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Infinite Halo
, delayed. Cyberpunk 2077, delayed. Baldur’s Gate 3 early access, delayed. Some of the most anticipated upcoming new video game releases have been delayed. While you’re waiting for one or more of those, consider a retro trip to the glory days of the classic computer RPG in Wasteland 3.
The Wasteland series dates back to 1988 and is somewhere between cult and obscurity. He is primarily remembered for influencing the Fallout series, which similarly combined post-apocalyptic combat and exploration with cunning humor and broad characters.
The third game in the series made its way onto PC, Xbox, and PS4 without warning last week. That said, it is part of the Xbox Game Pass subscription on both Xbox and PC, so it could attract an unexpected audience looking for something new to download and play.
Actually, he’s in my alley, so at least I was keeping an eye on him. Having previously written admiringly about Fallout (yes, even Fallout 76), Divinity: Original Sin 2, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire And the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3, I fully admit that I have a soft spot for long, talking RPGs with groups of colorful characters engaging in turn-based adventures.
After struggling to keep my frame rate high with Microsoft Flight Simulator (also usefully included in Xbox Game Pass for PC), I was pleased to be able to put this game on Ultra graphics settings at full 4K resolution, which my Nvidia GeForce 2080-powered gaming laptop handled just fine.
That also means this isn’t the most dazzling game you’ve ever seen, but it fits in perfectly with the series’ low-budget vibe (Wasteland 2 raised its development money on Kickstarter several years ago). In this new installment, the voice acting is above average and there’s even some great original music, but in a move Roger Corman would appreciate, most of the outside terrain is … snow.
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Elegant apocalyptic
Honestly, I thought the post-apocalyptic vibe had developed a few years ago, and at least there are fewer zombie games, movies, and TV shows right now. But our collective obsession with the end of the world continues unabated, aided no doubt by the real nightmare world we are living in 2020.
Fallout games have always played on this fascination, adding just enough humor to soften the edge. Wasteland takes on a similar tone. Sometimes it works, like the various cyborg chickens that can follow your team or the game’s obsession with broken toasters and creepy dolls (which add perks or rare items). Other things don’t work as well, like the Las Vegas gun dealer who’s literally called Joey Bagadonuts. Groan.
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But in any case, it’s a little less depressing than playing some of the more grim recent post-apocalyptic games like The Last of Us Part 2 and Doom Eternal; I’d even say the post-Mongol invasion Ghost of Tsushima falls for that. category.
Would you pay $ 60 (£ 50, AU $ 85) for Wasteland 3 as a standalone game? Probably not, although I did enjoy the previous games in the series and generally like turn-based RPGs. But, as part of Xbox Games Pass, truly the secret weapon of PC gamers in 2020, you may find a wide new audience looking to take a break from our reality-based apocalypse and play in a more snowy one.
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