Hired Guns - The Jagged Edge is one of the slowest games that I've ever played but the way that the strategy is incorporated it is also one of the most original games that I've had the pleasure of playing.

Games like the Total War series have introduced the concept of turn-based and RTS in the same game with setting up the armies and dealing with your territories in the turn-based part of the game and allowing the action to flow in RTS stile format. Hired Guns did the exact opposite. Setting up the merc units, arming, repairing the equipment and healing your mercs is done in real-time while the actual battles are fought in turn-based style.

I'll cover the features found in the real-time mode first. The real-time mode consists of a series of windows from witch you control your mercenaries. Mercenaries can travel alone or in groups of up to six mercs. You can only hire a total 18 mercenaries at any given time; the game has around 30 mercs to chose from. In this mode you also get to equip your mercs. Supplies can be looted in the field or bought online at Dicky Jay's. One thing that is rather disappointing is that Dicky Jay's does not buy back any of your unused supplies; all sales are final. Healing and repairing your gear also takes place in the real-time mode. Depending on your merc's skills and certain situations, some mercs can be turned into medics, mechanics, teachers, students or even patients.

The turn-based part of the game is both a lot of fun and a lot of pain at the same time. The game itself is very balanced out if you manage to keep your patience. When the action maps load up the game actually starts out in RTS mode but as soon as you make contact with an enemy unit the game automatically changes to turn-based format. Each mercenary has a certain number of Action Points (AP). The AP allow for all the actions that the merc can perform. Walking, running, crawling, reloading, changing weapons, shooting, basically everything that your merc can do costs action points. As your mercenary sustains injuries throughout the mission his or her AP will decrease. Keeping an eye on your APs is probably the most important part of the strategy. There's nothing worse then taking a turn and being face to face with an enemy with no APs left. You might get lucky and the enemy might miss but then again, he might hit you right in the head. If your mercenary dies it stays dead the rest of the game. This game is about patience and baby steps. You can't advance fast in this game without getting yourself killed. If you and patience are not on very good terms you may want to stay away from this game; it is very slow moving but it is full of strategy.