Wasteland 2

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1217 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 786 out of 1217
  2. Mixed: 209 out of 1217
  3. Negative: 222 out of 1217
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  1. Alsvha
    Sep 21, 2014
    7
    Decent and fun try at Old School RPG - but it lacks serious polish as we're not longer in the old school.

    The game is overall quite fun, it's a nice nostalgic trip back to the days of the Fallouts that were Fallouts and not Oblivion with Guns and Mutants, so if you liked those older games - you'll enjoy this one. However there are many issues; not simply bugs but design decisions and    Decent and fun try at Old School RPG - but it lacks serious polish as we're not longer in the old school.

    The game is overall quite fun, it's a nice nostalgic trip back to the days of the Fallouts that were Fallouts and not Oblivion with Guns and Mutants, so if you liked those older games - you'll enjoy this one.

    However there are many issues; not simply bugs but design decisions and lack of polish, which scar the playability of the game.
    The issues range from combat situations where range is seriously limited on weapons and the enemy can run as far as you can shoot in one turn and hit you on the head with his club, to other combat issues such as how the NPCs seemingly don't run out of ammo yet you loot no ammo from them.
    Other issues are with how skills are used. Instead of simply using the highest skilled PC automatically - you'll have to select him, select the skill, select the object. Might not be an issue the first hundred times, but it gets bore-some as you have to drudge through ever container you can find to stock up and that means using perception, trap/alarm disarm, lock pick/electronic/safe crack and that's likely spread out over multiple characters. Something that was fine in the 90s and 00s, but even though it's an "old school RPG" we do not need all "old school mechanics". Polish and quality of life features came into existence for a reason.
    The dialogue, and levelling up system is also a bit annoying and again - it gets tiresome because you have to do it over and over and over.

    Character creation is what creation is, but the models used aren't that "pretty", so if that's your thing - then it'll cost on the score. It's not for me, so I'm fine with it - but again, I can't help but think that it's 2014 and not 1994. Even if it is a kickstarter game.

    But the game does have that nice "wasteland" feeling, combat and questing is otherwise acceptable, and even though bugs exists - I've not found any to be gamebreaking (yet).
    So as mentioned - if the likes of Fallout 1, 2 and/or Tactics grapped you back then - you're likely to enjoy this game, but a masterpiece of score 10 it is not.

    7 to 8 because is feels and plays as a solid game. I'm properly leaning a bit more towards 7 than 8 now after having played some more hours because the lack of polish is a grinding factor.    … Expand
  2. luc1kjke
    Sep 22, 2014
    5
    This game feels like an appetiser before main dish. I've really tried to enjoy this game(turn-based RPG is very rare bird) but I've continuously felt that something was wrong. So cons:

    - Game focuses too much on opening chests mechanics. You have lots of skills just to open chests. And you're finding plenty of chests. With addition of few points-of-view this makes the game a    This game feels like an appetiser before main dish. I've really tried to enjoy this game(turn-based RPG is very rare bird) but I've continuously felt that something was wrong. So cons:

    - Game focuses too much on opening chests mechanics. You have lots of skills just to open chests. And you're finding plenty of chests. With addition of few points-of-view this makes the game a Chest-Finding-and-Opening-Simulator-2014.
    - Character creator. Its just feels so wrong to see 1990s graphics in a character creation. Literally it's 90s.
    - You can't view your armour in the game since your clothes is how you look like. I'm OK with that but give us a diversity! After playing for 20hr I've found few clothing items most of them looks completely the same(brown-black-gray)
    - Fighting mechanics is VERY basic. You can't even lay down and it's not exactly a cover-based game(in many fights you'll have covers just for 2 members). So other members just crouching. That feels very wrong but that comes from another bad game design decision(see next).
    - You can fire 2 bullets or cover big distance running. So I imagine it's easier to pull a trigger 2 times than run 25 meters? Nope. Both take the same AP amount. So enemy melee will be right before you nose in 1 turn. No point of laying down.
    - One enemy without visible armour can eat a LOT of bullets. And that guy doesn't even have a t-shirt.
    - Dialogs for different NPCs under the same quest line are pretty much the same. "Who is Sergeant Dickson?", "How do you feel about Sergeant Dickson?" - prepare to ask such questions a lot.

    And there's many more unpolished things.

    Pros:
    + Lots of skills and most of them are used frequently.
    + Big maps
    + Attempt to "make it right"
    + Lots of words in dialogs(for those who like reading)

    Overall:
    Unpolished and with horrible 3d(I would much prefer pretty 2D). Why couldn't developer play some classics like Jagged Alliance 2 before making such horrible fighting system?    … Expand
  3. Rosiello
    Sep 22, 2014
    5
    A rather nice game, plagued by a ton of small bad game design decisions. Together those decisions make the game a chore to play, you feel rather limited in your possibilities... and we're talking about an RPG here! Some examples:

    You can't go stealth... it's a shame, but ok I can live with that. Underground locations are quite confusing, piled up with stuff and you can't really    A rather nice game, plagued by a ton of small bad game design decisions. Together those decisions make the game a chore to play, you feel rather limited in your possibilities... and we're talking about an RPG here! Some examples:

    You can't go stealth... it's a shame, but ok I can live with that.

    Underground locations are quite confusing, piled up with stuff and you can't really understand what's happening down there: the AG center is such a mess you'll have a hard time looking for your own party members amidst all that junk.

    Mobs drop random stuff without logic: a guy shots you with a grenade launcher, you kill him and... you find a shotgun on him.

    Graphics are good for a low budget game, but then you'll find that such graphics are not optimized: sometimes I play with a gaming laptop that runs Assassin's Creed IV at the highest details at a solid 60fps, but I have to play Wasteland 2 with low details.

    But there are more issues at hand.

    I was a backer, but I'm also highly disappointed with the result.    … Expand
  4. bugeric
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    Its a game with mixed feelings, in short, is its far from what you would expect from the creator of Fallout1,2. Even when you compare it to other small budget kickstarter games such as Divinity Original Sins, it does not deliver half of the fun you would have.

    I played the early access and was expecting the final game is better, but its not. I am very, deeply disappointed. I enjoyed    Its a game with mixed feelings, in short, is its far from what you would expect from the creator of Fallout1,2. Even when you compare it to other small budget kickstarter games such as Divinity Original Sins, it does not deliver half of the fun you would have.

    I played the early access and was expecting the final game is better, but its not. I am very, deeply disappointed.

    I enjoyed the post-apocalypse settings of the game, it has some smart writings.

    However, the graphic is really meh, even for Unity, they are not using it to its full potential I guess. Characters models really hurt my eyes. And it doesnt even change according to the armor you wear.

    Combat is boring and simplified, it just doesnt give you the satisfaction of fallout. Most cases that you are forced to use melee in order to save ammo instead of letting you play the way you want.

    main story is short and often lack of orientation, I really got lost in the railroad nomad camp. Some of the dialog are just too long and does not give you a better insight.

    Gameplay-wise the player perks are redundant such as smart ass, kiss ass and hard ass. Also you need 3 "lock picking" skills to open different boxes is just BS why make a differentiation for Toaster, Safe and locked boxes??
    And I really dont get the part where you can type keywords in a conversation.    … Expand
  5. Enex
    Sep 20, 2014
    6
    I really wanted to like this game, but it's only okay.

    There is no reason to lie to the player, and the critical failure rates are outright lies (as are the success rates for skills). There is no reason for every other box you find to have a bomb strapped to it. That's idiotic. Resources are supposed to be scarce. Where is everyone getting all this TNT? (To safeguard their scrap and    I really wanted to like this game, but it's only okay.

    There is no reason to lie to the player, and the critical failure rates are outright lies (as are the success rates for skills). There is no reason for every other box you find to have a bomb strapped to it. That's idiotic. Resources are supposed to be scarce. Where is everyone getting all this TNT? (To safeguard their scrap and broken gray level junk, no less).

    The game also seems obsessed with wasting the player's time. Skills that you click take a long time to complete, for no gameplay reason but to annoy.

    I strongly suggest anyone reading this review to wait for a sale.    … Expand
  6. LD9000
    Sep 22, 2014
    5
    While this game has a decent story, the RPG mechanics and lack of polish are a turn off in the long run.

    The good: post apocalyptic setting in the southwest US, similar to Fallouts. A group based game, decent story, initially some gameplay choices (which town to save), some hidden caches and encounters on the map. The bad: Initially the bad things arent very obvious, but they start    While this game has a decent story, the RPG mechanics and lack of polish are a turn off in the long run.

    The good: post apocalyptic setting in the southwest US, similar to Fallouts. A group based game, decent story, initially some gameplay choices (which town to save), some hidden caches and encounters on the map.

    The bad: Initially the bad things arent very obvious, but they start to grind at you and after several hours of play they become really apparent.

    RPG system is a joke. Most of the "Attributes" are dump stats, and every single ranger should have 10 int, because it controls skill points per level AND action points, the rest in 4 strength and whatever else in other stat that controls AP. There are no stat checks in dialogues or skill uses. A charisma 1 character with 6 in dialogue skills would pass most dialogue checks. A strength 1 character with 6 brute force will break all fences. The difference between weapon skill of 5 and weapon skill of 6 is about 6%chance to hit and 4% crit chance, which is far more than any other stat will give you.

    Random encounters - horrendous copy/paste. You will be fighting the SAME group of 3 bandits x11hp each, then 3 bandits at 80-125hp each, then 3 bandits and a dog for a very long time. Random encounters like "Dangerous raiders" pop up every 30 sec on the map, and without having outdoorsman to avoid them, it would be a very frustrating gameplay experience to load them all.

    Each random encounter drops 100% identical loot - no joke, first 38mm semiautomatic, then M4. To add an instult to an injury, each random encounter map is a variation of a "corridor with a single cover object in the middle"- typically one car on a highway, and you are lucky if you can run up to it.

    Enemies do not have levels, they are copy/paste versions of each other, just with different hp - starts at 11-15-20, then rapidly jumps to 80, 125 and 150

    Enemy AI - the worst I've yet to see in a "Tactical RPG" game. There are some nice "tactical" environments in game, but they go to waste because enemies spot you at 25 meters away and instantly aggro everyone within 60 meters or so. The very first turn every single enemy runs point blank to your characters, covering the same 25-30 meters.

