Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut
87
Metacritic
82
Steam
88.204
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$7.49
Release date
18 September 2014
Steam reviews score
Total
82 (4 576 votes)

From the producer of the original Fallout comes Wasteland 2. With over 80 hours of gameplay, deck out your Ranger squad with devastating weaponry, test the limits of your strategy skills, and bring justice to the Wasteland! The choices are yours…but so are the consequences.

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Wasteland 2: Director's Cut system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 (64 bit)
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD equivalent
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or Radeon HD 4850 (512 MB VRAM)
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c
  • Storage: 30 GB available space
  • Sound Card: DirectX compatible sound card
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Durabol
Durabol

I am a 52 year old father, probably one of the oldest people playing. I am a single father to my son, who is now 14. My son recently started playing and in less than a week, he had already played for over 20 hours. This was terrible for me because it was already hard enough for me to spend time with my son, as he is always out with his friends or just watching videos on Youtube. So I decided to make a Steam account and get this game to see if I could maybe play alongside him. I loaded into the game and started playing but I was stuck on what you where supposed to do. I asked my son for help, and together we spent hours playing . I loved it as it was the best time I had spent with my son since my wife had died. Steam has ever since brought me and my son closer again, and now we actually spend time together outside the house as well. reminded me that there's fun to be had in everything, and it has brought both my son and I many happy memories.

Greytega
Greytega

Being an XCOM soyboy of course this is in my library.

I did not get much into this, kept running into jank line of sight issues, or target issues for high-ground. Maybe i'm just trash. Some of the RPG mechanics are a meme, character creation is fun, it's decent.

I guess i'll have to come back to this one another time.

- It's the end of the world, all over again. 6.5/10

Reinski
Reinski

If you like apocalyptic isometric RPGs with turn-based combat, enriched with a nice portion of black humour, Wasteland 2 clearly is a recommendation for you. But keep in mind this is an old game with many references to an even older time, where bits were transported on floppy disks.
I just completed the game for the first time (my first attempt some years ago was interrupted at 80% by a vacation and then I didn't continue) and found out that the game managed to really draw me into the story.
In the end, I even cared about the individuals I met during my journey - and I appreciated to meet them again, even after their quests were long over and almost forgotten.

Personally, I don't care about the aged graphics, but it might turn off some people looking for eye-candy.
Combat is quite basic, far from being a simulation. But at least there is LoS, cover implementation (only yes/no), friendly fire and also reaction fire. Oh, and there are real action points and not that modern rubbish 2-phase movement system for tbc-dummies. But that's just my opinion. ;-)
If combat gets boring (towards the end), you can make use of the game mechanic to avoid random encounters.
Sometimes quest scripting gets confused if you act in a sequence that wasn't intended. However, this didn't mess up anything seriously.

So, go and buy this jewel of a game - esp. if it's on sale... ;-)

NightKrwla
NightKrwla

Wasteland 2 is an awesome isometric turn based rpg and the successor to the original wasteland and the turn based fallout games. If you love those original fallout games then there is no doubt you will love this.

Birdsiege
Birdsiege

It's a solid CRPG with everything you'd expect out of the best of the genre: deep character customization, side quests by the truckload, battle tactics that matter, and choices that truly change the ongoing story.

It's a little rough around the edges. It can be hard to tell where cover is and isn't on the battlefield. (Hint: your character animations will change if they're in cover.) Most quests in the game have more than one way to solve them, so you end up with an inventory choked with random stuff you're not sure if you still need.

Even with a few problems, this is an excellent game and worth your money if you like isometric RPGs.

Yarusenai
Yarusenai

Similar to XCOM, there is a good game in here, but it gets overshadowed by egregious miss chances and very punishing character development. Without distributing your skill points perfectly, you will not get far. Weapons miss constantly, especially in the early game where you only have very few skill points to put into the weapon skills, and combined with weapon jam it can get very annoying. It sucks when you position your characters perfectly and then - oh, I got three shots with a 53 % hit chance! *miss, miss, miss* well, ****.

That is precisely what annoyed me about XCOM too, though at least XCOM didn't have weapon skill points without which those weapons were essentially useless. Here, if you try to use a handgun but did not put any skill points in handgun, well - have fun trying to shoot an enemy even if they are point blank in front of you. Miss chances just don't belong into a game like this - especially not if they are tied this closely to character development in the form of skill points which are rare and spread out. It forces a very slow and RNG early game until you get a few points and better weapons, which is a slog and I did not want to go through that - which is a shame, as the world building and character development in general seemed interesting to me.

Shyue Chou
Shyue Chou

The game is extremely punishing and hard to the extent that verges on the impossible. There is little fun here unless one harbours a desire for punishment and impossible puzzles. Not recommended. Best avoided.

YupThatsTheDaddy
YupThatsTheDaddy

This has to be the best RPG of this style i've ever played. I love post apocalyptic games, and the added "punk" look is cool. I have been playing this game since release. Slowly pecking at it, mainly cause I got into a few year rut of not playing many games at all. Even today, as I finally finish this amazing masterpiece of a game, it was worth the wait. The atmosphere, the music, the ambient noise... it sets a tone that is W2 own. This game oozes with the love put into it. I was constantly coming across a reference to the 80s and 90s, and some easter eggs placed as jokes by devs... thanks for the journey W2.

If you like the setting of this game, top down squad turn-based RPGs, then it's a "buy" for sure. It's still worth 30 bucks, but should you be unsure, grab it on sale. The bonus will defiantly be there for those whom are familiar with the 80's and 90's.

