Jagged Alliance Flashback (Review) PC

Review Score:

Jagged Alliance Flashback was on Steam Early Access for quite some time . Long overdue and highly anticipated by gamers, Flashback revives the classic turn-based RTS (Real-Time Strategy ) gameplay that defined the genre.

For those of you that are not familiar with the series, Flashback ( just like the previous releases) places you in the role of a mercenary that cares for nothing but  lining his pockets. You and your team take on dangerous missions located in exotic locations across the world.

Just like its predecessor, everything must be accomplished within a set amount of turns. This makes combat extremely difficult, as it requires the player to methodically plan out  their course of action before executing any orders. This is what made Jagged Alliance a brilliant game back in the day; you couldn’t go in with guns blazing and expect to accomplish any of the missions.

The game also requires you to be tactical, as you are given a limited amount of ammo and health kits  to survive in the field. But despite all that, you can scavenge for bullets and weapons by searching the dead soldiers that are killed during combat. Plus, you can purchase additional mercenaries such as Scully, Buzz and Cliff; the same characters from previous releases. The player has a limited amount of capital at the start of the game, so it’s only possible to purchase two additional mercenaries for your team.

Flashback didn’t have a tutorial during its time on Steam Early Access, so gamers new to the series had to figure out the game mechanics on their own. The most confusing part of the game was traveling from the first mission to your next location. It’s as simple as right-clicking on the world map, where your next available location will be marked with a gigantic, yellow exclamation point. Since its release, a tutorial has been added to ease first time player jitters.

Your mission objectives are listed in the upper left hand corner of the screen. The GUI (Graphic User Interface) is clean looking and self-explanatory; there is no guesswork involved when equipping armor, weapons or using items from your inventory. Combat can be frustrating during the early stages of the game. But once you get the hang of things and learn how to use your surroundings, the combat experience becomes much easier.

Flashback received numerous bug fixes and patches during its time on Steam Early Access. And while those fixes rectified many issues, some still remain. For example: the range on some weapons is so short, you are forced to use knives to kill your enemies. Moreover, the Smart AI – which is suppose to challenge the player — will send in mercs to fire their weapons at melee range.  These issues are hardly game breakers, but they do raise some concern. Developer Full Control has been very good at releasing patches (in fact, one was released on October 23), so it should only be a matter of time before a bug fix / patch is released to address the issues mentioned above.

The environments are massive, and provide plenty of buildings, trees, and rocks to provide cover for your unit. And since taking cover is important, it requires some technical planning on the player’s part to be successful. Plus, to be truly successful, you need to level your mercenaries’ skills. The more advanced they become in a certain category, the more efficient they become in that profession.

Jagged Alliance Flashback is a great reboot of the original series despite some of the issues mentioned earlier  (i.e. the Smart AI, etc.). And while the game itself has been modernized for today’s gamers, the core elements that made Jagged Alliance a classic remain intact.

James ‘Daripp3r’ Pittaro
Platform: PC

Developer: Full Control
Publisher: Full Control
ESRB: N/A
Price: $29.99

Jagged Alliance Flashback’s Official Website

Review Score
Graphics
The remastered graphics give Jagged Alliance a much-needed facelift.
Sound
Realistic gunfire and explosions enhance the experience,
Gameplay
With issues aside (i.e. the Smart AI, etc.), the gameplay is rock solid and very entertaining.

Overall
While not perfect, Flashback is still an enjoyable game. Here's hoping that developer Full Control will address the current in-game issues with a future patch.