Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 261 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 178 out of 261
  2. Mixed: 50 out of 261
  3. Negative: 33 out of 261

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  1. MinionX
    Dec 14, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. (つ◉益◉)つ ¡PATHETIC!
    The og one was released in 2014, & this version was released in 2015 & in both cases WasteLand 2 simply looks like a game from the late 90s regarding its graphics; Even the FALLOUT: VAN BUREN tech demo looked better than ¡¡THIS!!
    From the beginning of its plot, the players are forced to be DESERT RANGERs, but if they goes ROGUE, kill SNAKE VARGAS because of reasons before reaching Los ANGELES, or both, those players won't even be able finish this so RIDICULOUS & NONSENSICAL plot, in fact.. by killing VARGAS they won't even be able to level up.
    Almost from the beginning, players have to decide whether to go to the AG CENTER or the HIGHPOOL settlement, but the second chosen is always destroyed, & the RANGER CITADEL never sends any support to the second one, when clearly players can realize that there are still plenty of RANGERs NPCs there to give that support to the second one, so yeah, no fvck¡ng sense whatsoever from the start & it doesn't really get any better from then on.    … Expand
  2. iseeall
    Dec 11, 2015
    9
    It's a great RPG/TBS game, and what Fallout 3 should have been. The graphics are pretty good, the music is good also (although it's too Texas-style, I liked the Fallout 1-2 music more and still enjoy listening to it while working). The combat system and character stats system work well, more or less. The initiative system (Disciples 2-style) is pretty good. All non-combat skills are usefulIt's a great RPG/TBS game, and what Fallout 3 should have been. The graphics are pretty good, the music is good also (although it's too Texas-style, I liked the Fallout 1-2 music more and still enjoy listening to it while working). The combat system and character stats system work well, more or less. The initiative system (Disciples 2-style) is pretty good. All non-combat skills are useful which is definitely an improvement over Fallout 2.

    There are a few things I didn't like much, which however are minor and don't break the game:
    - in the beginning of the game melee weapons seem to be the best choice - because of the new "Speed" parameter which allows most melee enemies (and your characters) to reach the enemy in just one turn. Both JA2 and Fallout 2 were more positional games where it would take a few turns to run close up to a camping sniper, and by that time you'd probably be dead already. Here the battles are much less positional, as high-speed characters rush thru the battlefield easily.
    - tons of bad language, and the word "a-s-s" used almost everywhere, even in names of skills. I know they wanted to give this feeling of a "rough" world, but this bad language should have been best limited to some characters and left out of the interface.
    - there is a bit too much humor. Most descriptions of objects in the world have a joke inside, and after you routinely explore a few rooms with a few dozen such objects, it does get stale. Having just a few humorously described objects would would make them stand out more.
    - the overall style of characters has this strange retro punky 80s something look, which is too limiting. I mean, Fallout had much more neutral/realistic setting which felt more believable. But his game even doesn't feel much like a successor of Fallout universe, more like Mad Max: Fury Road movie. The looks of the characters here are just too fancy to feel real in a poor, starving world after nuclear war.

    Though while thinking of this, I probably should keep in mind that this game isn't Fallout 3 but Wasteland 2, and Wasteland was indeed about Texas and rangers. But this inevitably makes the game a bit too USA-centered, too much "God-bless-America-badass" style which the devs might not notice but which definitely alienates players from other parts of the world. Fallout 1-2 felt much more of an international game and more like home even you aren't from the US.

    All that sad, it's still a great game and a great successor to the Fallout/Wasteland series. If you liked Fallout 1/2 you should definitely buy this game.    … Expand
  3. justanhonestguy
    Nov 4, 2016
    8
    ------> Update After Playing for about 40 hours Even better than the first review that follows, with these following changes made:

    The writing is actually pretty good, the quests actually have some thought put into them. The game is rock stable on my Win7/4.3 ghz/GTX750/16 gig system, I can 't get enough and am embarrassed to say how I am glued to the PC on this one. Lots of fun, some    ------> Update After Playing for about 40 hours Even better than the first review that follows, with these following changes made:

    The writing is actually pretty good, the quests actually have some thought put into them. The game is rock stable on my Win7/4.3 ghz/GTX750/16 gig system, I can 't get enough and am embarrassed to say how I am glued to the PC on this one. Lots of fun, some good humor thrown in to the mix, a few nitpicky issues with design but these don't really take too much away from the fun factor..... still rating in the mid to high 80's , just edging upwards from my original review as follows..... P.S. gotta love how friendly fire works for enemies also, some of the dumb ones surpised me by tk'ing their own guys, just enough times to have a laugh. This game provides laughs.

