Wasteland 2 is a game set in a world after a disaster where players take on roles. It was created by inXile Entertainment and published by Deep Silver. The game follows the 1988 original, Wasteland, and was funded by many people through Kickstarter. The original release date was delayed from October 2013, and the game was finally released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in September 2014. An improved version, called Wasteland 2: Director's Cut, was released in October 2015. This version included versions for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. A follow-up game, Wasteland 3, was released on August 28, 2020.
Gameplay
Wasteland 2 uses a view from above but not directly overhead, with a camera that can be turned around. It is a turn-based and party-based role-playing game that includes strategic battles. The player's group can include seven characters: four created by the player and up to three non-player characters (NPCs). Player characters can be changed in many ways, and choices about their traits, abilities, and looks give them unique traits. Each non-player character in the group has their own personality, goals, beliefs, and plans.
Plot
The game takes place in a different version of history where a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union happened in 1998 because of a meteor event that caused a global war. On the day of the disaster, a group of U.S. Army Engineers were building bridges in a remote desert area near small survivalist communities and a new federal prison with industrial buildings. The soldiers went to the prison for safety, removed the prisoners, and later invited nearby survivalists to join them. Years later, they formed a group called "the Desert Rangers," inspired by the Texas and Arizona Rangers, to help other survivors in the desert and beyond.
The story begins fifteen years after the original Wasteland game, which was set in 2087. By this time, the Desert Rangers have taken control of the former Guardian Citadel, a place once home to monks who worshipped technology, after the Rangers defeated the monks. A Ranger named Ace is found dead with signs of violence, which worries General Vargas, the leader of the Desert Rangers. Earlier, General Vargas had sent Ace to investigate a mysterious radio signal that claimed "man and machine becoming one" and threatened to attack the Rangers. The player controls a team of new Rangers and must find out who killed Ace and complete Ace's mission.
The story starts at Ace's funeral. General Vargas sends a team of four player-created Rangers, called Echo-One, to investigate Ace's death. They may also take Angela Deth, Ace's partner and an experienced Ranger. Their first task is to visit a radio tower where Ace was killed. There, they find a "synth," a synthetic human with artificial intelligence, that attacked Ace. Later, they discover a group of robots near the tower.
General Vargas is troubled by the synth, recalling past battles with dangerous AI from the original Wasteland game. He tells the team they must finish Ace's mission: installing repeater units at three radio towers to locate the source of the mysterious signal. One tower already has a repeater; the team must install units at Highpool, a community near a dam, and the Ag Center, a scientific group growing genetically modified plants.
The mission becomes complicated when the Rangers must choose between saving Highpool from raiders or the Ag Center from a failed experiment. Their choice helps one group but harms the other. After installing a repeater, General Vargas tells them to install one more in Damonta, a town hidden behind high radiation and a valley with monks who worship nuclear weapons.
The Rangers find the body of Hell Razor, another missing Ranger, in a camp of nomads. He was also killed by synths. The team reaches Damonta, where they find the town destroyed by robots and survivors hiding in buildings. They discover a synth named Tinker trying to install a mechanical heart in a girl. They kill Tinker and learn he was working for another synth planning to replace humans with robot bodies.
General Vargas traces the signal to Los Angeles and sends a helicopter with Angela Deth and other Rangers to follow it. The helicopter is attacked and crashes. Vargas sends the player's team to Los Angeles to investigate.
On the way, the team crashes in a factory in Santa Fe Springs. With help from a survivor named Lt. Woodson, they secure the area and turn it into a Ranger base. Their goals are to gather supplies to upgrade their radiation suits, install more repeaters, help locals, and find the signal's source.
In Los Angeles, the team faces multiple groups: the Mannerites, who enforce politeness with violence; the Robbinsons, who believe in strength over weakness; God's Militia, a group of violent religious figures; the Children of the Citadel, who promote body modifications; and robots controlled by an AI named Dugan.
The Rangers work to stop a mystery enemy framing them for attacks while completing their tasks. They eventually upgrade their suits and report back to General Vargas, who sends them to Seal Beach, the base of the Children of the Citadel. There, they find a crashed helicopter but no sign of Angela or others.
Infiltrating the base, they fight cyborgs and meet Dugan, who is working with Matthias, a former monk who fled from the Guardian Citadel. Matthias and Dugan plan to control an AI called Base Cochise Boss to destroy the Rangers and take over the world. They believe uploading their minds into the AI will make them "gods." Matthias warns the Rangers that the Ranger base's defenses are now active and may have killed their friends. Dugan prepares to finish the Echo-One team.
Development
In 2003, inXile Entertainment, started by Brian Fargo, who was a producer and co-designer of the game Wasteland, bought the rights to Wasteland from Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts had let the rights expire and gave them to Fargo after talking with him. In June 2007, Fargo said, "I am looking into bringing back the game that started the Fallout series. Stay tuned…" In November 2007, a Fallout fan website called Duck and Cover reported that possible concept art images for Wasteland 2 were shown on the inXile Entertainment website.
