If you're not aware, Jamie Shannon was a mercenary played by Christopher Walken in the 1980 film The Dogs of War. Many a human boy, I imagine, watched wide-eyed as Mr. Shannon swaggered his way through overthrowing a government and thought to themselves "Wow! I wish I was a mercenary!" But I very much doubt any finished the movie thinking "Wow! I wish I could supply Jamie Shannon with weapons, make sure he got enough sleep, patch up his wounds and pay his weekly salary!" Which is why I dipped a wary trotter into Jagged Alliance 3 with some apprehension.

Management games have never been my thing and though this 2023, most jagged of alliances bills itself as a "tactical RPG" – c'mon: we know better. A mixture of isometric real-time to turn-based combat (a lá Silent Storm), top-level strategy and some roleplaying elements (like leveling, perks and fairly basic dialogue trees), Jagged Alliance 3 puts you in charge of a team of mercenaries tasked with the liberation of the made-up country of Grand Chien.

You assemble your team from 40-plus premade mercenaries – all with their own specializations and varyingly entertaining personalities – and one design-as-you-see-fit, personal merc. The premade characters are contract hires of up to two weeks, while your personal character costs you a flat fee up front, but is then free to use for the remainder of the game. As budgeting is a core part of a successful campaign, it helps to have one teammate you don't actually have to pay for.

Character design is consistently good, if mostly uninspired. Take Bobby "Steroid" Gontarski, who is supposed to be a Polish firefighter with a body building fetish, but acts like a walking, talking Arnie impersonator. Or Ernie "Red" Spragg, an explosives expert whose Scottish-ness is established via accent and frequent cursing. At their core, most characters feel like working clichés, but some show a little more promise (to date, my favorite is Anita "Mouse" Backman, whose proficiency in sneaking up on people is explained through her vocation as a – wait for it – mime).

Despite caricateurish design, all characters are well-executed, with specializations that offer some latitude (like an explosives expert that can double as an HMG operator, a markswoman who excels at silent CQC or, indeed, a physically imposing mechanic who turns into a Melee Monster given arm's reach and a machete).

Their voice actors are quite good, their dialogue doesn't grate (and can sometimes be pretty funny) and their relationships with each other round out their personalities to the point where some mercs simply Don't Get Along (which manifests itself either through running commentary during combat or an outright refusal to work for you). When I needed a medic on my squad and reached out to Dr. Michael “MD” Dawson, he said Steroid was a bully and hung up on me.

Once your squad is assembled, you are placed on the world map where you proceed – one square at a time – to defeat enemies, liberate towns and manage your team. Movement and actions on the map (called "operations") all use up time, so planning ahead is key. Take too long healing and your mercs' contracts might expire. Spend too much time repairing weapons and a city you liberated may be attacked in your absence. The top-level management is easy to grasp and well-designed.

As your outfit is entirely self-sufficient, having a balanced squad is key. A good mechanic will let you repair and modify weapons, pick locks or dissassemble components in the field. A medic can heal your troopers during a firefight or recover them from more serious wounds on the map. An inspiring leader can train them to improve their skills. But, at the same time and regardless of their specializations, every member of the team must also do well in combat, as you will – almost always – be outnumbered and outgunned.

Speaking of which – Jagged Alliance 3's combat is pretty standard fare, with one niggle and one real issue. When you first enter a "tactical" area, you play in real time until you attack or are spotted by the enemy and it is in the transition that the wee niggle lies.

Even if you are sneaking, as soon as you attack an enemy but don't kill them your turn is interrupted and the entire enemy presence gets a free move to duck behind cover (or even attack). It's a weird mechanic, not unlike what you see in XCOM, with all enemy characters acting out of sequence.

As for the issue, the graphics engine is pretty well optimized except when 1) the amount of characters on screen exceeds a certain threshold or 2) the game is rendering fog during combat. Either of those two conditions will drop your framerate straight through the floor, regardless of graphics settings, leaving you in temporary, extremely choppy, limbo.

The rest of the combat is competently handled, with action points, aiming, hit percentages, sight lines, night-time adjustments, weather and physical cover that Work As Advertised. If you've ever played Silent Storm, XCOM, Fallout: Tactics or even Sabre Squad, way back when, you won't be surprised or disappointed. Jagged Alliance 3 does mix things up a little with more special abilities, but – other than that – sticks to genre norms.

Certain areas have little side quests you can undertake, dialogue to navigate or exploit (via certain perks) and secret stashes or areas to explore. As Grand Chien is quite large, liberating it can take anywhere from 40 to 80 hours, depending on play style and thoroughness.

As I mentioned up front, I was a little apprehensive of picking up Jagged Alliance 3, but – after spending some time with it – like it well enough and understand why, after 19 years and four tries, it was Haemimont Games, out of Bulgaria, who was finally picked to develop it. The plot might be rote and the writing uninspired, but the design and execution of the game are First Rate, as befits the studio behind the Tropico series, which has been in business since 1997.

If you like turn-based tactics but wish it came with more realism and top-level strategy, or enjoy the latter but always hoped for some action to punctuate all the planning – Jagged Alliance 3 is the game you've been after. With a likeable cast and a straightforward plot that offers many diversions, it may not be for everybody, but is sure to hit the spot for a player that thrives in the middleground between oversight and action.

I'm still convinced that most of those boys (now middle aged men) would have preferred to be Jamie Shannon. But if a minority – ones who'd just as soon manage and arrange his affairs – existed, well, it turns out their lot could be just as much fun, at a fraction of the risk.

Pig Recommends:

• -Blood Diamond, The Dogs of War, Extraction (1 & 2), Proof of Life, Ronin, Wild Geese (films); in the same vein as today's review, these movies won't exactly change your worldview – but they won't bore you, either; all deal with mercenaries and all straddle that delicious, fine-line between professionalism and greed; raw capitalism and the Finer Human Feelings;