    Wow.... having a total blast with this one and all things considered I'll go into the mid-eighties for scoring.
    Yeah, there are bogus weapon jamming and aiming odds and quirky profanity-inducing mechanics at times, and camera control/in-map orientation could have been done better, but all in all I haven't had this much turn -based fun in a long time.This is reminiscent of the excellent pace and mechanics of JA 2 back in the day The balance is just tough enough on the "normal" or "seasoned" settings to make it a challenge, and perhaps force a reload or two when you blunder over traps or succumb to a ghastly unfair lucky shot from your foe, but not enough to make you quit. This game has the feeling of being designed, written, and play-tested by guys that wanted you to laugh and enjoy the game. I paid $43 CDN for W2DC, and consider it one of my better gaming purchases in recent memory. Like many others, i rebuilt my squad from the ground up after about 2 or 3 hours of gaming, once I learned the ropes of what worked and how.

    More than anything, the fun factor is what did it for me here. Even though there are a couple of balance issues, and an old school patently unfair odds based hit/miss system, at the heart of it it IS just a game, and this one feels just right for my turn-based iso- view squad mapping tastes. I've put in over 20 hours of intense blasting goodness since purchase last week, and no sign of boredom yet.. I simply want to have fun and alleviate boredom with my gaming, and W2DC delivers really well. Good job InXile and 83-85% from me. One of those games that just makes you say :D    … Expand
  4. Aeryx
    Nov 23, 2017
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A great old-school RPG experience. Wasteland 2 starts hard if you don't know how to min max characters and what the skills are for. But RPGs that make things too easy are boring, so learning the hard way is more fun. The graphics aren't too bad but they do appear dated. The theme of the game of being a pre-90s apocalypse is very well-executed in the game. The computers, writing and themes match very well. I remember the synth I fought saying that I will not stand a chance against his superior computing power with his 8080 processor running at 3 MHz or something like that. Lines like these are very endearing and fun to read. As for the weapons, they were unrealistic in ammo used but worked as the customizations were helpful. It also is fun in a sense that the game allows you to fail some main quests and deal with the awful consequences. The choice between the Ag Center and Highpool was quite tough and if you fail to save both, the world hates you some more but you can continue to make the world worse. You can also betray characters and even your fellow Rangers, which is a rare thing in today's games. All of these things and more pleasant surprises, mean that even though Wasteland 2 has some shortcomings, it is very fun, especially if you are looking for a game that challenges you the oldschool way. Backing this game in kickstarter was totally worth it.… Expand
  5. SiriusShen
    Nov 19, 2018
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alright, so I got this game as a gift, so I went into this really wanting to like it. I am the biggest fan of fallout 2, and I was hearing it was by some of the same designers, but when I got to it there was just so much to hate. The world is just so depressing and uninspired. Npcs are generally very rude even if you are helping them and any humor in the game seems to be focused on laughing at the player. NPCs also have a portrait, a description, and a 3d model, all of which never seem to agree with each other, and the portraits and models get reused a lot so it just makes for an impersonal game. The combat is really the only thing that is decent about the game, but there are several weapon groups that aren't feasible like shotguns, which have high ap costs, low damage, risk friendly fire, and seem to serve a niche that is never really there. Dialogue for the party is handled as a group, so it is really hard to roleplay because you are this hivemind of a group. Dialogue options that would seem obvious or simple are locked behind one of three ass skills, but you can just jump to which ever character has them regardless of if they were the one talking in the conversation. A lot of the decisions in the game only give the illusion of freedom and some of them are just not ones that most people will pick. The game will punish you and criticize you for whatever you pick, and there are several times where there are hidden timers on quests.

