Wasteland 2 - Review Roundup #5

Couchpotato · October 8, 2014

Here is the fifith round of reviews for Wasteland 2. Once again the reviews are positive.

Cliqist - No Score Given

Although there wasn’t any doubt, I can now attest that inXile followed through with their Kickstarter promises.

ActionTrip - 6.7/10

Wasteland 2 has familiar trappings of past great games. It may be salvaged by future content and updates, albeit we fear that this may require the kind of budget and commitment inXile may not be able to follow-up on. In fact, it almost seems like the developer’s budget was pretty tight at the end, which is could be the reason why it’s clearly so unpolished.

Gamefront - 88/100

These minor complaints aside, Wasteland 2 is a deep and addictive experience that will grab and hold you hard for its duration. Is it for everyone? Probably not. It has a decidedly old-school foundations that could be a put-off for new and younger gamers raised on modern day Fallouts and Skyrims.

GodisaGeek - 8/10

Wasteland 2 is a warm return to the RPGs of yesteryear. To quests that take hours to complete, to traps in every corridor, to desperate item foraging in light of dwindling ammo supplies. It’s not a classic of its genre, but it is ultimately a beacon of hope for a certain style of RPG – the video game pen and paper style – that many thought had been lost in more recent years.

GamingTrend - 85/100

Awaited for well over a decade by now-ancient gamers, Wasteland 2 manages to live up to the spirit of the original while going beyond it in terms of depth and detail. While there are bugs to be fixed and the difficulty may be too challenging for some, any lover of turn-based RPGs should add this one to their Steam library as soon as they can.

More information.

booboo · October 8, 2014

I was quite enjoying this, but 44 hours in, and having arrived in the next major play area/state…I feel my enthusiasm ebbing. I'm level 19 now and it just feels like its one combat after the other. I wonder if all the reviewers played it through properly?

Hexprone · October 8, 2014

I just hit the prison and I'm still having a blast.

The one big thing missing for me: the game format would seem to make the inclusion of a stealth skill a no-brainer -- but it just doesn't exist. I don't if this was a cut feature or was never planned, but it feels like a big omission, so much so that whenever I hit the "crouch" button I keep half-expecting to go into stealth mode.

TomRon · October 8, 2014

RedSocialKnight said:
I just hit the prison and I'm still having a blast.

The one big thing missing for me: the game format would seem to make the inclusion of a stealth skill a no-brainer — but it just doesn't exist. I don't if this was a cut feature or was never planned, but it feels like a big omission, so much so that whenever I hit the "crouch" button I keep half-expecting to go into stealth mode.

It was cut. I don't quite remember what the reasons where though.

Archangel · October 9, 2014

tomasp3n said:
It was cut. I don't quite remember what the reasons where though.

The reason was that it breaks too many triggers and would have more problems than it is worth.

BlackVoid · October 9, 2014

Hollywood quest hub is a mess. Overall game feels like it was rushed in the end.

After finishing Wasteland 2 i didn't have any desire to play it second time with a different party (there is no real choice there). But i thought about playing Fallout 2, 6th or 7th time again.

IMHO, Fallout 2 is a much better game. But it's just me, they weren't doing Fallout sequel anyways.

P.S. I have really high hopes for the Age of Decadence though, even now it plays great.

crpgnut · October 9, 2014

Yeah, I grew bored of Wasteland 2 without finishing too. I did play the first areas a few times though and got 70 hours of enjoyment out of it. Worth the $40. I'm reinstalling Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas for my post-apoc fix. I played Fallout 1 and 2 and found 1 to be the much better game. I really got bored of 2 around New Reno.

Hexprone · October 9, 2014

BlackVoid said:
Hollywood quest hub is a mess. Overall game feels like it was rushed in the end.

I understand that QA for the entire California section of the game was outsourced, and people do say the quality drops off. Haven't gotten there yet myself.

ChienAboyeur · October 9, 2014

RedSocialKnight said:
The one big thing missing for me: the game format would seem to make the inclusion of a stealth skill a no-brainer — but it just doesn't exist. I don't if this was a cut feature or was never planned, but it feels like a big omission, so much so that whenever I hit the "crouch" button I keep half-expecting to go into stealth mode.

It was planned. Some items remain from the planning. They might be expurged with the updates (still playing unpatched)
Besides, the level design is a big give revealer.

EvilManagedCare · October 9, 2014

RedSocialKnight said:
I just hit the prison and I'm still having a blast.

This is where I am in the game too & I echo your sentiments, especially the having a blast part. WL2 is by no means perfect, but is just what I have been looking for in terms of game play. It has been engaging, immersive, and I can't stop playing.

In terms of replay, though, I'm afraid it's not offering as much so far. We'll see, next play-through I'll save Highpool instead & maybe not be such an altruistic band of lawmen. The only thing I am dreading at this time is a degradation in play as I enter the second half of the game (I have read the quests therein are bugged).

There are things I wish were improved such as more frequent chances to use the 'Ass' skills. It seemed in the beginning they were always an option, now you hardly see them-- not even blacked out ones you can't choose because levels are too low.

BillSeurer · October 9, 2014

EvilManagedCare said:
There are things I wish were improved such as more frequent chances to use the 'Ass' skills. It seemed in the beginning they were always an option, now you hardly see them— not even blacked out ones you can't choose because levels are too low.

I noticed this, too. My guess is different area/quest designers are the reason.

BTW, in order to complete one major quest I needed not one but TWO of them at like level 5. And I had been ignoring them for a while. Oh well.

EvilManagedCare · October 9, 2014

BillSeurer said:
I noticed this, too. My guess is different area/quest designers are the reason.

BTW, in order to complete one major quest I needed not one but TWO of them at like level 5. And I had been ignoring them for a while. Oh well.

I did as well, and after going back to the NPC requiring this after leveling them up I get no conversation options at all. Don't know if this is a bug. This happened to be in Rail Nomads.

Hexprone · October 9, 2014

EvilManagedCare said:
after going back to the NPC requiring this after leveling them up I get no conversation options at all. Don't know if this is a bug.

I think it's designed that way -- you get one chance to use your "ass" skills, and if you don't have them then, you've missed the boat.

BlackVoid · October 9, 2014

RedSocialKnight said:
I understand that QA for the entire California section of the game was outsourced, and people do say the quality drops off. Haven't gotten there yet myself.

Hollywood is the last area before the finale. The rest of LA was fine by today's standards.

It has a lot of quests, which you have to take and complete in certain order to get a certain outcome. Otherwise some options become unavailable. Triggers don't work in some quests. You can complete some quests without even taking them, breaking the narrative.

It is all fixable though.

Wasteland 2 - Review Roundup #5

Couchpotato

Part-Time News-bot

booboo

SasqWatch

Hexprone

Thou hast lost an eighth!

TomRon

SasqWatch

Archangel

SasqWatch

BlackVoid

Watchdog

crpgnut

SasqWatch

Hexprone

Thou hast lost an eighth!

ChienAboyeur

SasqWatch

EvilManagedCare

Sentinel

BillSeurer

Eternal Supreme Dictator

EvilManagedCare

Sentinel

Hexprone

Thou hast lost an eighth!

BlackVoid

Watchdog