitable Enemy AI (weight 0.2): The enemy AI is frequently criticized for being unintelligent, predictable, and easily exploitable. Players noted instances of enemies making illogical moves, getting stuck, or exhibiting 'bullet sponge' behavior, which diminished the tactical challenge and immersion.
- Fails to Match JA2's Depth (weight 0.16): Many long-time fans expressed disappointment that the game falls short of its predecessor, Jagged Alliance 2, in terms of depth, complexity, humor, and overall 'feel.' They felt the game was simplified, lacked key features, and did not capture the essence of the original series.
- Limited Mercenary Customization & Management (weight 0.13): Players expressed disappointment with the limited mercenary customization options and the restrictive mercenary management system. Issues include a lack of appearance customization, a hard cap on hired mercs, and inconvenient contract renewals, which hinder player agency and long-term engagement.
- Unfinished & Buggy State (weight 0.13): The game is perceived as unfinished, lacking polish, and having numerous bugs and glitches. Players felt that content was reused, quality-of-life features were missing, and the overall technical state was poor, suggesting the game was released prematurely or abandoned by developers.
- Broken Stealth Mechanics (weight 0.11): The stealth mechanics are widely considered broken, unintuitive, and inconsistent. Players reported issues with unreliable detection, clunky stealth kills, and a general feeling that the system is dysfunctional, often leading to frustration and failed attempts.
- Tedious Looting & Inventory (weight 0.09): The looting and inventory systems are criticized for being tedious and unrealistic. Players found it frustrating that enemies don't drop their equipped items, ammo management is cumbersome, and manual looting is a time-consuming chore, detracting from the gameplay flow.
- Inferior to XCOM Series (weight 0.06): Several players compared the game unfavorably to the XCOM series, stating that it falls short in terms of combat depth, tension, and overall polish. This comparison often led to disappointment, as the game did not meet their expectations for a modern tactical strategy title.

Gameplay feedback:
- Deep Mercenary System (weight 0.29): The game's core strength lies in its diverse mercenary system. Players manage unique mercenaries with distinct personalities, skills, and relationships, influencing team composition, dialogue, and strategic choices. This system offers deep customization and replayability.
- Solid Turn-Based Combat (weight 0.29): The game features robust turn-based tactical combat, often compared to XCOM, with a strategic layer for managing resources and operations. It blends real-time positioning with turn-based engagements, offering a satisfying and challenging gameplay loop.
- Challenging Learning Curve (weight 0.18): The game has a steep learning curve and can be quite challenging, especially for newcomers, due to its complex mechanics and minimal hand-holding. While some find the difficulty fluctuating, it generally requires thoughtful planning and adaptation.
- Extensive Customization & Gear (weight 0.15): The game offers extensive weapon customization and a wide arsenal, allowing players to modify firearms with various attachments that impact stats and appearance. This system, along with character perks and traits, provides significant RPG depth and build variety.
- JA2 Legacy & Evolution (weight 0.08): The game draws heavily from Jagged Alliance 2, retaining many core mechanics like AP, stances, and simulated bullets, while also introducing some simplifications and new strategic elements. It aims to be a spiritual successor rather than a direct remake.
- Varied Stealth Mechanics (weight 0.07): Stealth mechanics are a significant, albeit sometimes inconsistent, part of the gameplay. While powerful for reconnaissance and eliminating key targets, especially with snipers, some players find it either overpowered or unreliable, leading to varied experiences.
- Enemy AI & Combat Balance Issues (weight 0.06): Enemy AI and combat balance present challenges, with some players noting issues like enemies sniping through walls, being bullet sponges, or having unrealistic accuracy. There are also observations about enemy weapon drops and friendly fire.
- Strategic Map & Management (weight 0.06): The strategic layer involves managing a rebellion in Grand Chien, requiring players to secure supply lines, capture mines, train militias, and intercept enemy shipments. This adds a grand strategy element to the tactical gameplay.