    The story for this game was a mess for me. I didn't enjoy being a ranger, as it seemed I had to help lots of people who wanted to call me an **** and didn't know how to say "thank you". I was happiest when I the rangers were doing poorly and when their bases were on fire, which is not a good sign. They have a really overbearing boss character who tells you what to do, and he decides if you can level up and get stronger. I'm not joking on that, if he dies, you can't level up, which is dumb. There are many factions that just seem really unintelligent, like the atchisons, who were a cult of native american inspired people who worshiped trains, and their boss lost their arm in a train crash, so all his guard chopped off their own arms. That sounds really symbolic and cool, but like... you can't reload a gun if you only have one arm, so realistically it just means you are destabilizing your entire hierarchy. That is essentially the level of dumb most factions take on. There are two factions late in the game you go into a military base and discover their leaders standing next to each other. They proclaim "You thought we were two separate factions, but we were actually the same group all along", except both of these factions use highly advanced technology, which is something that nobody else in this entire game has... so if you have half a brain you would just lump them together. I honestly forgot they were different groups.

    I got to the end of the game and I forgot to do something at the end of it, so the game gave me a game over screen that said "You won the battle, but lost the world." I thought about restarting and doing it over to get the proper ending, but I realized that I really didn't enjoy anything about the game and that I was 100% okay with the world dying. I can safely say that there was not a single npc I enjoyed in the game. The game has nothing smart to say with its story and just comes off as an action flick with b list 80s post apocalyptic scifi tropes.    … Expand
  6. sdgdsgsdgs
    Dec 31, 2015
    10
    Beautiful and stylish game. The game is very diverse, there are many characters with unique abilities and a wide variety of weapons. Also, the game is very diverse, and it is huge and stylish gaming world.
  7. ToguroYounger
    Jul 14, 2020
    0
    You kill your goody two-shoes OVERLORD Snake Vargas and you can't even level-up anymore, which completely BREAKS any possibility of gameplay in this game.
    -
    Its plot is constantly forcing the player to be a goody two-shoes, just like goody two-shoes OVERLORD Snake Vargas and that is BORING in a post-apocalyptic game. - To be a 2014/2015 title, this game is obviously has 15 years of    You kill your goody two-shoes OVERLORD Snake Vargas and you can't even level-up anymore, which completely BREAKS any possibility of gameplay in this game.
    -
    Its plot is constantly forcing the player to be a goody two-shoes, just like goody two-shoes OVERLORD Snake Vargas and that is BORING in a post-apocalyptic game.
    -
    To be a 2014/2015 title, this game is obviously has 15 years of DATED, in the least.
    -
    Its GAMEPLAY balance mechanics are literally BROKEN, especially when you get to LA.    … Expand
  8. Vault-Dweller
    Nov 5, 2015
    10
    A further improvement to an already good game. It has now better balancing, better graphics, better interface and cleaned out most of its bugs.

    Fans of old school rpgs should look no further, Wasteland 2 DC is up until now the best of the kickstarter crpgs!
  9. TheFrostyPen
    Oct 30, 2015
    9
    A very enjoyable game. I ended up quitting the non-Director's Cut during the Train Town mission because I got fed up quick saving and quick loading due to failing all the skill checks. It seems the Director's Cut (DC) hammered out some of those annoyances and tightened up the generally more realistic but overall not fun qualities of the combat, namely shooting your companions far tooA very enjoyable game. I ended up quitting the non-Director's Cut during the Train Town mission because I got fed up quick saving and quick loading due to failing all the skill checks. It seems the Director's Cut (DC) hammered out some of those annoyances and tightened up the generally more realistic but overall not fun qualities of the combat, namely shooting your companions far too often. With DX11 the came looks and feel better graphically. I also am enjoying the story, so far I am about 70% done with the game.

    So in summary the DC is a version of a good game that suffered from being TOO realistic, to reaching a medium that puts game-play first making it an enjoyable and addicting game. I recommend highly.    … Expand
  10. llwk1990
    Nov 29, 2015
    10
    Love the improvements made to an already great game. Better graphics, game mechanics, gameplay, etc.