Davice Mathews
Davice Mathews

Your every choice does not matter. No matter your choice your just choosing what how your group fails at a task and end the game the same way. I was so hoping they would matter but it became a joke by the time the helicopter gets shut down.

LeShook
LeShook

I enjoy the game but too many skills, not enough clarity on how to use them. Some dumb decisions like Field Medic skill can't stop a bleeding wound (which is literally what a field medic would do).

Inscrutable Depth
Inscrutable Depth

This is my favorite isometric rpg since fallout 2. The gameplay is very open and the story is flexible.

𝔸𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕 ☾
𝔸𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕 ☾

Wasteland 2 is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game released in 2014 and the sequel to the 1988 video game Wasteland. It was developed and published by inXile Entertainment (Classic Fallout Team, Brian Fargo, Chris Avellone and more ) after a successful crowd-funding drive on Kickstarter.

I don't understand why this game gets so many negative reviews. This game gets a 8.5/10 in my opinion. it has flaws, but they are completely outshone by how perfect this game is in almost every way.

Wasteland 2 One of the best CRPG out there! Amazing character creation and combat system. If you like CRPG's and Post Apocalyptic Games don't miss this classic game!

NineSky
NineSky

Not nearly as good as fallout 1 & 2 although this is newer.

Scouse Wizard
Scouse Wizard

Fun, if sometimes janky, RPG in the combat style of XCOM.

danbarringer86
danbarringer86

So I love Brian Fargo's games but it is messed up that he is a scion of a wealthy banking family but funded his game on kickstarter.

Experimental ***** BOT
Experimental *…

One of the best turn based strategy games I ever played!
I really like how the whole story comes together, even the side quests. Spoiler alert: I really liked that the important leaders of the communities I saved and helped allied my squad in the final battle.

Runeshadow
Runeshadow

If you were fan of the original Fallout 1 and 2 from back in the day, you will love this! The characters and story are deep and complex. They did a great job of creating a serious, but not-too-serious vibe. Lots of fun and humor while keeping it real. There are dual-missions that require you to choose between two groups that need help. There's no way to save them both. You must live with your choice, and the losers really let you have it! 10/10 Highly recommend!

gothicantera
gothicantera

Gameplay ruined with weapon jam after weapon jam after weapon jam - who thought this frequency was a fun idea? And the best? Dont bother equipping two guns because if one gets a jam so instantly does the other! Wow, its contagious now? Surprised they didnt include breaking machettes just for the hell of it. Two missions in and Im out for good.

Six
Six

This is a fucking great game if you enjoy this genre. I have played both regular version and the Director's Cut and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Am looking forward to picking up Wasteland 3.

avseg
avseg

I really wanted to love this game especially as a huge fan of the original Wasteland and Fallout / Fallout 2, and I did love it - when I wasn't running into save-breaking bugs.

I'm barely into the second act of the Director's Cut on my current playthrough and I just encountered my third save-breaking bug involving quest progression. Sorry, but even during lockdown, I don't have the patience to replay the game for hours just to get the game world back to where it should be, especially when it's because the devs can't be assed to figure out basic quest progression issues.

Honestly even after the second bug I encountered, the experience already became a huge bummer because of how much it affected the way I approached the game; I became afraid of intertwining different quests / locations, etc. for fear of running into these bugs. And then it happened for the third time anyway.

I'll also mention a gameplay aspect that really annoyed me: Party companions are sometimes made unavailable or even just taken away, for story reasons. Given all the considerations that go into party composition and the time/effort invested into developing companions, I feel like that's a really bad design element.

To be fair, if you're looking for that Wasteland / Fallout / Fallout 2 feel in a relatively modern package AND you can deal with these types of bugs, you'll probably love this game. But, for me it's three strikes and you're out.

AnyK
AnyK

Cant even play the game WITH a walk thru. seems there are so many ways to screw up the quest line worse yet im poisoned and will die and cannot cure cus i cant do the agri center. worse yet i bought w2 and w3 same time.. so is 3 this hopeless also? i touched the red powder with wrong character now thats gone.. forever? gee what quest did that ruin. i regret buying this game. i finished w1 back in 80's lemme go see if there is step by step video on youtube.. and if i got a save or have to restart. they shouldnt make a game where you can block ultimate victory by pulling the wrong lever.. touching the wrong fungus. few things piss me off more than not being able to open a frigging door for hours. worse there are many many doors. i hate this game.. but will try one more time.. or should i return it. how many hours till you can no longer return it?
update: 95 hours in.. ok not as bad as i initally thought.. still house burning who knew i'd have to look in the grass for a valve to keep a house from burning down.. I'm getting used to how to play the game tho. if you tough thru the learning curve it not so bad. still i have to spend time on the internet looking for walk thrus.. here i am did this, where/how am i supposed to go next type things. i'm playing just by grinding so much i can survive being totally lost.. kill everything and still be totally lost. to advance .. go find onnline guide. even then it's confusing. this prob the worst recommendation ever for a recommended game.. but i changed it to yes because why else would i still be here after 95 hours.

games and anime
games and anime

amazing story and loved it on ps4 and bought here so i can play forever.

ttv/Horrux
ttv/Horrux

The Steam store page says I've played 21.4 hours, but that's my time spent playing the non Director's Cut edition. My DC play time is 178 hours. And I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

This game is a must-play if you are interested in something with fairly old-school RPG mechanics. It is quite simply the best RPG I have played since... Wait... Ever? Seems about on par with Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, except better graphics, more choices, yeah, it's better even than BG2.

