Wasteland

aka: Wasteland 1: The Original Classic, Wasteland: Adventure in Post-Nuclear America
Moby ID: 287
Commodore 64 Specs
Buy on Commodore 64
$450.00 used on eBay
Buy on Windows
$5.99 new on Steam
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Description official descriptions

Wasteland takes place in the future after the nuclear holocaust of World War III. The player guides band of Desert Rangers from town to town, gradually uncovering a sinister plot that threatens what's left of mankind.

Much of the game is played like most other RPGs of its time: the player navigates the party through the top-down world, fights enemies (which appear randomly in hostile areas) in turn-based style on combat screens represented by enemy pictures, acquires information, equipment, and items from NPCs in towns, etc. The player can create a whole party of adventurers and/or recruit some of the characters that populate the game's world.

However, Wasteland also introduced an original skill system that has had a significant influence on the genre. The game makes use of the skill system in conjunction with traditional character attributes to achieve goals and get past obstacles. Beside helping the characters to fight more efficiently, main attributes sometimes have an impact on activities used outside of combat. For example, high strength can be applied to break a heavy object, charisma rating might influence the way NPCs interact with the main character, etc.

The skills work in a similar way: some of them improve the characters' proficiencies with different types of attacks and weapons, while others are needed to solve and/or by pass certain situations during interaction with the game's characters and objects. These skills are rather diverse, ranging from physical abilities such as swimming to more complex actions (medic, lock-picking), or even psychological states (confidence). Skill learning and progression depend on the main character's IQ rating.

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Commodore 64 version)

19 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 19 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 163 ratings with 13 reviews)

As if we need another review of this fantastic game...

The Good
I don't even know where to begin here! This game is probably the most original RPG ever. It is nearly infinitely replayable because the world is so huge. Granted the objective is the same each time you play, but how you achieve the objective is what is so special about this game. And it's greatest strength lies in the story being told. Okay, scratch that, it's greatest strength is in it's character development. No, wait, it's the scope.... You get my point I hope. Wasteland has so much to offer, it is simply one of the most complete games ever. You'll just have to experience it firsthand. You won't be sorry!

The Bad
Hmm. I can't think of anything. Well, okay, here is one thing. In the beginning of the game (especially in the tunnels by the farmer) it is not only possible, but likely, to get stuck in an infinite loop where you get "bowled into" by a vicious mutant groundhog or something and knocked unconscious. Then you recover and are immediately attacked again and knocked out, then recover, then get knocked out, etc. You can't stay conscious long enough to reload or escape or anything! Other than that, though, boy this game is a real winner!

The Bottom Line
Play it, play it, play it. And when you're done, play it again. You still won't find everything there is to find (unless you go online and get some help!)

DOS · by thejayman (5) · 2002

The best RPG I have ever played.

The Good
First off, one of the main appeals of this game is that its an RPG that isn't some sort of D&D ripoff. I didn't play this game until about 1997 when I got a copy off of a Computer Gaming World demo cd-rom. I had heard a lot about this game but expected it to be dated when I loaded it. I was wrong. Everyone can tell you about how great the plot is or the superb skill based system (which is better than Fallout's). What was important to me was that the interface was still good. A lot of these old games suffer from not just dated graphics and sound but a clunky interface. This game's interface is still amazingly functional next to modern games. You use your keyboard to move around the map but the best part is that the IBM version lets you program macros that can store your most used functions. Instead of plowing through a tedious menu system to pick a lock all you do is tap a key and you character goes to work. You can program any key sequence you need so you can concentrate on solving the game rather than stumbling through 15 year old menus. This saves considerable time and makes the game much more playable to a modern gamer used to ease mouse menus.

The Bad
The sound is almost non-existant. The map graphics while funtional are spartan. Also in some areas, especially the final base at the end, there are just too many random encounters. EA hasn't come out with a Wasteland Gold edition with VGA grahpics and Soundblaster music... yet.

The Bottom Line
Obviously this games compares as an 80s version of Fallout. If you liked Fallout then you have to play this game! The plot is more interesting and the game is more challenging and longer than Fallout.

