Wasteland 2 Review Roundup #5
A new large batch of reviews in various languages rounded up after the break!
Digital Chumps, 84.
Wasteland 2’s gameplay is deep, interesting, and once you get comfortable with the mechanics, including the camera controls and understanding distances, cover, and terrain and so forth, addictive. There’s a lot to do and you cannot do everything in one playthrough; for example, within an hour or two there are decisions to be made with dire consequences for those NPCs awaiting your help. Their radio calls for help to Snake at the Ranger Citadel at seemingly scripted times play through to your own ears too, making the decision that much more ‘personal,’ and thus the consequences that much more potent, giving the overall experience a significant margin of immersion, regret, and triumph, elements any RPG game would strive for.
Hooked Gamers, 8.5.
They don’t “make ‘m” like Wasteland 2 anymore, and I honestly do not understand why. Never have. I loved Fallout 3, but thought it was a completely different game from its predecessors. More of a spinoff, like Heroes of Might & Magic from Might & Magic. Nothing wrong with a spinoff, but the notion that some genres are too old-fashioned to be worth making has never struck a chord with me. Wasteland 2 proves that point magnificently. The game draws you in deeper with every new area that you explore. Even when you don’t take the time to read its extensive dialogue, the struggle to survive on the barren wasteland and the sometimes nail biting battles in which each bullet counts will make you want to devour this game from start to end.
If you weren’t around when they made “Wasteland’s” by the dozen but have heard sage (translate: slightly older, perhaps balding) gamers like myself speak about them with reverence bordering on religion, then play Wasteland 2 and you will understand why.
AusGamers, 8.7.
At one point I found myself in a fight with a group of people I probably should have left alone, determined to triumph over them. Instead of reverting to a previous save and running off to somewhere more my tempo until I could get better gear, I spent at least an hour setting up the perfect ambush. I set up my best long-ranged fighters behind some cover well, well away from the action, and then I sent my speediest fighter in to trigger combat. He shot one of them, combat started and he ran all the way back, carefully navigating his way through a minefield. The dozen or so bad guys chased after him as he hid, and while he took a few shots in the back he made it to cover and the rest of my team went to work. Any time someone stood near a mine I’d shoot it, causing massive splash damage. Anyone who didn’t come into the killing area took a sniper bullet to the head. As a team, we created a corridor of death and eventually we triumphed. I felt like a genius. And then I had to leave the next fight alone, because it was well above my team’s capabilities.
GameRanx, 8.
Permadeath throws an extra wrench into that as well. When your rangers are killed, they’re dead for good, and you’ll have to compensate for that. Opportunities to replenish your ranks abound, but you don’t have control over what skills these people have before they join you. A level 20 cyborg dude you just met is going to have 20 levels worth of skill points allotted already.
But that’s the thrill of the wasteland. Rolling with the punches, dealing with things as best you can when it all goes to hell—that’s why we’re playing. Or it should be. And to its credit, Wasteland 2 is excellent at throwing you curveballs.
Invision Game Community, 4/5.
The sound and music in Wasteland 2 is superb and fits the theme really well, with wind and dust affects that make you feel as if you really are in a wasteland, explosions and bullet fire that immerses you in combat and atmospheric music to keep you in the suspense of exploration. There are times when the music becomes too backwater and can be ignored but entering in combat or new zones can ease these feeling.
Gamepressure, 7
Mod Vive, 8.2
Middle of Nowhere Gaming, 8.7
NZGamer, 8
Gameplanet Australia, 8
thelobbi, 7.5
Game Central, 90
That VideoGame Blog, 9
GameCloud Australia, 8.5
IGN DE, 7 (German)
Spieletipps, 80 (German)
Gamona, 83 (German)
PCGames, 72% (German)
IGN IT, 9.1 (Italian)
LoJeuquito, 85 (Spanish)
Vadejuegos, 3/5 (Spanish)
PlayHit, 9.5 (Czech)
Doupě, 4/5 (Czech)
Save! Project, 8 (Polish)
GameZilla.pl, 5.5 (Polish)
B92 (Serbian)
JeuxVideo.fr, 8 (French)
unboxholics, 8 (Greek)
tportal.hr (Croatian)
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Thx inXile.