BETTER THAN EVERY OTHER RPG OUT THERE.

It's a 10 - 0.5 for the few bugs that remain: 9.5/10.

nicholi1977
nicholi1977

I've played through once, about to play through again. As a player of Wasteland back in the day, this has been an awesome experience to go through this next chapter, as it was meant to be, instead of what Fallout eventually turned in to. If you'd like to experience a true CRPG, then you need to play this game. The Director's Cut does add a cool factor to the game (have to upgrade my Linux box to truly handle that one, though), but isn't necessary to fully enjoy it.

Unspeakable Evil
Unspeakable Evil

You need to spend initial few hours in the game to really start appreciating it. There are a lot of mechanics to learn, but when you do, game is really satisfying. Isometric RPG with turn-based combat - reminds me the times when i spent countless hours playing Fallout series.

Shady 8 Rounds
Shady 8 Rounds

No ads, no freemium game manipulation, no Microsoft/EA/Bethesda fake AAA title rope-a-dope rip off. Just a decent game for a fair price. Mad props to inXile. Just makes me hope they could make a real Jagged Alliance 3. They'd be the ones to do it. I will absolutely be buying wasteland 3 as soon as i get the money based on how much of enjoyed this title.

Trent W. Buck
Trent W. Buck

Remember back before 3D, when there was an entire generation of isometric RPGs with D20 rules and deep story? You can still buy them, but within five minutes you throw them at the wall because they are so ugly and painful to play.
This is the same style of game, except not ugly and not painful.
(Also not sword-and-sorcery fantasy, which I'm utterly sick of.)

It's tough to say whether I prefer Wasteland 2 & 3 or Shadowrun Returns / Dragonfall / Hong Kong.
They're all great. Shadowrun feels a bit more indie.

Note that the Wasteland 1 reboot is NOT in this style.
It's the original DOS game, with better graphics.
If you like Wasteland 2, definitely get Wasteland 3 and Shadowrun, but not necessarily Wasteland 1.

Starshield
Starshield

A fun post-apocalyptic RPG that manages to immerse the player in a treacherous environment while hiding funny nuggets throughout.

The graphics have held up well the last (almost) 7 years. It all feels gritty and satisfying.

The turn-based combat won't take home any awards, but the synergy you can develop between the characters is reflected in the environment as well. It all needs thought- build a team of "jack of all trades" characters with skills and attributes and you'll be starting over again.

Choice matters- you can't just roam about the open world acting like some bloodthirsty idiot.

There is a wealth of decent writing in this game. It's still playable without the dialogue due to the real impact stats and attributes have on the environment. But breezing through the dialogue and funny little bits of narration would be like eating cake without the icing. Enjoyable? Sure. But why would you?

I highly recommend this to players around 30 or older. It will remind you of those days where you could still have adventure in a game without hours of pointless free roam and fetch quests, but AI, UI, and graphics are souped up to the point your nostalgia bubble doesn't burst. It's also one of those games you can easily bookmark after an hour of two of play.

So! If this isn't in your Steam library, block out a Friday night, order a pizza, and set up a few lagers in the fridge nearby.

Come home some weekend night. Order a pizza. Crack open a lager. It'll feel better than old times.

CleonHR
CleonHR

I was overwhelmed with all the options, skills, story, side quests and possibilities in this game. I haven't played such a good game since Fallout 2. This is truly an RPG party based diamond of a game. I was playing the Directors Cut version and didn't have a single bug or problem during the whole game.

So you are a leader of a Desert Rangers newbie squad, and have to tackle some quests, follow a bit of a main story, get tangled up into some side quests, level up on the way, enjoy turn-based combat, explore the map, then go back to main story and so on.... Combat is excellent, you can use cover, you can flank enemy, you can kill your party members with friendly fire, you can hit numerous enemy targets with burst fire, it's all done really well.

The game looks beautiful, it plays great, voices are really good, lore is very good, and I'm enjoying myself like 20 years ago when Fallout 1 came out. If you don't have 60€ for Wasteland 3, go and grab this awesome game instead and you will have numerous hours of great fun and joy.

Chuck Farvre
Chuck Farvre

edit** initially I gave it a positive despite the horrible decision tree but I'm changing that.
I'm playing through a second time and I got to a part where you need to save sick people in a town but
if you save the mayor first , which requires pulling a switch and takes no time, then the sick people are not saved. This is so typical of this pos game. It doesn't even make sense. I mean there are tons of similar outcomes all throughout this game.The substance of my review stands but I can't believe someone was payed to come up with this decision tree it is soo bad. I mean the worst I have played. So I'm uninstalling this garbage now and wont play it again. Believe me this game will be a slog of reloaded saves. You'll do it constantly. stuff like the above happens almost every map. someone ruined a very good game. I feel bad for those that actually had talent and worked hard on this game to see it ruined by I imagine one overzealous incompetent.
*********
OK. some great things. some atrocious stuff.
make sure to google the maps because they are so stupid and you can f up a quest no problem just by not doing
something in the exact right order. Some really dumb writing in terms of setting up outcomes. You'll never get the right outcome if you go by what the game gives you. Really one of the worst designed choice systems(?) ever. so bad. It's made for reloading saves. YOU WILL. many times. I hope the people involved with that aspect of game design are no longer working.

WARNING: google and find the spoilers because you'll end up doing it anyway after some ridiculous not clear choice is made and you end up completely opposite of what you intended. I can't stress how poor this game is in that respect.

