Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire

Sunday, February 18, 2018

Platforms:	PC
Publisher:	Strategy First
Developer:	I-Deal Games Studios
Genres:	Strategy / Turn-Based Strategy
Release Date:	March 8, 2004
Game Modes:	Singleplayer / Multiplayer

The original Jagged Alliance and its sequel were by no means easy games. They could, with the right amount of dedication and time, grow on you as a new player to the series. This approach has largely been left on the wayside with Wildfire, which is more of a hardcore exercise for the most devoted fans. The Jagged Alliance series of games were made by developer Sir-Tech, and the series has attracted a large fanbase thanks to its combination of tactical depth, personality and overall game complexity. The series is entirely turn-based, using a point system that your characters use to perform actions.

Wildfire’s primary campaign reprises that of Jagged Alliance 2, adding different weaponry, tougher foes to fight and more cover through scattered foliage. You can play through the first missions and discover that guards who were packing pistols in the original game are now firing at you with rifles and wear body armor to boot. Wildfire’s maps also have much denser cover in the form of high grass, more bushes, and more trees. While the added cover can definitely be useful for stealth, it seems to put you at a disadvantage. This is because the game’s isometric 2D graphics don’t do a good job of layering scenery, and it’s sometimes difficult to tell exactly where you are.

Unless you are a truly hardcore fan of turn-based games in general and Jagged Alliance 2 in particular, you won’t find much value here. The game is difficult as all hell, which is why it exclusively caters to people who have played through some of the older games and its expansion packs. And although it is tougher, the game is still Jagged Alliance 2, with the same story, characters, game bugs, etc. That being said, it’s still a great, though this time more punishing, tactical game.