    It's ridiculous to see a "Heavy Gunner" slowly stroll across the screen and end up standing 3meters from your sniper. Dreadfulness of AI does not stop there - like in other Unity games, it fails to focus fire a single character, instead a melee monster would run up, bite one character, move, bite another, move, bite another.

    The game does have random Radio banter, but it dies out after 45 min of travelling the map or so, and you are walking over a dead silent map, clicking "Run" to the same random encounters (or farming them for the same items over and over again).

    There are vast jumps in power levels between weapons that use the same ammo. So much in fact, that at any given time your choices of weapons is absolutely certain - you will not be using a 6-10 damage M4 when 14-25 or so Famas becomes available. You will not be using Famas when 30-45 M16 becomes available.

    Do you like Critical Hit mechanics? I do, but on top of critical hits, Wasteland has "Jamming" chance, which ranges between 9%-3% for most guns, so between 5-6 characters, shooting twice a round, it is very likely that at least one of your shooters will have a gun jammed each round, which is ridiculously frustrating after it happens again and again and again and again, ad nauseum.

    Overall the game has potential, but needs another 6 months to be polished.

    PS. It's ridiculous to see a 50$ DLC on day one. I've NEVER seen a 50$ DLC in any game...    … Expand
  7. Bowdown
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    I did not back this game, I did not wait for it. I haven't even heard about it and its predecessor. But I am a huge fan of quality games of all genres and tactical strategies are no exception. I've noticed this game a few days before its release and was excited to try it out, having read about the Fallout feel and all.

    Well, I was severely disappointed by the game itself. It certainly    I did not back this game, I did not wait for it. I haven't even heard about it and its predecessor. But I am a huge fan of quality games of all genres and tactical strategies are no exception. I've noticed this game a few days before its release and was excited to try it out, having read about the Fallout feel and all.

    Well, I was severely disappointed by the game itself. It certainly has some appealing things, but most of the time it's just boring, slow fights again and again and poor level design. You always have to go back numerous times, picking this and that, hacking, breaking and so on. First couple of hidden chest locations were fun to memorise, but it became really tedious after the count reached 10.

    Now this one is up to personal taste, but I really think that RNG system in hacking/picking locks/disarming alarms/etc. is bad for any gamer who's obsessed with exploration and collecting things. I instantly started abusing quicksave-quickload if I didn't lockpick something successfully. Would be much better if there just was a skill threshold, in my opinion. As soon as your skill was above it, you could lockpick chests of lower level and so on.    … Expand
  8. Siffy
    Sep 20, 2014
    6
    This game is slow in every possible way that a game can be. The maps are too big and empty (putting dozens of (sometimes hidden) locked containers out there is not my understanding of a living world), i.e, there is too much running (and backtracking) around. The fights feel ALWAYS the same. It does not matter whether you are level 1 or level 20 there is no change.On top, there are just toThis game is slow in every possible way that a game can be. The maps are too big and empty (putting dozens of (sometimes hidden) locked containers out there is not my understanding of a living world), i.e, there is too much running (and backtracking) around. The fights feel ALWAYS the same. It does not matter whether you are level 1 or level 20 there is no change.On top, there are just to many of them for no reason but prolong the play time. I am completely disappointed by the combat system and the leveldesign. More content on each map or less maps with the combined content of several maps and a combat system alike to Jagged Alliance 2 or even X-COM would have increased the user experience dramatically. However, some gamereview state that Wasteland 2 is first a RPG and only second a turned based strategy game. Yet, the rpg part cannot convince me either. Skill increase means that your chances increase for lockpicking, hitting, hacking etc. but the gameplay does not change, with exception to dialog based skills. While new weapons do increase the damage output, other loot like new armor (that has an some use other than new looks) does not really exist, similar to Mass Effect 2.
    True, the dialogs are great, the choices have severe impacts which is always nice for multiple playthroughs. But the tedious level design and the unnecessary often and boring fights interrupt the otherwise interesting story or sidequests, which already make my first run unenjoyable.

    I can only recommend this game to fans or people who like mindless grinding and backtracking for about 3/4 of the game just to see some hours of real RPG gameplay. Instead of creating a 50+ game, which game mechanism just don't fit the developers should have focused on a more dense, more capturing world by improving the combat system and reducing the size of the maps.    … Expand
  9. Upright1
    Sep 21, 2014
    5
    The game is tedious. It seems like every time shaver the old classics had were removed. There is no fast travel between previously visited areas (will add hours on to completion time). There is no local area map interaction, no point of interest markers, no labels, no "click to view or travel" option. Your local area map is a screenshot. Period.

    The graphics are 10 years old (I'm being    The game is tedious. It seems like every time shaver the old classics had were removed. There is no fast travel between previously visited areas (will add hours on to completion time). There is no local area map interaction, no point of interest markers, no labels, no "click to view or travel" option. Your local area map is a screenshot. Period.

    The graphics are 10 years old (I'm being generous). The character models are ugly as sin and appearance options really are not noticeable while on the map. Open the character screen you'll be greeted by your guy, with forearms that are a foot too long, legs that don't match torso scaling, and head models that remind you that inbreeding is still a thing.

    The basic mechanics are okay. The game is very hipster~ish, in that it wants to be complicated just for the sake of being complicated. Hardcore fans will like it. Kickstarters will either madly love or burn with loathing. The Average Joe? Meh.    … Expand
  10. Arcturus519
    Sep 21, 2014
    5
    What can I saw, the myth the legand is here..finally a good turn based combat game! Guns, swords, high explosives, locks, combats, exploration...

    So where do I start first of all, I think whomever designed this game needs to sit down in front of Jagged Alliance (1 or 2), or many of the other GOOD turn based strategy combat games for a solid week or 2. It is appallingly apparent they did    What can I saw, the myth the legand is here..finally a good turn based combat game! Guns, swords, high explosives, locks, combats, exploration...

    So where do I start first of all, I think whomever designed this game needs to sit down in front of Jagged Alliance (1 or 2), or many of the other GOOD turn based strategy combat games for a solid week or 2. It is appallingly apparent they did not. Mistake that were made 20 years ago, are coming back to haunt this genre once again and it is infuriating.

    Destructible cover, in a cover based game, CHECK
    Unable to aim at the destructible cover, UNCHECK, and cancelled the previous thing they did good
    Cover mechanics, as like they went into a grade school and got the kids there to help them design it, simplistic and as a result terrible, no bonuses for stand near cover or inbetween cover, only if you are actively ducking behind the cover, no 25% for partial, and as far as I could tell no better than 50%, or worse than 50%. As mentioned before I had a piece of cover get shot and destroyed (a wood box), and that was neat but unable to actually aim at the box (with a 70% chance to hit, and instead forced to aim at a 20% behind the box is insulting).
    No lying down, to shoot/aim/cover, especially say what you might want to do from a rooftop.

    Loading ammo in my secondary weapon?! Who would want to do that that's dangerous just leaving weapons loaded!! Seriously, this belongs in a beta bug category, weapons in primary slot are auto loaded (so they thought of it), weapons equipped secondary aren't loaded. How was this not spotted and fixed the first day of the Alpha?!?

    They make other spotted design choices that although I don't agree with 100% myself I won't fault them for, healing while time passes moving overland, or the ability to camp and heal some, was removed/never put in. Ok fine, only way to heal is to buy all the shops in the game out of healing equipment, guess it forces you to spend all your hard earned money.

    The apparent lack of if one of your main 4 dies, to go back and recruit a new main character, play the rest of the game with more NPC's I suppose, or just quicksave more often.. (sigh). No-one find a game fun that you have to quicksave before every combat, because then you don't live with bad luck or bad choices, because once your forced to reload once, then you start to use it twice and 3 times, and next thing you know it's a crutch/habit you're using all the time and it makes the game boring and silly.

    Overall the game appears to have some story in it, and what not that is enjoyable, the meat and potatoes of the game the turn based fighting however, just devolves into a quicksaved slugfest where you don't give a **** because if someone dies, you reload and get luckier next time.

    Overall score 5/5, maybe worth getting on sale.    … Expand
  11. Booeyww
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    Wasteland 2 has the potential to be a great game. The character design has depth and the idea of team building and skill management is excellent. I only wish that the game is more polished. From the awkward camera angles to a lack of quest aid the player the game is quite frustrating to play especially for newer players.
  12. Chomag
    Sep 19, 2014
    7
    Meh. This game is a big Meh. It's far from being a Fallout game, it's more like Fallout Tactics in that it's lacking a lot of the stuff that made Fallout great, while concentrating on the combat.
    Its production values are cheap, as well.
    The character models are atrocious and look like they came straight out of the year 2000. Also, armors don't show on your characters, as they have set    Meh. This game is a big Meh. It's far from being a Fallout game, it's more like Fallout Tactics in that it's lacking a lot of the stuff that made Fallout great, while concentrating on the combat.
    Its production values are cheap, as well.

    The character models are atrocious and look like they came straight out of the year 2000. Also, armors don't show on your characters, as they have set look you decide at character creation and you're stuck with it the whole game.

    The story is very cliche and dull and is revealed from the first hour of the game. Once again Fallout Tactics comes to mind, as the main story is practically the same.

    It's an average game that you shouldn't miss if you're a fan of RPGs, but don't expect to see a blast from the past in the form of a new Fallout game or some mind blowing story with interesting twists, it's not that good.    … Expand
  13. MBBasar
    Sep 21, 2014
    5
    +Character customizaiton.
    +Story
    +Weapon Customizations. +Lots of weapons and items +Sounds in background. +Atmosphere ------ - Out-Dated Graphics - No details in graphics. - Killing Camera Angle and Clumsy Camera Movements - You can't hide walls which sometimes become problematic in combat or while wandering. - Dull combat animations. - Some technical optimization    +Character customizaiton.
    +Story
    +Weapon Customizations.
    +Lots of weapons and items
    +Sounds in background.
    +Atmosphere

    ------

    - Out-Dated Graphics
    - No details in graphics.
    - Killing Camera Angle and Clumsy Camera Movements
    - You can't hide walls which sometimes become problematic in combat or while wandering.
    - Dull combat animations.
    - Some technical optimization problems.
    - Game size is too huge for this game.(30GB)
    - No vocalization for NPCs.

