We have to say that - the Jagged Alliance series has the best times behind us and we can hardly wait for a higher level. We have had different attempts and although some have offered fun, it's not just that. And not even Rage! will not take ovation, it was clear at the time of the announcement. We were pre-prepared for not expecting anything magnificent, but the creators had an equally easy job, and eventually ended up under the guise of harsh criticism. Partly justified.
You see it - it's not a hit, but on the other hand it's not fair that many send this modest attempt to hell without being a little familiar with it. We did the hard work, and even though it played badly in the game, we also experienced nice snapshots with well-known mercenaries we still know to name. This time, however, they have not gotten into the game at all and they are not even creating several teams. In Jagged Alliance: Rage! control only a selected pair or even just one character.
At the beginning, six mercenaries are chosen, more or less they belong to the most famous of the past parts and differ with their good and bad qualities and abilities. For example, Ivan Dolvich is really an iconic character, but as the new story takes place 20 years after the events of the original Jagged Alliance strategy, it's no longer a dagger than it used to be. Ivan is still fitting in the first line, it has a significantly increased level of health, and it is really great when it is massacred. But if he is worse hiding, if you do not always drink alcohol, he has penalties, and when he jumps from more than two meters he will suffer injuries. It has knee problems. And his colleagues also have the benefits and maladies. This is a very interesting feature of the game.
Also interesting is the online collaboration, in which the two chosen characters are divided by two players and everyone focuses on their own, but also on meeting the common goal. It is not possible without co-operation and good coordination, even if you are choosing a more difficult task. If you play a solo, you switch one once in the field once again, and once the game is played on a kolla, you do not have to rush anywhere. Thoughtful progress is important, because even though the enemies are stupid, they are fairly accurate when shooting, and you are mostly facing them. It turns out that one of your guys is kicked out of combat, but you do not have to worry about losing his friend's life. Only if it is completely eliminated means your defeat. And usually reboot missions, respectively loading their own or automatically stored position, even in the middle of the battle. So, if you make the wrong move or play the game, it is clear what you are doing.
Each mission consists of a small area where you are constantly moving in tensile mode. The enemies do not know about you and they are peaceful until they kill you, or you are not alerted by firing, or they will not find the good bodies of the comrades. But you can pick them up and hide somewhere. Very unobtrusive stealth kill is very effective. When you are slapping or crawling, you can instantly eliminate your opponent's back with your bare hands or knives, and if you do not make any mistake, you will not be upset. Although sometimes near guards are so alert. At that time, they are noticing the surroundings, but it's still okay until they directly register you. Then they will use a radio to watch all the patrols, and occasionally there will be external assistance - soldiers who will appear later.
You can both cut off and run on the mission, but it is rather noisy. And when you know about it, you use firearms in particular. However, they need to be monitored for their quality because they wear out and spoil, and in addition, ammunition is never over. So a sighting of dead bodies, wrecks, and other surrounding objects is important. You can find guns, submachine guns, knives, grenades, but also bleeding stops (which can be dirty and threatening to get infections), precious pharmacies, devices and various useful accessories. Last but not least helmets, military vests and foot protectors that will visibly increase your chances of survival. Koristi is really a lot, but places in the inventory of figures very little, although with some supplements slightly expand. But there will be a few weapons, guns, grenades, and a bunch of other things you'll be fighting in or out of the battle. After destroying all the enemies in the mission, it's a good opportunity to collect excesses from afar without having to go to everything.
When shooting, you can sometimes choose weapon mode and the target has three hit points - head, body and legs. The chance to hit each area is expressed in percent, and if you hit the limb, for example, the enemy falls to the ground. It's just a shame to get back up again. Greater damage is caused by a critical hit and more accurate focus is achieved by sacrificing a pair of action points in addition, which is a handy tool. And you may also appreciate a whistle, for example, one of your mercenaries pulls out a patrol from the site and the other one slips or attacks it from behind. Thus, tactical possibilities in combat are not bad at all. It is also worth mentioning that sometimes an opponent gives up. It stops attacking and is discarded until the end of the battle. But his comrades can resist.
Your mercenaries can continually use their special abilities that instead of the energy they need, the fury that they have in the fight. These characters also bring extra action points and increased pain resistance. In addition, sometimes you also use tools to open the locked door or cut the mesh to get through the fence. The goal of missions is often to clean up the environment, but sometimes it is not a prerequisite to kill everyone. For example, a helicopter must be explored, and it is possible with minimal sacrifices. Just get there and then just run to the designated spot and succeed. However, if one of your characters is not in control, the other must take it there
The game is not just about fighting but also about the process of mapping the islet you are on. And there you choose the paths you are going to follow. You should note the random moves of the enemy patrols, otherwise they are waiting for you with extra blows. They can catch up with you especially when you relax. Whenever you create a camp where you choose one activity for each character, and if necessary, put off excess equipment in the group inventory. You can heal the mercenary, or clean the bandages instead, remove the shrapnel to stop bleeding. Then there is the option of repairing weapons or armor, making modifications, using the operating suitcase. You can also take a rest to get rid of your infection if you have an infection. And it is important to provide them with bottles of water (ideally clean) because they are penalized by dehydration. These are quite good options.
Graphically, the game is poor. Although it might be argued about retro titles full of edges and pixels that are now in fashion. Except Rage! do not try to resemble classics, and it certainly does not look modern. It's such a simple style that would be acceptable in web or mobile games, but it is quite unconvincing in a full PC format. It's not a tragedy, but most players will not just beat it. Well, you run it in 4K resolution too. On the other hand, you can find surprisingly solid dubbing. Not top but talked dialogues that have received fairly decent space and the sounds and comments of mercenaries and other characters are a plus. Well then there are still various unattended elements, technical bugs and bugs that spoil the experience. For example, when the game sometimes fails to move on the opponent's move.
At the same time as Rage! the tactical Mutant thing came out, which we have markedly lower ratings than most other reviewers. However, there have been several media that have a similar view to the game than we do. Sad are the reactions of some users who told us that we were allowed to have our own opinion that will not be affected and we will not follow the blind. Anyway, it's a good idea to compare both titles. The Mutant has a lot of better quality processing and graphics, and the players are also attracted by their cute hybrids of humans and animals. Jagged Alliance, on the other hand, does not visually address and has even worse AI enemies than Mutant. The story is weaker in both games, but in Rage! there is somewhat greater effort to shape it, and some dialogues and choices are being made available.
In addition, in the Jagged Alliance you can collect and use considerably more weapons and equipment, there are more tactical possibilities to fight even some smaller survival elements. Nevertheless, Rage! does not climb very high, because it also contains a lot of errors, and it works quite cheaply. Each of these titles is dominated by something else, and it lags behind. Not one is top. But if they joined together and combined their qualities, a truly tactical game would be created, which we would happily give a high mark.
Jagged Alliance: Rage! we're going to spoil the fans of the series who are basically rejecting such an experiment in their favorite pull strategy. But the problem of the game is not just that. Interesting and thrilling is largely lost in inconvenient processing, the title overall is pretty cheap and somewhat does not fit on a large platform. It would be more sympathetic in the iOS or Android mobile version, with its style and visuals definitely suited more. However, cooperation is an interesting experience that, in the future, with a significant drop in the price of a product, could be a nice pastime in the company of a friend.
