Wasteland 2 Beta Interview

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has an interview with Brian Fargo on Wasteland 2, which deals with the reasons for the delay and the contents of the upcoming beta. Here’s a snip:

RPS: How much of the game are you planning to include in the early beta? Which areas, systems, and elements of progression?

Fargo: We are going to give away a part of the Arizona area for players to explore. I’d rather not spoil which areas they are but I expect a good 6-10 hours of gameplay for a non speed run approach. There is a lot to do, and it is a virtual impossibility to see some major events in a single play through, as some are mutually exclusive. In addition, you are likely to miss some nice moments as we don’t guide you strictly on what you do. Of course this sets its up for some nice re-playability.

RPS: Have you had to cut anything from the beta in the interest of time? If so, will it make its way back in before the testing phase ends?

Fargo: There are some skills that we have not implemented like Silent Move and Salvaging for example and we intend to increase the size of the beta as time goes by. We will continually update Wasteland 2 with new areas, skills and options and players will get to experience seeing the current levels get an added boost of reactivity and choice based on the feedback and observations of play. We will have a relatively short roll out to our beta backers so we can get it into the people’s hands who paid early for it.

Our plan was always to make Arizona be the beta test bed but for us to keep Los Angeles for the final release so the gamers can still be surprised and to minimize spoilers. There might be a few other features and surprises that the players are going to quite like too.