Wasteland 2 Reviews

Wasteland 2 is ranked in the 83rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Leif Johnson
Top Critic
8.4 / 10.0
Sep 23, 2014

Full of meaningful choices and rich lore, Wasteland 2 justifies the 26-year wait for a sequel.

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8 / 10
Sep 18, 2014

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.

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PC Gamer
Top Critic
83 / 100
Sep 19, 2014

An excellent RPG despite its glitches, with combat and writing as good as its predecessors'

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7 / 10
Sep 24, 2014

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.

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8.8 / 10.0
Sep 19, 2014

The incredibly dark but somehow still humorous trek through the wastelands delivers, with an excellent combat system, interesting challenges, and compelling puzzles

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8 / 10
Sep 22, 2014

Wasteland 2 is an intricate and triumphant return of a role-playing classic.

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Oct 15, 2014

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.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 23, 2014

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.

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8.6 / 10.0
Sep 22, 2014

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.

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8 / 10
Sep 22, 2014

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.

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8 / 10.0
Oct 1, 2014

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.

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6 / 10
Sep 23, 2014

Worth it if you're willing to put up with a lot of rough fallout.

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94 / 100
Sep 24, 2014

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.

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Unscored
Sep 19, 2014

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.

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8.5 / 10.0
Oct 15, 2014

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...

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85 / 100
Oct 2, 2014

Awaited for well over a decade by now-ancient gamers, Wasteland 2 manages to live up to the spirit of the original while going beyond it in terms of depth and detail. While there are bugs to be fixed and the difficulty may be too challenging for some, any lover of turn-based RPGs should add this one to their Steam library as soon as they can.

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Oct 23, 2015

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.

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Sep 18, 2014

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.

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PCMag
Top Critic
Oct 30, 2014

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.

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Oct 18, 2014

Wasteland 2 is exactly what fans of the franchise were hoping to get: a well polished, old-school RPG. Minor issues aside, this should be considered a must play for fans of the genre, and for newcomers who are trying to see what all of the fuss was about.

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