Wasteland 2 is the direct sequel to the first ever post-apocalyptic computer RPG. The original Wasteland was the inspiration for the FALLOUT series of games, and the first RPG to allow players to split parties for tactical considerations, to face players with moral choices, and to make them deal with the consequences of their actions. It was the first to provide far more than the one-key-for-one-lock style of puzzle solving.
It was groundbreaking, which is why IGN named it one of the top 25 PC games of all time, Computer Gaming World named it the Adventure Game of the year in 1988, and it was short-listed for inclusion in the Smithsonian Institutions current Art of the Computer Game exhibition. Wasteland was set in a dangerous, post-apocalyptic world in the American Southwest. Over the course of adventures rangers would receive promotions, acquire new skills and equipment, then face new challenges with outcomes that changed depending on the strategy used to defeat them.
The game featured a strong storyline which required painful decisions by players; and a storyline that allowed for maximum re-playability. Wasteland 2 PC, with your participation and insights, will recapture all that and provide more. It'll finally be the game worthy to be a Wasteland sequel, as challenging and rewarding as the original, with all added capacity and dazzle of games today.
The epitome of old-school that doesn't reek of decay. There are a few bumps along the road, but oh, is it a road worth taking. [Issue#246]
It’s a fantastic game; an echo of the past that simultaneously feels (in the most part) contemporary, and a game made with such a clear love, passion and vision behind it that you can’t help but feel its 26-year gestation period actually helped.
We could almost declare that Wasteland 2 is the real Fallout 3. Anyway, it's an incredible RPG we've got here, completely able to attract the old and the new generation of players. The former ones will enjoy something they've known and loved, the others will discover the depth of a role game handmade with passion.
The story is pure pulp and the big picture is not that exciting, but as usual, the charm of Wasteland is in the stops along the way: location after location full of crazy characters and moral choices, and a writing team gleefully embracing the ability to do pretty much whatever they want.
Even though the story arc is guided, playing through Wasteland 2 engenders a real sense of ownership.
In many ways, though, Wasteland 2 represents everything about classic computer role-playing games that the modern iterations of Fallout aren't.
Wasteland 2 is so packed with stuff to do and things to see that the game demands multiple plays, yet its story options are so intricate that replaying the plot never seems like a chore. But all of that is overshadowed by omnipresent bugs.
April 18, 2018
Wasteland 3 sets its release date for Q4 2019. Read more