On February 16, 2012, inXile announced plans to create a new Wasteland game using crowdfunding, inspired by Double Fine's success with Kickstarter for Double Fine Adventure. This was part of a larger trend of games being funded through crowdfunding after Double Fine Adventure's success. Brian Fargo, the project director, brought back important team members from the original Wasteland, including Alan Pavlish, Michael A. Stackpole, Ken St. Andre, and Liz Danforth. Jason Anderson, who designed early Fallout games, was also involved but left the company in December 2010. Mark Morgan, who created the soundtracks for Fallout and Fallout 2, was hired to make music for the game.
On March 13, 2012, the Kickstarter page for Wasteland 2 was launched. The project needed at least $1,000,000, but Fargo promised to cover up to $100,000 if the goal was not met. The campaign's target was $900,000, the highest at that time. Within 24 hours, the campaign raised nearly $600,000, and the goal was reached in less than 43 hours. The campaign's success was ranked fourth on a list of the biggest video game wins and fails on Kickstarter in 2012. Many of the funds came from people who had supported Double Fine Adventure before. On March 30, it was announced that if the campaign raised $2.1 million or more, Chris Avellone would join the development team. The Kickstarter campaign ended on April 17, raising $2,933,252, plus an additional $107,152 through PayPal. On April 24, it was confirmed that developers from Obsidian would work on the project.
Brian Fargo said the team aimed to release Wasteland 2 around October 2013. On July 10, 2012, it was announced that the original Wasteland would be included with the new game. There are no plans to support consoles or handheld devices. In August 2012, Colin McComb, a writer and designer for Planescape: Torment, joined the team as a writer. Nathan Long became a co-writer two months later. The first trailer for Wasteland 2 was released on February 9, 2013, showing parts of the story, art, and gameplay with audio commentary from producer Chris Keenan.
In July 2013, Fargo announced that the game would be delayed. He said the team would begin beta testing a version of the game that had all its major features completed at that time, with the final release date to be decided during the beta.
Release
On December 13, 2013, Wasteland 2 became available as an early access version on the Steam store. In May 2014, inXile announced the game would be released at the end of August 2014. The release date was later changed to September 2014 to meet requirements for physical copies and game disks. In August 2014, it was announced that the game would be released on September 19, 2014.
The standard edition includes a free copy of Wasteland 1 – The Original Classic, the game soundtrack, and the game manual. A Digital Deluxe Edition was released on video game platforms and included a free copy of The Bard's Tale and three digital novellas set in the game's universe. Deep Silver also released a limited Ranger Edition in Europe, which included a collector's box, soundtrack, game manual, collector cards, a printed map of the game world, a download code for Wasteland 1 – The Original Classic, and a double-sided poster.
In February 2015, the developers announced a visual upgrade. The game engine was updated from Unity 4.5 to Unity 5, and new gameplay features and modding tools were added.
On March 3, 2015, Microsoft announced that Wasteland 2 was being developed for Xbox One. The next day, the game was announced for PlayStation 4. The console version would be a port of the improved PC version, then called Wasteland 2: Game of the Year Edition. In April 2015, the developers stated the game would run at 1080p resolution on both consoles. The enhanced version would be available for free to all Kickstarter backers and those who purchased the original game.
In June 2015, Wasteland 2: Game of the Year Edition was renamed Wasteland 2: Director's Cut. A trailer showing the improved version was released on June 23, 2015.
The Director's Cut was released digitally on October 13, 2015. Retail versions were released on the same day in North America and other regions on October 16.
In February 2017, inXile partnered with IndieBox, a monthly subscription service, to release a physical version of Wasteland 2: Director's Cut. This limited edition included a DRM-free game disc, the official soundtrack, an instruction manual, a Steam key, and custom collectible items.
The Director's Cut version included many improvements and additions beyond the visual upgrade: expanded voice-overs (with over 8,000 new lines of dialogue), new perks and quirks, a "Precision Strike" system that lets players target specific body parts to weaken or stun enemies, redesigned encounters, a redesigned user interface, and controller support.
Reception
Wasteland 2 received mostly positive reviews from critics. The game has an average score of 80.70% on GameRankings, based on 32 reviews, and a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 54 reviews. The game earned $1.5 million in its first four days of release and sold about 350,000 copies by May 2015. In September 2016, Fargo reported that inXile had earned $12 million from selling the game.
Leif Johnson of IGN praised the game’s story writing and the way the story changes based on the player’s choices. Daniel Starkey of GameSpot praised the game’s environment graphics and tactical gameplay. Alasdair Duncan of Destructoid wrote that the game "delivers exactly what was expected." Richard Cobbett of Eurogamer said, "it's very clearly made with love to be true to the original game while still learning from the games that followed." Daniel Tack of Game Informer called it a "triumphant heir" to the original game and praised its re-playability and audio quality. Earnest Cavalli of Joystiq criticized the game for having technical problems. Cory Banks of PC Gamer praised its combat and writing. The game was later named Game of the Year for 2014 by PC World.