Jagged Alliance Online Features Bounty Hunter, Search And Destroy Modes

Jagged Alliance Online, a browser-based MMO based on the turn-based strategy series Jagged Alliance, will let players battle both A.I. and human opponents. Today developer Cliffhanger Productions detailed the multiplayer modes.

The latest update to JAO's closed beta adds three multiplayer modes and six arenas. Each Arena has its own lobby and rankings. Each player's "strength" for matchmaking is based on their level and position in rankings. Cliffhanger hopes this will result in duels between players of equivalent skill.

Deathmatch mode is a straightforward battle between two players. In Bounty Hunter, you must sneak or fight your way past guards to kill an NPC before your opponent can do the same. Search and Destroy mode tasks you with defending three items in the arena from your enemy while destroying three that belong to the opposing player.

The six arenas, two for each mode, bring the action to hotspots around the globe:

• Deathmatch #1: North Africa - A warehouse with narrow alleys means fast-paced action on the battlefield.
• Deathmatch #2: Long corridors and narrow passages provide plenty of tactical diversity in this Central American missile base.
• Bounty Hunter #1: Who will be the first to find the drug baron in the South American favela?
• Bounty Hunter #2: Italian blood is being spilled here. Who will be the one to claim the bounty for the general?
• Search and Destroy #1: Morocco - A windy canyon with a bridge in the middle is quite a challenge for both teams.
• Search and Destroy #2: Two abandoned military camps in the midwestern United States that are both under attack from rival mercenary teams.

For chance to play the closed beta, register on the game's website. The beta also allows players to face off against AI opponents in over 100 levels.