Wasteland 3 Review
Wasteland 3 is a game that I wanted to get excited about for a long time, but couldn't ever really muster up any genuine enthusiasm for one reason or another. I don't have any nostalgia for the series, the pre-release showcases for the game didn't really grip me, and I never really found the setting compelling. A post-apocalyptic wasteland (no doubt) with an extra emphasis on the capacity of human depravity, with servings of over-embellished political satire, bleak and dark humor, and a tactical flavor reminiscent of XCOM. It was a melting pot of things I wasn't sure I was altogether keen on.
Good word of mouth alongside a major patch to fix some of the initial technical issues, and I finally figured I would dive in and educate myself a little bit about exactly what sort of game this was and experience it firsthand. I had recently played the original two Fallout games and wanted to play something similar, at least on a surface level. What I found was a weirdly confident, unique experience that is undoubtedly a hard sell to players who weren't already on board, but also one of the most interesting and distinctive RPGs I've played in the last couple years.
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Wasteland 3 has a certain attitude that isn't really like most other games I've played. It's often irreverent and sarcastic and frequently bleak, but it still manages to be one of the funniest games I've played this year. At the same time, it has weird moments where I find myself baffled, completely unsure at what the intended response was ever expected to be. At its core is are some absolutely robust systems that RPG fans should love to tinker with, and while the storytelling is often a mixed bag, I found myself appreciative of how Wasteland 3 sets itself apart in a setting that it would be so easy to play it safe in.
Score: 8/10
