Jagged Alliance 2 (one of my all time favs)

[Music] oh allow Meto has a guess you bring me bad news our reports confirm that the rebel party seems to have grown Bolder my queen there was an attack in drason wait now which switch was it yeah that could have been bad but I got me some kick-ass Karma an attack in trussen they were summarily slaughtered I presume I was in the Army once full of dope puff and socialists the Americans will come they always come to a war you probably heard of me Calvin barkmore broke every record they keep track of by surprise by surprise Elliot you idiot it's a goddamn War idiot what's so surprising about being attacked I remove her like toilet paper from Roar so what if I'm better I don't care I'm about to get even only a year or so after its release Jagged Alliance 2 felt like a quintessential they don't make him like they used to fetish object says Darius Kazemi in his book about the game Jagged Alliance is a strategy RPG hybrid a mercenary business management game with traditional RPG questing and turn-based tactical battles life is a [ __ ] the game was never discovered by Moneybags the modern audiences don't know what it is it was never replicated it's a millennial classic that didn't make it I was happy to hear you have decided to take the assignment so what do we know about arulco and Our Mysterious client it's a small third world country the size of a Caribbean island nation there is only one big city the capital of meduna and nine smaller towns the country's GDP is delivered from precious metals exports substantial Armed Forces for a nation of its size but poorly mechanized Air Force non-existent military appears to be designed to put down civil unrest a rule course previous government has been considered a unique Democratic monarchy although the country was run as a kingdom ruled by a king and queen three elections were held every 10 years to assert their legitimacy interesting fact performative elections is a common trick in dictatorships but upon further research it turns out to be even more straightforward arulco used to be a conventional democracy but for cultural reasons they called their president King the throne kept being exchanged between two clans the chival Doris and the cordonas in order to increase his re-election chances Enrico chibaldori married an exotic foreign princess daedrana raidman of Romanian descent little is known about lady Reitman since well the social media isn't invented yet things were developing fast after the marriage the King's father assassinated Enrico's vehicle Convoy firebombed the opposition faction led by Miguel Cardona was blamed they drawn a Consolidated power all members of the judicial system were executed all of that was a decade ago it's 1998. Quake 2 is the FPS the first version of Counter-Strike was just released Fallout 2 is around the corner our job is to assemble a team of Specialists travel to arulco and kill daedrana the report makes a mention that the queen has been researching and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction but that's probably just Intel Boomers being paranoid Enrico valdori is considered to be deceased clearly this is not the case seen as he is our employer so what do you guys think should we take the job pack your [ __ ] let's go in order to make a character you open a web browser and go to the web zone Institute for mercenary profiling or imp and then answer some questions and fill a bunch of forms the most important part of the character creation is the personality quiz the answers will determine your custom character's special skills attitude and traits if you pick funny violent options you might end up having a psycho trade which makes a character randomly switch to burst fire in Combat special skills are like Fallout perks or DND Feats the good ones to have are stealthy night operations and automatic weapons there are fun gimmicky ones like ambidextrous and martial arts time for the enemy to say its prayers no we have some inconveniences to dispose of no time to take out the trash yes it's gonna be hard to take over a country just by ourselves so we're gonna need a team a crew an alliance of individuals with questionable ethics that are not smooth at all the association of international mercenaries Incorporated aim Inc is here to help back in the 90s the internet really did look like this with every website having a different philosophy of what makes a good UI Enrico provided us with a starting budget and there are several spending strategies Jagged Alliance veterans would recommend hiring a bunch of inexpensive but capable mercs from the bottom row who will eventually improve their skills while maintaining a reasonable price tag a dramatically different approach would be to base your team around a single expensive hire whatever the strategy you choose beginners should strongly consider getting a Merc with a rifle a long-range weapon makes the early game much easier some of the NPCs don't like each other and are mutually incompatible you usually for petty reasons like the fan Fatale mercenary Fox doesn't get along with Polish big guy steroid forget it I wouldn't give it a second thought as long as that pumped up pushy Pollock is working for you it's disappointing that this game promotes toxic Shadow scientific Concepts like Natty Supremacy and normalizes hatred aimed at individuals of enhancement no wonder nobody plays this garbage let's get a team going my first choice is ice Williams an affordable mid-tier mercenary with an automatic weapons perk all right man we'll give it a spin Igor is a reasonably competent and reasonably priced nephew of the jagged Alliance Legend Ivan with a belarussian last name Fidel is going to be our explosive specialist his page hints at a psychological issue hopefully that won't be a problem you tell the bad guys Fidel becoming you tell them that well that's it for the preparation stage time to stroll through the valley of death in respect of your husband I take your world we will go down but if you make mistake Fatima you will die with them a small town in northern arruko omerta was the last Rebel holdout until it was crushed by the recent offensive talk about flying in whoa I had to look up to warlock has a perfect combination of voice acting and portrait time to take out the trash when the combat Begins the game switches from real time to turn based your history dude omerta is a ruin we should make contact with whatever is left of the urukin Rebellion you want me to believe that you are working for a dead man Fatima is understandably not in any hurry to help us but she changes her mind once we present a letter signed by Enrico why have you brought them here have you lost your mind woman you bring death to all of us the arukan rebels are incredibly ethnically diverse Fatima is Middle Eastern Dimitri looks dagestani or English Carlos is from somewhere in Central or South America and so is Miguel I welcome you we are very much in need of your Aid the jagged book explains that this was a practical solution to a problem the game has a lot of characters and it helps if the player can tell them apart this is All That Remains of the anti-day drana resistance they need food Miguel wants us to go to the nearby town of drosten and talk to the local Catholic priest arrange for supplies I'm Ira I came to a roll call five years ago as part of an effort to supply humanitarian Aid I soon realized the only Aid they needed was in getting rid of did Rihanna the aim website isn't the only source of recruits as we progress through the game more and more of Miguel's crew will be joining us but for now we only get Ira which is