BUT i have played it twice now for a reason.
The voice acting and dialogue writing are top notch. The character writers could not be the same people as those that wrote the game choice tree. every encounter is interesting. The personalities are fun but don't step all over the game or your character. No unavoidable tiny dwarf that has 100% chance to beat up your high level tank and ruin any immersion because some "dev" needed that in order burst a gamer's bubble (because y'know ...). You can be the strongest in the game just like you want. No "dev" trying to sht on your rambo fantasy because they deemed it toxic.
No characters or situations trying to force an opinion on you . Writing like the 90s when writers could write. Though , again, any choice you make can ruin immersion so google spoilers unless you want the designer's ridiculous conception of
RPG(role play for random undesirous outcomes.). Could have so much better had they fired that one dev who was in charge and forever marred an otherwise great game.

COMBAT AND SKILL PROGRESSION: It succeeds very well in taking you from weak to powerful through the course of the game - which is 1/2 the point of an RPG, to slowly feel that upward progression and revel in the your power by end game.

RNG is hell and at first I thought it was unfair and the percentages seem inaccurate like there are other factors for calculation that the game keeps opaque. Either way, it's fine, even good. It adds some realism and forces fighting encounters to take novel exciting turns. Also, you can't open every crate or disarm every bomb automatically. RNG adds a lot to the game IMO.

Cover is messed.Many buildings and landmarks that seem impossible to shoot through are illusions and don't stop bullets.
You can only know by hovering and checking for the pop up indicators.

Some weapons are ridiculously OP compared to others. Enemy "Lobbers" have an infinite supply of grenades which seem %90+ accuracy have a long range and do area damage, making them more powerful than most boss's. I take out these lobbers first which is not very immersive. some tiny little npc low level toon ends up more powerful than any other combatant. so stupid. I don't use a lot of grenades because its a cheat. and makes fighting dumb but i have to deal with them from enemies which makes some combat almost a waste of time.

Otherwise the combat is OK. Also, ammo , in the beginning are rare which is great. And you have to manage your money properly.

For character progression, hard but fair RNG results and great script/character writing I recommend this game but , again, IMO google the spoilers.

Try and get over the horrible choice system and unbalanced combat (re grenades and rockets) .
Last comment, it really does seem like this one had a team of great devs and artists and bad devs and at least on garbage writer(whoever did the decision tree).

W3 was a much more polished game and they fixed all the problems above. BUT this one has more soul than w3. and better characters.

Sirgibsalot
Sirgibsalot

A good but not great cRPG that, try as it may, never quite matches the old-school Fallout titles that Wasteland helped to create in the first place. While the combat and role-playing hold up to the standards (largely thanks to the DIrector's Cut), its quest design, writing, and world just isn't as gripping as Black Isle's efforts were. Glitches and balance issues are also a problem. Despite its faults, Wasteland 2 is a good choice for anyone interested in an old-school style cRPG, and I would recommend picking it up on sale.

MisterMark72
MisterMark72

I'll be honest, this one is a bit tough to recommend. While the gameplay is mostly fun, and the story is interesting and suitably post-apocalyptic, there is much to dislike. Their RNG seems totally whacked (especially for weaponsmithing, which is utterly and painfully broken) and there is much juvenile content that's better suited to a middle-schooler's RPG (like the collection of feces to make explosives). Overall, though, if you like turn-based RPGs and the post-nuke setting, this game is worthy. One final thing to note? There's some pretty heavy misogyny laced throughout the game (such as the loading screen comment which makes a very poorly aged joke regarding ex-wives) so be warned.

Lgrneto
Lgrneto

I should find this really fun to play, I loved Wasteland 3 but... oh my god, that mission in the ag center is the worst thing possible. The most interesting post-apocaliptic world every created since Fallout and we waste hours of gameplay dodging exploding pods...

Why is one of the first missions of the game a hell of a test for your patience?

slave1
slave1

I loved the original and decided to try this out when I bought the bundle. Great game! Lots of choices to make that affect the game, I loved creating m own specific characters. I will definitely be back to this once over the years, good replayability.

morhavok
morhavok

A real throwback game.

A lot of fun elements and some inconveniences.

First open world, where you choices seem to matter. They change the game, and you can even fuck things up in your game so bad it can stunt you from finishing it.

Good Parts:
-Lots to do.
-Large story and lots of characters
-Choices matter
-Multiple endings = more replayability
-More stuff

The bad parts
-Not very optimized. Really chugged on my computer
-Lots of dialogue. Even more than I wanted to read
-Difficult at start. I actually turned it to easy for the play through
-Tutorial really does not prepare you

Anyway, if you liked games from the late 90s like Fallout it could float your boat.

ChestRockwel
ChestRockwel

The mechanics of the game are way too visible to the player and it ruins immersion. Basically every map is: if you go left you need 7 lockpick skill to pass, go right for a 6 hack check, go straight for traps that need level 4 skill to disarm. It's fine to have skill checks like this but they should be hidden behind the scenes and masked by the story and atmosphere. You aren't going left because it has a lockpick 7 option, you are going left to help the help the princess. You are going right to fight the dragon, not to use the level 8 hack check.

The characters attributes make no sense either. Why is the best melee fighter build not prioritizing all the physical stats over mental?

Your characters dont have personality and archetypes like in other RPG games. The dumb but strong tank, the quick but physically weak rogue/sniper, the smart tech user guy. They are just carriers for passing various skill checks that have seemingly nonsensical stat point distributions.

