Review: Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut (Playstation 4)

Review Score:

Brian Fargo is known for a laundry list of ionic game franchises that have appeared on a variety of platforms, including the popular Apple II and Commodore 64. His earlier efforts – Demon’s Forge and Mindshadow (both popular text-based adventures) – were the precursors to his more popular games (i.e. Bard’s Tale, Wasteland, etc.). Since the initial release of Wasteland for Apple II in 1988, gamers everywhere have been waiting patiently for a proper sequel to arrive. Thanks to Brian Fargo and developer inXile Entertainment, Wasteland 2 finally launched on PC in early October 2015 and more recently for Playstation 4.

Before starting the game, the player must create a party of four ‘rangers’ from the ‘Squad Creation’ screen. For beginners, the game skips the detail intensive process of creating characters by providing four randomly generated party members. However, these characters can be deleted for ‘custom’ characters if the player prefers to create their own. This process — while fully customizable — can seem redundant considering the options available. While building a new party from scratch, the player can decide on a party member’s age, religious beliefs, and whether they use tobacco products or not, to name just a few. There’s even an option to write a backstory (i.e. biography) in the profile of each party member.

Once the character creation process has been completed, the game starts with the player meeting General Vargas at Captain Ace’s retirement party. Ace has been trying to locate a faint radio signal somewhere in the wasteland. Unfortunately, Ace was murdered by unknown assailants after finding a tower, and his log book and last two repeater units were stolen. As new members of the Desert Rangers, the player begins their initiation by searching the location where Ace was killed and finding the missing repeaters to complete Ace’s mission. This begins one of the many story-driven missions available in Wasteland 2.

The game uses two perspective — when exploring, the player sees their party and the environment . When traversing the wastelands, the game switches to a zoomed out map that shows the landscape from an overhead perspective. The game provides fast travel to previously explored locations. While traveling on the World Map, the player can encounter radiation (which must be avoided), water (important to survival), and random enemy encounters. It’s also possible to find hidden treasure (also known as ‘loot’) during your travels.

Water is an important resource in Wasteland 2. As your party moves through the world map, they will consume water. When your water supply depletes, your party members will start to take damage; eventually they will die from dehydration. The only way to remedy this problem is to find an oasis; these are scattered throughout the world map. An oasis contains plenty of water for your party; it’s important to stop at one to refill your party’s canteens whenever possible. An oasis is represented by a palm tree icon; they are difficult to miss.

Radiation is a constant threat in the wasteland. It appears as large, green clouds and denoted with radioactive icons. Exposing your party to radiation will inflict damage and eventually result in death. Each radiation cloud produces a certain amount of radiation, depicted by a rating on its radioactive icon. Radiation damage can be subdued by using radiation suits. However, some radiation suits work better than others. The player will find better suits throughout the game that provide better protection.

Wasteland 2 uses three different camera angels. Seen from an isometric perspective, the player can rotate the in-game camera with the right Analog stick to better explore the environment. The default camera mode is configured to rotate/zoom, which follows the selected (or lead) ranger.

The second camera mode is Pan mode. This camera mode allows the player to pan the camera across the game world to examine things from a distance. This feature is useful for scouting and locating enemy units. The third camera mode is Locked mode. This mode locks the camera’s movement, allowing the player to move their squad without the camera following. The camera controls are reassigned to scroll the printer text log, where messages from the game appear.

Combat can happen on the World Map as random events or initiated by the player when exploring a location. For example: any traveling done on the World Map happens in real-time. But when a random enemy encounter occurs, an on-screen requester will appear with the option(s) to ‘attack’ or ‘run’. When exploring one of the game’s many environments (which are seen from an isometric perspective), the enemies are visible and can be avoided.

The battlefield uses a turn-based, grid-like system like most SRPGs. When a party member is in range of an enemy, the player can highlight the enemy with the cursor (using the Left analog stick) and then press X Button to attack.
The player’s party (along with any enemies) must rely on AP (Action Points) to attack, use items and move. Once a character’s AP has been depleted, the player must end the current turn by pressing the Triangle button.

Weapons play an important role in your party’s survival. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon type is important, especially if you plan on surviving. And since the game expects the player to learn the distance for each weapon (one long-range rifle may shoot further than another), the player will spend a considerable amount of time experimenting on the battlefield.

The combat system in Wasteland 2 is rife with micromanagement. For example: while the idea of managing a weapon jam during a heated battle sounds exciting (and it is), there are times when a rifle or pistol will jam repeatedly. The ability to reload a character’s weapon (and having access to your character’s weapon inventory) is certainly a nice touch, but it all consumes precious AP (Action Points) that can be used for more important asks (i.e. killing your foes, for example). While not perfect, the combat system works relatively well. Gamers just need to be aware of all the micromanagement that is involved while playing.

Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut has received a graphical overhaul in addition to many other improvements. For starters, the game contains an additional 8,000 lines of pre-recorded dialogue. Aside from the standard gameplay tweaks, developer inXile Entertainment has also included new bonuses, characteristics and perks. In addition, the new ‘Precision Strike’ system allows the player to target individual body parts to cripple enemies.

Like its PC counterpart, Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut for PlayStation 4 is a compelling trek through a radioactive landscape that delves into the intricacies of character development, storyline and combat micromanagement. And as far as SRPGs are concerned, Wasteland 2 is one game where only the hardcore will survive

Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 4
Developer: inXile Entertainment
Publisher: Deep Silver
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $39.99

Wasteland 2 Official Website:
https://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/

Review Score
Graphics
Incredibly detailed and well animated.
Sound
Great voice acting and sound effects.
Gameplay
Challenging, but fun turn-based combat.

Overall
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut is the best turn-based RPG of 2015, bar none.