Game Classification

In Africa the Diamond Coast is ruled by a ruthless dictator and everywhere in the country a state of emergency was declared. A mercenary soldier is sent into the country by someone who claims to be the former president of the region in order to overthrow the dictator and get him back into the position. But whose side is the mercenary soldier, controlled by the player, really on?

As an unofficial successor to Jagged Alliance 2, the game features almost identical gameplay. The game is divided into two parts: the first is played on an overview map of the country with the different sectors marked, once the player's team has discovered them. The most powerful tool here is the laptop which gives the player access to the I.M.A. and Dickie Jay website as well as to his e-mail account and journal. The I.M.A. site is used to recruit more mercenaries to fight on the player's side. Each of them has different abilities, preferences and character traits which means that not everyone wants to work with you or mercenaries you hired earlier. If a mercenary strongly dislikes another mercenary, he won't take the job. The Dickie Jay website is the "local" weapons dealer where the player can buy everything he needs to prepare his team mates for battle.

Once one of the teams reaches a sector in which enemy soldiers are present, the game switches to the tactical map. As long as no enemy is in sight, the game runs in real-time but as soon as an opponent enters the view, the game switches to turn-based until every enemy is eliminated. The battles are highly tactical since every member has only a limited number of action points available and every action from simple standing up to aimed shot costs a certain amount of them. It is all for the player to decide. He chooses which body region the soldier should try to hit, if he stands or kneels for a shot and so on. Once all enemies in a sector are eliminated, the sector falls under the player's control which means on one hand that it generates money if there are mines present but also that he needs to defend it from bandit raids. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : PC (Windows)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/hired-guns-the-jagged-edge/