fine since she's the best one of them anyway Ira is completely free has decent stats bad Marksmanship but good wisdom so she'll be learning fast she's an expert instructor a skill that's going to become useful very soon the settlements can be liberated in any order strictly speaking the game can be finished without conquering a single town or hiring a single Merc you can solo this campaign the only Victory condition is the queen being dead speak of the devil this better be good I forgive the intrusion your highness but one of our North patrols has been attacked the recurring Palace scenes is how the game reacts to our progress showing the state of the campaign from tadrana's point of view this is far from the last time we are seeing poor Elliot brutalized bad luck as we were approaching drosan we walked into one of dedrana's Patrols advice who's gonna feed the dog thankfully these guys are recruits The Troop quality can be determined by the color of the bad guy's Sprite the yellow shirts are the least competent and strangely enough the most rare of all of them the red shirts are the Army a very diverse group when it comes to Stats and equipment and the black shirts or Queen's guard are Elite troops if I die I come back as big black bird at peacock bodies I go from war to war just peeking at bodies this good life no Fidel what the [ __ ] man all the enemies are defeated and disgraced onwards to the dracensk airport there is a priest in dress and named father Walker he be a drunk of poor judgment however he will be sympathetic to our situation modern history of warfare knows quite a few dramatic airport battles this ain't one of them despite being poorly defended this place is of immense strategic value to our operation the airport is how we get supplies into a ruco I'm Pablo Greco I run cargo department at airport let's talk about the item game some of the equipment will be liberating from daedrana some will buy narulco's gun shops and a very large share of it will be purchased online through the web store bobby Ray's guns and things and then shipped to drosen Via cargo plane and this is when the arukan corruption becomes a problem Pablo would sometimes lose shipments and if he does they are unrecoverable you can shoot him but that just leads to other problems down the line the best way of preventing the situation from ever occurring is by bribing Pablo with American Cash [Music] help keep my eyes open if you know what I mean and what is this I believe it's the future of free arulco Air Force yep that helicopter Works alright but you killed the pilot we need to find a person to fly this thing the Sweatshop these are child workers you'll find nothing that concerns you or your War we make baseball caps and sweatshirts for a celebrity endorsed clothing line Doreen Harrows is well hated in drosan getting rid of her will make the local folk like us a little more this could be achieved via speech Jack or by killing her or by passing the speech check and then quickly killing her before she leaves the building the reward is an MP5K the cool gun from Matrix one important characters merchants and Quest givers will randomly show up in various bars located all over arulco we are famous on Roku wide for our drinks the bartender will almost always be one of the Santos brothers who all share the same portrait and voice actor taken dressing wasn't hard but some of our people got wounded and will require a few days of rest the dross and gold mine with the ruleco GDP being based on precious metals extraction the mines is how we fund our war to liberate the country I am prepared to continue Mining and turn the proceeds over to you the more the People Like Us the bigger the share of profits they are willing to contribute to our cause Enrico is satisfied with his investment in us paying off they were victorious victorious controlled dressing ah Elliott you idiot send my best Soldiers the queen will be sending the Army to attack the towns we hold since our Merc Squad can't be everywhere at once the liberated territories will have to be defended with militias trained by our military instructors the green shirts is the first tier of militia you can see them populating the streets Miguel Cardona needs Maya assistance well life the supplies should reach the rebels in 24 hours Queen's looking for me to be part of her Air Force pays dink in the hours are long plus I can't stand her on a personal level okay the war isn't just about shooting and yelling while everyone else is busy training militia Fidel travels back to omerta to have a chat with Miguel and to make sure the rebels have everything they need but it would be great if we didn't have to use a valuable and expansive Squad member for that role this is not spam I am spec decline co-proprietor of a new mercenary recruitment center m-e-r-c and for all intents and purposes you are our first customer this is the alternative way of buying people on the internet it was prepared rather quickly and Biff is not as skilled with a mouse as he is with a gun beef abscart is possibly the most terrible mercenary in any of the jagged Alliance games famous for hysterically quitting his job as soon as he actually manages to kill a person which is almost never Merc employees are cheap and don't require upfront payment that's because most of them are the drugs of society Logistics is management of the flow of resources calling stuff working with the locals courier-type jobs this is why we hire Flo a student from France she is not skilled but she doesn't need to be Biff would likely Delight in the opportunity to accompany flow to aruko that's a hard no spec and it's arulco aruko now the matter of building up an Air Force skyrider that's what they call me ain't nobody around here that can fly an egg beater like me the helicopter pilot is hiding from the draft in one of the swamp sectors near drosson the exact location is random the chopper is the earliest type of transport we get in the game and it is the best you can get anywhere in a rule go in a matter of hours but there is one problem the Queen's got Sam's size spread across the country we take to the skies the broads got the means to blow us the heck out of them Sam sites are fortified military bases each has a control computer that needs to be captured or destroyed taking out Sam sites is essential if we want to use the helicopter another reason to do this is that they usually have well-stocked armories something over there incredible Stroke of Luck a red shirt Marksman drops an SKS and night vision goggles the two most important variables in the early game happen to be vision and range we eliminated all of did Rihanna's man in this area what is it now Elliot I like that it's dark outside you get a feeling that Elliot rushed to deliver the important news to the queen as soon as he got the phone call send my elite soldiers to the occupied site and send in the third Army Corps this is not a bluff the game will spawn a spec ops Squad and send them to recapture the samsite thankfully just like the towns the military bases can be defended with militia meet the Queen's guard the elite interesting that this is a somewhat Progressive combat unit the only one that has women in it the way these battles go it's usually us commanding a handful of quality troops against a numerically Superior enemy but here it's the opposite a bunch of green militias Zerg rushing a handful of Special Operations black shirts and defeating them nobody left at the bad guy party we need to choose our next Target if I wasn't playing an Iron Man I would have considered a decapitation strike on Alma that hosts Queen military trading facilities