Brigade E5: New Jagged Union

Tolya · Post by **Tolya** » 2006-09-17 09:23am

Does anybody here look forward to this game? It's supposed to be shipped in the US this fall, by Sirtech.

I want to ask you, if you know how much work on polishing the product can be done by the publisher.

The reason is I have this game. Fair & legal, as it was released in Poland this year.

Overally, the game is quite good. I like the rts&pause system, similar to the one from UFO:Aftershock. Selection of weapons and accessories is huge (the devs clearly have a gun fetish), the premise is nice.

But there are a few "but's":
1) Graphics arent really stunning (which doesnt bother me that much).

2) The story feels...clumsy. Not that it's not your usual jagged liberation, but the execution kinda sucks.

3) Bugs. Lots of them. Im playing a mission right now in which Im supposed to liberate a small city from some socialist rebels. Been there, killed the bad guys. The problem is that civilians appeared as enemies too. So I killed them. And then a message pops up that I failed the mission. WTF? A 5 seconds later a lone enemy soldier pops up somewhere. So I reload the game and start looking for him.

The reason behind my post, is that I would like to know if Sirtech (being the publisher of the fantastic Jagged Alliance series) can have some influence on the overall polish of the game. Right now it feels more like a half-finished beta (even if its an official Polish release), but if someone will put some effort in it it can be a very enjoyable game which can even get 8/10 in reviews. Right now its more like 6/10.

So, will Sirtech work on it (hence the time delay, because they signed the deal a year ago, when the game was released in Russia) or will the ship the half-assed release that I have?

I hope it will be better - I will safely download an english "backup" from torrent and enjoy the full game as it should be.

Tolya · Post by **Tolya** » 2006-09-17 09:27am

hmm, just watched an english-language trailer on the IGN. I noticed that a few bugs are gone. So there is hope.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2006-09-17 10:27am

I love Jagged Alliance 2, but everything I've seen of this "sequel" makes me think the thing is going to be awful.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-09-17 11:05am

It's not a sequel to JA2. That would be either JA3 or JA3D, two separate games that have nothing to do with Brigade E5. I was highly impressed by Brigade E5's demo, even with all the rough edges, and can't wait until it comes out.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-09-17 11:11am

I never even heard about this "sequel" until today.

As for Sirtech, as far as I know, they don't exist anymore. They bowed out of the gaming industry. The developer of this game is Russian.

It pisses me off noone knows how to make a good game like Jagged Alliance 2 without ruining it anymore. Luckily, I still have my copy. I won't be buying this game unless it gets good reviews and it's called a worthy successor to JA2. The graphics look fine to me, but I will not shell out money for a buggy game.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-09-17 11:26am

I wouldn't get too hung up on the JA2 comparison, personally. It's a similar type of game, but very different. It has a real-time system with autopause, fully 3D rotatable camera, and shockingly high realism (except for shotguns, which are underpowered). Sure, it's not polished and shiny like JA2, but it also does a lot of stuff that JA2 could never even come close to, and the design philosophies for the two games are completely different. Because it has a type of gameplay not seen in any other game (and which will probably not be seen in either JA3 or JA3D because they will be designed differently), I'm willing to overlook a clunky interface and some bugs.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-17 05:23pm

Is this being developed by Mistland based on the ALFA: Antiterror engine? If so - please tell me that they have polished the FUCK out of that.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2006-09-17 07:01pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:It's not a sequel to JA2.

No, but it gets called a "spiritual sequel" a lot, I think. It looks significantly inferior, whatever it's supposed to be.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2006-09-17 09:08pm

It might get called a spiritual sequel, but it's not. It's the same type of game, but the design is different. You wouldn't say Need For Speed Most Wanted is a spiritual sequel to Forza Motorsport because they both center around driving fast cars.

Tolya · Post by **Tolya** » 2006-09-19 05:05am

weemadando wrote:Is this being developed by Mistland based on the ALFA: Antiterror engine? If so - please tell me that they have polished the FUCK out of that.

Nope, E5 was developed by Apeiron, published by 1C. AFAIK they are completely unrelated.

Post by **weemadando** » 2006-09-19 05:55am

I saw some screenshots that looked remarkably similar. So this is a good start. ALFA had potential, but lacked polish.