I hate constantly thinking about how this map requires skill 7 hack, skill 6 lockpick, and skill 4 disarm to 100% clear. "I just need to gain +2 levels in hacking and +1 level in traps to finish this map". Instead I should be thinking: "Oh nice I think I can rescue the princess if I go to this map and convince the black knight to help me create a diversion. That should distract the dragon enough for me to save her!". Instead its just numbers: skill >6 = win. Skill

Biff
Biff

This is a fantastic game. I love the story line, the characters, and the progression even into new game+. It is hilarious and gritty and you pay dearly for your mistakes, so be wise in your actions. Easily my favorite game , I have beaten it 4 times on 2 different editions. WL 3 should have been this good, but simply just wasn't. I enjoyed it as a stand alone game, but it pales in comparison to WL 2. Only 1 world map in 3 and the character progression in 3 was too bundled and not at all satisfying. WL 2 still holds up, and I hope we get back to its roots when WL 4 comes around.

Kerphelio
Kerphelio

Great game, especially if you liked Fallout 1 and 2. Has a few bugs, but altogether I really enjoyed it.

Sri Sri Reynauld
Sri Sri Reynauld

I like this game more than it deserves, honestly. It's got a lot of good ideas, the love and care developers put into it is clear as day. The execution itself tho' seems amateurish, it feels like they cut too many corners. It feels cheaply made and, in some places, there's just no excuse for it. Here's hoping that after this game's success, the sequel has more of a budget, or that it's better put to use.

Captain JDM
Captain JDM

I have started this game 2 - 3 times before and it just seemed too complicated and difficult and i ended up dying or quitting. But I gave youtube a whirl and found a beginners tutorial. After watching that and giving it another go I was much better equipped and am now really enjoying the game. I have no idea why they don't provide a decent tutorial, they have shot themselves in the foot as this is a GREAT game! My only gripe now is you should save the game fairly regularly as I made quite a bit of progress without saving then lost 2 squad members in an unexpected battle - so I found that out the hard way and had to start again.

Kid Grandpa
Kid Grandpa

Spiritual successor to the Fallout series. Worth every penny.

pdepmcp [ITA]
pdepmcp [ITA]

I'm feel so sorry for giving this a thumb down but the fact is that it is a great game, but... You can get stuck. Or at least: I got stuck. It's not that it's too hard (or not only, at least), it's that in some moments you have no real clue on what to do and you end up hanging in the wasteland... just ruining your game. I played the whole fallout saga and never felt so "lost in the wilderness". Maybe I've just been unlucky and got some stupid choice or missed some hint. Other players seem not to have my same problem, but... I do.
Sometimes being too free makes you feel in an invisible prison.

LIGHTNING
LIGHTNING

Terrific RPG made by the team who did Fallout. A lovely sequel to the original, plenty of nice quests/humour.

BA55 F0UND3R
BA55 F0UND3R

This game makes me love TBS games

Tyralias
Tyralias

Just finished the game.
TL:DR - I give it a solid 8/10, a 9/10 for die hard Isometric RPGers like myself.
Its close to the greatness of Fallout 2, but not quite there due to a few 'minor' issues.

Lets start with the negative, later on in the story, you will want for nothing, with boundless money and resources at your disposal and it got to the point where difficulty became irrelevant for the most part, outside of specific ambush situations which felt artificial in their difficulty (being instantly shot at from all sides without a chance.) Again these are nitpicks not major issues at all as you're playing this for the story and damn, does it have a decent one.

One of the biggest strengths in this game is player agency, it lets you decide the approach and outcome for almost every location you visit. And it makes this choice rather evident early on in the campaign, between the AG Centre and Highpool.
You will have to choose who you side with, who is worth working with and in many cases, which is the lesser evil.
I regret a number of the choices I made, but, that is part of the Wasteland as the loading screen likes to say - You cant always have a happy ending.

The Main story itself is fairly run of the mill - go here, set up this, move onto here and continue. But its real strength is the locations themselves and the side stories / town stories that they have to tell. From Drug Riddled Corruption, to tribal history. They make the world feel alive and lived in.

I could go on and on, but if you loved the Original Fallouts you'll equally love this. With its fun dark humour and quite a pleasing progression, its a damn solid Isometric RPG.

Caaaameron
Caaaameron

I played this for 200 hours and I can't remember a damn thing about this game.

I remember I got Combat Shooting on one guy and used the skill and a minigun to demolish the final boss in one combat turn.

thebrkonja
thebrkonja

If you like turn based combat RPGs set in post-apocalypse world, you'll love this game.

Captain Recliner
Captain Recliner

Awesome retro RPG. I've tried to get back in to classic top-down/iso RPGs for a while now but none of them really hooked me until Wasteland 2. This game has a constantly entertaining storyline, great character advancement, and just the right amount of alternate-timeline quirkiness. If you liked the early Fallout games I guarantee you will like Wasteland 2.

Heartmann
Heartmann

Good, althought after the first Act its gets abit to slow to progress

brujito
brujito

Utterly dull with horrible pacing that unnecessarily bloats the length of the game. Just play Fallout 1 & 2 instead.

Astray
Astray

Геймплейный луп:
Рейнджер, сразу с двух точек на карте поступил экстренный сигнал о помощи! Первым поможешь - вторые в жопе будут, вторым поможешь - первые в жопе будут. Выбирай!