- Engaging Story & Side Quests (weight 0.05): The game features a well-developed main storyline complemented by numerous carefully designed side quests. These missions, often tied to local inhabitants and events, contribute to replayability and world exploration.
- Hidden Hit Chance Display (weight 0.04): The base game intentionally hides hit percentages, using a more abstract '+' and '-' system. However, official and community mods are available on the Steam Workshop to restore the classic percentage display for players who prefer it.
- Expansive World Map (weight 0.04): The game features a large, hand-drawn world map with a 'grid travel' system for exploration and conquest. While offering freedom and RPG-like exploration, some players noted instances of 'reverse map-licking' or backtracking.

Performance notes:
- Strong Performance & Stability (weight 0.11): Many players report excellent overall game performance, stability, and optimization, with fast loading times and minimal crashes or bugs, even on older or mid-range hardware. The game is generally considered to be in a good technical state.
- Improved Bug Resolution (weight 0.03): While some initial bugs were present at launch, many players report that the game is now largely bug-free, with critical issues having been addressed in patches. Some minor shortcomings may still exist.
- Graphics Settings Impact Performance (weight 0.02): Players have found that adjusting specific graphics settings, such as reflections, shadows, and anti-aliasing (e.g., using DLSS), significantly improves frame rates and overall performance. This suggests that certain visual effects are particularly resource-intensive.
- Impressive Sound Design (weight 0.01): The game's sound design is generally praised for its quality and effectiveness, with specific mention of impressive weapon sounds.
- Linux Compatibility Issues (weight 0.01): Linux users, particularly those using Proton, face specific issues including permanent freezes and performance drop-offs, sometimes requiring workarounds to even launch the game.
- Specific Audio Artifacts (weight 0.01): A specific issue with audio artifacts has been reported by one user, indicating a potential incompatibility with certain sound hardware.
- Co-op Desync Issues (weight 0.01): Players have experienced desynchronization problems during co-op gameplay, which can hinder the multiplayer experience.
- Playable on Steam Deck (weight 0.01): The game is playable on the Steam Deck OLED, though some settings adjustments are required to achieve optimal performance.
- Tactical Map Interaction Issues (weight 0.01): Players encounter difficulties interacting with objects on the tactical map, requiring precise angles to click them, which can be frustrating.
- Driver Update Resolves Errors (weight 0): A GPU not responding error was resolved by updating graphics drivers, suggesting that outdated drivers can cause technical problems.
- Memory Leak Issues Patched (weight 0): Rare memory leak problems that were present have reportedly been patched, indicating developer responsiveness to technical issues.
- Multi-Monitor Setup Issues (weight 0): The game's resolution settings do not function well with multi-monitor setups, causing display problems for users with multiple screens.
- Longer Specific Load Times (weight 0): While some loading times are fast, specific loads can take up to 30 seconds, which might be considered long by some players.
- Inaccurate Weapon Sound (weight 0): A specific sound design criticism notes that the MG42 weapon sound in the game does not accurately represent its real-world counterpart.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended & Worthwhile (weight 0.36): The game is highly praised by a large number of players, receiving strong recommendations and high ratings. Many consider it a worthwhile purchase, even at full price, and a significant number of players view it as a top-tier game in its genre.
- Worthy Jagged Alliance Successor (weight 0.19): The game is widely seen as a worthy successor to the Jagged Alliance series, particularly Jagged Alliance 2. It is highly recommended for long-time fans of the franchise, as it captures the essence of the older games while offering a modern experience.
- Great for Turn-Based Strategy Fans (weight 0.15): The game is strongly recommended for fans of turn-based tactical strategy games, especially those who enjoy titles like XCOM, Wasteland, Fallout, and other similar squad-based combat games. It offers a deep tactical experience that appeals to this specific audience.