    This is what I wanted from 'Fallout 3' and beyond. While Bethesda may be going in their own direction, I always loved the old school Fallouts (i.e. Fallout 1 and 2) over the new one.

    inXile has managed to deliver that old school experience that cRPG fans will love. 10/10
  11. TheWaffle
    Feb 23, 2016
    8
    I wrote my first review in haste and frustration. The game has a very steep learning curve, but a deep and engrossing story and in-depth gameplay. Worthwhile for fans of XCOM, RPGs, or any games with punishing and challenging gameplay.

    I would recommend hopping over to Youtube and watching a video or two before you start though, as it's easy to make catastrophic errors early on if you    I wrote my first review in haste and frustration. The game has a very steep learning curve, but a deep and engrossing story and in-depth gameplay. Worthwhile for fans of XCOM, RPGs, or any games with punishing and challenging gameplay.

    I would recommend hopping over to Youtube and watching a video or two before you start though, as it's easy to make catastrophic errors early on if you don't know what you're doing (even on easier difficulties) and there were functions that I did not recognize until several hours into the game. You may have to scrub your first game a couple hours in, but it improves once your get your bearings.    … Expand
  12. Chilliast
    May 3, 2017
    8
    A convincing world in a fun game, but not without bugs.

    Pros 1) Plausible world- the wasteland is a brutal, unforgiving place. Getting happy endings to quests is hard. Usually there are compromises involved, sometimes you can't get a compromise at all. I think this makes the game very realistic. 2) A fresh breath of air by looking backwards. This type of game had almost gone extinct.    A convincing world in a fun game, but not without bugs.

    Pros
    1) Plausible world- the wasteland is a brutal, unforgiving place. Getting happy endings to quests is hard. Usually there are compromises involved, sometimes you can't get a compromise at all. I think this makes the game very realistic.
    2) A fresh breath of air by looking backwards. This type of game had almost gone extinct.
    3) Hard choices- few black and white resolutions. Good outcomes to quests are difficult to pull and rely on a confluence of circumstances. More than often than not, solutions will be one-sided.
    4) Black humour and really funny situations that do not disrupt the overall tone.
    5) Interesting story. It's full of cliches, but somehow the writers made it look fresh.

    Cons
    1) Poor optimisation. This game almost melted by graphics card as it was hitting 70+ degrees. For the kind of graphics we are talking about, it shouldn't have such steep requirements.
    2) Many, many bugs. As of this writing the patched "Director's Cut" contains bugs that hinder gameplay. For example:
    -Percentages do not reflect reality. A weapon with a 2% jam chance, in reality jams far more often.
    -Some lines of sight are not working. People can shoot through walls.
    -Some camera bugs. Camera freezing in place. Weird automatic angles obscuring vision.
    3) Slightly unpolished look. Some of the character models could have been more refined. Combat mechanics feel a bit clunky.

    In summary: a fun game. I think maybe they should have cut a few areas and focused more on polishing it. On the other hand, the budget was not big and the engineering team was tiny (only 6 engineers?) They did ok with what they had.    … Expand
  13. Armis
    Nov 8, 2015
    8
    I've played through both the original Wasteland 2 and the newly released Director's Cut. I can't say as I noticed much of a difference between the two. The original one did most everything competently. The combat was fine, the character development was OK, if a bit underwhelming. The story was passable, but not exactly earth-shattering. All in all, it was good, not great. Worth playing.I've played through both the original Wasteland 2 and the newly released Director's Cut. I can't say as I noticed much of a difference between the two. The original one did most everything competently. The combat was fine, the character development was OK, if a bit underwhelming. The story was passable, but not exactly earth-shattering. All in all, it was good, not great. Worth playing.

    Also, the song that plays when you get to the New Citadel still cracks me up..    … Expand
  14. atalhaderici
    Nov 11, 2015
    10
    Great old school RPG - LOVE IT!!!

    I enjoyed it. Don't expect it to be Fallout 2.5 though.