    Good game but not a masterpiece. My score: 5    … Expand
  14. SlightlyOP
    Apr 12, 2015
    7
    Fun game but there are things that bring it down for me. These are just my tastes but I wish it wasn't turn based, I'd prefer just being able to pause combat and issue commands. And the constant weapon jamming is incredibly annoying. I mostly play games for story and though combat can be fun, when I'm playing he game on the easiest difficulty I just want to be able to breeze through theFun game but there are things that bring it down for me. These are just my tastes but I wish it wasn't turn based, I'd prefer just being able to pause combat and issue commands. And the constant weapon jamming is incredibly annoying. I mostly play games for story and though combat can be fun, when I'm playing he game on the easiest difficulty I just want to be able to breeze through the combat, which is not possible in this game. I think many other people though could find this game good. It just doesn't cater well to my tastes.… Expand
  15. MeritCoba
    Jun 19, 2016
    6
    I usually refrain from mentioning other reviewers, but Alsvha hits it on the head for me so you are invited to read his review. I will add something of my own here.
    Wasteland 2 captured my interest after I was allowed to play it for free for a short while. Frankly, I decided on it for the lack of games to play. This is actually my own problem for I have this rule not to spend money more    I usually refrain from mentioning other reviewers, but Alsvha hits it on the head for me so you are invited to read his review. I will add something of my own here.
    Wasteland 2 captured my interest after I was allowed to play it for free for a short while. Frankly, I decided on it for the lack of games to play. This is actually my own problem for I have this rule not to spend money more than 15 euros on a game unless I am certain I want to have it. The next one I am looking forward to is Cyberpunk 2077.

    Wasteland 2 is positioned as an old school rpg, which is more a sales pitch than anything else. It is old, therefore it is good? Like wine that has matured over time giving us a rich bouquet of flavours? But perhaps it is more an excuse for the vinegar taste it might turn out to be? Perhaps both depending on the situation.

    For me a game is made in the here and now and not in the back and then and although it might have the same features in a way I hope we have progressed somewhat and learned to make things better. But next to that, a good story is a good story as a bad story is bad one. As far as I know the only difference the technology makes, for that is what discerns old from new basically, is in the delivering. And is that not what the sales pitch tries to smooth over?

    So ignoring the old school blurb we can say it resembles games like Blackguards, the 2014 tactical role play game set in a fantasy realm. But Wasteland stresses roleplay more and feels less combat oriented therefore. The world is also more open and allows you to travel about although there are 'guides' and barriers keeping you from spinning of into the wrong direction.

    The game strikes a decent balance between combat and role play, but unfortunately for me I never quite liked it. One way to suck away the fun is the tedious scavenging. The country side is littered with boxes, safes and landmines which you have to discover, examine, disarm, crack, open and empty of the random generated paltry contents. Since ammunition is scare and expensive and well paying jobs are far and in between you are almost required to live of the land and the droppings of your enemies, which is at times unrelated to what weapons they bring to bear and even at times your opponents do not drop anything at all.

    Another annoying feature is to stuff the contents full of items listed as junk, which isn't always junk we are warned over and over so, you carry around a lot of excess baggage just in the offhand chance it might be required for something.

    What I find even more damaging for this game, which is why I liked games like Torment and Baldurs Gate, is that most of your team members have almost no personality. The basic team has non and only a few of your npcs have something of their own mind. Even Blackguards gives more personality to your team members. If this was a deliberate choice than the lack of original personalities ought to be off set by a good combat system. But wasteland doesn't deliver much. It is decent enough, but nothing special or spectacular as it lacks depth.

    What remains is to evaluate the story line. And here Wasteland is the most weak. It has no general story line that draws you in. The stories are fragmented and you feel more like an emergency response team that is running from one unrelated crisis to the next. So yeah, there is the murder of Ace. So yeah, there is the synth tale. So yeah, there are the mutated plants. But it is unrelated and often feels like a distraction for a main plot that has yet to develop.

    Overall the game is decent and works in a fashion, but it lacks a good story line and well develop characters. Ironically that is exactly my criticism for Fallout 4. Perhaps old school and new school have something in common?    … Expand
  16. architekt
    Sep 26, 2014
    5
    I'm not feeling this game. I've played Fallout 1 and 2 a million times every possible way. I've even played the original Wasteland. But something about this game just doesn't grab me. It feels very tedious. The combat is annoying (and each of my guys is spec'd into just 1 weapon type, not spread out): even with jam rates of like 2% I'll have the same guy jam up a bunch of times in a fight.I'm not feeling this game. I've played Fallout 1 and 2 a million times every possible way. I've even played the original Wasteland. But something about this game just doesn't grab me. It feels very tedious. The combat is annoying (and each of my guys is spec'd into just 1 weapon type, not spread out): even with jam rates of like 2% I'll have the same guy jam up a bunch of times in a fight. Normally I wouldn't care but the AP cost to unjam is ridiculous. Plus it drives me crazy that all enemy types seem to be able to close any distance on you in a turn. So my sniper guy who I always position as far away as possible just gets melee'd so I wound up having to take the brawl skill. Spent about 8 hours clearing the first area, the AG Center, which was boring and a tedious slog. I'm not gripped by the story yet unlike Fallout 1 (maybe it gets better?). I'm also not looking forward to a massive party size. You start with 4 which is manageable, it goes up to 7. I didn't mind 4-6 person parties in D&D type games because each of them felt very unique (sorcerer vs. rogue vs. cleric etc), but in this, it's just like "Oh this dude is good with this gun type" and then happens to have some support skill like doc or medic. Which is helpful, but really it's just firing a different gun type. The camera also really annoys me. I just don't like the angle and way things look. I feel like I'm constantly having to adjust the zoom and rotation all the time.

    As for the comments about being geared for people who played the original or "must have an affinity to old-school game mechanics" that's not really the case. I don't mind reading walls of text if it's interesting (Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, etc), but so far, not very exciting. The combat mechanics are just boring esp. compared to like Baldur's Gate. Hell even Fallout 1 which had similar mechanics just felt more fun what with the perks and stuff, added variety.

    I don't know. The music is great. The visuals are pretty good, I dig the atmosphere. But it just feels like a tedious party based tactics game and so far, 13 hours in, I'm not being grabbed by the story. It does have some humorous writing though.    … Expand
  17. Ahzeem
    Sep 29, 2014
    6
    If you take off your rose-tinted glasses for a moment and look at Wasteland 2 with a reasonable amount of objectivity, it very quickly becomes clear that the game is not without flaws. Performance issues, clunky and sometimes unreliable game play, and confusing aesthetics ground Wasteland 2 firmly in the Indie / Unpolished category of games these days. It delivers exactly what it promised,If you take off your rose-tinted glasses for a moment and look at Wasteland 2 with a reasonable amount of objectivity, it very quickly becomes clear that the game is not without flaws. Performance issues, clunky and sometimes unreliable game play, and confusing aesthetics ground Wasteland 2 firmly in the Indie / Unpolished category of games these days. It delivers exactly what it promised, but it does so in a rather poorly constructed package. The game is far from bad, but it's frustrating to play a game that you know in your heart of hearts is an absolute masterpiece hidden behind underdeveloped game play, not-so-spectacular aesthetics, and an underwhelming role-playing aspect.

    If you can look past its flaws and enjoy it for what it is, Wasteland 2 is perfectly enjoyable. Amazing story-telling, incredibly immersive hooks, and absolutely outstanding character writing will give you a truly wonderful RPG experience. But don't be surprised when you find yourself feeling that the game is lacking that special something that would put it over the top.    … Expand
  18. 123456
    Oct 1, 2014
    7
    As a veteran of Fallout and Fallout 2 I was looking forward to this game. Generally it is disappointing because combat is the worst thing about this game. After playing around 10 hours I have been frustrated by it a number of times.

    Ammo is scarce and PC's miss most of their shots unless you spend heavily in combat skills, which means you neglect the massive number of other useful    As a veteran of Fallout and Fallout 2 I was looking forward to this game. Generally it is disappointing because combat is the worst thing about this game. After playing around 10 hours I have been frustrated by it a number of times.

    Ammo is scarce and PC's miss most of their shots unless you spend heavily in combat skills, which means you neglect the massive number of other useful skills which make up parts of the game which are actually fun. Melee weapons beyond a nail board seem to be completely forgotten.

    Most of the fights, save a few, seem to be standoffs with little in the way of tactical cover, rather two teams blasting at each other until one crew dies. This is a major let down. Even setting up ambushes becomes a tedious tip-toe forward trying not to aggro the enemy, who can run at you like Usain Bolt and get into melee range on their first turn. There is no kind of CC or even debuffs.

    Loot is randomly generated apart from medical supplies and some mobs. You can easily get starved of one type of ammo so the pressure is on throughout the game to conserve as much as you can.

    The story is quite good so far, with a hard choice early on with real consequences. The dialogue is well acted and written, although sometimes you will want to turn the radio transmitter spam off so you can actually focus on your story.

    The "isometric" (3D) view is great, although the graphics in general lack a real polish, looking much like the first "Dawn of War" game which came out 10 years ago this month. The maps are exactly like the old Fallout games or even New Vegas, mostly brown but with some fun variations on the theme. The sizes are fine and walking them does not take too long. Loading times between maps were around 10-15 seconds for me. I have not found any bugs.

    There is a lot to like about this game, and like Divinity Original Sin its probably more fun with a guide on how to set your party up (which I think is a really lame thing). The combat is tiresome but the dramatic parts are good and the environment is what you would probably want. I don't think it is worth £30, if you liked fallout wait for it to be £20.    … Expand
  19. bortengineer
    Sep 30, 2014
    7
    Don't get me wrong, Wasteland 2 is not a bad game. The problem is that it's not a good game either. At the beginning It definitely gives you that sweet feeling of an old style RPG, but as you go deeper into the game, you start to realise that it's just the surface and Wasteland 2 is pretty dull at the inside. It's not about some major issues, the problem is that there are huge number ofDon't get me wrong, Wasteland 2 is not a bad game. The problem is that it's not a good game either. At the beginning It definitely gives you that sweet feeling of an old style RPG, but as you go deeper into the game, you start to realise that it's just the surface and Wasteland 2 is pretty dull at the inside. It's not about some major issues, the problem is that there are huge number of small ones.

