Yeah, I know that I'm slow on the uptake for this one, but I'm a busy guy some of the time and things just slip through the cracks. That's not to say that I don't consider this game important, just that there has been a lot of other gaming related events that have required more pressing attention from me. That and the prep I have to do for some of my longer form blogs, you know how it goes. I pushed it back for a day, then a week, and now it's been several months and I'm only just getting around to it. Whatever, the point is that I'm here now to take a look over the game that many call "The Fallout that we should have had" (Sigh) Wasteland 3.
For those unfamiliar, all the way back in 1988 one of the earliest RPG developers of all time, Interplay Entertainment, created a post-apocalyptic role playing game in the traditional style of the time. (I'm talking mostly text boxes with a little window pop-up when you come across something noteworthy or hostile.) It was a mostly simple story about 'Desert Rangers' battling robots and bandits all in an effort to bring sanity and order to a world gone feral. In 1997 that concept would get picked up again by them when they translated that world into a fully rendered environment in 'Fallout', which they produced. This time the world had more of a satirical style to it, leaning off the aesthetic of the American Nuclear age with a tongue in cheek approach. Of course, that style wouldn't be 'perfected' until 1998's Fallout 2 wherein Interplay let their full talents be shown and dazzled the budding RPG world. After that, work began on a Fallout 3 which ended up falling apart and the rights for the franchise would end up being sold to Bethesda who turned the isometric turn-based franchise into a action adventure RPG and ended up murdering the whole thing in 2018 with Fallout 76.
Interplay's co-founder Brian Fargo still wasn't done with post-apocalyptia, he founded Inxile and in 2014 they created and released a sequel to their old Wasteland game in 3d rendered glory. This time the game played a lot more like 'X-Com: Enemy Unknown', with players having to manage battle positioning and taking shots based on percentage advantages. The game was full of old RPG throwbacks whilst simultaneously taking full advantage of all the evolutions of the modern age in terms of game development. Many who had become disillusioned with Bethesda's approach to Fallout consequently looked to Wasteland 2 as an example of what they had been missing for all of these years. Nowadays it remains something of a cult classic amidst traditional RPG fans who have been waiting on a promised sequel for a good long while now, one which seems set to arrive next year.
At X019, that event which I definitely watched and didn't completely forget about again, (That's my story and I'm sticking with it.) Inxile delivered a full gameplay trailer for their next game, taking place in the snowy wastes of Colorado. (Didn't know it got that cold out there, but I'll buy it.) From a timing perspective, there honestly couldn't have been a better point to drop this trailer. As sad as it is to say, a lot of the love for Wasteland 2 was fueled by a pointed anger towards Bethesda and their 'dumbing down' of the Fallout franchise, which is was so many old RPG heads adopted Inxile's game so readily. Now that Bethesda have stuck themselves in the dog house with all the rest of their fans, it only makes sense for Wasteland to come along again and promise all those fans the world. Obviously, I'm not accusing Fargo of planning this all out, that would be literally impossible with how development cycles work, I'm just pointing out how this timing proved serendipitous.
This time around it seems that the rangers, who are typically from the deserts of Nevada, have strayed to the East in order to deal with a budding threat from the locales. Apparently the so-called Patriarch of Nevada has lost control of his territory as his three children, who are "even more ruthless than he is", have torn up the land. Therefore the Rangers have been courted by the Patriarch himself to restore order and, presumably, put down his children as they go. Obviously, this seems like a situation ripe for subversions and it wouldn't be a Wasteland title if there wasn't some sort of huge decision to be made somewhere down the line. I suspect that these 'wild children' will each have their own opinions on how the land should be ruled and the player's will have to eventually choose between them to ultimately stabilize the land. Or kill all 4 and watch the place fall about. Wasteland is the sort of franchise to allow that level of choice afterall.
The big evolution from a gameplay point that I see right now is the introduction of vehicles that is sure to change the balance of power in the game. In Wasteland 2 there were a significant number of huge deadly robots to threaten your party as you moved further into built-up areas, but you were always expected to deal with them in a 'David vs Goliath' fashion. All players had at their disposal were explosives, ballistics and the occasional energy weapon, so it should be interesting to see if this new focus on vehicular combat will even up the odds somewhat. And, I should add, although the X019 doesn't show any actual combat in the truck, the reveal trailer from 3 years back certainly did tease that, so I suspect the Inxile are probably just nailing down the visual effects for that feature.
I've also taken a look at some Alpha footage of the game that has been floating around and been interested to see some of the evolutions there. (I really am heavily behind on things.) One feature I've noticed is the way that squad members now have equip slots that seem specifically tailored to fit in any of the 'class specific' items that they would require. By that I mean that a medic might have some extra slots for his supplies and so forth. This will be particularly helpful seeing as how previously one just had to keep loading up the right supplies to the right individual and try to remember who was the medic at all times. (Which usually meant a lot of scanning the stat sheets to remember who you made good at what.)
Additionally, there appears to be a influx in the variety of equipment that the player has at their disposal, implying that there will be vast array of enemies to deal with. Must notably I saw in the boxart that there was a minigun (Which should be helpful for situations requiring heavy crowd control) and a flamethrower. (for which I'm less sure how situation appropriate that it will be.) Wasteland 2 was one of the few RPGs that made it genuinely necessary to plan out every single tool that you have at your disposal and so I expect that Wasteland 3 will do the same. Does that mean that the icy setting will have an actual tangible effect on the gameplay? I haven't found anything concrete on that matter but I certainly hope so. Even if that doesn't materialize as a 'freeze' meter, or the possibility of being beset by an obfuscating snowstorm mid gameplay; I'd at least like the ability to set off a mini avalanche on someone's head.
One thing that I haven't noticed in any of the footage regarding Wasteland is any combat-based action that isn't directly shooting someone. That may sound strange to point out, but I've always argued that this 'turn-based' style of gameplay would be perfect for contextualized actions. Just look at the way that such is handled in 'Torment: Tides of Numenera'. In that game you'll find old technologies around the battlefield that can be used against your opponents in surprising and effective ways. All I want for Wasteland is the ability to grab and chuck an adjacent glass bottle at someone if the situation presents itself, maybe cover them in potentially flammable liquid in doing so. I just feel that would be the next step in evolving this gameplay to the height that it's meant to reach, bringing a much more visceral twist to combat as players will pay more attention to their surrounding environment, but I digress.
Wasteland is a bitter reminder of how far Fallout has fallen, but it also doubles as a damn fine replacement in the interim whilst we wait for Bethesda to get their act together. Personally, I positively adore the 'tactical-turn-based-shooter' genre and gobble it up wherever I can, so naturally Wasteland 3 is already on my wishlist. For now I suspect we've heard everything about this title that we're going to until E3 2020, so we can wait with bated breath. (And maybe give 2 another playthrough in the meanwhile)
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