Night Fox
Night Fox

Excellent game in the vein of Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, quite a bit longer than I expected as well.

ionrobsam
ionrobsam

After being destroyed by the roving threats again and again on the world map which are much too strong even before you can travel anywhere I can not see how you can even get to the log locations unless its by pure luck. So a game where luck is paramount and not skill cannot be recommended.

Amaranthium
Amaranthium

Pretty great game if you want to play Fallout but want gameplay that's more like XCOM. Fairly in-depth customisation with the option to create your own party as well as recruit NPCs. Speaking of NPCs, the story and world are well-written and fleshed-out, and you get a good amount of choices and paths to explore. Entertaining quests and characters. Gritty yet fun setting with a smattering of edgy humour (though not too edgy to get on my nerves, YMMV of course). Like, you've got nuns with Gatling guns here.

As for the negatives, I remember the game having a noticeable difficulty spike in Santa Fe (the second "world map" after Arizona). This might frustrate players who aren't prepared for it. And for something released in 2014, it has average graphics at best. Not the most visually captivating game ever, but that's not why I play it :p

stoneciphen
stoneciphen

It had been a long time since I originally beat this game and picking it up again several years later definitely left me confused! Though this game still had the original charm that pulled me in when I originally played it. Well worth the time!

Quaero
Quaero

Worthy successor of post apocalyptic origins.

Dacian Rider
Dacian Rider

Superb RPG. One for the ages ! if you consider yourself an RPG enthusiast and haven't played this one then, the hell with you !
Brian Fargo and inXile Entertainment have knocked it out of the park ; everything from the main narrative, to the actual dialogue choices and skill checks make you feel immersed in this Arizona + LA wasteland. Makes my nostalgia tingle for the good old Fallout 1 & 2 days.
The Desert Rangers are a forced to be reckoned with and will stick with you till the bitter end ( some more than others ).
I've only slightly dabbled in the first game, but this sequel is a true successor, as in it keeps a lot of the subject matter of 80s / 90s design choices alive and relevant. The terminology ranges all the way from robots to androids, cyborgs and synths ! Hearing voice actors speak about nuclear subject matter and having it sound like nucular - lol. A post apocalyptic delight. Beside these guys, the world is brimming with the scum of society, like wh0res, drug dealers, cannibals, con artists, zealots, thieves, weirdos, etc. And I love that the creators of this game weren't bashful with the language or subject matter. It is raw and often times brutal !
Not like today's stories.... for a generation of soft, entitled phone addicted tampons.
Also, this really has to be said: it has some of the best dark humor out there. It's also a perfect coffee game, if you enjoy turn based tactical games. You really need to ponder your choices when creating the characters and also how exactly to use them in combat. Speaking of choices, I'd say it has a good amount of replay value. Be prepared to rely heavily on the quick save / quick load spam ; because this game really doesn't F around with its difficulty, even on standard. The 3 PDF books this edition comes with are a decent read too.
I'm now looking forward to properly playing and completing the third installment. For some reason, this review automatically attached itself to the original W2 not the W2 Director's Cut, where I've put in over 70 hours. Must be another Steam thing...Echo Team signing out.

Metatron
Metatron

This isn't a normal thumbs up and I could only really recommend this to someone who really likes the specific type of RPG like Fallout 1 & 2 in game style. I could imagine some Xenonaut or even X-Com players can enjoy it as well. A lot that isn't obvious to new players is really never explained like how important a shovel can be. Nobody new to this whole type of game would really know that unless being experienced with classic fallout games. That's just a simple example.

A semi-unique problem to this game specifically is if you want to carefully craft your parties skills and utility you'll have to plan out and consider who you're recruiting. Sometimes it is worthwhile to dip a little into skills your character wouldn't use much for a simple perk.

I really do like this game though and it is satisfying overcoming the difficulty jumps throughout and becoming more powerful than what you were fighting. Loot is about as important in this game as your skills so pay attention to what's going on and what you're picking up especially items you've never seen before. Without spoiling anything I really do enjoy this game though. I love how party synergy ends up working together and how your squad begins just as some recruits who will slowly be able to tactically wipe out the enemy at hand.

My main tip is prioritize combat capability as much as you can. I like to make a set up squad and one guy specifically meant for learning a variety of skills. While keeping my other Rangers mostly meant for combat and maybe one other thing while progressing. I give the skills ranger just specialization with energy weapons since it works aesthetically.

Addendum after beating it:

I wouldn't recommend this game now from a story and pacing perspective this part will be entirely spoilers so I'd recommend not read if you care about this. Half of this game was clearly rushed which is very obvious once you reach LA. This game just botched the ending essentially with three boss fights back to back where you are bound to lose people in an already sparsely populated world. There's too much in this game that's paced horribly where you have no ability to prevent tragedy over and over. You'll always come up as a clean up crew and there's never a normal person or any reasonable semblance of a society anywhere. I just decided to beat it to make it a point. I really wanted to get it over with finally and I can't say I regret finishing it but I do wish the ending overall was just a better quality. Fallout at least bothers to narrate their end credit slideshow of the decisions you made. Which in this game are almost entirely non-decisions that affect nothing but the slide.

sundog005
sundog005

Fun game, but lacks polish like most InXile titles....also completely lacks subtlety of any kind but thats ok though it works. Its imho a lot better than WL3 as well, which suffers from Devs usual *sell out to console* tactics with dumbing down of features and expicit content etc. This one pulls no punchs and gives zero fucks about swallowing corporate turds to be watered down for consoles. Its also atleast twice as big as WL3 content wise perhaps even three times the size.

