Wasteland 2 Released, Launch Trailer, Reviews

Roughly 26 years after the release of the original Wasteland and 2 and a half years after its Kickstarter campaign, Wasteland 2 has been released. inXile’s turn-based post-apocalyptic RPG has been released, and can be found on Steam and on GOG in both Classic and Deluxe editions. The Classic Edition of the game costs $39.99/€39,99/£29.99 and the Digital Deluxe costs $59.99/€54,99/£44.99.

Here’s the launch trailer for the game:

And a few words from CEO Brian Fargo, from the latest Kickstarter update, sent out to celebrate the release of the title:

I can hardly believe that it has been two and half years since I stood out in the Mojave Desert and started the filming of my Kickstarter campaign. All the while knowing it was the last and only hope for a Wasteland 2.

I’m very proud that we have delivered on our promise of the deep and nuanced CRPG that you had all been hoping for. I’m also quite proud of the team at inXile for their hard work and passion to deliver something special. It was the highlight of my career when you stepped up to support the development of this game. Having your trust meant everything and there was no way we were going to let you down.

I am really looking forward to seeing all of your comments and the unique experiences you’ll have. So much of the detail is not obvious at first as you will carve a natural path through the world, there are so many numerous ways to handle situations. If you ever think you are stuck, there are probably 2-4 more ways to handle it. In fact, we’ve re-visited the concept of where and how a game can end so some of you will find vastly different endings that don’t all take place at the same point in the story.

The power of a great RPG to me is that the memory of the time I spent playing stays with me long after I finished the game. I hope this has the same lasting effect like the classics have done prior.

Of course, Fargo is understandably biased about the game he worked on, so if you want some more neutral assessments, you might start from the early reviews that have been published, like this 8/10 review from Eurogamer:

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.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun, scoreless:

I don’t have any major complaints about Wasteland 2 and I’m planning to play through it again, but all of the minor quibbles have coalesced. It’s a game that has started to feel like a burden and even though I enjoy unwrapping it and mucking about with what’s inside, there’s an awful lot to unpack every time.

To end on a positive, it’s a surprisingly pleasant game, despite the inherent grimness of the setting. Violent it may be and the humour is often dark, but there’s an offbeat and jocular heart in the beast. 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’ve criticised all of Wasteland 2’²s foibles, but that’s because my relationship with it is complicated. I wish it were just a little more sharply dressed and not quite as fussy, but I do love it most of the time, although not necessarily from one hour to the next.

PC Gamer, 83/100.

It took Brian Fargo 26 years to get to revisit the world of the Desert Rangers. It took a $3 million Kickstarter campaign to fund inXile’s initial development. And it took a welcome resurgence in complex computer role-playing games to make it all possible. Wasteland 2 lives up to its legacy. It’s a game that has come full circle from inspiration for Interplay’s Fallout, to spiritual successor for that franchise’s roots. This wasteland is deep and dark and dangerous, and a great place to get lost in.

Digital Spy, 4/5.

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.