Wasteland 2 Reviews
Full of meaningful choices and rich lore, Wasteland 2 justifies the 26-year wait for a sequel.
These mostly minor issues aside, Wasteland 2 is a great sequel. It's very clearly made with love to be true to the original game while still learning from the games that followed. In going for something so unapologetically old-school it does sacrifice the ability to do anything new with the format, as Divinity: Original Sin managed to do in many ways; that game's flexibility does arguably make it the better of this year's two old-school, turn-based computer RPGs. This hardly matters, though, because if you like one you're almost certainly going to like the other. Both are great games that set out to stick their fingers in the same quivering part of your brain and make it throb like it's the 1990s. Choose magic, choose a shotgun, or better still, find time for both; computer RPG fans haven't had it this good in ages.
An excellent RPG despite its glitches, with combat and writing as good as its predecessors'
The incredibly dark but somehow still humorous trek through the wastelands delivers, with an excellent combat system, interesting challenges, and compelling puzzles
Wasteland 2 is an intricate and triumphant return of a role-playing classic.
Wasteland 2 Kickstarter backers will get what they paid for plus a few glitches they didn't. The game doesn't live up to its ambitions in a number of places, most notably the dialogue system.
For all its mechanical similarities to the RPGs of yesteryear, it's that character, wit and playfulness that most capably satisfied my nostalgia and made me look forward to whatever InXile put their minds to next.
I absolutely loved Wasteland 2. It succeeds on a variety of levels and manages to overcome its shortcomings by the sheer force of its overwhelming strengths.
Wasteland 2 is a warm return to the RPGs of yesteryear. To quests that take hours to complete, to traps in every corridor, to desperate item foraging in light of dwindling ammo supplies. It's not a classic of its genre, but it is ultimately a beacon of hope for a certain style of RPG – the video game pen and paper style – that many thought had been lost in more recent years.
Worth it if you're willing to put up with a lot of rough fallout.
I know I said I didn't have fun with the game, but that's because it was almost too much for me to bear during a holiday season. But for the gamer who wants to settle in for a really long ride with a well-written, lovingly crafted, difficult game set in a solid post-apocalyptic world, Wasteland 2 is great.
Yet these gripes feel minor in a game that offers so much. After all the time we've spent traveling the wastes, there's still more we have yet see. Wasteland 2 may not be the best looking game nor does it play in any sort of revelatory fashion, but it can still pull you in and refuse to let go.
Wasteland 2 is an expansive game that demands to be replayed again and again to get the best out of it. While a lot of the detailed mechanics feel somewhat archaic, they're not going to hold back dedicated players who want to micromanage and really role play their group of characters. It has all of the familiar elements and even if some aspects of its presentation are not quite up to modern standards, its design and gameplay are timeless and welcome.
It's a little too zealous in its old school approach, but this is still a great computer role-playing game and a welcome, if unofficial, part of the Fallout family.
Wasteland 2 is a return to an old-school kind of role-playing experience, which means that it isnt' simple or easy, but it grabs your attention nonetheless. See what it takes to survive in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world.
Although I found the game to be frustrating and at times even annoying, I believe this speaks to the condition of such a trying way of life, of the feeling of near hopelessness which the game expertly...
When looking at Wasteland 2 from the outside, it doesn't look like anything special. However, once you get stuck in and persevere through the initial confusion of combat and little direction you are given, there is a gem to be found here. I began my travels in the wasteland with bitterness, desperately wanting to play something else, but eventually, I started to crave playing the game more and more. The skill system makes every squad member useful, and combat can be a rewarding experience, despite particular issues it can sometimes have. The game has an alluringly addictive quality that makes you want to keep playing and strengthen your ranger squad, even if it does look a bit rough around the edges. It may not be flashy and appeal to everyone, but those who do give it a shot will be in for a pleasant surprise.
Wasteland 2 might be daunting to newcomers, then, but its a sequel that successfully captures the strategic depth and black humor of the original. Brian Fargo and his team at InXile have delivered a quintessential role-playing experience with infinite possibilities.
All in all, I'm very pleased with Wasteland 2 and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the original. But for those who never played Wasteland 1, the appeal of this sequel may be a mystery. My advice for you is to pay the $5.99 for the original game on Steam and play it to the end. Know your roots, kids! And get off my lawn!
Wasteland 2 is a wonderful post-apocalyptic classic RPG romp through the radioactive dunes of Arizona and California. The game is unabashedly old school with its lack of hand-holding and harsh scenarios.