    1) Game mechanics is not transparent. Do you know that high combat initiative allows you have more than one move in a turn? Do you know how luck affects drop rates? How charisma works, is it party-based or character-based? Do you know that formula for action points is (STR+INT+SPD)/4+CRD/2. Sure, you can dig forums and find answers to most of your questions, but you can't find them in game.

    2) Boring levels. Maps are quite big and full of hidden crates and containers. There are no shortage of mobs as well. It makes progression tedious and dull.

    3) Most skills are poorly designed. Computer science, demolitions, lockpicking, safecracking, toaster repair - in 95% of the situations you use them to get access to some loot. And you really need that loot and those skills, because ammo is sparse. I found that Mechanical Repair and Animal Whisperer to be enjoyable, just because they are not used routinely.

    4) There are dosens of crates, safes, and blah-blah on the map. Almost all of them contains some junk, a little bit of ammo and tiny amount of money. It makes the gameplay grindy and tedious. Instead it would be much better to remove 90% of the crates and fill remaining 10% with cool items, and give the player feeling of the accomplishment.

    5) The storyline is not engaging and full of cliches. It really fits theme of original Wasteland, but what was good back in 80s is boring and repetitive now. It reminds me of Fallout Tactics, which is not cool. To be fair, there are good things about the story as well: i really like emphasis on hard decisions and "you can't save em all" attitude.

    6) There are times when game really breaks the immersion. First time you see a honey badger - it's really funny. Second time, it's ok. But when you see a whole valley full of them, you just facepalm. There are no day/night cycle (fallout 1/2, arcanum, hell - even Ultima 7 had that). And yeah - dosens of crates full of staff in what was supposed to be a wasteland.

    7) And list goes on and on.

    Note, that none of these issues are gamebreaking or something. They just take away some satisfaction of the game. So if your are a fun of post-apocalypse theme and turn based combat - by all means get it, but wait for the sale. Otherwise - avoid.    … Expand
  20. BCeagle08
    Sep 26, 2014
    5
    As someone who still regularly plays Fallout 2, I was very much looking forward to Wasteland 2. I expected a solid mix of Fallout 2 rpg elements and Fallout tactics combat. Instead, I found a game that did could not match up to either game respectively.

    First, the graphics are atrocious. There is no excuse for character models that look this terrible in 2014. While it's fun to read the    As someone who still regularly plays Fallout 2, I was very much looking forward to Wasteland 2. I expected a solid mix of Fallout 2 rpg elements and Fallout tactics combat. Instead, I found a game that did could not match up to either game respectively.

    First, the graphics are atrocious. There is no excuse for character models that look this terrible in 2014. While it's fun to read the immersive descriptions of everything in the game, I would have enjoyed more immersion through graphics as well. Hope you picked your character models wisely at the beginning of the game, because you'll be staring at that pixelated junk for the rest of the game.

    Second, the combat is unimaginative and seems more like a chore than fun. You are constantly forced to melee to preserve ammo. The cover system is horribly underutilized, and there are very few tactical choices to make during combat.

    Third, the game has that feeling of a 1990s RPG. The UI is clunky and accomplishing tasks takes more clicks than it should. Nothing like having to pick a lock 5 times before you either succeed or critically fail. Why can't the game just do the roll and figure out if I failed or succeed? Inventory management is a pain, and comparing items to your secondary weapon is tedious.

    Overall, I had high hopes for this game but left extremely disappointed. Just because you model a game after a 1990s classic doesn't mean you have to retain all the junk that plagued 1990s games. We have made great advancements in gaming since Fallout 1 and 2 - use them.    … Expand
  21. kafkaz
    Sep 24, 2014
    5
    As backer, I expected a lot from Wasteland 2. But to my dismay, it did not deliver.

    First off, graphics is poor. Not only it is not artistically pleasing, it is most of the time bland, uninspired, and without trace of atmosphere. Colors don´t work together. Animations are akward, slow, characters flow weightlessly. Quality of 3D objects wildly varies, as of textures. All in all, I    As backer, I expected a lot from Wasteland 2. But to my dismay, it did not deliver.

    First off, graphics is poor. Not only it is not artistically pleasing, it is most of the time bland, uninspired, and without trace of atmosphere. Colors don´t work together. Animations are akward, slow, characters flow weightlessly. Quality of 3D objects wildly varies, as of textures. All in all, I really don´t feel visuals deliver the story and overall setting correctly.

    Level design is pretty bad, outdated, and without attention to detail. For example, there are literally hundreds of chests everywhere, most of them trapped, like what the hell? Who left them there? In the middle of nowhere? Why? Does this make any sense? No, it doesn´t, the world is unbelievable and feels fabricated. On top of that, you´ve got to rotate camera all the time to not miss important stuff. In these regards, even Fallout 1 is way better.

    I´ve just completed first of the bigger quests and I really wonder whether I should play on, and hope for the better. Because so far, its a drag. Boring NPCs, boring quests, all wrapped in bad visuals.

    Combat seems kinda ok, although monsters are nothing to write home about. Random generated encounters are really terrible, as there are like two different maps they happen upon. It gets repetetive really quickly. You don´t expect mindless grind in single-player, but, boy, you will get it here.

    If I compare W2 with recently published Divinity: OS ($1mil.), Wasteland 2 looks like very indie, borderline amateurish, attempt. This is not $3 mil. game by any stretch of an imagination. I really hope Torment will be two leagues above production quality of W2. Otherwise I will question whether Fargo is able to make good games like he used to.    … Expand
  22. MRGamer
    Sep 27, 2014
    6
    This game is a commendable effort to bring back the feel of old school CRPGs. It creates a gritty environment, presents fairly interesting characters and story, and is at times clever and darkly humorous. However, as a tactical experience it is mediocre at best and obviously broken at times. Combat mechanics are shallow and shortcuts have been taken to make up for the lack of adequateThis game is a commendable effort to bring back the feel of old school CRPGs. It creates a gritty environment, presents fairly interesting characters and story, and is at times clever and darkly humorous. However, as a tactical experience it is mediocre at best and obviously broken at times. Combat mechanics are shallow and shortcuts have been taken to make up for the lack of adequate tactical AI. A real game breaker for those who seek a satisfying tactical combat challenge.… Expand
  23. reronin
    Sep 25, 2014
    5
    This game flaws are covered by NOSTALGIA all over it by reviewer's .

    At first I played the game and found it interesting. But than i realized I played game like this and it was much better experience. Fallout 2 !! Graphics : Many people here say Wastelands 2 isn't about the graphics . Fine . The graphics are one thing. You can make a game that has low tech graphics but still has    This game flaws are covered by NOSTALGIA all over it by reviewer's .

    At first I played the game and found it interesting. But than i realized I played game like this and it was much better experience. Fallout 2 !!

    Graphics : Many people here say Wastelands 2 isn't about the graphics . Fine . The graphics are one thing. You can make a game that has low tech graphics but still has ArtStyle that adds great Vibe to the game. Again Fallout 2. This game has problems in artstyle direction it has no direction . The World looks empty , unfinished , nothing like America from that time period I felt more like in Ukraine not USA. Some places just slap generic textures on models that look horrible. Sometimes you see nice post apocaliptic scenery after two steps you look at horrible buildings from PS1 era. There is noo Cool Armour (still can't see it after you wear it), Characters lack any cool detail and their creation is just very basic . Guns are your standard arsenal except for the special guns that better versions are found in . Yep . Fallout 2.

    And Google Map Looks better than the world map in this game !!!

    Enemies : Another thing that got me bored were the Enemies . Your standard . Generic Giant bugs , people , robots . Nothing Cool in design to fight Like in Ehem ehem Fallout 2 Badass soldiers in first cutscene ;) . There are not a single Cool Boss fight . The Ending is very generic I won't spoil it for you.

    Strategy and AI - It's very basic . I started on Hard and I never felt like the enemy will do something different than rush at me. Like I said maps are empty and most of the time Narrow and limited. You won't find cover in the buildings. The only strategy you use is too position your troops soo you wont hit your friend . After that it's just numbers game and hope your gun wont jam . Most of the times I lost a team mate because of just Bad luck . Missed when I had 92% and second shot jammed my gun in the same turn . CoD has more strategy than this game. Seriously after playing hours I found my self bored. AI is very basic . And Random Encounters on World map are a joke. Maps are very small and repeat over and over. Again in Fallout 2 you had randomly generated maps and you could find something interesting in them aside from enemies.

    Skills - These are your standard stuff in rpg , guns , rifles , agility , charisma etc. I didnt like that almost every Door , Chest had to have a Trap . And you got diffrent skill to lockpick different skill for safe and hacking, 3 skills to talk Those were just BUSY work and most of the time you had to switch characters too use them. There is too many traps . I just started to save my game all the time and reload because in early game you will die often because of those traps. And there are some quests that you will fail if your % of fixing will fail .50% deactivating an alarm . Failed ? Reload . This system it stupid . It dsnt require no skill only luck. In Deus Ex you had to play some minigame to open lock's it required your focus. Here just Luck

    Story and Quests - Story is a mixbag . You will have to read . A lot to get something o value . This game has a lot of text. It describes everything and it could be a textgame because it's says most minor details. It makes the mistake : Tells but never shows . Game is voice acted sometimes , sometimes it's not . The Idea was a mix of MadMax and Texas Ranger . Voice acting is great , storytelling was good but it moved sooo god damn slow.
    The main problem was I never felt like doing anything Epic . Aside from shooting my life is more interesting than this. Fix this Fix that . Kill Bug's , Bring that , Fix that . Again In Fallout 2 from the start you know your on Epic Journey and you meet soo many interesting NPC in game. In this I never felt . Wow this is a great Hero or NPC I like. They are all bland. Cities are bland also Quests are very dull and stupid .

    I want too be fair this game had some good things thats why i gave it 5 . I focused on bad things because its like no reviewer EVER mentioned those before . Basicly this game is like a Slot Machine. If you have bad luck no skill will save you. If you Never played Fallout 1,2,3 , or XCom you can get all those games that are far better for the price of this game.    … Expand
  24. haplok
    Oct 8, 2014
    6
    Yeah, actually it could be a 7/10, but the second half is very buggy.

    Well, first the good: I like the graphics. Weapon models in particular are nice. Though kill animations could be more varied/weapon dependant. You get to control 7 characters. It has turn-based combat with a cool Combat Initiative system. Oh and it has a GREAT atmosphere. Not so good: Its full of plotholes.    Yeah, actually it could be a 7/10, but the second half is very buggy.

