I’m a big fan of Jagged Alliance 2. It’s one of a few video games that I bought on release day as I liked the demo so much. For many years I started a new game every two years or so. I didn’t finish all of them, as the final part where you face a lot of tanks is quite hard – the most fun to me was always the mid-game, when your squad has decent equipment. My last play, with the 1.13 mod, was a couple of years ago, but I still consider JA2 one of the best video games ever. I’ve even had plans to use the setting for a miniatures wargame, but so far this has not happened.
Naturally, I followed the development of a successor for quite a while. I have played through Unfinished Business once or twice, but it is very short. I bought and played Shadow Company years ago, which was a somewhat inspired-by 3D version that I never managed to finish due to bugs. I skipped all official JA successors (Back in Action, Crossfire, Flashback, Rage) as the reviews were generally poor and gave up hope. So I was quite surprised when at some point I read by accident that Jagged Alliance 3 had been releases to good reviews, and finally picked it up during the 2025 Steam Christmas sale. Being at version 1.5 now, many of the bugs and omissions that early reviewers complained about are gone now.
This is not a full-blown review of the entire game, but a JA2 fan’s take on the experience. For a full review, go here:
Some of the console reviews are less favorable, which I understand – the interface lends itself much better to keyboard and mouse.
Starting out
The beginning is similar to JA2. You’re tasked with freeing the president of the fictional African nation of Grand Chien. You once again have a strategic map that divides the country into sectors, and your trusty laptop for access to e-mail, logbook, and the web – well, the webpages of AIM, MERC, and Bobby Ray’s. Using IMP to generate an alter ego is optional, as is answering questions – you can directly choose all characteristics. I didn’t immediately realize that this was possible and started out without an alter ego, but rectified this a few days in. I configured a good mechanic, as I didn’t have one in my time, which wasn’t the best choice from a a combat point of view.
Jagged Alliance is all about the mercenaries. Luckily, JA3 brings back many of the old favorites, but unfortunately some are missing without explanation. Gone are e.g. Static and Spider, who I often took in JA2. The elite mercenaries are also not available early on, unless you configure the game otherwise. So I started out with my old favorites Grunty, Buns, and Raven. I also picked Hitman as I thought that he is Raven’s husband… it took me a while to figure out that I should have chosen Raider! Not that it matters, as Hitman clearly likes Raven, too… In hindsight, this is not a great starting squad. Buns is a decent but not stellar doctor, there’s no mechanics expert (important for repairing gear, which breaks down much quicker than in JA2) and no explosives expert either. If you want to have an easier time, I recommend you take a look at some of the guides that have been published and make your mercenary choices based upon that. I hired Shadow later on as he was my favorite merc in JA2, and did my first playthrough with a single squad.
Your first task is freeing a small island, which will serve as jump-off point for the further liberation of Grand Chien.
The tactical view
The real appeal of the Jagged Alliance series is the tactical combat. The big change is of course that the tactical view is now in full 3D instead of JA2’s isometric view. I like the looks of JA3. The maps are very detailed and have character. It’s not cutting edge graphics, but the upside to that is that JA3 runs fine even on my laptop – and let’s be honest, JA2 didn’t look great even in 1999. Compared to JA2, which basically had only ground level and roof tops, the maps offer much more variation in height, which adds to the realism.
Hotkeys have changed, which will take a bit of getting used to. You can still spend XP to aim and target specific body parts. A new mechanic is Overwatch. You no longer leave action points open for triggering interrupts, but instead spend all your AP for overwatching a sector that you define, firing at anything that enters it. I like this mechanic. Other things aren’t that great. As I’ve read elsewhere, suppression doesn’t work like it does in real life. I also don’t see much point in shooting at body parts other than the torso (easiest to hit) or the head (maximum damage), as my perception is that there’s little effect from leg, groin, or arm shots. I have yet to see an enemy fall or drop a weapon after a leg or arm shot, as I think they did in JA2.
Combat is not easy. You’ll have to play smart with overlapping fields of fire, and take out threats such as grenadiers as quickly as possible. Cover is very important. I really disliked the early parts of JA2, when you are limited to short-range handguns on maps with long lines of sight. Luckily, in JA3 longer-ranged weapons become available very quickly. A downside is that, initially, ammo supply is limited – I soon had enough AKs for everyone, but it took a while until I had enough ammo.
Here comes the criticism
My main criticism is that the campaign lacks a of sense of direction. JA2 had a pretty logical progression through the various towns. The side quests were relatively short. In JA3, this is no longer the case. There are several “side” quests that are quite long and affect the final outcome, making for a total story that is quite convoluted on your first playthrough. I skipped most of them as I found the main mission challenging enough, which led to a poor final result. My recommendation would be try to figure out things for yourself on your first playthrough, then read one of the many guides if you want to do better the second time around.
A major plot twist event happens about halfway through the game. It will trigger counterattacks that are hard to contain. I’ve read others complain about it, so I certainly wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed. After that I just focused on finishing the main mission as quickly as possible, which thus resulted in me mission the important side quests.
The tactical combat is not easy. Like in JA2, my experience was that nighttime combat with its reduced spotting ranges is easier than daytime combat, even though I did not manage to find night vision goggles on my first playthrough. Sniper rifles are king. In JA2, I didn’t like them very much due to their high action point requirements, meaning that you could get more shots off with a scoped assault rifle. In JA3, they do considerably more damage and have a higher crit chance, with their only drawback being the narrow overwatch cone. I could not get LMGs work well enough to be worth the ammo expenditure, but I read that others had more success here.
JA2 had a helicopter, an ice cream van, and a Humvee for transport. There’s none of that in JA3, even though many old Mercedes W123s are decorating the sectors. It’s travel by foot or boat. A bit more variation and fast-travel capabilities would have been nice.
Finally, my feeling is that JA2 had more variety in environments. There was an airport at Drassen, the military compound at Alma, and a wealthy beachside community at Balime. In JA3, it’s mostly shacks and rundown colonial architecture. Don’t get me wrong, I think it all looks good and fits the theme, and I really dig the old forts, but a bit more variety would have been nice.
Verdict
Despite these criticisms, I really like Jagged Alliance 3. It is a worthy successor to Jagged Alliance 2 and brings important innovations, especially the fact that it’s now fully 3D. The more convoluted story will probably be a bonus for replayability. And my opinion is that the difficulty increases more linearly than in JA2, where the final sectors with their tanks and rocket rifles really took the fun out of the game. JA3 has a better, more fun endgame – challenging, but not crazily so.
I haven’t touched on one thing yet because I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s important for the long-term fun and viability of JA3: It has been open to modding from the beginning. Two years after its release, many mods are available, including some that bring back JA2 mercs that aren’t in the official game. So there are plenty of ways to modify JA3 towards your liking.
As final verdict, if you loved JA2, chances are high that you’ll like JA3, too. The Jagged Alliance series finally has a decent third part that is worth playing.
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