Crazed Possum
Crazed Possum

For all of you who like a good role-playing game in a post world war III nuclear fallout kind of style that is turn-based according to your character stats then this is the game for you. There are many different weapon types and styles to choose from combat occurs according to who has initiative unless you start the combat beforehand. This is a wide open world with many different choices that do have consequences but you are able to save the game and change your choices if you wish so the game has replayability also. Your companions are your four characters that you can create and you can recruit up to three more and also have other let's say people / animals that can tag along with you and some other things that I'm not going to give out at this moment you'll have to figure that out. The game also provides cover so you can hide behind objects and you can be elevated on ridges and stuff like that also . Combat also includes hand grenades/dynamite/rpg rockets etc.

I would also like to point out that there are multiple different ways of figuring out the puzzles and the game and there are objects in the game that are not labeled junk that you may be able to use in other places in the world so you may not want to sell them and then you'll figure out on your own why you kept them for so long.

You don't need to play the first game in order to enjoy this game and let's face it the first game was the very first game that I played on an Apple 2C compatible computer way back and the early 1980s so you probably won't enjoy that with the computers we have today.

I recommend the game but you should watch at least one or two YouTube videos to decide for yourself get this when it's on sale and enjoy it play it all the way through .

Merry Christmas.

Goremurder18
Goremurder18

I tried. but the more I play the trashy it get's. A MANPAD is less expensive then a wrench, and you can't get weapons and armor off of dead enemies for whatever reason. The community is pretty advent on telling people that think that is stupid to go play Fallout.

And I will. Fuck you, and thanks for no help.

peremptor
peremptor

An easy recommendation for any FO1-2 fans. Game feels a bit janky and low budget and the turn based combat isn't the most exciting but the story and characters are solid enough for at least one playthrough.

It didn't knock me off my socks but I didn't stop playing till I finished and that counts as engrossing in my book.

For some reason the game doesn't include my time in the DC version which is 190 hours. I did idle a lot but yeah you should get 50+ hours out of this game at a regular pace.

Reeve
Reeve

Angela Deth truly lived up to her last name on my play-through

NeroCloud
NeroCloud

I like turn-base game an survivor RPG but this game to me is boring. Got to the garden to help the NPC with Low setting to make enemies easy even it my stats are bad. I dont mind that I bought it. its just not for me. maybe someone well find it fun. 7/10

kschindl
kschindl

tired and sick of this bug ridden game. cannot continue as every time i try to talk to vargas in the ranger citadel after rail nomad, the game cannot be saved anymore.
really fucked up. DO NOT BUY this game

none
none

Needs an update for better camera controls - #1 Perspective LOCK, so the scene doesn't spin around and confuse the players, #2 a HotKey for direct over head view, makes things easy to see, Most Importantly, #3 A 2D flat view - like the award winning original WASTELAND - 2D top down view so you can just play and not deal with all the Gee Wizz 3-D graphics. Toggle switch back and forth from 2D view to 3D view, that would be a major improvement. Half the time in game the player can't see what's going on, and has no idea what all the junk is cluttering up the screen.
In only 3D it's not the most fun experience. Original WASTELAND is Wonderful, buy and play that one first.

seikenkage
seikenkage

This half-breed between XCOM and Fallout could have been more than an excellent game were it not so terribly buggy to the point that mechanics, sidequest, NPCs etc. just don't work properly to be able to actually enjoy the game for what it was meant to be.

DrunkNinja
DrunkNinja

Great game. I wanna play Wasteland 3 also but my pc is not enough :D.

Hexeract
Hexeract

Let me start by saying that Fallout 2 is my favorite game of all time. I was excited by wasteland 2 being inspired by fallout, but it has none of the magic of fallout 1 and 2. It's BAD. This game is really really really bad. Death by a thousand cuts, there's so many little things with this game that make it bad. But it took me about 7 hours of playing to realize it's not good and it's never going to get good. I gave it every chance i could, but the game is a tedious chore. You have none of the freedom of fallout 2. It's mostly just a waste of time.

DSapsan
DSapsan

Another almost endless game that is very good. I don't think I'll ever get past it.

Rivnat
Rivnat

I took me way too much time to finally finish Wasteland 2, but I finally did it, and I'm glad I did so!
The classic Fallout games are some of my favorite games of all times, and when I heard that the game that originated those games was getting a sequel (way back then, when the Kickstarter campaign was announced), I was very, very hyped.
I played the game when it launched, and for some unknown reason, never finished it.
Now, after many years, I finished Wasteland 2, and, here's my review of it.
PS: Steam isn't tracking my playtime hours properly, and I think it has to do with the fact that I also played it before the Director's Cut Edition was released.


So, first things first. What is Wasteland 2?
It's a Turn-Based Tactical CRPG based in a Post Apocalyptic USA, after a Nuclear War brought the end of the world.
Seems familiar, right? That's because the Fallout series is a spiritual successor to the first Wasteland game (which came out in 1988).
Basically, Wasteland 2 is a spiritual successor to Fallout 1 and 2 which are spiritual successors to Wasteland 1.
It's been developed by inXile, which was founded by some ex-Interplay/Black Isle devs.