    Well, first the good:
    I like the graphics. Weapon models in particular are nice. Though kill animations could be more varied/weapon dependant.
    You get to control 7 characters. It has turn-based combat with a cool Combat Initiative system.
    Oh and it has a GREAT atmosphere.

    Not so good:
    Its full of plotholes. Like if Rangers spent the last 15 years strenghtening their ranks and fortifying their position, how could they NOT secure their nearby respective water and food supply towns.
    Combat system is kinda simplistic. Flanking doesn't work well, as cover provides full 180 degree frontal protection. And you get the cover accuracy bonus even against enemies behind you... Ranged enemies run into melee range and want to hug you. You can't target and disable different body parts (there's only "headshot", which cannot score a critical hit). The critical hit system is pretty basic. Weapon ranges are pretty pathetic, especially for sniper rifles.
    There are no Perks/Talents/Feats!
    There are many redundant skills, such as Field Medic and Surgeon.

    The BAD:
    The attributes are weak, have very little impact on gameplay. The difference between 1 and 10 in Coordination or Luck attributes provides less to-hit bonus/critical chance then 1-2 weapon skill ranks.
    Skills are entirely severed from the attributes and function in a void. A Strenght 1 character will be just as good in the "Brute Force" skill, as a Str 10 body-builder. The skillschecks get progressively tougher in this game (regardless of what the skillcheck concern), only maximum skill ranks count. Which means that you designate some skills to each character in the start andalways onlyraise these skills. Level ups are monotonous, as you only get some hp and a few skill points which may or may not be enough to raise one of your chosen skills. It could just as well be automatic.
    The loor is entirely randomized. It seems in Arizona it was raining booby-trapped safes and boxes with master locks, as they are scattered everywhere, regardless if their location makes sense or not. Unfortunately they contain mostly useless, random junk.
    Armor is useless. The system is pathetic and actually it may be harmfull in the second half of the game.    … Expand
  25. blade01
    Sep 24, 2014
    5
    Sooooo, Wasteland 2 is out!Nice!Or not?Let me explain why my score for Wasteland 2.Ill go into my technical troubles first, than i review the game itself.

    Technical trouble:I got an old PC.Thats not a problem, most games run just fine(im talking about assasins creed black flag and such titles).Im glad when a game like WL2 comes around cause it suits my PC better.Thats what i thought.I    Sooooo, Wasteland 2 is out!Nice!Or not?Let me explain why my score for Wasteland 2.Ill go into my technical troubles first, than i review the game itself.

    Technical trouble:I got an old PC.Thats not a problem, most games run just fine(im talking about assasins creed black flag and such titles).Im glad when a game like WL2 comes around cause it suits my PC better.Thats what i thought.I had issues in the EA-version of the game with the "Write to location 00000000 caused an access violation" problem.If you got a 32 bit system youll probally know about it.In short, the game uses up too much ressources while doing things.For some, even open the questlog will cause a crash.For me, it cashes when im entering the railroads nomads camp.Gamestopping i think.There is a workarround for some people but that shouldnt be necessary and its not always working.Sorry, the game looks like crap, sounds like crap and even Skyrim runs just fine on my PC.But WL2 got issues?Bad optimization, sorry guys.For that, ill substract 2 points from my score.

    Ok, into detail:

    Visuals:The game looks like crap, in every setting.While this is ok for some things, thats just to much.Everything looks like you are standing in a puddle of mud.Charactermodels are pretty bad.Visual effects?Nonexsistent!Even explosives are not great.You can say its an indiegame or its costs just XX, i dont care.Even much older games look better and the games artdesign is not that great.Look at Fallout 1 or 2.You can play it today, it looks oks cause it aged well.Wasteland 2 looks not just outdated.

    Sound:There is not much voiceacting, but when there is a voiceover its is great!!!Good quality, great cast.
    The music is ok, it fits the setting.But there is not much variety.Weaponsounds are cheap.The FAMAs for example sounds better than most weapons, why?

    Gameplay:There are some flaws in the general design.For example when you talk to someone and you want or have to use one of the speechskills(like kissass).Youll have to select the character for this action.While on its own this isnt so tragic, there are many little things like that and they sum up over the time.At some point i was really annoyed(like the regular callin for promotion aka leveling up).What the developer have done well is the deversity of skills you can use.Often, there is more than one way.I like that.The combat is a problem i think.You cant do that much, even taking cover is ruined by the fact that many enemy groups are made up of a mix of enemytypes.They will try to storm you position like hell(and will get kiled far too easy).That ruins the only real option you got, take cover.So, youll often just standing arround and shoot, especially when you fight animals.For 2014 thats not enough, sorry.And there is another problem with the random encountersystem.The groups youll encounter are badly scaled.There are small groups of 3 enemys with 15 HP or less that are too weak for you, even when you start.And than there are overpowered(when syou start they are really overpowered) groups with 80-145 HP and good armor, in the starting area.Thats badly designed, sorry.

    All in all this game is no masterpiece.It still got bugs, many bugs.Gamestoppingbugs.Search on google, youll see.After such an extensive EA-phase thats a no go!!!A solid 7 if you got a 64-bit OS and enough RAM.If you got a 32-bit OS its pure luck if the game runs like it should.Ive got a 32-bit OS and troubles, for me the game is a 5 at best.    … Expand
  26. Lauranda
    Oct 24, 2014
    7
    The original Wasteland holds up as one of my favorite games of all time, so when I stumbled upon the kickstarter for this more than 2 decades later, I jumped on it...and then had to wait another 2+ years in anticipation. I probably would give it a 6, but it gets a bonus point for the nostalgia.

    Wastleland 2 definitely brought back memories of the original, but it did get a bit tedious.    The original Wasteland holds up as one of my favorite games of all time, so when I stumbled upon the kickstarter for this more than 2 decades later, I jumped on it...and then had to wait another 2+ years in anticipation. I probably would give it a 6, but it gets a bonus point for the nostalgia.

    Wastleland 2 definitely brought back memories of the original, but it did get a bit tedious. Kill the baddies, sell/salvage the extra loot to free up encumbrance, buy more ammo, repeat. I can also see how it could be tough going without having read up on how to make a party before starting off. You definitely want to understand the CLASSIC system before you start and do not spread skill points too thin.

    Multiple ways to solve problems (and decisions affecting the side stories) was nice.

    I had no problem with the graphics. They are a nice mix of modern meshed with old-school (if you are a young'un, don't expect top of the line HD stuff here).

    The story was a little shallow, but it was very similar to the original (which I think was a nod to it). I also thought the final battle was a bit of a let down.

    One thing I did notice (or rather did not notice) was the lack of bugs. I know this is one of the reasons Fargo and company extended the deadline...they wanted it perfect. I can say I never had an issue whatsoever with anything going haywire.

    Overall I liked it, but it could have had a little more story and a little less monotony. Perhaps a Wasteland 3 will get the score up in the 9-10 range.    … Expand
  27. bordo
    Sep 22, 2014
    6
    It does have some bad aspects, sometimes it is stupid, sometimes it's meaningless. I was expecting a darker, meaner, more offensive game.
    It probably won't leave a nice mark in my mind as fallout 1 & 2 did, but it is enjoyable and there are no games like it nowadays, so play it, you won't regret that much.
  28. deettis
    Oct 4, 2014
    6
    Come on people, be honest with your reviews and try to hold on to your objectivity even if you're a kickstarter backer. I LOVE old school RPGs and I'm very excited that someone skilled is bringing them back. However, if an old school RPG, "a spiritual successor" of many games, is a simplified version of a game relesed FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, something has gone very, very wrong.

    The combat    Come on people, be honest with your reviews and try to hold on to your objectivity even if you're a kickstarter backer. I LOVE old school RPGs and I'm very excited that someone skilled is bringing them back. However, if an old school RPG, "a spiritual successor" of many games, is a simplified version of a game relesed FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, something has gone very, very wrong.

    The combat system of WL2 has almost no tactical aspects in it and the rules and physics of a gunfight have are not from this world. The cover system was a nice try to bring some tactics in to the game, but the logic of it is just silly.

    I wish it all had gone perfectly and we could've witnessed a cinderella story of gaming, but it did not go that well in all honesty. I'm sorry to say that this game is far to simplified and stupid for me to keep my interest in it and it only made me more hungry for a good turn based RPG.

    Please, my fellow gamers, be honest with your reviews, you're doing a disservice for the devs and to our whole community by praising a mediocre game. Wasteland 2 is a 10? Seriously? What is the far more versatile FO2 then, a 12?    … Expand
  29. Ludo79
    Nov 19, 2014
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Fallout fan since the beginning, I got disappointed by the unfinished game mechanics (horrible looting, very boring displacement and repetitive operations), but also disappointed by the unpolished adventure aspect. Most of the time you just go there, find the target, activate the dialog or kill it, then come back and get the XP. Most of the story is just lacking the adventure and the poetry that Fallout 1, 2 and 3 were proposing and your team is just bursting through badgers, raiders and robots most of the time.
    Added to this is a lack of finish in the end game, which is a real pity since the game is quite short in content. When you wander for the first time through the Santa Fe Base, and only cross a few creatures and crappy crates for the whole map, you just feel like the developers didn't have time to complete a real map like what they did in the first part (High Pool, Ag Center, the Prison) Nothing to do there ? And this feeling is coming more and more often as you get closer to the end.
    What is really sad is that they lost most of their sense of humor and story-telling : the last part of the game is just a straightforward fight ... till the great blow.
    The last - but not the least - failure in this project is the re playability, in my opinion.
    All Fallout games -and all good games by the way - were a real joy to replay. Wasteland 2 has it that you must play the game a certain way to optimize XP learning, DPS (assault rifle is the best) and companion encounters. I played it in "hard" and discovered most of the game ; I'm finishing it in "Full Jerk" now.. it's quite easy and very very predictable. I'll finish it for the second time, and that's all.    … Expand
  30. nomemory
    Feb 22, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Some people say this is a brilliant Fallout 2 sequel that will be bringing back memories from an era of gaming long forgotten.

    The biggest problem with this game is not the combat (which is at most mediocre, and becomes boring to soon), or the graphics that look a little outdated, but the RPG elements that are shallow. Is this even an RPG game ?

