Fountain of Dreams

The Good
As I am a rather blatant fan of Wasteland, this game was very easy to get used to. It has the same look and feel, and things work the same way -- which allows you to get past the mechanics quickly, and into the story (the story is, however, another matter... but more on that in a bit).

The idea of mutations is pretty neat, and it adds a nice element of randomness to character development -- you can play the game through twice and have different experiences.

One other thing that I like in a RPG is that the time of day/night plays a part in your experiences. Some NPCs will only be available at certain times, and some locations are easier to get into at certain times. A nice touch.

The Bad
Ah, now onto the complaints.

First and foremost, the game world is simply too small -- it has the feel of a "demo" version, almost taunting you with the promise of more to come. Sadly, there is nothing else. If you've got a free afternoon/evening, you could spend a few hours (perhaps 6 or less) and play the game through from beginning to end.

Another problem is that the game gets really hard really quickly. And I do mean really. Nothing like throwing you up against a menacing gang of killer clowns with Uzis, with nothing but your pistol and your 30 hit points to keep you alive... save often, restore often.

Overall, it seems as though the designers did one of two things:

1. They developed a massively complex and intricate RPG using the well-liked Wasteland game engine, then pulled the middle 80% out of the story and shipped the beginning and the end as the whole game.

2. They lost money/interest/time in the early stages of development, and slapped together a quick ending for the game.

Either way, this game seems to have a lot more potential than actual content.

The Bottom Line
One of those games that can safely drift into the realm of forgetfulness, unless you're one of those wacky fans of Wasteland who is still pestering Interplay about the release date of Wasteland 2.