the centrally located Cambria is another valid choice but we are going to do something else I order skyrider to drop us near omerta on foot we make our way to the Coastal Village of chitsina hopefully its remote location means we won't be encountering much resistance Mary and I were supposed to be going to Aruba my wife booked the tickets to one of her travel agent friends didn't know we're in the wrong country till we landed time to take out the trashina must be a native word for this place there's a bunch of Huts here for the miners man I tell you if I were them I'd say something they just schlep to the mines every day for the queen they live under a brutal military regime Ira get real looks like you're the boss now the local mine is the smallest in arulco but we don't have much in a way of expenses yet flipping a Myra is not exactly a Linsky when it comes to the strategy of organizing but she's certainly growing in terms of the kill count the ancient ruins seem to be a mix of Greek and moai styles I was never much for history majored in Humanities based more art student War Fighters since the golden chalice of chance has been removed from jitina by the description the Chalice doesn't seem to be native art nevertheless it's culturally significant for our rulkins the artifact is being kept in the resort town of baleem where the Queen's oligarchy resides returning the Chalice to chitzina would be an impressive gesture I am interested in maintaining my power and making money can't make money if those minds are not mine the kidzina Sam base is one of the few coaster locations in this game so theoretically you can take it over via a marine operation but since I can't reload it makes sense to stick to more traditional strategies go at night penetrate the fence with wire cutters catch the red shirts with their pants down waiting over this guy gonna die actually Fidel this queensguard [ __ ] costs no less than three restarts he appears to have a thing for Fidel there are only two black shirts in the base but they can see further than we do and their guns have longer range than ours I had to Blind throw grenades to control their AP your history dude but all's well that ends well I got to meet you John colba from Cleveland Ohio on a Gateway to the Great Lakes another local attraction are the chizena Boomers Paula told us to check the tickets and make sure everything was okay two American tourists accidentally flew to the wrong country and got stuck here they want to go back to the States since we disabled the Sam we can move Maria and Jon to the dress and Airport via Sky Rider Jon is Gonna Mail us a gift later and while we're in dracen might as well order something from Bobby Rays like these to repair kits we currently have none and the equipment needs to be maintained they even sent you an automated confirmation email just like IRL Oh no you're one of those mercenaries I was in the Army once full of dope puff and socialists you probably heard of me Calvin barkmore broke every record they keep track of one of the fun consequence of Iron Man is that you are not shy on using consumables this is what a stun grenade looks like it drains stamina and makes you drop your weapon here's something the Cambria mine is one of the biggest in the country you one of those inspector guys let me tell you right off the bat that I run the most technologically advanced mine in all of aruko built it from the ground up with stolen American Technology the secret reason I wanted to do this game is to obtain footage of this character the devs put him here to make fun of a really existing person sir attack used to be primarily a publishing company and one of the games they were supervising was in trouble in order to save the failing project they employed the services of a contractor Cleve Blakemore was his name the Navy Seal of computer programming broke every record they keep track of I know quite a few neurodivergent people in real life but cleave is like nothing I've ever seen before or since unfortunately he couldn't rescue the game Wizardry stones of Arnhem had to be canceled cleave blamed the owners at certac who responded with this caricature I suppose since you're in charge you'll want all the money leave me the crumbs you cause salary well I guess I got no choice but one day I'm gonna get my own mine a narrative Vendetta was heating up one thing I've learned by observing this whole Affair develop over the course of many years is to never [ __ ] with cleave animated by resentment and God knows what else the man decided to make his own big RPG the journey took decades grimoire Heralds of the winged Exemplar was finally released on Steam in 2017. one day friends there be peoples who need bullet in head absolutely not cleave is quite insane but he is a great artist vision and range betrayed by street lights the red shirts are helpless against Igor's M24 rifle that doesn't even have Optics yet people see me yakking with you and I'm back Hawking porno in San Mona the shop owner won't talk to us he doesn't know us he doesn't trust us understandable this scene is not a reaction to the attack on Cambria a doctor the game is hinting at a side quest one of the more complex ones that will end up with us obtaining a special companion sequence break a few weeks later we stumble upon matlab's secret hideout in one of the Wilderness sectors in the eastern part of the country I presume you to be the mercenaries people going on about will you don't be messing with Dr Cairns I'd be wearing the same Jersey as you his exact location is random the companion we can get is this little thing the Drone is slow but well armored great for eating interrupts I mean they might call me mad lab but I'm hardly the one who's mad here mad lab software was a tiny development Studio formed by Eon curry in Montreal these guys are responsible for the original Jagged Alliance games eventually the team got absorbed into sir attack Curry was a designer and a programmer his friend Sean Ling was helping with the story Concepts Jagged Alliance has interesting character writing and a fair amount of quotable lines I remove her like toilet paper from Roll made me wonder if Sean Ling worked on other games and yes he did his proverbial DNA is all over this genre of squad tactics slash RPG hybrids he is also this voice nobody does anything like I do back to Cambria there's a university here that's as empty as the bitch's head the only other high education institution in the country is the Military Academy it's cool that the devs bothered to make unique graphics for a place that ultimately ain't that important this is footage from one of my earlier attempts at Conquering the town Igor got ambushed wounded and isolated from the rest of the crew warlock takes a field met kit and throws it to Igor the Merc fails to catch the Mad kid that hits him in the head causing one point of damage he dies on the next turn and dive reload the hospital is well illuminated making the initial stage of the assault easy we can see them they can't see us inside there is a treacherous web of corridors since I played this game for literally decades at this point I know that in one of the side rooms there is a red shirt Rifleman lying in Ambush so I move warlock around the building and make him shoot up in the air a bunch of times to distract red shirts AI to make him turn around maybe the Mad dudes are here it didn't work oh ice is dead yes it's permanent he carried us through the early Game Goodbye friend I hope his pet is gonna be okay this is awesome Roberta Williams we're not answering the phone right now we're busy dude so tell us what we can do for you and we'll