The Nostalgia Factor--Wasteland 2

Wasteland 2 is a Kickstarter effort to bring back a classic RPG from the 1980’s.  I would recommend Wasteland 2 to anyone who enjoys turn-based RPG’s or anyone really.

What I liked:

--Graphics and artwork

  Wasteland 2 looks nice and has a ton of little graphical details to keep players

   engulfed in the post-apocalyptic world.  The artwork maintains the same quirky

   “Mad Max” style that was evident in the original game.  I enjoyed the multitude of

   character portraits that complimented the in-game characters.  As a nice little extra

   you get a digital artbook that shows many of the conceptual designs and finished

   artwork from the game.

--Nostalgia Factor

  One of the main reasons I purchased Wasteland 2 is because of my experiences

  with the original game.  I appreciated the humorous details put into the game.  Many

  of the items you pick up as junk are reminders of the 80’s--Laserdiscs, Teddy

  Ruxpins, 8-track tapes, etc.  I often found myself laughing at some ridiculous piece of

  junk that I picked up.  Players of the original game will also appreciate that many of

  the locations and characters from that game are present in the new game.  You

  receive a copy of Wasteland with Wasteland 2 so you can revisit the original.

--Challenging Gameplay

 I enjoyed the combat and exploration in Wasteland 2.  I found the combat challenging

 and it was refreshing to have “critical failures.”  The realism of having things go wrong,

 while annoying at times, felt different from a lot of games.  Guns jammed in the middle

 of a fight, lockpicks broke, your demolitions expert triggered a trap while trying to

 disarm it.  Too many times players are presented with a cakewalk of perfection and

 Wasteland 2 really strays from that path.

--Choices

 Players are given multiple choices in how to solve quests.  Maybe you’re a shoot first,

 ask questions later type who opts to blow up all the Atchison’s rather than work out a

 truce.  That’s a completely valid option.  Or you could attempt to negotiate a truce.

--Character Design Options

  Your characters can have a multitude of different and random talents.  Part of the

  challenge in Wasteland 2 is distributing abilities around your group for the maximum

  benefit.  Toaster repair is something I skimped on and regretted. Go toaster repair!

What I didn’t like:

I really enjoyed Wasteland 2 and don’t have many complaints.  For a Kickstarter game

it’s really well done.

--Bugs

 My first playthrough went really well for about 90% of the game.  It was when I got to

 a later zone (won’t spoil it) that things got a little sketchy.  There is one area that will

 not work if you do not complete the quests in a very specific order.  It also seems

 somewhat unfinished--there are references to places in town that do not exist.  There

 have been several major patches that have attempted to fix many problems, but this

 one still persists.  It’s not unplayable, just mildly annoying.

I would recommend Wasteland 2.  If you have any frame of reference to the original game you will enjoy this immensely.  There are a lot of extras thrown in--artbook, the original game, and the soundtrack--which are fun.