Wasteland

The Good
Wasteland, seemingly, isn't too special when you first look at it - lots of guns. Radiation. Funky monsters and robots to slow you down. Like Bard's Tale after the Evil Wizard pushes the Big Red Button. So what IS it about Wasteland that makes it a game that I still get urges to play, even after beating it 5 times?

A big aspect is the setting. Even with outdated graphics, the setting sets one's imagination aflame, using familiar elements from life and including them in the game, but overlaying the horror of nuclear war on top. While some of the darker elements aren't as evident, it's still very obvious throughout the game that there is a detailed, thoughtful, and even meaningful post-apocalyptic theme everywhere.

Another element that makes Wasteland such a great game is the character development system. Most RPGs have a player select a class for a party member - but what IS a class? Does it let YOU role-play? No, the class tells you what and how to role-play. Does it enhance the game? Perhaps, but once the class is defined there's no real development OF the character - A level 1 knight has the same desires, goals, and value systems as a level 18 knight. Wasteland uses a skill and attribute based system, periodically giving a character 'points' to use on attributes and skills, as well as having skills increase through use. But moreover, the character development doesn't stop when you use up the points - many places in Wasteland allow a character to separate from the rest of the party and engage in some solo activity - maybe hooking up with a prostitute, or venturing into a cat-and-mouse game within the mind of an android. Stuff like this builds the character individually, and thus, the party. By the end of the game, I look at my characters and not only see what they are (level 20 Corporals, demolitions dude, charismatic leader, tech expert...) but what they went through... their individual victories and tribulations. This makes for a very powerful gaming experience.

In other areas, Wasteland does quite well. Graphics are average to outstanding. The play balance is nearly perfect - the advancement from one area prepares you quite well for the next, neither too hard nor to easy. Not many sounds are included, fortunately they are simple and do not get repetative. Overall, even without the character development, Wasteland is just plain fun.

The Bad
With such a positive personal slant on Wasteland, it's hard to define problems with it. In some places, the appearance of enemies is too 'generated' (they pop up out of nowhere, Bard's Tale style) and are seemingly endless. Some enemies and situations are a little too 'weird', but Wasteland isn't supposed to be about realism. Some plot elements are a little cliche, but most are handled quite well.

The Bottom Line
Wasteland is an amazing ROLE-playing game. The setting is thorough and detailed, your characters can get into all sorts of trouble, as individuals and as a party. This makes Wasteland a unique experience every time. A typical moment in Wasteland often has me saying "Kick ASS!" either from a cool plot twist, unique enemy, or unique item. Playing Wasteland works extremely well on many levels. The only way I can think of that one wouldn't like Wasteland is if one demands the game hand the player exactly what happens - i.e., if one plays a game to read a story, but hates to be curious about what just would happen if, say, I really ticked those mutant gangsters off with plastic explosive in their vault...

The Good
The freedom to do what you want. The ability to make unique characters. The ability to recruit NPCs each with their own unique skill sets. The impression that your small bad of survivalists were trying to make things just a little bit better. All of which has been done to death over the years, but this was back in 1988!

The setting of south-west America worked well. The storyline of post-apocalyptic survival was still relevant as the Cold War was still going on then - if only just. The presentation of the folder contents, the great Mad Max looking photograph on the back cover of the key members of staff. It just gelled together so well.

The Bad
Some of the weird bits in it like Finsters Mind Maze didn't really appeal to me. The fact that when your team got pretty tough, the game's response was to simply throw more random encounters your way - and with increasing numbers of foes.

The Scorpitron in the centre of Las Vegas. It ripped my team to shreds when I first came across it! :P

The Bottom Line
I'm 33 years old now. And I'm writing this in the March of 2008. Yet despite owning and playing literally hundreds of different games on several platforms over the years (dating back to the old Atari console back in '81) - Wasteland sticks at the very forefront of my mind.

Even in today's environment of games like Frontlines representing 11GB+ of install size, this little gem at sub-1MB just captivated me from the moment I started it. The pain of creating the install disks at the start (as mentioned by another reviewer) was a small price to pay and in no time, my group of four set out into the wilderness. Armed with little more than pistols, a canteen and a leather jacket for protection - out they ventured.

Things started easy. In radiation-sodden ground, farmers were having major issues with mutated animals devouring their crops. Signing up to help, my group of Rangers managed to put a stop to the vermin - even if the cave section was a little difficult at first.

Then they progressed further north. Through Needles and Las Vegas itself - getting into allsorts of engagements and tight spots - each time progressing and perfecting their skills so that pistol shots were a guaranteed hit - if not a instant death from the opposition.

The fond memories come flooding back. The first time I managed to overpower the two guards at the entrance to the Black Market and steal their Uzis. That in turn cost me a fair bit of cash in keeping them fed with 9mm clips! Bringing down the Scorpitron under a hail of RPG-7 and AK-47 fire and taking on Fat Freddy in his own club. Nabbing the Power Axe from the Citadel and also being very wary in the temple of the Worshippers of The Mushroom Cloud. Proper weirdos.

And....... I never completed it. I got to the very end and didn't quite finish it. It took me nine months to get to that point as well and I just stopped. I guess in a bizarre way, I didn't want Wasteland to 'end' as a game. It had been so enjoyable and immersive that seeing it finish, would have probably have been a bit of a downer.