call you back you ask me it's pretty much a free-range virus Farm but Vegas can't be chooses now can they the doctors will heal our wounded mercs and they will do so very efficiently unless we screw up our relations with them the game has a clever way of punishing RPG kleptomania see this place it's the hospital Warehouse it's where they keep the medical supplies and should they mysteriously disappear well nobody will say anything but the docs won't have anything to heal our mercs with well what is it the rebels have Elliott [Music] what have they done now Elliot's face shows more and more signs of physical abuse it will not get better Elliot you idiot how is this happening three cities a little less than half of the country rock and roll we are not quite done with Cambria we need to take the central Sam base and we'll have to do it with just four people that's a chemical brake light a glow stick the best friend and the worst enemy of a night operator when the situation gets desperate the guards pull an alarm switch and the control room gets filled with gas this is a defensive measure the Queen's guard Personnel protecting the place have gas masks phenomenal loot in the Armory we got a mortar among other things a potent piece of field artillery that can fire over obstacles mortar accuracy is much improved by the heavy weapons perk which none of our comrades have yeah meltdown this about a job meet Norma Mel down Jessup ambidextrous and proficient with firing heavy weapons two traits that are actually not very synergetic if you think about it it's me John colba from Cleveland Ohio can't tell you how happy I am to be back in the United States of America a country with enough sense to never have had a woman run for president Jagged Alliance is a late 90s game so quite a few years before we hacked the meme frame John mailed us a gift two unique custom-made high power Pistols that fire NATO 762 rounds the downside is that they only have five shots per clip I used to come around here to get gas pick up parts for the car in the junkyard that was when you saw cars in a roll call the nomenclature says it's a settlement but really estani is a gas station and a junkyard three people live here you ain't too far from the capital you know you're marching towards her Jake occasionally sells valuable light items like this compound 18 a consumable applied to armor to enhance its protective qualities but the reason we came here is to get mad dog I was thinking of killing her myself but uh some company might be all right one of my favorite characters very good physical stats an excellent locksmith and a mechanic every once in a while I need to pull my own hair out I don't know why but it grows back more weird Jagged Alliance gun culture he comes equipped with ancient cake cows or a shotgun is that how you say it k-a-w-s cows not sure how a redneck from bum [ __ ] nowhere managed to acquire an experimental weapon system truly marulco is America the rules are simple there are so few of them the fighters will enter the ring you first of course cause you are the guest located between Cambria and kidzina San Mana is well it's the Vegas of arulco New Vegas specifically the Queen's forces have no presence here it's a gambling Town governed by a pretentious mafioso who commands his own militia Force once daedrona's position becomes untenable this is where deserters will be showing up XXX stuff a creatively named porn store your Four Women by women's section is next to empty you got the same three films All-Star and Twin Peaks she's been dead for more than five years hence just maybe if you brought back some of the ones who took the shelves wouldn't look so empty what about ordering some new stuff huh like Titanic or bad Jill humping both of them should become mercenaries and join our party the character banter would be great I can already tell whoa pantsuit Loretta six the men are away Brenda leaves the store after we give her a VHS tape we picked in somebody's house I got the feeling you aren't here to buy marital aids Tony is in the back Tony here runs the best non-bobby ray gun shop in the game sometimes he'll be selling properly rare stuff like the caseless cartridges for G11 and that's a sex brother now normally you step into one of these rooms then the screen Fades to Black the game plays a sex sound and your Merc gets a morale bonus but as you can see sex having must have been disabled or broken in the Gold version of the game I'm currently running yeah yeah wake up dear it's time for an obligatory Arena fighting section Mr Klaus the owner of the club is a huge fan of extreme fighting the fight ends when one of the combatants is knocked out we don't fight to the death but if someone does croak that's fine warlock has average strength but I still win all three battles with only a single reload my strategy was to aim at the legs since that seems to drain the most stamina per strike this cool animation means the character has the martial arts perk I win the final battle via doping there is a stim you can take that increases the amount of action points for a brief period of time I run a nice little town here the Kingpin is super impressed with us and wants to offer a job this is someone I could share drink with don't get too invested in this relationship Igor the home of the mafia boss is the first house in arulco that looks comfortable to live in there is a museum in balim on display is a rather precious piece of a rulkan history the golden chalice of chitzina once we obtain it we can either return it to the ancient ruins or give it to the baron of San Mona for a monetary reward but what if I told you that we don't have to work for Kingpin to get kingpin's money there is no ore in San Mona mine that's why nobody goes there anymore the Mafi OZO keeps his stash year tens of thousands of dollars will robbing the Kingpin have consequences yes but not robbing him will have consequences of us not having all his money absolutely meanwhile flow the French recruit from Spec's agency met someone interested in the countryside me make me grammars see word and truck me borrow from stranger Camus is a character from Jagged Alliance One a native who helped our mercs navigate the island nation of metavira these days he travels around the world in a stolen ice cream truck if we're being real he is not worth the money he's asking but I want the truck it's not actually that useful since it can only travel on roads but now we can brag to Enrico that our army has a greater degree of mechanization than daedranas Carmen dancio International Bounty Hunter Carmen can be annoying to find he randomly shows up in one of the bars the man is working for an organization called intercept which is like inter Interpol but cool this is The Game's biggest side quest hunt down The Wanted criminals hiding in a ruco under fake names kill and decapitate them and bring their heads to Carmen for Bounty money oh my God that's so revolting and that's how the game gets rid of the bodies they are eaten by crows every Merc has a reaction line got brain in my mouth okay sweet time to advance the dialectic our next Target is the military stronghold of Alma ah don't look so surprised it's never been about glory for me it's about money the power of ancient cake house too bad the range is short and the ammunition is rare most of Alma is this huge fenced military training facility as long as dajrana controls this place it will keep spawning groups of red shirts who will then go on to invade Rebel towns and it's where we meet our old Frenemy that Mike is here I dislike battling compatriots but Mike is an enemy of the doll witches Mike is the