    True oldschool Fallout feeling. The developers keep making huge updates, the dlcs are free. From such a small budget they made an amazing game.
  15. sumelf
    Nov 2, 2016
    10
    I thought I became old and that's why no games give me chills or overjoy and then Wasteland 2 came out. Now I know that I'm not old and I can enjoy games as I did in my childhood, but publishers and game developers are **** **** who make **** (not always, but often. There are always some cool new games).

    Wasteland 2 gave me chills and I played it 133hrs, but I'm over 60%-70% of game yet.
  16. theNILE
    Sep 18, 2017
    3
    Dull, bad graphics, stuttering in-game, another game which gives you the illusion of freedom when it comes to stats and skills. Better than Shadowrun Returns, but same pitfalls.
  17. CodyYoung
    Aug 6, 2020
    0
    Poor writing, worse design, this is a game which deserved a late term abortion.
  18. Mxm0
    Mar 24, 2018
    9
    This game deserves around a 8.75 I think. The critics got it right.

    The combat system and the way characters move around tiles feels clunky, and there aren't enough stealth options. The game not hold your hand enough with some things, while it has a really good tutorial tab on the right, I found myself making choices to character development that stuffed me up a little.. The short    This game deserves around a 8.75 I think. The critics got it right.

    The combat system and the way characters move around tiles feels clunky, and there aren't enough stealth options.

    The game not hold your hand enough with some things, while it has a really good tutorial tab on the right, I found myself making choices to character development that stuffed me up a little..

    The short review is that, Brian Fargo has come out shooting with a deep, long, and nuanced RPG, and if he doesn't retire too soon, his next game or the one after it will be one of the best RPGS ever made, don't retire yet Brian, your getting close to gold here.    … Expand
  19. Joewashere
    Aug 8, 2019
    9
    When Wasteland 2 got released in 2014 after an extraordinarily successful Kickstarter campaign and a long winded development process with several delays, it unfortunately failed to live up to its expectations. However, Inxile released a revamped Directors Cut version which fixed many of the base game's flaws and is now a really fun mix between Fallout 1 and regular combat oriented turnWhen Wasteland 2 got released in 2014 after an extraordinarily successful Kickstarter campaign and a long winded development process with several delays, it unfortunately failed to live up to its expectations. However, Inxile released a revamped Directors Cut version which fixed many of the base game's flaws and is now a really fun mix between Fallout 1 and regular combat oriented turn based S-Rpgs like X-Com or Jagged Alliance.
    The game is more linear and structured as its spiritual successors, but also a much larger one and you could even say that the different setpieces contain as much branching game progression as other rpgs in total. The different paths to solve a quest each pose various skill checks, though you can pass most of them easily if you skill your squad appropriately.
    The writing is decent and like Fallout filled with references and over the top trash movie charm like in Mad Max, Badlands or Solarbabies. The combat is fun, the itemization works, the perk system leads to some pretty interesting and unique play-styles, the quests are well crafted and filled with interesting C&C. A true classic.    … Expand
  20. angryassdrummer
    May 30, 2017
    9
    as a fan of both the Fallout series and Xcom reboots, this game was perfect for me! probably too slow paced for the average millennial gamer, but the startegy in the combat along with the engrossing story & settings was enough for me to spend well over 100 hours and counting in the game
  21. psycros
    Oct 27, 2015
    5
    As far as interface, gameplay go, this is how the game should've been from day one - the improvements are almost immediately noticeable. Unfortunately character generation suffers from a very limited variety of looks..in fact the Director's Cut actually has *fewer* visual options than the original release. There's also has far too much 80's "Road Warrior" influence. Does it really makeAs far as interface, gameplay go, this is how the game should've been from day one - the improvements are almost immediately noticeable. Unfortunately character generation suffers from a very limited variety of looks..in fact the Director's Cut actually has *fewer* visual options than the original release. There's also has far too much 80's "Road Warrior" influence. Does it really make sense that the "good guys" would mostly be sporting throwback "future punk" looks? As for the other aspects of art and design, its more than passable. Same goes for sound effects although the default volumes were much too high on my system. Strangely, the background voice acting (such as what you hear on the comms in Highpool) is much better than what's provided for the primary characters like Vargas. I was also somewhat disheartened that like nearly every game released these days, this one features R-rated language and adult situations to match its violence. We can turn off the blood in most violent games but not the fouler bits of dialogue, nor can we disable some of the less savory story elements. These days there really aren't any deep and "teen-friendly" games beyond a few JRPGs, and that's sad.

