Wasteland 2 (inXile Entertainment)

Wasteland 2 (inXile Entertainment)

Facebook
Like Wasteland 2 on Facebook

Twitter 
Follow Brian Fargo on Twitter

Website
Check out the official
Wasteland 2 Website

Discussion
Give the developers feedback on the Steam Discussion Page

Purchase
Buy your Early Access copy on the Steam Store page 

Ask anyone to mention a role-playing game set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and chances are they will reply Fallout. In truth, the original Wasteland came out more than ten years before the first Fallout title, and set a new standard for the genre. The Fallout games were great in their own right, but when the series ventured into first/third person territory with the release of Fallout 3, it left many gamers hankering for the isometric games of old.

What better game to fill that void, than the true sequel to original Wasteland from 1988. The amount of money that Kickstarter backers threw at the game proved that the world was ready for a return to the wasteland. Needless to say, expectations are sky-high, but with Brian Fargo at the helm, we were confident that inXile would be able to deliver on their promises. The Early Access version hit Steam late last year, and after a few substantial updates is already shaping up to be the game that over 70 000 Kickstarter backers couldn’t wait to throw their money at.

The Early Access beta opens with your team of rookie “Desert Rangers” attending the funeral of a fallen comrade. You get to select your squad of four from a list of preset characters, or jump straight in and create your own. The character creation already showcases how in-depth the game is, with no less than three different specializations for speech checks alone. Not many other games allow you to choose between being a kiss ass, hard ass or smart ass when it comes to talking to people!

Your first quest is to recover some vital equipment that was stolen from the fallen ranger, and then continue his mission if possible. After some chit-chat, it’s out into the wasteland, where you get to explore a chunk of Arizona. As this is an Early Access beta, only about 30% of the levels are available, but it is already enough to see that things are moving in the right direction. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective, and you can rotate and zoom the camera to your liking. Combat is turn-based, once initiated, and you can take cover instead of just standing out in the open. Cover is destructible, so it takes careful maneuvering and teamwork to take down groups of enemies. Party members can get killed, so saving is recommended, unless you want to watch someone in your group bleed out before your eyes.

The game already has a lot of well written dialogue, and the voice acting so far is superb. Conversations are in-depth, and keyword based, so if you are feeling old-school you can even type specific keywords to get answers. A printout at the bottom of the screen keeps you updated at all times about what your characters are observing, and what is going on in the gameworld. The game also has quite a dark sense of humor, which fans of Wasteland and Fallout will enjoy.

There are still a lot of things I could praise about the game, such as the original music by Mark Morgan, and the crisp sound effects, but suffice to say the game is shaping up great. The storyline is already looking good, and the game isn’t afraid spring some moral choices on you. The most recent update alone included over 2000 fixes, including changes to the inventory, UI, animations and some optimization so the developers are definitely hard at work.

The final release of the game will be priced lower than the Early Access, but if you want to play right now there are some extras to sweeten the deal. You will receive the original Wasteland, which was recently re-released on Steam, two digital novellas, an original soundtrack and concept art book. Some of these are still being added, but they will all be Early Access exclusives as far as we know. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again, 2014 is going to be a great year for role playing games, and Wasteland 2 is definitely not going to disappoint.

Related posts

Action Henk (RageSquid)

Action Henk (RageSquid)

Navigating tricky obstacle courses with a motorbike is one thing, but can you do it with an overweight action-hero toy? That is the question posed by Action Henk (and yes it is Henk and not "Hank") a new game from the brilliantly named Indie developer, RageSquid. At first glance the game bears a passing resemblance to the Trials series from RedLynx, but surprisingly enough Henk is not only faster, but more maneuverable than a motorcycle.

Nom Nom Galaxy (Q-Games. Ltd.)

He who controls the soup controls the galaxy. That is why, as a worker for Soup Co. it is your mission to keep the soup flowing. It appears that the galaxy doesn't particularly care what the soup is made of either as you can slap together just about anything to make some. The local wildlife obviously objects violently to being turned into a soup and Soup Co. also has powerful rivals so you have your work cut out if you want to survive this cut-throat business.

Soul Axiom (Wales Interactive)

Soul Axiom (Wales Interactive)

With Master Reboot already under their belt Wales Interactive knows a thing or two about first person science fiction adventures. They also have a penchant for the mysterious as demonstrated by their latest title, Soul Axiom. The game appears to be a spiritual successor to Master Reboot as it also explores the theme of souls uploaded to a massive server where memories are stored for all eternity. This time though the server is called Elysia and you have to figure out the identity of your character and what their story is.

Friendship Club (Force Of Habit)

Friendship Club (Force Of Habit)

Young Timmy Bibble is a boy with a very active imagination and he uses it to make his four imaginary friends battle each other. Ranging from a mountain beast and crazy old prospector to a duck and ninja-bandit-skeleton-thing, these characters are ready to kill each other for their spot by Timmy’s side. As far as storylines goes it’s pretty wacky, but then again who needs an excuse for some good old fashioned arcade action.

Card Hog (SnoutUp)

Card Hog (SnoutUp)

Card Hog by SnoutUp is a card-based dungeon crawler where you pick your little pig protagonist and then try to stay alive for as long as possible. Along the way, you get to slay all manner of foes and pick up different weapons with which to do the slaying. You'll also want to keep an eye on your health and grab the healing potions needed to keep the porky protagonist alive. All in all, it plays like a typical role-playing game but presented in the most accessible way possible.

All-Star Fruit Racing (3DClouds)

All-Star Fruit Racing (3DClouds)

From Nintendo and Sony to Sega and Konami, there was a time where every developer with a semi decent roster of recognizable characters felt the need to shoehorn their mascots into a kart racing game. Some were good, some not, but the most memorable ones were usually the games featuring well-known characters. 3DClouds, an Italian indie developer doesn’t have the luxury of banking on familiar faces for their title, All-Star Fruit Racing, as it is their debut title. However, this doesn’t mean that the game isn’t worth a closer look as even though it is still an Early Access title, it already impresses.

Leave a comment

eighteen − 14 =