best mercenary in Jagged Alliance 2 and in one his stats are almost maxed out he used to be in AIM but now he works for the queen I don't have to justify anything to you or to anyone else I go where the cash is Mike shows up in a random location in the mid game and serves as a well unless you are playing in the Sci-Fi mode this is the closest thing this game has to a boss fight most aimed characters have a special reaction line when they meet Mike it's Mikey boy this is gonna be a trip and another one when they kill him when Mike saw who he was facing he knew the end was coming I could see it in his eyes oh yeah there are critical hit animations and Jagged Alliance kind of like in Fallout barbaric and wrote what is it good for another exotic feature is stealing I feel most people who played this game don't even know you can do this hold Ctrl and click on an enemy here mad dog steals a machete the bad guys don't drop all their items when they die so stealing might be situationally useful the control room at the heart of the base I think these green tables are supposed to display battle plans but they just look like Star Trek terminals Lieutenant Conrad gilit please don't ask for autograph Conrad is a mark from Hungary a military instructor he is competent enough and can be recruited very expensive though ah did it hurt [ __ ] at this stage of the campaign marksman rifles like M24 and Dragunov will be gradually phased out in favor of late game assault rifles that are comparable in terms of damage and range but take fewer action points to fire rate this place see in a military prison here ah Ira Amnesty International are human rights nerds they don't have that kind of capability if any of our mercs are taken prisoner which is also a feature they would be kept in this facility and should we fail to rescue them covertly the guards will kill them with poison gas That's Why They Call Her meltdown God damn they're all dead I'll have to deal with the disappointment the most challenging phase of an Iron Man Battle is the setup once you get to a good initial position developing the battle from there usually isn't too hard looks like my mind falls on your side of the fence now with Alma being a military Town winning over the hearts and minds of the locals is a little harder than usual we've got mail read now I know you took my money you have 48 hours to show up at my house and give it back to me personally and you'll bring an extra 25 percent to cover my aggravation first of all I don't even know how much I stole I didn't count the money and second isn't it weird that he signs his emails as Kingpin but I guess it makes sense in case you forgot his real name which I did the guy in the wheelchair runs the machine shop I believe this is the only time this Sprite is used in the game I came down here to get away from it all finding myself in the middle of a war makes me nervous as hell the Americans will come they always come to a war where have I seen him before oh yeah Richard rutwin also known as slay love the long hair known worldwide as a deadly sniper usually targets victims from rooftops last seen climbing down a fire escape in Morocco stop okay you know who I am we can make a deal how would you like to have the use of my talents slay is a great and fun Merc but in the vanilla game he inevitably leaves the group after a week or two I think I'll have the Bounty money and here is his head gross Alma Alma Alma Elliot you idiot the goddamn training facility is there there is no sugar coating yet the loss of Alma is a catastrophe for the queen they got a jail here that makes Alcatraz look like Disneyland it's not just the Jail's condition either the wardens got a house right on the grounds and by all accounts she's one mean [ __ ] Daniel Quinton supposedly has a hidden perk that makes him move a little faster than other mercs he also doesn't like the big guy steroid another chapter in the ancient war between the cardio folk and the size people Jesus H cat did you know that human opponents are not the only type of enemy will meet in a ruko blood counts are tigers cleaning up their Lair will make elmions respect us easier said than done though I had to reload this sequence 10 or so times before eventually deciding not to mess with blood cats what's your plans for the bird thankfully there are other ways of impressing the townsfolk we can do it by liberating the Queen's prison in Texas the installation in Alma was a military prison here in the desert is where they keep the politicals the marriage was uh put up and put out deal for Dallas rooster is a house husband for the warden who has a reputation for being a mini daydrona the gas is purely defensive it's the corridors that are gassed not the cells the guards have the means of protecting themselves it's possible to prevent the release of the gas by silently taking out Mrs volts in her office or when she comes to check on the kids [Music] would you look at that hey when do we eat despite the triggered discipline related problems Fidel is our best Marksman the basement is a torture chamber in both literal and figurative sense it's one of the least Iron Man friendly maps in the game I had to replay this too many times to count [ __ ] hate ambushing enemies see I know there is a guy here so I have mad dog throw a stun grenade and he still gets interrupted [ __ ] ticks are forever they have a gym and the death dungeon there are more benches here than in your local gym you want to know why I'm in tixa because of my parents turn me in for growing a couple of plants the ultimate oppressed individual shank is a teen from a rich oligarch family who got sent to the death camp for smoking weed kill join us for 20 bucks a day easily worth it my crime I was told to attend one of the Queen's speeches and a clap loudly my kid got sick and I forgot all about it neither shank nor Dynamo are good combat mercs but they're cheap and useful for Logistics plus the locals know them you stiff Kingpin you die it's that simple oh yeah I completely forgot about that kingpin's assassins it was a terrible idea to attack Us in the middle of a militia horde you joined up with the soldiers For Hire habrium can't say I blame you shank his bodies with the guy charge of the dump in estony who also runs the aroucan black market for gasoline you found fuel in the clearing we can use it to refuel give us more range your teammate what I'll call tight-lipped astony can also act as a forward operating base to refuel the helicopter you have my greatest appreciation for your payment one thing I regret not doing is employing more people from Merc the more money you invest into spec the more mercs he can sign up team Hillman would probably still be enrolled in Harvard doing Graduate Studies in electromagnetic research if it wasn't for a couple of bouts of severe depression isn't it a little too early for a midlife crisis I'm on location ready for the next scene did you know that buying people and weapons isn't the only thing the internet is good for McGillicuddy's Mortuary offers a wide range of services from a shoulder to cry on to post-mortem reconstruction for badly disfigured Remains the website has a link to a flower shop hmm which ones do you like the most you love some you loathe some delivery location meduna name dedrana sure I'll pay extra for Black Roses personal sentiments based on standardized cards let's see thanks for making last night special I'll never forget you [Music] what is it now Elliot I oh Flawless oh lovely unsold thoughtful from my troops no doubt not exactly your highness I believe they made Elliot The Arc Nemesis in one of the attempts to revive the series