- Mixed XCOM Fan Reception (weight 0.09): Player opinions are divided regarding its appeal to XCOM fans; some highly recommend it as an XCOM alternative, while others warn that XCOM players might be disappointed or find it not to their taste. This suggests a nuanced compatibility with the XCOM player base.
- Desire for Future Sequels (weight 0.05): Many players express a strong desire for a sequel or future installments, indicating satisfaction with the game and a wish for the series to continue. They hope for more content, mercenaries, and gameplay improvements in future releases.
- For Experienced Players Only (weight 0.03): The game is recommended for experienced players or those who enjoy challenging tactical experiences. It is noted as being potentially frustrating for casual players, suggesting a steep learning curve or demanding gameplay.
- Mods Enhance Experience (weight 0.02): Players suggest that the game experience can be significantly improved by using community-made mods, particularly for weapon balance, battle dynamics, and difficulty curves. Some recommend playing with mods from the start.
- Save Often Advised (weight 0.02): Players strongly advise frequent saving, especially on the first playthrough or before risky maneuvers. This suggests that the game can be punishing, and saving often is crucial to manage difficulty and avoid frustration.

Other player notes:
- Excellent successor to JA2 (weight 0.31): Players highly praise the game's overall quality, considering it a true successor to the beloved Jagged Alliance 2. Many waited years for a proper continuation and feel this game delivers, capturing the spirit, humor, and charm of the original while modernizing the experience. It's often hailed as a strong contender for 'game of the year' by its fans.
- Strong characters and voice acting (weight 0.18): The game excels in character development, featuring well-written, charming, and often humorous mercenaries with distinct personalities and backstories. Their interactions and voice acting are frequently highlighted as major strengths, making players feel like true mercenary leaders.
- Diverse tactical gameplay (weight 0.15): The game successfully blends elements from various tactical genres, primarily turn-based strategy (often compared to XCOM) with RPG and mercenary management components. This diverse gameplay, combined with strategic depth, offers a fresh experience for fans of tactical games.
- Solid audio-visual presentation (weight 0.14): The game's audio-visual presentation is consistently praised, particularly its strong musical score which often evokes nostalgia and fits the game's atmosphere perfectly. The graphics and detailed scenes are also noted as well-executed, contributing to a solid overall production value.
- 80s action movie humor (weight 0.13): The game's narrative, humor, and overall tone are heavily inspired by 80s and 90s action movies, which is a significant draw for many players. This self-aware, tongue-in-cheek approach, combined with numerous pop culture references and memes, creates a unique and enjoyable atmosphere.
- Engaging West African setting (weight 0.13): The game's setting in modern West Africa, focusing on themes like warlords, the diamond trade, and political instability, is well-received. It also touches on deeper historical and societal issues, adding layers to the worldbuilding without being overly preachy.
- Open-ended mission design (weight 0.12): Players appreciate the game's open-ended approach to objectives, allowing for various choices and consequences in tackling the main conflict. The story, while not always the primary focus, provides a strong scenario that allows players to craft their own unique war stories.
- Extensive modding support (weight 0.08): The game offers robust modding support, with many quality-of-life and content-adding mods readily available on the Steam Workshop. This moddability is seen as a significant positive, allowing players to customize their experience and address minor issues, extending the game's lifespan.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.34): Players felt satisfied due to the game's overall high quality, particularly its engaging tactical combat, strategic depth, and well-developed characters with excellent voice acting and humor. The game successfully captured the essence of the classic series while introducing modern improvements, offering a rewarding experience after overcoming an initial learning curve.
- Frustration (weight 0.15): Frustration stemmed primarily from technical issues like frequent crashes and poor performance, as well as unintuitive UI and clunky controls. Players also expressed annoyance with inconsistent stealth mechanics, unfair enemy accuracy, and a perceived lack of in-game guidance or tutorials for complex systems.
