The previous JA games

[J-12]

Are they any good or are they old and crap? Any reason to play them now that 3 is out?

I do enjoy fallout 2 a whole lot and play some fallout tactics ocasionally, are they and older JA games similar?

[Lightning]

I tried playing them again but they don't really work to well on current operating systems without the use of mods and fan made patches so i don't want to be bothered with that to even try and play them again.

Would be nice if they would remake 1&2 to current graphics and OS's so we can play them again in current time, but yeah doubt that will happen.

[botlobby]

Jagged Alliance: Back In Action is great & totally worth a play if you beat JA3 imo. I have no trouble running it on my current gen machine. There's also a mod that adds a lot of new guns & balances out the ammo. I believe it's called Realistic Rebalancing Mod.

[Dorok]

Caution, JA BIA is a bizarre real time game, I would never advise it myself. Check some let play.

JA1, JA2 and JA3 are 3 very different games, none invalidate the other,.

To start JA3 should be the best first pick in the sense that it will suit to much more contemporary Tactical or Tactical RPG players.

But past it, if you like tactical games, JA1 and JA2 are must play. For JA1&2 you need go over the graphics, if you play indies games, it shouldn't be difficult.

For JA2 the most ambitious of the 3 if I remind well, you need also go over a cumbersome UI and slow turns play. Moreover as quoted post above with modern windows it will have crash problems (unlike JA1).

For JA1, the most difficult, pick Easy, save often, you'll need a serious mastering and learning before be able make an ironman play, there's some cool let play showing ironman plays. I played some years ago JA1 Gold and had a ton of fun (with JA3 too, very different) but I saved often and had to reload often (no scamload).

[Ad'Nar]

Originally posted by Ryan Gosling (Real):

Are they any good or are they old and crap? Any reason to play them now that 3 is out?

I do enjoy fallout 2 a whole lot and play some fallout tactics ocasionally, are they and older JA games similar?

JA BIA is real time with pause. While your paused you can also plan out everyones moves or even multiple squads moves and hit play. It also has a much better inventory system then the new game. You can buy gear online and outfit your mercs how you want. (No mercs running around in shorts). You can buy and attach things to your weapons and so on. Not sure why they didnt use this type of system in JA3 to be honest. Id recommend watching a playthrough as well to get an idea.

[[NcK]MasterShake|CM]

They're great games, but if you are highly accustomed to contemporary there will be a jank factor to overcome. I've also found them less forgiving.

[rattaplan2004]

I think if you like Fallout2 and tactics that JA2 is definitely worth a try. The graphics are similar to the old Fallout games but the gameplay, personality and intuitive UI are simply superior. Just keep in mind that you need to run it under 'Stracciatella' with modern systems/OS.

As for JA1.. I don't know.. JA2 is one of my favourite games of all time but even I can't stand the graphics of JA1. It's really dated by now.

[Aegmar]

Jagged Alliance 1 was great when it came out, but that was 1995 - you can't play that anymore. Its really really old and it shows.

Jagged Alliance 2 on the other hand is an outstanding game, made even better with the 1.13 mod which expands on almost every aspect of the game. JA2 you can still play today without getting outright eye cancer - i does look a bit dated it has enough details to still work visually.

[ChaosKhan]

Tried to play Wildfire and got my IMP killed in the very first fight and then Steroid bled to death afterwards because Fox ran out of bandages. XD

The game really didn't age well at all. Very clunky and I kept missing QOL improvements from JG3 way too much.

[['w']]

loved JA1, crafted maps and had a lot of fun, later JA2 was released and again I fell in love.

Tried JA1 again few months ago and I got eyecancer, can't play it, it's just too dated.

But I would give JA2 and JA2 unfinished business a try.

Then again, JA3 is really good and the deeper conversations are fun to watch, mechanics of JA2 were partially better.

[SirHawk]

Absolutely, JA1 will take you some time to understand economics and how to play, it's kind of dumbed down JA3, if I may compare, be ready to restart games a couple of times before you catch it. Deadly Games is also well playable. JA2 with 1.13v patch is a blast and time stealer even now. The rest - don't bother at all. Just make sure to get the Gold version of JA2, not Wildfire as it's not compatible with 1.13v, you'll only be missing forgivable mercs anyway. Unfinished Businness is basically JA2 without mines and economy, a complete mods sandbox.

BiA is principally wrong, real time combat based on time-left-for-action and tons of unimaginably incoherent and untested micromanagement makes it unplayable. Just avoid it completely.

[Torpex]

I've read that 1.13 is a sniperfest/nightops and the closest to original modern iteration of JA2 is Stracciatella

[Paul]

Originally posted by Aegmar:

Jagged Alliance 1 was great when it came out, but that was 1995 - you can't play that anymore. Its really really old and it shows.

Jagged Alliance 2 on the other hand is an outstanding game, made even better with the 1.13 mod which expands on almost every aspect of the game. JA2 you can still play today without getting outright eye cancer - i does look a bit dated it has enough details to still work visually.

It is amazing to me that JA1 is 95 game.

I mean I started playing PC games with Diablo (96) and Fallout (97) and I cannot play JA1 because it looks ancient/prehistoric/disgusting compared to those games.

And they are just a year or two newer.

At least JA2 already had Fallout level graphics so it was perfectly playable for me. Although today, I am glad JA3 exists.

[The Great Cornholio]

Jagged Alliance 2 is a must play. JA1 and Deadly Games are pretty primitive and brutally hard, definitely not for everyone but I enjoyed them. I dont care about any of the other ones.

[Brother Pedro]

JA2 is very playable and fun. 1.13 mod adds lots of nice features and is very customizable. Unfortunately the game is very crashy for me with current hardware, but at least the load time is very fast on modern machine so with frequent save, I don't lose too much progress.

[Your Neighbour]

Originally posted by Ryan Gosling (Real):

Are they any good or are they old and crap? Any reason to play them now that 3 is out?

I do enjoy fallout 2 a whole lot and play some fallout tactics ocasionally, are they and older JA games similar?

They are very good. You don't have to open locks with lockpicks like most RPGs.

You can actually just point your gun at the lock and blow most locks open. There's a lot of micro, but very fun indeed. Almost every building part is destructible so if you have enemies holed up in a building, just plant C-4 behind them and open new doors (aka big gaping holes) where you want it.

"Back in action" really lacks what JA2 had, back in action is more of a scroller-shooter than it is a JA franchise. I didn't even finish back in action.