what you idiot idiot idiot say it say I am an idiot do it Elliot I am an idiot your highness our next Target is the town of baleem on the southern coast they got a museum here that smells of an ass backwards Robin Hood Queen stole every artifact and article of value from the poor and put it on display for the rich the upper class pets of the regime live here well lived here the town is mostly empty the residents fled towards the capital when the front became unstable there is no mind and bulim this place is of little strategic importance few reasons to even bother conquering it one is completionism and the other the local shops because they have the finest electronics and other Goods in arulco if you are doing the robot Quest you can buy some of the required parts from this guy I know there are soldiers hiding in the building so I tell Daniel to create an alternative entrance what is that time to take out the trash the [ __ ] red shirt still managed to interrupt us and that would be the one family that failed to evacuate in time I'll I'll give you what you want just just let us be what is a rule code coming to use the threatened dialogue option to extort 10 000 bucks out of the rejoids not that we need the money to be perfectly honest the company has more than enough money to achieve my lifelong dream owning a house in Bob ruisk Belarus obviously you don't know who you're talking to I'm Laura Richie the real reason to take the cash is the sense of moral satisfaction that we robbed these guys I'm here to settle a score you don't mess with faith we should do something about Kingpin Klaus that was his name Elliot it seems you and my advisors are not keeping me informed and not keeping you informed your majesty baldeem Elliott those God damn mercenaries have captured balleem the twist in this one is that it's the queen delivering the bad news to Elliot how do I know Elliot you idiot have you tried to use a bathroom in the palace the whole town of baleem is living in my Palace Elliot the Bali Museum Ira told us about this place indigenous art it looks like the only thing standard between us and the Chalice is eldrin the security guard he is just some guy who works here not one of daedranas so we hide in the museum toilet until he goes to sleep then sneak to the control room to disable the laser security system and take the artifact got it Del sucks I'm here cap Sky Rider can get us to cheat Zina in just a few hours the reward is a global bonus to loyalty in all controlled towns very good does anyone have a watch what time is it time to take out the trash don't underestimate the salmon gangsters they are just as well armed as the military and there are a lot of them no need to wear a hat now Fidel is on a roll such a good Merc and to think I was hesitant about recruiting him psychological issue that's a blessed [ __ ] good this little souvenir warlock has been carrying a decapitated head of sleigh in his pocket for two weeks Carlos and I are available to join with your group now Carlos and Miguel are very good free mercs especially Miguel who starts with amazing 98 points in leadership and a very useful Knight Ops skill too bad you get them so late in the campaign our next Target is the town of grum the closest thing arulco has to an industrial center we need to be careful here she's got a factory here with this glowing green stuff in my opinion no one in grum is going to live past the age of 25 and those are the non-smokers grenades ain't real I assure myself as I box my troops and charge them at black shirts the French for Moss doesn't have impressive damage per shot or range but it's perfectly viable in the end game because of the reasonable AP costs and high burst size the factories of Grom make explosives grenades mortar shells we are gonna need a lot of those for the attack on the capital Jagged Alliance has a crafting system combine an aluminum rod with a spring and get broadened spring you attach this to a gun to reduce the number of action points required to pull the trigger very powerful [ __ ] I screwed up the initial setup when attacking the grum interior and the team got surrounded yeah that's a Reload no one left another sold out trip to rigor mortis goons txt I know bronze whale aruko's blacksmith in handyman this guy will repair our stuff for a fee would have been more useful if ground wasn't the last settlement we took before ending the campaign the NPCs react to us shoplifting mostly by using mean language you a crazy dog he called Mad Dog crazy dog a defensive use of a law launcher that's like something I would do they are learning what ended up killing Mel down was an explosion or a bullet or poison gas it was a grenade thrown Like a Rock to her face dealing one point of damage that was enough this town ended up costing us a lot you can get used to the taste of Barbecue Pit in your mouth they burn plenty of coal around here there's a bar nearby so we can get something to wash the taste out yeah we really do need to take a break hello Santos maybe you have met brother of me a rare instance of a narokan bar not being operated by one of the Santos Brothers he's the bartender's assistant or whatever the term for that is Cheerio I don't recall we've met if we haven't met then where have I seen you before Sammy Elgin the druggist working class background family Pest Control business developed interest in Lethal chemicals degree in Pharmacology at Oxford not bad served salmonella poisoned chicken to The Mouseketeers cast at Euro Disney outstanding warrants murder four members of the House of Lords who attended an afternoon tea session with the Queen Mother this guy seems cool should we really kill him yeah it's worth doing to complete many Santos mini character Arc this mean I bartender now no that's how it works in arulco you kill the other guy you take his place in no small all part fueled by your active patronage of Merc we were able to secure the Services of New mercenaries let's check them out the only new recruit he has is Thornton Baba Jones famous for being the first prison guard to ever be dismissed from the Alabama State Correctional department for brutality towards inmates his intelligence is at 29 Points Jesus aged Christ and the rate is 600 bucks a day I think it could be fun to do a gimmick play through with garbage mercs only Biff Baba the Harvard nerd but we need an actual specialist to replace meltdown Gus tarballs is the single most experienced and expensive mercenary in the game Count on Me Woody as soon as I find my heating pad I'm out of here Gus is old not as quick as he used to be but he is an expert in heavy weapons a skill you really want in the late game Robert James Sullivan is not here at the moment oh uh sorry mate I thought it was someone else scullia Scully is a British guy who pretends to be a Nazi a serious iconic Merc I've never hired before he has a sort of a meaningless specialization Scully is an expert in knife fighting but he makes up for it by being amazing at everything else and having virtually no weaknesses [Music] you bring me bad news and no I do have some good news your highness you are still in power careful Elliot there is one more thing we need to do before the big event and while you're wasting your time mingling amongst the peasants she's building new weapons in order weapons like you've never seen Soldier the Queen's research lab is located in the swamps not far from meduna this is what a rocket rifle shot looks like secret arulkin technology send a letter to my family in Brooklyn tell them I died bravely died fighting for the oppressed we are not going to be losing Ira minutes later I hit a critical bug and