- Disappointment (weight 0.13): Disappointment arose from the game not meeting high expectations, often due to perceived lack of content, repetitive gameplay, and balance issues, especially in the late game. Players also cited missing features compared to previous titles, a weak story, and a general feeling of incompleteness or unpolished design.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement was driven by the game exceeding expectations, its addictive and engaging tactical gameplay, and high replayability. Players were thrilled by the game's successful resurrection of the franchise, its challenging nature, and the potential for future content and modding.
- Joy (weight 0.06): Joy was experienced through the game's engaging story, deep character development, and enjoyable gameplay loop, often enhanced by humor and satisfying combat moments like long-range headshots. The return of beloved mercenary personalities and the overall fun, addictive nature of the game contributed significantly to this emotion.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.05): Players enjoyed the game's humor, well-written characters, and engaging tactical combat, which provided a fun and replayable experience. The combination of strategic management, light-hearted humor, and diverse gameplay elements contributed to a highly positive overall impression.
- Appreciation (weight 0.03): Appreciation was directed towards the developers for their work in creating a high-quality game that remained faithful to the original series while incorporating modern visuals and improved systems. Players valued the game's unique genre, its challenging yet rewarding design, and the ongoing support from the modding community.
- Nostalgia (weight 0.03): Nostalgia was a strong emotion, as the game successfully evoked memories of classic Jagged Alliance titles, particularly JA2, through its faithful continuation of the series' spirit, familiar characters, and gameplay similarities. This connection to beloved past experiences created a sense of fondness and a return to old-school gaming feelings.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger stemmed from perceived unfairness in game mechanics, such as excessively accurate enemies and a reliance on luck rather than tactics. Game-breaking bugs, poor UI, and a general sense of the game being of low quality or unplayable also contributed to strong negative reactions.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance was caused by repetitive mercenary one-liners, foolish AI behavior, and clunky management tasks. Players also found the game's unintuitive nature, poor explanations, and the need for mods to fix basic issues to be irritating.
- Hope (weight 0.01): Hope was expressed for future improvements, additional content (DLC, sequels), and the potential for mods to enhance the game. Players desired continued developer support and the release of more games in the series from the same team.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players were pleasantly surprised by the game's unexpected quality, depth of characters, and engaging strategic elements, often exceeding their initial skepticism or low expectations. The unique blend of systems and rewarding exploration also contributed to this positive surprise.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom set in due to repetitive gameplay, particularly in the mid-to-late game, and a lack of variety in content and enemy encounters. The game's complexity and the feeling of tasks becoming tedious also contributed to players losing interest.
- Amusement (weight 0.01): Amusement was derived from the game's humor, witty dialogues, and the unique personalities of the mercenary characters. Humorous failures, pop culture gags, and the overall absurd tone of the game also contributed to players finding it entertaining.
- Desire (weight 0.01): Players expressed a desire for more content, including DLC and sequels, as well as specific features like controller support and more detailed item interactions. The wish for new mercenary packs and additional banter also indicated a longing for expanded gameplay.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Admiration was felt for the game's deep tactical design, unique mercenary system, and overall high quality within its genre. Players praised the developers' understanding of the franchise and their passion in creating an outstanding turn-based tactics experience.
- Challenge (weight 0.01): The game's steep learning curve, significant difficulty spikes, and economic challenges contributed to a sense of challenge. Players found the game to be more difficult than similar titles, requiring strategic thinking to overcome tough situations.
- Engagement (weight 0): Players felt engaged by the game's intelligent AI, constant challenge, and immersive narrative with compelling characters. The tactical depth, management aspects, and the solid gameplay loop kept players hooked throughout their experience.
- Relief (weight 0): Relief was experienced when the game proved to be a worthy successor to the series, especially after previous failed attempts. Players felt a sense of ease as initial bugs were fixed and the game successfully returned to the quality of its predecessors.
- Gratitude (weight 0): Gratitude was extended to the developers and publisher for keeping the series alive, listening to community feedback, and providing post-launch support. Players appreciated the lack of modern monetization practices and the effort put into localization and bug fixes.}