    The shortcomings I've mentioned are relatively minor and while sometimes inexplicable (like fewer chargen options) their not at all game-breaking. But there IS a major problem, and its due to one of the most common mistakes in game design: a completely broken difficulty setting. On the lowest difficulty you're basically in tutorial mode - everything is a cakewalk. Notch it up one setting higher (the de facto default) and you're going precisely nowhere. You'll be outgunned, outnumbered and outmaneuvered from the moment you set foot in the wastes..and not in the, "this is a nice challenge" way, but more the "you've got to be kidding me" way. You'll be getting slaughtered by everything that shows its face - in a game with permadeath. The difficulty jump from level one to level two is so radical that you'll think you've installed a survival mod. Field Medic and Surgeon skills are NOT optional on level 2 - and don't even think about trying a higher difficulty. Perception is also highly recommended for avoiding random encounters, which are often even harder than the regular ones.

    I don't regret Kickstarting this game simply because its a much-neglected genre that has oodles of creative potential and a grand pedigree That said, I'm pretty disappointed by industry veterans committing such a newbie design mistake. Until the badly scaled difficulty levels of Wasteland 2 are fixed you should spend your time and money elsewhere unless you enjoy a casual, R-rated "choose your own adventure" experience on the lowest setting. One other thing I've taken away from this experience: I probably won't be doing any more Kickstarters because each one I've contributed to has been a major letdown in some respect.    … Expand
  22. Scruffey
    Dec 30, 2017
    1
    I'm a big fan of turn-based games : Dragon age, XCOM and, recently, Divinity Original Sin 2.

    I bought Wasteland 2 after some hesitation... What a deception ! Sepia tinged isometric views. Very oldish graphics. All in all, a very dated looking game. Zooming in, out and about to try and get a good view of the action is very trying. I must admit that I haven't played the game for    I'm a big fan of turn-based games : Dragon age, XCOM and, recently, Divinity Original Sin 2.

    I bought Wasteland 2 after some hesitation... What a deception !
    Sepia tinged isometric views. Very oldish graphics. All in all, a very dated looking game.
    Zooming in, out and about to try and get a good view of the action is very trying.
    I must admit that I haven't played the game for hours as I was quickly frustrated by the "combat" sequences.

    My sniper couldn't hit anything and my assault rifleman missed almost every time. Guns kept jamming. Even my knifeman kept missing !
    Action points melt away so that you can nearly do nothing.
    I don't mind a challenge but having my team nearly beaten by 4 giant rabbits was a bit too much.
    This is - maybe - what is known as a steep learning curve.

    Anyway, for me, it's back to Divinity and up to date games.    … Expand
  23. Slowdive
    Mar 7, 2016
    2
    "It's Fallout 3 we all deserved and blah-blah"

    Fallout elite **** knows no boundaries. I do not like 3 and 4 as well so you have no chances to say that it's a review by Toddyboy. No. New Vegas all the way. But so many people come screaming about Wasteland "IT'S SO CLASSIC FALLOUT". Really? Nothing close to to spine-chilling atmosphere of Fallout 1 or epicness of Fallout 2. Only    "It's Fallout 3 we all deserved and blah-blah"

    Fallout elite **** knows no boundaries. I do not like 3 and 4 as well so you have no chances to say that it's a review by Toddyboy. No. New Vegas all the way.
    But so many people come screaming about Wasteland "IT'S SO CLASSIC FALLOUT". Really?
    Nothing close to to spine-chilling atmosphere of Fallout 1 or epicness of Fallout 2. Only absolutely annoying gameplay, absolutely annoying characters and absolutely annoying game itself.