had to reload an earlier save anyway this time we'll be attacking from the north and to properly camouflaging ourselves seizing The High Ground to strike at red shirts unbeatable strats mortars are powerful and precise if you have the heavy weapons perk it's not a Miss Woodman why bother I don't know why this is so funny to me Gus referring to the player as Woody or Woodman is this a reference to something I don't think so Gus is great just like antiquesa all important stuff is downstairs but it's not even remotely as bad as the dungeon below the prison was the structure is very logical and will be fighting a small handful of elite troops mine was interrupted zero times when things get rough for the guards they flood the central Corridor with gas and then a squad of Queen's guard with gas mask rushes to the center in order to arrange themselves into a nice pile of bodies the green stuff oh my God dedrana invented fev that's not actually that far from the truth this Series has a very complicated relationship with realism Jagged Alliance One wasn't as successful as x-com and iron Curry thought that maybe it's because the game didn't have enough escapism which seems to be his word for fiction and his solution was to add more sci-fi elements meet the crepitus a race of giant insect monsters biologically engineered by Queen daedrana that bear a resemblance to H.R Geiger's alien the creatures were introduced to the players via the jagged Alliance 2 demo that preceded the game and the response was not positive the devs eventually decided to compartmentalize everything crepitus related into the optional sci-fi mode this is why we aren't seeing them in display through bloody hell that's it I can't work under these conditions if you threaten the Dork scientist he unlocks a secure door to the storage room you'll find what you want in those crates that's not exactly what I want but I might as well show it off for YouTube it's possible to obtain a rocket rifle as early as Alma but I never bother it's not quite as good as late game guns and the ammunition is sparse the daedrana rifles are fictional but the technology behind them is real this is a gyro jet developed in the 60s costs a hundred bucks to fire a single round collector's item it's inclusion and Jagged Alliance is appropriate because it looks like a weapon a crazy dictator would think is powerful a rocket rifle has an electronic security system that prevents anyone apart from the owner from firing it fingerprint idea acquired I hope Ira enjoys the toy NATO machine guns mortar shells we are gonna need all of that and more because the battles ahead are the hardest in the game as they should be an exam for everything we've learned but Christ's sake Elliot they're practically in my backyard maybe we should have a barbecue and fight them over have some champagne champagne little victories the capital is surrounded by a ring of checkpoints Monique well is the leader synergetic mercs will comment on each other's actions the closest thing this game has to party banter time to take out the trash and that would be daedrana's final surprise tanks shoot powerful explosive rounds and are invulnerable to Small Arms fire thankfully they don't move they're basically heavily armored turrets rocket rifle does nothing dealing with them on Hardcore Mode is a nightmare after several failed probing attacks I decided the best way of approaching meduna is from the East there is this smallish military base in the warehouse It's not marked on the map even against the red shirts the rocket rifle is disappointing the Armory has a ridiculous amount of shoulder-fired missiles daedrona's military remains our main supplier of Hardware right over all right Scully can you do it [ __ ] Fidel six points of damage amazing Miguel the leader of the Rebellion went about as well as his presidential campaign Fidel attempt number two this would not be a problem if I wasn't played on Hardcore thank you Scully maybe I should have hired those mercenaries rather than the stumps calling themselves my soldiers would you like me to extend them and offer my queen the easternmost sector of meduna is the blood Katarina this is where daedrana's political enemies are fed to wild animals [ __ ] the easiest cat related battle in the game because they can't open doors the wildlife doesn't usually possess a political allegiance but these particular blood cats are they drawn as [ __ ] and will only attack our murks taking the arena isn't necessary strictly speaking but you might as well since the battle is not hard and there is a prize in the end the queen has this little private chamber with a throne and for some reason she keeps a crap ton of mortar shells in a drawer here this is luhan's People's Republic tier of munition storage safety standards the next battle is critical we are to take out the last active Sam site in arulco allowing skyrider to transport personnel and supplies directly to the capital why does she have so many Sam installations anyway afraid of NATO intervention this is where we'll put our shells to good use the base is protected by two tanks parked so close to one another that if you hit one the other will usually also take damage the first tank ate three mortar shells before blowing up the second was destroyed with a single hit I even had enough spares to waste them on black shirts Iris rocket rifle experience ended up being so disappointing I replaced it with ancient k21 machine gun Sky Rider here what's your plans for the bird the plan is to get everyone at least a little competent to meduna showcasing yet another not very obvious feature you can go to battle with more than one Squad some players don't take advantage of this because controlling six people in combat is enough busy work as it is but since I can't save I'll need all the help I can get the meduna airport is one of the most well-defended sectors in the game hosting no less than three tanks but since two of them are located very close to our starting position we can take them out in the first turn the Army is not having a good time in the airport Fidel got interrupted and shot in the face by a tank while running from cover to cover at full speed it is what it is we are not having a good time in the airport Vengeance for Fidel a direct motor hit can completely annihilate a person they awakened evil Ira with the airport taken our Bobby Ray purchases can be sent directly to meduna it's possible to train militia in the capital and there is even a reason to do that Queen's goons will Mount occasional counter attacks the Hedge maze is a nightmare of corners and ambushes I am saddened that it be one of the few beautiful places left in my country Ira probably never been to the capital so it's Miguel providing Exposition the main street is blocked by Queen's Armored Division these are the last two tanks we're going to be killing in this game somewhere in the Maze there is a secret entrance to daedrana's Bunker but why take shortcuts why not strike at the Kremlin directly they will not kill me I have lived through too much yep that's a Reload there are so many [ __ ] black shirts I had to restart this half a dozen times goodbye crazy dog Terror bombing that they'd run a statue in retaliation most doors in The Palace are locked and our locksmith is lying by the wall in a pool of his own blood that's her bedroom very luxurious and so is the bathroom look what the cat finally Dragged In oh rip vile rat but it's too late to stop now the throne room take out the trash it's a miracle we didn't get quadruple interrupted bringing an upgraded farmas with me was a good choice Woodman this line means Gus improved