DOS · by woods01 (129) · 2001

Great game-- I'd like to see a remake

The Good
Great game. I liked the parts with the nuclear bomb cult, and wonder if they got the idea from the nuclear bomb cult in Planet of the Apes II.

The Bad
I thought there were way too many random encounters. Like every other step in some cases. This became tedious sometimes.

The Bottom Line
Adventures in a Mad Max type world.

DOS · by Steve Gutman (24) · 2000

[ View all 13 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Wasteland 2? Pseudo_Intellectual (66274) Mar 18, 2012

Trivia

Apple II version

The original version of this game, for the Apple II, used a clever technical trick, effectively virtualizing the huge game world onto four disk sides. Only the part of the world the player was currently capable of interacting with was actually in memory at any given time, and the rest was stored on disk. The division across disks corresponded to geographical boundaries on the world map, so there was no problem with data straddling disk boundaries.

The game shipped on both sides of two disks, completely write-protected. To play, you copied all four disk sides to your own writable floppies, and then booted off of the copy of disk 1.

Cancelled sequel

Interplay had planned a sequel called Meantime that was due in 1989 for the Apple II. Source code was virtually completed but when the Apple II market died. It was then deamed too expensive to re-write the code to the IBM.

The sequel involved the idea of time-travel and recruiting various important historic figures (think Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure). For more information on Meantime, read "Fallout Bible issue 8" interview with Bill Dugan.

Later Interplay attempted to revive the game once more, but Electronic Arts held rights to the title. The game evolved into what we know today as Fallout, a spiritual succesor to Wasteland that, except for some minor references, is set in a different universe.

Credits

The credits listed in this entry are a hybrid; the IBM credits have been added and overlaid on the Apple credits to make a complete MobyGames IBM PC entry.

Cover

The original packaging contained a photo of the seven main developers dressed in Wasteland gear. This photo, in silohette, is on the cover of the manual and Survival Guide. (see Box Covers).

Development

Some of the mappers on Wasteland were brought on as summertime employees for Interplay and now have careers in the game industry.

Engine

The game engine used for Wasteland was also used in the pseudo-sequel, Fountain of Dreams.

Manual

Wasteland was released with a book of text paragraphs. Specific encounters would refer players to a paragraph number for a verbose description of what was occurring. To keep players from scanning the book for clues, there were two full versions of the major story. One was the actual plot of the game and the other was a decoy involving the major settings and characters but with an entirely different explanation for the events. After completing the game, you could skim through the book and get a second (albeit cheesy) story.

Packaging

Wasteland originally came out in the classic album-square EA box for the C-64 - later versions were in the more traditional small box packaging

References

  • There are references to the game designers and their previous games in Wasteland. The two most common are the obvious spell references to Bard's Tale in the occult shop in Needles, and the character Faran Brygo in Vegas (obviously taken from Brian Fargo). Another obvious one is an arm patch worn by a 'Pistolero' -- it's the old Interplay logo. Finally, the room in Vegas with the Proton Ax has the initials "A.P." (for the developer Alan Pavlish) as a wall design.
  • The makers of Wasteland hid their own version of the Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle in the town of Highpool. You can "seek out" and battle (and kill the disappointingly weak) Red Ryder and claim his Red Ryder Gun for your very own.

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • October 1988 (Issue #52) - Adventure Game of the Year
    • February 1993 (Issue #103) – Introduced into the Hall of Fame
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) - #9 in the “150 Best Games of All Time” list
    • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #9 Most Memorable Game Villain (Scorpitron)

Information also contributed by Adam Baratz, ClydeFrog, DreamWeaver, LepricahnsGold, Mirrorshades2k, PCGamer77, RedRyder, [rstevenson](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,1745/), [weregamer](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,35969/) and [woods01](http://www.mobygames.com/user/sheet/userSheetId,5217/)

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  • MobyGames ID: 287
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Trixter.

Commodore 64 added by Quapil. Apple II added by KnockStump. Macintosh, Windows, Linux added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: bassaf, Jeanne, LepricahnsGold, Patrick Bregger, Plok.

Game added October 9, 1999. Last modified March 27, 2024.