    You won't feel any real connection to your character. There is little customization, and you decisions don't really matter in the world.

    You feel no connection to your party. The characters in your party lack real backstories and are in no way memorable. You don't real care about them as long as they hit the enemies. They don't react to your decisions (btw, are there any real decisions ?!) and they don't interact with the world.

    Other problem is the lack of replayability. In theory you have plenty of customization and skills in which to invest your skill points, but in the end you will have to do the same party build if you want to finish the game. Also, there is no synergy between your skills. All you have to do is to disperse the skill points in way you cover everything.

    I am glad the game was short because I was bored pretty quickly.

    Mediocrity is the keyword to describe Wasteland 2.    … Expand
  31. binmaze
    Oct 5, 2014
    6
    A mixed bag you got here. I like "Choose and take the consequences." aspect of quests.
    I really do. It is one of the best in that aspect.
    But other than that, it is not up to expectations. Most of all, the combat is way too boring. Can you believe it? It is no better than the text combat of original Wasteland which was made nearly 30 years ago. No, it's worse, because it is    A mixed bag you got here. I like "Choose and take the consequences." aspect of quests.
    I really do. It is one of the best in that aspect.

    But other than that, it is not up to expectations.

    Most of all, the combat is way too boring. Can you believe it? It is no better than the text combat of original Wasteland which was made nearly 30 years ago.

    No, it's worse, because it is slower.
    What is worse, you have to repeat it endlessly.

    And the skills.
    There are bunch of pointless skills and it requires you to use it over and over and over and over and over and over again. Oh god, I cannot overemphasize how boring it is.

    And there is no creativity of what so ever in using skill.
    Just a sickening amount of grinding.

    You may think it's not really a problem. But it is.
    It takes too much time just to pick a lock on a random box, or to open a door.

    If it had been an adventure game(combats and skills stripped off), it would have been better.
    But as an RPG, it is not a masterpiece they promised.
    It is just an ok game.    … Expand
  32. Emrah
    Oct 6, 2014
    6
    This is definitely not a Fallout game that many of us have been waiting for. If you're a fan of Fallout 1 and 2, do not believe the polygon quote that you see on Steam. "I loved the old Fallout 1 and 2, Wasteland 2 makes me feel like I never stopped playing".

    The game is essentially a glorified Fallout tactics, with very minor RPG elements tossed it. Now if you ignore that, the game    This is definitely not a Fallout game that many of us have been waiting for. If you're a fan of Fallout 1 and 2, do not believe the polygon quote that you see on Steam. "I loved the old Fallout 1 and 2, Wasteland 2 makes me feel like I never stopped playing".

    The game is essentially a glorified Fallout tactics, with very minor RPG elements tossed it.

    Now if you ignore that, the game itself isn't... that bad, but it's certainly not an amazing game either.    … Expand
  33. jvanheerikhuize
    Oct 31, 2014
    5
    $2,933,252 which isn't a great budget for game creation, but manageble. However with the experience of the core team involved this could have become something. This game is complete **** Built on Unity?! Every single random encounter is the same, vastness is nowhere to be found, a toaster as a gimmick. Where did the dollars go? Some sketches, a POC, or did it disappear? a kind FU, waste of$2,933,252 which isn't a great budget for game creation, but manageble. However with the experience of the core team involved this could have become something. This game is complete **** Built on Unity?! Every single random encounter is the same, vastness is nowhere to be found, a toaster as a gimmick. Where did the dollars go? Some sketches, a POC, or did it disappear? a kind FU, waste of time and land!… Expand
  34. rawhide1970
    Oct 16, 2014
    7
    This is a good top down RPG tactical combat game. Character creation can be a little overwhelming at first, but I consider that to be a good thing. The storyline is good and the combat mechanics are done very well. Haven't finished it yet, but there seems to be plenty of content. Cons: I'm not convinced the weapons are balanced very well, and some of the abilities don't come into playThis is a good top down RPG tactical combat game. Character creation can be a little overwhelming at first, but I consider that to be a good thing. The storyline is good and the combat mechanics are done very well. Haven't finished it yet, but there seems to be plenty of content. Cons: I'm not convinced the weapons are balanced very well, and some of the abilities don't come into play often enough to justify putting points into them.… Expand
  35. WhatsaUsername
    Mar 17, 2015
    5
    I liked this game when I first started playing it - I really did. So I can understand why the professional reviewers rated it so highly. Unfortunately if they had had more time to play it I think they would have noticed more of its flaws.

    I'm a big fan of turn-based strategy games. Its basically just Fallout 2 with slightly nicer graphics, or so it seemed to begin with. Unfortunately it    I liked this game when I first started playing it - I really did. So I can understand why the professional reviewers rated it so highly. Unfortunately if they had had more time to play it I think they would have noticed more of its flaws.

    I'm a big fan of turn-based strategy games. Its basically just Fallout 2 with slightly nicer graphics, or so it seemed to begin with. Unfortunately it lacks the charm and wit of Fallout 2 whilst still completely ripping off every other aspect of it. In many ways this game is inferior to Fallout 2 in complexity and fun.

    Basically, you have to design a party of 4 rangers (who form your base characters) to begin with and then can add another 3 npc followers to this as you progress. Thats 7 party members in all running around! Way, way too many. Just 4 would have been fine. With 7 members we frequently outnumber the enemy in fights, making the battles feel very one-sided and unfair (in my favour).

    ** When designing your group you must assign them attributes (strength, intelligence etc) and skills (lockpicking, leadership etc). However, for the most part the attributes have absolutely no impact whatsoever on the skills. You can have a character with strength 1 and they will be just as effective at the 'Brute Force' skill as a character with strength 10. It literally makes no difference. The attributes are still important because they determine your combat stats for the rest of the game, but their lack of impact upon the skills is very disappointing.

    ** Also, with the way the game flows you can only really invest each character with around 4-6 skills each (including weapon skills) or you will soon find that they become useless very quickly. So don't count on variety spicing things up.

    ** As people have said before, many of the skills are simply used for opening chests, which you will come across constantly. You can't walk 10 paces without hitting another chest. It seems to be the number 1 hobby in the wastelands.

    ** There are a very limited number of character portraits for the npcs in the game. This means that, while their descriptions will vary greatly in the text, their appearance will not. This becomes very frustrating.

    ** The questions you can ask each npc are incessantly repetitive. "What do you think of ....?" comes up A LOT. You will find yourself asking different people the same questions over and over again and reading almost identical and pointless answers, which gets very, very tedious.

    ** The jokes are not funny. Its actually quite painful how hard they've tried to be funny, but most of the time it just falls flat.

    ** Don't even bother with melee skills. Even with an 80% chance to hit you will still inexplicably miss constantly. With guns this is not the case. Guns are far superior.

    I'm not saying this is a terrible game - its not. If you enjoyed Fallout 2 and don't mind a slightly simplified version of it, then this may well be the game for you. It is still mildly entertaining in certain ways. It is NOT, however, a £40 title by any stretch of the imagination. It is worth £15 at most. If you pay full price for it then you'd better really, really love Fallout 2 a whole lot.    … Expand
  36. Lab_Bitterman
    Mar 9, 2015
    6
    For a while, Wasteland 2 was a nice trip 'back in time' to when Turn-Based Games ruled the roost. It immediately game me that squishy "Aww, I remember all the fun I had with the original X-Com back in '94".

    It possess many of the elements I like in a Turn-Based game, such as 1) Squad formation deployments (ok, only from 1 to 4 units, but that's still a 'squad") 2) RPG-like skill    For a while, Wasteland 2 was a nice trip 'back in time' to when Turn-Based Games ruled the roost. It immediately game me that squishy "Aww, I remember all the fun I had with the original X-Com back in '94".

    It possess many of the elements I like in a Turn-Based game, such as
    1) Squad formation deployments (ok, only from 1 to 4 units, but that's still a 'squad")
    2) RPG-like skill development (remember X-Com? The more you did something, the better you got at it?)
    3) Micromanagement/customization of Squad equipment and appearance
    4) Full control of tactical deployment and execution
    5) The resolution: I could see what the heck I was doing (Sorry Good Old Games, but I need better resolution sometimes ;)

    It's a fun romp through the deserts of Arizona/California in what appears to be a carefully managed "sandbox feeling" approach. You think you can go anywhere and do anything, however you slowly realize you are just riding the rails set out for you. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, everyone could use a little hand-holding after all to learn the ropes, but 30 hours into the game you could let up a bit...

    And that's the thing with this game: after a while things stop making sense.
    1) Certain weapon specializations are less than useful except when considering available ammo. I mean, wielding pistols is cool, but that they are not much faster to use as compared to a squad-level support machine gun
    2) Armour: it's applied rather wonkily. Higher is worse for defending versus energy weapons?....
    3) Controls are a little weird, especially when it comes to skill usage
    4) "Random encounters" is defined as "the same map for the umpteenth time"
    5) Skill development is clunky
    6) The AI is crazy-brilliant or retarded, depends how you look at it
    7) Hardly destructible map
    8) *Insert playability issue you notice next* Etcetera adnauseam.

    After a few missions the fatigue of the grind sets in. That was bearable in good games of the past because something was usually going on in the background that would eventually complete and there would be a noticeable game change (ie: research was complete and you now have "item x" or whatever). But nothing is going on here. It's just "open door/kill everything/close door". Sure, the AI characters are getting stronger but so are you.

    So yes, it's new. But being new it's simply not as good as it's predecessors. It's not even as good as Silent Storm if you ask me and that's a game that's 10 years old already, let alone X-Com & Jagged Alliance. If you're bored, get it and try it. But you're $$ might be better spent getting any of the titles I just mentioned.    … Expand
  37. zmora
    Apr 23, 2015
    6
    Very simple combat, cliche filled story and in my humble opinion way too many things to find, that dont actually mean anything. As in finding some locked, trapped chest behind locked and trapped door hidden in the corner of huuuge ass map should award something more than some pants, 3 bullets and a human leg.
  38. Noi
    Feb 25, 2015
    7
    I very much anticipated this game as a fallout 1 and 2 fan. The game delivered quite well. But I must say that I was quite disappointed with the lack of variation in combat, it had quite a few bugs and one especially annoying with character movement.