    If you really love Fallout 1-2 you'll just replay Fallout 1-2. Not that crap.    … Expand
  24. Artur_
    Dec 6, 2015
    6
    Another alternative to so called "AAA games": old-school perpective, equipment, team leading, tactical - not a mess - battles, reasonable story with choices. And a frustrating bugs, unfortunately game crashed quite often. AI of allied NPC - well, they never been clever. Worth playing if you are lucky to omit these bugs.
  25. Klewer
    Feb 18, 2017
    6
    I just couldn't get completely in to this. It has a good story and settings, but the combat and action parts are average and the game just takes on a grinding feel to it. Some people may enjoy it more but I think there's better alternatives out there that are similar.
  26. MR67
    May 6, 2019
    5
    A turn based shooter that plays a bit like Hard West or Divinity Original Sin 2 (but with guns). If you're a fan of the Fallout series but prefer the turn based combat of the older Fallout games then this could be worth picking up.

    I would have rated the game a 7/10 as it's good but not great (owing to a bit of a budget feel to it as it was funded on Kickstarter), but I'm deducting 2    A turn based shooter that plays a bit like Hard West or Divinity Original Sin 2 (but with guns). If you're a fan of the Fallout series but prefer the turn based combat of the older Fallout games then this could be worth picking up.

    I would have rated the game a 7/10 as it's good but not great (owing to a bit of a budget feel to it as it was funded on Kickstarter), but I'm deducting 2 points because the game does not allow you to flee combat, which is a complete deal breaker for me. I discovered this the hard way when my party engaged in combat with a couple of automated gun turrets near a gate I needed to get through. After my sniper got two shotted in one round of combat, I moved the party away from the turrets, figuring that combat would end automatically once there was some distance between us, but nope, combat just carried on. I then Googled this and found out that this is indeed the case, as the developers decided not to cater for it owing to "issues around scripting", etc. What a lame excuse. Kind of ruins immersion when my 5 surviving characters can't run away from two stationery gun turrets! As I'm the type of player who does not believe in save scumming, I quit the game in disgust and have not bothered to go back to it since then.    … Expand
  27. agurczuk
    Dec 14, 2016
    7
    Wasteland 2 scratches all the classic Fallout itches but is still a far from perfect game.

    I think this game is a mix of the classic Fallout series (1 and 2) and Fallout Tactics. Praying a lot on the nostalgia so people loving the mentioned games will feel right at home. I admit the atmosphere is there. Travelling wasteland is fun and engaging. Combat is well designed and satisfying.    Wasteland 2 scratches all the classic Fallout itches but is still a far from perfect game.

    I think this game is a mix of the classic Fallout series (1 and 2) and Fallout Tactics. Praying a lot on the nostalgia so people loving the mentioned games will feel right at home. I admit the atmosphere is there. Travelling wasteland is fun and engaging. Combat is well designed and satisfying. The quests are varied and most of the times interesting giving multiple ways to tackle the problem (most of the times at least).

    There is a steep learning curve though and having played it once I would have made a completely different starting choices. Which is a shame as I did take the original pre-defined party of characters. It's not bad but due to my choices on levelling up some characters ended up as cannon fodder rather than the useful team members.

    Guns are fun but some of the gun classes feel useless. Especially the handguns and shotguns. I wanted a varied party so had a medic with a pistol and guy who was supposed to be close combat shotgun wielder. Sadly had to re-purpose both of them changing the first into energy weapon sniper and second to standard rifleman. The shotgun just felt so useless.

    Quests for the most part are well designed though there's quite a few of 'go and fetch' ones. Some require a bit of thinking and are not all that straight forward which is a nice change from the current generation of "go to this spot and press this button" missions. However there are some really badly designed - one for example hints that there are multiple ways to approach the problem but there are actually two. And while the first one is obvious the second one unlocks only after you acquire the part required for first approach. And the part is somewhat 10-15h of game play away (out of around 60 for the whole thing in my case). That is just stupid. And you can't even go at it guns blazing as this is the only part of the game that has super turret guns killing you instantly no matter how many explosives you throw at it. Really annoying.

    There is a few quests that are not interesting especially near the end but those you can tackle with guns blazing approach which was nice. The amount of text in dialogues seem to get out of control at certain points without any real benefit to the game.

