Wasteland 2 – one masterpiece

It must be a Murphy’s law that says something like that: if there are dangerous weapons, capable of destroying humanity, it’s a matter of time before someone with epaulets, will press the red button. In the game, a meteorite shower was mistaken for a Soviet attack, and kaboom, the Americans with an itchy finger retaliate. What followed, for our happiness was of course Wasteland and after 25 years of waiting, Wasteland 2.

The action in Wasteland 2 starts like any successful party, with a funeral. A ranger named Ace (protagonist of the first game) managed to quit killing. You, the player, lead a squad of four rangers that receive as mission to investigate the death of Ace and to put into operation some radio towers. Rangers are representing the force of good in Arizona (or what’s left of it) and have as main basis Ranger Citadel, a gully recovered from Wasteland 2 from a mischievous AI (Base Cochise), who went crazy and was planning to shave on the face of the earth the humanity. Skynet would have been proud of him.

The game takes you through the Arizona desert, where you will explore wonderful locations like AG Center, High Pool, Rail Nomads Camp, Darwin Village, The Prison (the initial location used by rangers in Wasteland 1 after he released the prisoners), Canyon of Titan.

After you finish the Arizona area, you will arrive in California/Los Angeles, where you come across picturesque settlements located in a crater (Pomegranate) or around a former stadium (Angel Oracle). Some location are inaccessible due to radiation and you will have to do different quests to get anti-radiation suits and later on to upgrade them.

As its developers say, almost every main quest of the game has at least 3 or 4 ways of solving. I totally recommend you to save often and in different locations, if you want to explore as much of possibilities that the game has to offer you.

Wasteland 2 is an old school RPG game, an isometric 3D game. You see the field from somewhere high, you can rotate the camera and make zoom. The game has a battle system similar to Jagged Alliance or Fallout Tactics. So the battle is on shifts, as in chess. The squad can reach up to 7 characters, without counting various followers that you will gather on the road and you have no control over them.

To sum up and to not ramble anymore, I need to add the fact that the game is a great game, a must for the fans of Wasteland 1, Fallout, Planescape Torment etc and a window into the past for younger gamers who have never experienced these masterpieces and do not know what they have lost.