    Story was good and overall the game was enjoyable.
  39. HandsomeAwkward
    Nov 27, 2015
    5
    Definitely an alright game. Not amazing in any way what-so-ever, but not utterly atrocious as a package. (Though there are individual parts that are atrocious in my opinion, which we will get to).

    The good: It's actually somewhat hard for me to list what I liked about this game, because my opinion is based mostly on what I don't like. I'm a fan of turn-based RPG's, so they all kinda    Definitely an alright game. Not amazing in any way what-so-ever, but not utterly atrocious as a package. (Though there are individual parts that are atrocious in my opinion, which we will get to).

    The good:

    It's actually somewhat hard for me to list what I liked about this game, because my opinion is based mostly on what I don't like. I'm a fan of turn-based RPG's, so they all kinda start out as a perfect 10 for me, and the score goes down as I find things I don't like.

    There's a nice variety of items.

    The map is fairly large.

    The game doesn't look unreasonably bad.

    The combat would be fairly complex if this were 1998.

    The bad:

    The items are all fairly shallow increments on one another. The difference between the M1 Rifle and the M14 is a couple points of damage and a different AP (Action points - the "currency" you spend to perform actions in combat) cost. The difference between the M14 and the famas is another couple points of damage and different AP cost. The difference between the famas and the M16 is more damage and different AP cost. I was never really excited finding a new weapon or item - it always just amounts to "yay, more damage" or "I've already passed this increment" if you've found something below what you have.

    The map lacks some serious polish. If you aren't aware, basically the game tries to emulate Fallout's map style, but in 3D. The entire thing resembles one big model desert made by a 2nd grader. Just flat, tan, monotone desert floor broken up by mountains - all of which look the same. It leads to some things that break immersion in the modern gamer, such as running into a random encounter of raiders on this flat monotone desert landscape, only to enter the battlefield and find you were travelling through an industrial complex. "An industrial complex?" I ask. "I was literally in the middle of nowhere in a desert with no landmarks. This apparent industrial complex was not on the map." Something that would be acceptable if this were 1998, but the game was released in 2014.

    The graphics are not at all up to par with 2014 standards. This would probably hold up if we were playing in 2003. It's not terrible, not something to really shred the game about in my opinion, but it definitely does take away from the moment at times, realizing how horrible animation quality (there are maybe 4 different reload animations for every weapon in the game, for example) is, how horrible the models are (the weapons and character models especially), and how bad texture quality can be.

    The combat is shallow. After you've experienced your first battle, that's it. You've experienced all the game has to offer in that department. You will fight more enemies with higher health with a bigger squad and better weapons as the game goes on, but as far as mechanics go, it never gets any deeper. It becomes a huge chore to fight enemies, especially coming from a game like XCOM Enemy Unknown which is, in my opinion, the gold standard for how turn-based isometric RNG-based ranged weapon-based combat should be done. In Wasteland 2, you start out with a handful of "skills" to use in combat, and that's it. It doesn't change as the game goes on. In XCOM, you start out with a couple of skills that change the way combat goes, and as the game goes on it gets more and more complex with deeper and deeper skills and augments changing your strategies and how you play. One baseline strategy will work throughout the entire game for Wasteland 2.

    The AI is extremely barebones. There are two types of AI in combat it seems. One will keep distance and take pot-shots, and the other will rush the spot where it can get the best shot off at whatever character it chooses - regardless of the danger it will put itself in. As I stated, it becomes a chore.

    The voice acting is utterly atrocious. Ridiculously bad. I honestly can't stand it at times and I have no idea why others don't comment on this. There is one character at the starting settlement who speaks 100% in yelling, which combined with poor timing and unenlightened dialogue make for a hilarious spectacle, as he tricks me into being harmed by a goat and shouts in his burly man shout "HA-HA-HA HE TOTALLY HEADBUTTED YOUR ASS" and then, after I kill the goat, shouts "WHY DID YOU KILL IT? I LOVED THAT GOAT. YOU GUYS ARE JERKS" without a trace of humor or irony in his voice.

    There are also just miscellaneous other things in the game which simply lack polish and charm. Remember how talking to some characters in Fallout presented you with an animated version of their face? There's nothing like that here. No one to get attached to. No inspired, witty dialogue. No brilliantly crafted environments and no satisfying problems to solve, besides who to shoot first and whether or not you can get away with moving a character into cover closer to the bad guys without initiating combat.

    5/10    … Expand
  40. Draegnar
    Oct 6, 2014
    6
    Wasteland 2 could be a great game but right now (October 6, 2014) it is rigged with too many bugs and balancing issues. IMHO, this games was not ready for full release.

    Pros: - The post-apocalyptic feeling is great. - Dialogues and story are well written. - The huge amount of references and nods to the 80s is rather enjoyable. - Old-school cRPG are so rare nowadays and Wasteland 1    Wasteland 2 could be a great game but right now (October 6, 2014) it is rigged with too many bugs and balancing issues. IMHO, this games was not ready for full release.

    Pros:
    - The post-apocalyptic feeling is great.
    - Dialogues and story are well written.
    - The huge amount of references and nods to the 80s is rather enjoyable.
    - Old-school cRPG are so rare nowadays and Wasteland 1 was always one of my favourite.

    Cons;
    - So many fights and so little strategy involved, enemy AI is meh...
    - Lack of meaningful choices: open-ended quests are uncommon and mostly leads to flavor-only consequences.
    - A lot of skills feel redundant and artificial (there's 5 different skills for unlocking things, 3 for persuasive dialog,...).
    - Current attributes balance promotes character builds with 2 to 4 dump stats.
    - Ranged weapon balance is terrible: Assault rifles are OP, Sniper and SMG are OK, there's only one good Energy weapon in the entire game, the rest is garbage.
    - There's too much randomness in loot and skill success, savescumming will lead you anywhere.
    - UI is clunky and not user-friendly, too much wasted time in skill usage delays,...
    - Poor optimisation. For example, any activated alarm makes the game unplayable because of lag.
    - After first patch, there's still lots of bugged quests, combat related and inventory management issues (clicking dragging an item fail 2 times out of 3),...

    The most serious issues of Wasteland 2 comes from really bad design choices (randomness, artificial skills, balancing issues,...). This game seriously needs a huge re-balancing patch (or modding tools) to live up to its expectations.    … Expand
  41. Digitalkid
    Sep 22, 2014
    5
    Looks quite mediocre, but feels like a good old RPG. At first.. GUI is really awful, worst interface decisions ever. 2 lists of character portraits when you open character screen, useless radio call for levelup with same phrases on and on, finding a right camera angle is a total disaster. So after a few hours gameplay turns to real torture.
  42. Garfoodle
    Sep 23, 2014
    6
    Not the best TBS game on the market,not the worst, It plays well and all,but for some reason,it just seems to be missing something. Maybe it's the lack of surprise, the whole "I've been there, done that" feeling that comes with playing this game. Maybe it's the heavy $40 price of admission to get into the show,per say. Maybe it's just the very overdone setting.But,none thE less,it's stillNot the best TBS game on the market,not the worst, It plays well and all,but for some reason,it just seems to be missing something. Maybe it's the lack of surprise, the whole "I've been there, done that" feeling that comes with playing this game. Maybe it's the heavy $40 price of admission to get into the show,per say. Maybe it's just the very overdone setting.But,none thE less,it's still a fun,decent length romp through nostalgia that is worth getting for the soon to be $20 steam sale.… Expand
  43. mweagle
    Oct 2, 2014
    7
    I can be very short about this one.

    The good: - Nice tactical combat with multiple characters that allows for a very versatile gameplay. - A lot of variety in the maps. - Solid quests, if you excluse some in the first half of the game. - Loads of stuff in the game. - Some nice humor and references in the game. - Nice RPG elements and the game gives you a lot of freedom to build    I can be very short about this one.

    The good:
    - Nice tactical combat with multiple characters that allows for a very versatile gameplay.
    - A lot of variety in the maps.
    - Solid quests, if you excluse some in the first half of the game.
    - Loads of stuff in the game.
    - Some nice humor and references in the game.
    - Nice RPG elements and the game gives you a lot of freedom to build and develop your characters.
    - No quests-a-la-follow-the-marker-marker-marker-marker.

    The bad:
    - Bugs bugs bugs bugs.
    - 1% Jam rate on a HMG and it still jams every gunfight...
    - Bad introduction to the game, nothing is explained so you are destined to make some wrong character creation errors. Although the game lets you figure stuff out yourself, some info about some crucial things (gameplay/gamemechanic wise)would be nice.
    - Every single thing is percentage/stat based. Sure, you can get 100%, but every single thing, from combat to lockpicking, to breaking walls to hacking computers is chance-based, with the occasion of a critical failure, making the objective perma-useless. Very annoying and a lot of quick-loading because of this. Should not be necessary.    … Expand
  44. therob91
    Jan 30, 2015
    5
    Its a solid game, but doesn't really have much character building through dialogue. The whole point of dialogue trees is that they let you manipulate the flow of the conversation and express your character through methods other than combat. This speech system does not do that(which is possibly the greatest advantage that this style of RPG should have over large voice acted games - you canIts a solid game, but doesn't really have much character building through dialogue. The whole point of dialogue trees is that they let you manipulate the flow of the conversation and express your character through methods other than combat. This speech system does not do that(which is possibly the greatest advantage that this style of RPG should have over large voice acted games - you can easily code more words and choices for a relatively low price.) Actions are largely pretty obvious and/or option A option B feeling rather than feeling like a real world choice. Essentially choices just feel more "game-ey" than some of the great RPGs like Fallout or KOTOR. Stats are largely not as important as they should be. UI and non combat controls could use some serious sprucing up, there is no need to copy the problems of yesteryear when making a throwback game. Still played to the end and enjoyed it, won't be going back though. Almost feels more like an eastern style RPG in western style RPG clothing(Final Fantasy with a post nuclear setting and some text trees that are about as useful as just watching a cutscene.) If you are just aching for an RPG and you don't feel like playing some of the other greats again its a nice change of pace. DO NOT expect a Fallout style game.… Expand
  45. jedidiah
    Oct 1, 2014
    7
    As a backer, I have waited the game too long. And this game should really be better. There are minimal improvement since early beta. I don't see why it gets such high reputation among the critic reviews.

