From everything I've been able to find out, it appears to be almost a straight port of the original. Which yes, could use a facelift. But I have to be honest, I love the JA series for being exactly what it was; old school tactical with whiney, laughable mercs.
Gad, I miss the days of JA, JA Deadly Games and when 2 was coming out. Sir-Tech (RIP) may forever be one of my favorite gaming companies. Their programmers would actually participate on their boards and discuss what they were working on, and listen to suggestions and fans' wishes. No, they couldn't and didn't implement all the wants, but they were the most realistically fan-interactive than any company I can ever recall.
Still have one or two friends from ST that have since moved on to other projects. But Jagged Alliance and Sir Tech will always have a special place in my silly gamers' heart.
Nice on the queen, Kefka. Personally, my favorite moment was when um.. I forget which merc it was says, "holy cow, it's Mike!!" That cracked me up. Gad, Mike was a freaking rip off... "another day another dollar. Or another 10,000 in my case." Dang, I'd take Ivan any day over Mike.