Jagged Alliance 3 is coming from the developers of Surviving Mars

Jagged Aliance 3 has been announced during this evening's THQ Nordic 10th anniversary showcase. The turn-based tactics sequel is the first numbered game in the series since 1999's Jagged Alliance 2. It's being developed by Haemimont Games, who are best known for several Tropico games or most recently citybuilder Surviving Mars.

There's a cinematic and gameplay trailer below.

In a private presentation prior to the showcase, we got a scant few extra details about the game. It sounds as if the basic structure is following the traditions of Jagged Alliance 2. It's set on an island and you can choose which region you wish to tackle next, an you'll be balancing turn-based battles alongside the meta-layer of reinforcing regions and dealing with responsive enemies. Some of the beloved mercenaries from previous games are returning, including Ivan, Buns, Tex and Len.

There will also be exploration and chats with NPCs, weapon modification and loot salvage, and online co-op multiplayer.

Brad Logston, senior producer at THQ Nordic, explained that the game started when Haemimont pitched a different Jagged Alliance game to the publisher. THQ Nordic were impressed by the pitch but were more interested in a new, mainline sequel.

Logston also acknowledged that most the modern Jagged Alliance games over the past twenty years haven't been well-liked. "From the start our goal was to create a game that really does justice to the Jagged Alliance legacy," said Logston. "There's been a lot of titles that have been released since Jagged Alliance 2 that have had mixed - um, I'm going to say mixed - responses from the core fan base. It's been a really big deal to us to get into what those hardcore Jagged Alliance fans have and reevaluate everything we're doing through the lens of those hardcore fans."

On that front he namechecked Darius Kazemi's book on Jagged Alliance 2, calling it required reading for the development team.

I need to see more before I'm ready to get excited, given some of the Jagged Alliance flops of the recent past, but Haemimont are a strong developer for this kind of project. I will cross my fingers and wait to see more.