    This is also a game of two parts. The Arizona one which feels more fleshed out and the LA part which for some reasons changes mechanics, introduces completely not necessary plot lines and feels a bit rushed. It also introduces an instant spike in difficulty making all enemies two times stronger. Luckily from the get go there is a vendor selling guns that are way stronger than your current loud out.

    Graphicly it's pretty bad. I played the directors cut which should be updated version with better graphics and assets. And it still looks bad. The texture quality is pretty low, the game sometimes look worse than Fallout 2 in my opinion. The camera works sometimes really strangely. There is no tilt control, and the angle sometimes feel weird - though you can get used to it. The worst looking part must be the world map though. Such an ugly thing.

    Audio wise - there's not much to tell. Didn't notice any soundtrack. The voice acting is good although not sure why some characters have the voice and others don't (excluding the main characters of the game). The screaming goats are pretty annoying and not sure who decided it was a good idea even if meant as a joke.

    Overall I'd say a decent title. Had fun for the most part with exception of some annoying situations. Wouldn't recommend it for everyone but for all Fallout 1/2 without a shadow of doubt. Good world design, fun storyline, engaging game play, a bit disappointing ending    … Expand
  28. ChoicestGames
    May 29, 2020
    8
    Wasteland 2 hearkens back to the great Interplay CRPGs of the late 1990s such as Fallout and Baldur's Gate while serving its purpose as a bona fide sequel to the original Wasteland released decades ago. Like the CRPGs of yesteryear, Wasteland 2 benefits from having many locations to explore, lots of weapons to experiment with and offering the player decisions that have a major impact onWasteland 2 hearkens back to the great Interplay CRPGs of the late 1990s such as Fallout and Baldur's Gate while serving its purpose as a bona fide sequel to the original Wasteland released decades ago. Like the CRPGs of yesteryear, Wasteland 2 benefits from having many locations to explore, lots of weapons to experiment with and offering the player decisions that have a major impact on the storyline. The game also has a whole bunch of silly, yet entertaining pop culture references and a very fitting soundtrack thanks to the talents of Fallout composer Mark Morgan. The game does have flaws such as its lack of character portraits, unforgiving combat, questionable skill trees, as well a few bugs, but they don't detract from what is a solid and enjoyable post-apocalyptic romp through the Southwestern United States. Recommended.… Expand
  29. mahina
    Jan 5, 2020
    10
    This is my first game in this genre and I am very pleased. I really like the setting of characters and game play mechanics
  30. CoreGamer1408
    Dec 19, 2018
    7
    Not as deep a CPRG as Fallout 1/2, but way better party based combat that is a lot of fun. I'd say this was more combat heavy than story rich. Stuck playing the Rangers wasn't a problem. I mostly role play as the good guys anyway. Tactics of Lazer Squad meets a good guy Fallout lite sort of experience for sure.

    This DC version has more bells and whistles, but for the life of me this    Not as deep a CPRG as Fallout 1/2, but way better party based combat that is a lot of fun. I'd say this was more combat heavy than story rich. Stuck playing the Rangers wasn't a problem. I mostly role play as the good guys anyway. Tactics of Lazer Squad meets a good guy Fallout lite sort of experience for sure.

    This DC version has more bells and whistles, but for the life of me this looks visually worse. Yes even on the newer versions of this unity engine, so go figure. So plus one point for more polished content and minus one point for the poorer visual look. On the Steam the pubs/devs give the DC version as a free upgrade with the standard version. So one purchase with slightly two different game directions and major difference in art styles.    … Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2016
    90
    This is how the only true heir to the old Fallout games should have looked from day one! [13/2015, p.70]
  2. COGconnected
    Oct 25, 2015
    85
    In the end, Wasteland 2 is good, it’s fun, and there is a ton of content. But it’s not that different, or newly ‘cut’, than it was a year ago.
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  3. Digital Chumps
    Oct 15, 2015
    90
    Director's Cut is the right term for this release; Fargo and the crew at InXile have combed through both the finer details and the high-level ones of Wasteland 2, fixing, tweaking, and adding to take it from great to excellent.
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