Wasteland 2 Beta Preview Roundup #7

We have a bunch more Wasteland 2 previews for you, as well as a just-launched let’s play article series from Rock Paper Shotgun that you can read over here.

Now, we’d resolved to be goodly, heroic, co-operative sorts, but when some mad-eyed bugger immediately demands a toll without so much as a hello first, our distress at the lack of basic human courtesy gets the better of us. And as luck would have it, one of the three oiks in our way has a big purple mohawk. Can’t get close enough to tell if there’s a bunch of metal in his face too, but close enough. This was meant to be, I tell you.

It’s a good thing Angela joined us. She knows what she’s doing. She can fire her own gun and people fall over when she does. We band of four greenhorns in assorted headgear don’t fare quite so well. Slick and Fade both take hits without doling out any damage, Resident medic Pills fails to heal Slick, and Bear… actually, Bear does OK.

But we make it. We’ve killed someone with a Mohawk, and thus gain our Stereotypical Post-Apocalyptic Bandit Slaying scout badge.

GameGrin issue 53 features a Wasteland 2 preview.

Portable Gaming Region.

As for the game itself, I’m happy to report that inXile stayed true to its promises that it won’t turn Wasteland 2 into a spiritual Fallout sequel like the original Fallout was to the seminal 1988 Wasteland. Why am I, as a huge Fallout fan, saying that? Well, it’s because Wasteland is a game with a philosophy so unique, so immersive, so memorable, varied, challenging, cynical, and thought-provoking that even today, more than a quarter of a century after its release there isn’t anything quite like it on the market. Sure, Fallout games are similar, but mostly on the surface. Though their premises may look alike, Wasteland and Fallout differ greatly in their executions.

Let’s try with a simple example of complexity: while wandering the wastes, a player encounters a locked door in Wasteland 2. Depending on his characters’ skillsets, equipment, and abilities, he may go through it by picklocking a lock, hacking a nearby computer terminal connected to the locking mechanism, or finding a key to it in another room. Sounds similar to Fallout? Yeah, but in Fallout, you can’t blow open a door, shoot through a lock, or order your brute in the party to literally bash it open. Wasteland 2 was and still is much more generous when it comes to providing its players with the options of overcoming a problem, and its complexity shines even further when you take a look at the in-depth attribute and skill system; there’s toaster repair skill in the game, for fuck’s sake!

The Last Resort.

Much like the original and its spiritual successors, Wasteland 2 is about the post-apocalyptic environment with its struggles showcased in a tongue in cheek manner full of witty dialogue and moral choices. Mutants, cyborgs, and bandits populate the world and it is up to the players created group of Desert Rangers to traverse and survive the wasteland. The initial group of 4 rangers can be customised in appearance and skill building a team that will either succeed or fail in the harshness of the world. There are no rules in setting up squad leaving the player with endless options. Want to roll with a team of four snipers or makes things more difficult by only using a single brawler? Wasteland 2 says go ahead, it will not hold anyone’s hand.

[*]MaiastoGier.pl (Polish) [*]JRK’s RPGs (Polish) [*]Rubber Chicken (Portuguese) [*]IndieCrowd.de (German) [*]Eurogamer.de (German) [*]The Gang (Greek)
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