    I list my humble complains here: The loot system is a pain. Random-drop makes the game experience unstable. Opening every safe and box provides very little fun. There should be less    As a backer, I have waited the game too long. And this game should really be better. There are minimal improvement since early beta. I don't see why it gets such high reputation among the critic reviews.

    I list my humble complains here:

    The loot system is a pain. Random-drop makes the game experience unstable. Opening every safe and box provides very little fun. There should be less containers and better loots.

    The difference of weapon strength between every tiers is very queer. If only there are several characteristic weapons of similar power, player can combat with more play styles.

    The skill success rate system is just very troublesome. If the game allows saving and loading, the check should better set as a threshold of all or none. Asking player to ponder for a proper action before an object may be funny in 1988 but not now.

    The 3 kinds of speech check make confusing in my skill-picking but not as much enjoyment in doing those speech.

    The maps are way too wide thus make too many running, as many user commented.
    The mini-maps are irrelevant.
    Tactic component of the battle is too thin and covers are difficult to use. The combat is not interesting.
    The story of NPCs are either very short or coming as a big mass in a very short moment. I was hoping a storytelling that allow their story to be discovered step by step.    … Expand
  46. c3p
    Nov 11, 2014
    7
    Like Shadowrun it's awesome if you're a fan of the genre.
    Then you will be blindly in love and can overlook graphic and balancing issues. It's your 9.5/10 and you love it!
    If you are only mildly interested in the genre it's a tough deal. You should read up on the Internet before playing on how to make your character "not suck" and you'll have to be willing to spend 20-30 hours until    Like Shadowrun it's awesome if you're a fan of the genre.
    Then you will be blindly in love and can overlook graphic and balancing issues. It's your 9.5/10 and you love it!

    If you are only mildly interested in the genre it's a tough deal. You should read up on the Internet before playing on how to make your character "not suck" and you'll have to be willing to spend 20-30 hours until you really can enjoy it. I'm not sure everyone has that time or wants to invest it.

    To conclude: a very slow game with many small issues that could have been solved better, but if you're willing to overlook these it's a diamond you won't find anywhere else!    … Expand
  47. eekz
    Mar 27, 2015
    5
    Very controversial feelings. In the beginning the game is very promising but the more you advance the more you feel that something is wrong. While 1st part of the game feels all right, the more you become closer to LA part, the more game feels unfinished and repetitive.
  48. TSTINKERS
    Dec 29, 2014
    6
    OK. this game is not a 10 to everyone giving it a 10. I played it all the way through, 120hrs... so... it is definately OK. But... the battles are terrible. The RPG and quests and going around talking etc. is perfect. The only thing missing (and it is a big thing) because it's 50% of the game, is the battles with enemies. With Jagged Alliance 2 you could creep around, every shotOK. this game is not a 10 to everyone giving it a 10. I played it all the way through, 120hrs... so... it is definately OK. But... the battles are terrible. The RPG and quests and going around talking etc. is perfect. The only thing missing (and it is a big thing) because it's 50% of the game, is the battles with enemies. With Jagged Alliance 2 you could creep around, every shot counted, if someone was injured they were out for a while, ammo was scarce., there weren't crates every 5 steps you take, if you found a crate it was actually exciting and it would have a ton of stuff instead of 3 bullets. So... this game is basically not polished. When you go to switch your gun for a gernade to throw the gun suddenly unloads all the bullets. Just weird stuff like that. With Jagged Alliance 2 if you walked around the corner and you were 2 feet from an enemy, if they hit you close range with a pistol you'd be dead. With Wasteland a pistol shot from close range is like a slap on the wrist.

    So... basically... this game is not a classic. It doesn't suck, but it isn't a classic. If they thought out the fighting as much as they thought out the RPG, yes, it definitely had a chance.    … Expand
  49. PowerGamer
    Nov 26, 2014
    6
    Boring, Boring,

    I was looking forward to trying this game. Hell, I'm one of the original Fallout 1 programmers. I knew Brian Fargo of course because he was the president of the company, and probably knew some of the people that worked on this game; including many that elevated their participation with Fallout but in fact had little to do with it. Doesn't change my opinion of the    Boring, Boring,

    I was looking forward to trying this game.

    Hell, I'm one of the original Fallout 1 programmers.
    I knew Brian Fargo of course because he was the president of the company,
    and probably knew some of the people that worked on this game; including many that elevated their participation with Fallout but in fact had little to do with it.
    Doesn't change my opinion of the game however..

    I put so many hours into the game. Fun at times, but frankly the majority of the time it's just slow, dull and boring.

    Furthermore it was hard to progress as it was hard to tell where anything important was at.
    The wacky map setup didn't help it either. The map always faces relative North, but then you can spin the camera around so you can be facing any direction. It's too bad this wasn't shown with some kind of circle, and, or cone shape et al. I had to switch between rotating the view camera around to into into orientation with the map to figure out where I was on it.

    Kind of cool to go back to an old style, but then if a game is not good it's not going to help, just making things worse. A 1990's style, done worse.
    It sat on my hard drive for months now, it was time to uninstall it knowing I wasn't coming back.

    P.S. It looks like their are shills making +10 reviews. Look at some of them. This is the one and only game they made a review for. Go figure..    … Expand
  50. ScienceAdvisor
    Oct 25, 2014
    5
    Even with all the horrible reviews from credible sources (aka not the ones claiming this is 10/10 Pure Gold, Game of the Century), I was unprepared for exactly how vapid the game design is. When I eventually got into a shooting in Highpool (start of the game) and all the NPC could see and shoot through solid objects, it was the end for me. This is nothing more than a time waster,Even with all the horrible reviews from credible sources (aka not the ones claiming this is 10/10 Pure Gold, Game of the Century), I was unprepared for exactly how vapid the game design is. When I eventually got into a shooting in Highpool (start of the game) and all the NPC could see and shoot through solid objects, it was the end for me. This is nothing more than a time waster, without any of the compelling gameplay or story that should have accompanied it. How this came from the person behind Fallout 1 & 2 is astounding. How any credible reviewer could have given it a high score simply indicates that they only played the first 30 minutes and wrote the review based on that.

    One thing I did notice is the lack of quality in the textures, models, and level design. This all suggests that a large portion of the money raised for this was funneled elsewhere (most likely Tides of Numenera). Glad I was just playing a friends copy or this would be sent back for a refund. If this is the best Fargo could do for such a pivotal title in restarting his career, Tides will likely be a disappointment as well.    … Expand
  51. Damascus
    Feb 16, 2015
    5
    Wasteland 2 is unfortunately a booring game. Four critical flaws make it so.

    First, it doesen't really capture the post-apocalyptic feel. The sounds aren't haunting and lonely enough, the people you meet doesen't have character enough, the narrative doesen't emphasise it enough, and the world is more absurd than gritty. Second, the story doesen't grip me. It's bland and seems    Wasteland 2 is unfortunately a booring game. Four critical flaws make it so.

    First, it doesen't really capture the post-apocalyptic feel. The sounds aren't haunting and lonely enough, the people you meet doesen't have character enough, the narrative doesen't emphasise it enough, and the world is more absurd than gritty.

    Second, the story doesen't grip me. It's bland and seems uninspired, more like a backdrop for laying down lead than anything else. It fails to motivate me, making leveling and shooting the only motivation to keep playing.

    Thirdly, because the game fails to convey the feel and story of the wasteland, each new area is just a hub for more generic tasks. Exploring in this game just means finding another safe to crack, another lock to fiddle with and another bandit to shoot. In other words, exprloring is booring.

    Fourth, the leveling is also booring. The formula is too easy, has too little crunch, too little character and feels kinda pointless. Once you figure out that the only thing that matters from character creation is action points, initiative and skillpoints, you realize that the best party consist of 4 clones, with some small ajustments to one of them to make sure you have good range of sight. There is almost no correlation between stats and skill, meaning you can pin any skill on any character with the same effect. This is ok if you don't want to make character building a focus, but it also removes character building as a motivation to play on. Further, this game reward not spending your skillpoints until you really need them, which makes the treshhold for each level completely irrelevant.

    In contrast, Fallout 1 and 2 was the opposite in all of the above, and it's what made them shine imo.

    So I'm halfway into the game. I don't really care about what just happened in Arizona and I don't care about what's gonna happen in California. Why should I keep playing? I don't care about what happens the next level. The story ain't gonna improve. The feel ain't gonna improve. I don't care about shooting my gun just once more or opening just one more lock or disarming just one more trap. I've had my fill of generic tasks, and I'm just boored.    … Expand
  52. Loler13gr
    Jan 28, 2015
    7
    A good old-shcool RPG which will please the series fans and the hardcore RPG players but may seem a little too hard to the new ones. The survival aspect of the game ties in perfectly with the RPG and strategic elements and offers an experience which can only be matched by a heavily moded Fallout game. Do give it a shot but know it takes a little more patience than other games. OtherwiseA good old-shcool RPG which will please the series fans and the hardcore RPG players but may seem a little too hard to the new ones. The survival aspect of the game ties in perfectly with the RPG and strategic elements and offers an experience which can only be matched by a heavily moded Fallout game. Do give it a shot but know it takes a little more patience than other games. Otherwise you can always play Original Sin.… Expand
  53. luciferwez
    Aug 21, 2015
    7
    If you're looking for a challenging and fun 3D version of the Fallout 1/2 combat system, look no further. It has its flaws but overall good and since I love turn-based RPG (which is extremely hard to find) I enjoy playing it.
  54. BlackChurch
    Jan 22, 2017
    5
    Wasteland 2 is not current classic RPG. Unfortunately, developers could not repeat the success of Fallout 2. Too many flaws in this game. Yes, the Wasteland 2 is not perfect and my expectations were too high.
  55. CoreGamer1408
    Dec 17, 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.

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PC Game of 2014
25
#25 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
24
#24 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 65 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 65
  3. Negative: 0 out of 65
  1. DarkStation
    Nov 25, 2014
    80
    Wasteland 2, for the most part, provides everything that its Kickstarter backers and fans of the genre are looking for.
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  2. RPGamer
    Nov 13, 2014
    60
    If you're a fan of this style of game and have played the best recent releases, look behind you. Because that's where Wasteland 2 is going to be.
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  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Nov 12, 2014
    100
    The epitome of old-school that doesn't reek of decay. There are a few bumps along the road, but oh, is it a road worth taking. [Issue#246]
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