I bought the Interplay Anniversary Collection some years ago and that had Wasteland on it for the PC. I think with 2008 being 20 years since I first fired up Wasteland - that its only fitting that I bring the Rangers back out of retirement and sort out the mess in the desert once and for all. Wish me luck!

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!)

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.

The Good
RPG fans will like this one. By today's standards it's maybe nothing special, but this game probably stayed on most RPGer's top 5 list for a good 10 years after its release. (Heck, some sentimental ones may still be keeping it on their list.) Gee, is there an echo in here?

Game play is good. Plot is fine. Graphics is ok. Sound? Well, in a word, "Yes." But somehow, the total package plays a lot better than the individual components by themselves.

The Bad
Not much. I remember getting stuck in a couple of spots. But if you are patient enough, you can see your way through to the end. It's no cake walk though. You'll feel good after beating it, especially if you did it without help.

The Bottom Line
If you've only come onto the RPG scene recently, this one "might" disappoint. But if you love old games or just want to get a feel for where the cutting edge for RPGs was back in the 80s, Wasteland should be one of the first games you try.

The Good
Given the limitations of the hardware of the time, this was an amazing game which prefigured almost all the best features of the more modern title, Fallout.

The post-apocalyptic setting allowed for the combination of recognizable modern objects and weapons with a completely unknown wilderness, and the actual story was complex and interesting.

The recognizability of things was particularly important because it allowed item descriptions to be terse without failing to inform. On a 48K machine with 140K disks, keeping descriptions down to 20 characters or so allowed for a much bigger world.

The Bad
Although it was "realistic" and designed to be part of game balance, the extremely limited finite ammunition supply combined with the possibility of random monster encounters could make the game very frustrating. (Luckily, there was an exploitable design feature in the Apple ][ version that let you overcome this.)

The Bottom Line
One of those games that is original and fun to play, and seminal in the development of the industry. An engaging story and world to explore, and in every way a worth ancestor to Fallout.

The Good
The best parts about Wasteland is its intense and totally immerging atmosphere. You start out as a young, naive soldier in a land plagued by the effects of a full scale nuclear war. Your initial job is to serve as a sort of policeman, but as you progress into the depths of the game your mission becomes much more than that.

I have never played a game with so much going for it. The advancement system, the settings, the equipment & weapons, the people you meet and fight, and an amazing story. It's all in here and it's flawless.

The Bad
The C64-version came on 4 floppys. Not too bad, you might say. Guess again! The game actually requires you to copy each and every one of those 4 floppys to another set of 4 floppys, making it 8 in total! Everytime you wanted to start over you had to do this ridiculously slow routine.. It took about an hour or so to do it on my C64.

The Bottom Line
The graphics of the C64-version is actually better than its PC counterpart. Same with the sound. The C64 used its famous SID-chip while the PC-version used the internal speaker. BEEP BEEP

The Good
Different ways to do things was good, such as what to do at Fat Freddy's. Weapons jammed, different things at different shops. You could blow through trash walls, and find a gang. It was random to me the first few times. I would recommend this game to others.

The Bad
Lack of cash without cheating and the Vegas sewers.

The Bottom Line
A great game if you like old games. Try it even if you aren't a old game fan. You will like SOMETHING about it.

The Good
the best aspects of this game is that is scripted like a book. Wonderful storyline, funny hidden jokes, a great, fundamentally sound idea as a basis, also It had a depth of character unlike any i have seen. In the food world the rpg games today are like a cheap cola, but it was a fine wine. It was very well thought out, but also it was very well felt out.

The Bad
The knock on this game is the knock on any game of it generation, the graphics. It was born in an era when the graphics were poor by todays standards. Today the standard game graphics has is something like a high resolution "quake" type 3d graphics, wastelands was closer to a 8 bit first generation nintendo type graphics.

The Bottom Line
wasteland is like a book. it doesn't have the same sensational splash as the new ones that just came out. But, what it had in writting, depth of character, & empathy, will surely make it a classic for years to come.

The Good
What an amazing game. Probably still my all-time favorite with unmatched gameplay, a wildly creative storyline and the coolest damn monsters around. I really got attached to my team, with perhaps the exception of Covenant who I sacrificed in the final act in favor of evacuating my characters. It also holds a place in my heart as one of the few adventure games I was actually able to complete.

The Bad
There was really nothing to dislike about Wasteland. On a C64 it came on three or four floppies which was a bother but that's not their fault!

The Bottom Line
The King of ALL RPGs. Years ahead of its time and a testament to solid game authoring.

The Good
The best part of this game was the apocalyptic RPG aspect. I loved the "temple of the mushroom cloud" where all the priests whispered NRC, NRC, NRC. And you had to avoid all the radioactive areas. Then there were the secret locations you had to locate and solve... and more mutants and bots to kill!

I think this was one of the first games that allowed NPCs to join the party - that really made it special back then.

The Bad
Falling into the river wasn't fun. If you fell in and nobody in the party had swimming skills, expect a couple of drownings. And skill points were too important to invest in swimming!

The Bottom Line
"Fallout" only with dated graphics and a better plot!

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.

The Good
I loved this one. This was the first real good RPG in my opnion. Great story, weapons and other goodies. Like all great classics it could draw you in over and over again.

The Bad
I never never never could get past the sewer part of Las Vegas. I have never seen the ending much to my sadness.

The Bottom Line
If I could only recomend one Classic game for the classic gamer it would be this one.