his near-perfect Marksmanship score this is terrible terrible news who will rule a ruco when it is finally free uh sorry for your loss Ira but like uh what do you mean you do realize we are not fighting to restore the weird dumb [ __ ] demo monarchy system they had prior to dedrana I hope we are all on the same page here schooled down sometimes the queen would be in the throne room with the elite guard but in most playthroughs she'll be hiding in her secret bunker talk Elliot how do we enter dedrana's Hideout I have no intention of telling you anything loyal till the end Elliot's character Arc is actually just us realizing that daedrana was completely right about him the entrance is right here the fireplace in the piano room time to take out the trash One Last Time You Know How It Ends Let's Get It Started Queen's bodyguard Joe can be bribed with a few thousand bucks but it's much easier and faster to just shoot him he is no mic this is all that is left of our two squads Just Four soldiers we took more casualties in the palace than the entirety of the rest of the campaign as cheap as the black shirt Ambush tactics are my heart was pounding through the entire Palace sequence and by the end when Miguel died I even started to sweat a little IRL you got my ear these are her real private Chambers how did you get to me leave at once daedranna will die on day 69 of the campaign like toilet paper from Roll Rest In Pieces you evil thing moment for years it feels wonderful the people of meduna come to Palace gates to congratulate us on the job well done whatever [ __ ] didn't do it for you every Merc we hired who is still alive will have something to say and man let me tell you doctors you make in Jagged Alliance 2 never feel like they're assembled out of generic interchangeable parts even though that's actually exactly how they're made Wizardry 8 the last game sir attack published before closing also has this magic about it you know much as I had my doubts Miguel believed in you and now I know why I think Miguel would have probably changed his mind if he was exposed to my decision-making skills earlier me I do what now Mega nothing to do I wish there were champagne so we could celebrate with civility I should have hired more expensive aim Specialists instead of these guys that was one big mistake in this campaign sure they were ups and downs but all in all it was a great job good to be a part mate it's no coincidence that Scully and Gus survived they're good you know I can't wait to see the look of my parents faces when I tell them not that I really care since shank loves to talk so much you should become a politician but I suppose he can't do it with his family's cursed name he should change it to shank ax this isn't about me you understand this is about my son Dynamo has a very dark backstory that I didn't cover here because it doesn't really fit tonally with the rest of the content This Day brings much glory to me the people of a rule could be free sorry for getting your friend killed I guess you are in charge of the party now well I see me a lot of action but nothing quite like this you keep in touch with old Gus star balls take care of yourself for God's sake I miss you Woody Jagged Alliance 2 was the first and the last truly great game in the series there is a standalone expansion pack called unfinished business that directly continues the story you can even import your aruko character but the expansion isn't reinstalled quite as often as the base game because of its linearity the best additions like the new Works some of which are brilliant were back ported into the original campaign with mods let's talk about how you can play this game but first these videos are generously bankrolled by North Atlantic mercenary Association Incorporated including the members of the board Sky spy 7 spoopia you Alpha potty strop atelight Yuri salad of nichenko Mac Harris Richard Jackson Brian Johnson Nathan kabiska Byron Callan Heim Rowan this is done by a crowdfunding web zone patreon some of the music used in the video was created by the artist hate slash hope so there are three different philosophies of how to play Jagged Alliance 2. you can do what I did install the game on Steam and press play it will most likely work but this method is not recommended there is no widescreen support Al tabin crashes the game there are performance hiccups there are things you can do to alleviate some of these issues a page with instructions is linked in the didn't comment below the video another way to experience Jagged Alliance 2 is with 113 mod which happens to include compatibility tweaks among many other things 113 is to Jagged Alliance is what Requiem is to Skyrim for many veterans of the series this is a mandatory install and it is my preferred way of playing the game that being said there is an argument against 113. the mod overhauls the game's management aspects but does little for the RPG part which ends up changing the formula in a way some individuals might find to be inauthentic there is also an app called strachitella it solves compatibility issues fixes bugs comes with a bunch of useful optional mods and it has a proper widescreen support unfortunately structuretella is very much a boomer attack you will need to change its default settings in a way that is not obvious a guide will be linked in the pinned comment but this is probably the best way to play Jagged Alliance 2 for newcomers the reason I didn't use the program from the video is that every time I install it I run into a different set of bugs and issues this time it refused to load my saves but I think it's just me being unlucky most users don't seem to be experiencing these problems and as the credits roll our budding star sits sweating in the tropical heat Imagining the air-conditioned day when his friends will say yes I knew that great man I promise I'll get you all backstage the November video is going to be a vatnik RPG called Marauder also known as man of prey a game based on a book where NATO invades Russia oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] but there is no war because the politicians sold out a fascinating take on what is essentially post-apocalypse where we play an ethnic minority character almost certainly the author's self-insert who is trying to make it in a small town in the Ural Mountains full of spiteful locals who call him the Russian equivalent of the n-word see you all in Chelyabinsk in November haruko

Channel: Warlockracy

Views: 343,977

Keywords: video games, gaming, game design, warlockracy, review, narrative review

Id: iAFISvYvEwg

Length: 68min 49sec (4129 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 27 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/weissbrot]

It's crazy that, despite numerous attempts, no one managed to recreate the unique experience of JA2. I'm not even sure why that is, maybe in addition to the great mechanics it also came at just the right time and it just won't work nowadays...

"I check pulse, no?"

[u/hader_brugernavne]

Jagged Alliance 2 is just a perfect mix of strategy, RPG elements, story and tactical combat. It's filled to the brim with content too, and it has so much charm.

Everything fits together so well, and that's what makes it so great. It also has a similar structure to XCOM where you switch between the (often tough) missions and more relaxing strategy elements where your troops recover and you do things like repair, train militia and so on.

PS: Elliot, you idiot! *Slap*

[u/HugeHans]

I have long accepted that there will never be a better game then Jagged Alliance 2. I doubt there will even be a decent reboot as we got with X-Com.