Post-apocalypse three decades later – review of the game “Wasteland: Remastered”

Already in August, the third installment of the well-known RPG series will hit stores. Meanwhile, inXile encourages players to go back in time and experience the original Wasteland in a new version. Is it worth giving this item a chance?

Pionier postapo

Well, the answer is not clear cut. It is certainly worth knowing something about this title if we are interested in the history of the cRPG genre. Not everyone realizes today that without Wasteland there would not be the first Fallout . The now defunct Interplay is responsible for the production of both games, and the second one around the premiere was considered an unofficial continuation of Wasteland from 1988. Unfortunately, by industry standards, this position is very old and therefore it can reject new players with archaisms, who associate the series only with the much more modern Wasteland 2 . After the trailers, it might seem that the Remasteredcompletely refreshed the old woman, making it more accessible to audiences used to modern productions. In part, it did, but there was a big catch. Contrary to the subtitle, we are dealing with something between a remaster and a full-fledged remake.

Wasteland in a new version

It cannot be denied that the refreshed version of Wasteland is a huge technical leap compared to the original. Not only did the game adapt to modern resolutions, but the audiovisual setting was completely renewed, implementing a three-dimensional map and full-fledged sound. More than thirty years ago, this was out of the question due to the small capacity of floppy disks. Some of the dialogues also gained voice actin g. However, the characters received high-quality, two-dimensional portraits, while maintaining the tone of the classic version. In the most important moments of the plot, cutscenes were added, in a style reminiscent of retro games.

 The story itself has been faithfully transferred. This, of course, has its advantages and disadvantages. Retro purists will be glad that the story is exactly as it used to be. However, the game medium has grown tremendously over the thirty-plus years, including in terms of its approach to script writing. Personally, I believe that Wasteland has aged considerably in this matter, and the fate of the post-apocalyptic wasteland guards is not being followed with particular commitment today. Nevertheless, it is impossible to deny the history of a specific neo-western climate.

Back to the past

I have no doubts that in Wasteland: Remastered the players will be the most divided by the gameplay. The creators of the remaster decided to fully recreate the principles of the original. This means that, as before, we choose a predefined team of rangers or create our own team using virtual dice rolls, and then go on an adventure in the open world, which … is really a flat board with a moving player’s pawn. What’s more, we are thrown into deep water right away, because there is no tutorial. So there are two solutions, try everything “in the wash” or read the extremely comprehensive manual. This makes the title not very accessible to new audiences, as in the original Wastelandgameplay comes down to clicking through a multitude of windows and scrolling walls of text. The best one is probably the turn-based combat system, which, thanks to its pleasant simplicity, has not been so much chewed by the teeth of time. Well, we choose the possible actions that the controlled heroes can perform, and then a textual report of the fight appears. However, the system of dialogues with NPCs is a torment. It does not provide the player with ready-made dialogue options, forcing the player to enter words by hand, hoping that this time they will find a keyword for a given situation. Otherwise, they will get a meaningful “I don’t understand” answer. You can imagine how frustrating it can be in the console version, where words each time have to be typed on the pad via the virtual keyboard. The use of skills is just as irritating. For example, there may be times when you need to use your “perceptiveness” to find a hidden doorway. Again, however, it is in vain to look for any hints from the creators, and the board structure of the map requires the character to stand on a specific field. Otherwise, the skill will have no effect.
Perhaps the fans of the original will be pleased with this formula, but in my opinion it does not exist in 2020 and only serves to artificially extend the game.

Love it or hate it

Wasteland: Remastered is a specific product and not suitable for modern times, but I think it will not prevent it from gaining recognition. Archaisms will push back players used to the current solutions from the very first minutes. Seriously, if you don’t like playing old RPGs, there’s no point in reaching for this title as disappointment is almost certain. On the other hand, the remaster can be a really interesting treat for retro lovers and Wasteland fanswho would like to go through the first installment of the cycle again before the premiere of the “three”. After all, the audiovisual side has been carefully restored, while maintaining the soul of the original with all the pros and cons, which will probably be a value for many. Nevertheless, I would look more favorably at a full-fledged remake, fully rebuilding the gameplay, for example on the principles known from quite fresh Wasteland 2 .