Story and Setting

The game is split in two major segments (which I'll not spoil). Both are very distinct between each other, so you'll know when you eventually reach the second half of the game.
You play as the newly recruited Team Echo from the Desert Rangers, descendants of the US Military, trying to act as the lawmen of Post-Apocalyptic Arizona.
Your first assignment is fairly straight forward: a old-timer called Ace (and a character from the first game) was murdered while trying to install some Repeater Units on some Radios after the Rangers started hearing some very troubling and menacing radio transmissions, and you're tasked of finishing his mission, leading to a huge quest on discovering who murdered him, why, and how you'll be able to install those repeater units.
During your quest you'll meet dozens of different factions, each trying to survive this nuclear wasteland their way. Your actions as a Desert Ranger will shape their lives, and the future of Arizona.
This game, as a CRPG, has some very tough choices to make. And, be warned: even though you have control over many different outcomes to quests, there won't always be a happy ending.
My only complaint of the story is that one of the Antagonists (Dugan) isn't very well explored, and the game's ending happens too abruptly.
Other than that, the story came out as very engaging, with some very good plot-twists. Speaking to every NPC and searching every inch of the map can be very rewarding too!

Gameplay

Wasteland 2 features a Turn-Based Tactical combat, with a Action Points system to dictate how many actions you can do every turn with your characters. There's also a Combat Initiative system, to determinate which characters will act first on their turn.
You control a squad of up to 7 people, with the first 4 being your main characters. These can be either created from the ground up during Character Creation, selected from a pool of available pre-created ones, or, you can even pick these and customize them to your liking.
The last 3 squad members you can recruit during your journeys. There are a lot of different companions that you can find and recruit.
There's a big incentive on trying to balance your squad, ensuring that you'll be able to overcome the many different challenges that wait you (like having characters that can unlock chests, safes, disable alarms and explosives, and even talk to animals).
Just a head's up: there's no way to properly respec them without using external tools, unfortunately.
Combat isn't everything though. You'll spend a lot of time talking to different NPCs, and your choices during dialogue will shape the story going forward. There's also skills that can be used on dialogues to shape the outcome to your liking.

Sound Design

Combat sounds (like firing guns, enemies sound design and stuff like that) sounded ok to me. Nothing too groundbreaking, but they did their job well.
Not all NPCs are voice acted, but among those that do are, they're really, really well done. There wasn't a voice-acted NPC that felt weird or badly recorded, in my opinion.
The best part on sound design was the Soundtrack. That was superb, very atmospheric and could be dark when needed.
A true masterpiece by Mark Morgan (the creator of the original Fallout soundtracks).

Graphics

There isn't much to say about them, to be honest.
They're somewhat dated, but they're ok.
Some textures weren't very good, some character models and animations could be better.
Also, I had some framedrops at some areas, even though my PC is way above the recommended specs.

Final Thoughts

So, to sum it up, I had a lot of fun playing this game.
It felt like a true successor to the classic Fallouts. A post nuclear experience with some wacky and dark humor, mutants, robots and raiders.
I can't say for sure how many hours it took me to finish it due to Steam's playtime being bugged for this game, but I think it was roughly around 50 hours, maybe?
Did every quest that was present, explored the entire world too.
In my opinion, if you like CRPGs as a whole, or liked Fallout 1 and 2, there's a huge chance that you'll like Wasteland 2 as well.

RedneckDevil
RedneckDevil

amazing game. gave me major nostalgic for fallout 1 and 2.

Red Devil MU
Red Devil MU

Boring and the AI cheats such as shooting rabbits at point blank range 18 times with no hits. I tried this a year ago and decided to give it another try, but it is just as bad the second time.

puyo
puyo

Like Fallout, but really really boring.

Okhamnyl
Okhamnyl

Non. buggé jusqu'à la moelle, des combats à la ramasse, des pics de difficultés risibles..dommage, l'univers est intéressant et c'est plutôt bien écrit. Mais bon, si ça peut suffire à faire un bon livre, ça ne suffit pas à faire un bon jeu.

OldOzPara
OldOzPara

Simple and addictive gameplay with a large range of things to do and explore. More puzzles than XCom.

vey001
vey001

really fun game but it has tons of bugs on all the platforms i have it on. PC and switch. most of it is just game crashes but some of it keeps you from going into certain areas. once you hit California save often because it will crash for no reason. still super fun great story and characters and great tactical combat. also take high int you need it for later in the game.

*Luckiest* Afternoon Coffee
*Luckiest* Aft…

Buggy, stuck on mission to cross radioactive from Prison to North East region. I tried every path to cross even following Youtubers guides, still radioactive spike made my team all dead, even with Anti Radioactive Suit.

If there is hack to safely cross that radioactive land NE of Prison, please tell me. Because it ain't no way to beat that MGs guarding the Prison entrance without help from damage robot, and I can't find it's part I need to fix the robot, kinda buggy quest.

At the moment I'm not recommend it.

Red Star, Blood Moon
Red Star, Blood Moon

I could write an entire page essay gushing about how this game is good albeit one slow pace toward the end of chapter 1 in fact I did write a long review and had 77 hours but they did some weird update thing which nuked my stats and review but suffice it to say Wasteland 2 is literally Fallout 3. I waited over ten years for this game. Black Isle crew still lost the IP to another company but the same people that made Fallout 1 made this game, and it's awesome and exactly like I imagined Fallout 3 would be, not the ogres-have-laser-cannons-Skyrim-with-radscorpions-mod from Bethesda--this is Fallout 3 in every sense of the word but the name. IP rights are truly irrelevant; it's only about the creators, in the same way buying out Van Gogh's name and making modern "art" doesn't make it a Van Gogh, even if he uses a pen name the real Van Gogh is that pen name. Having lost the IP to Bethesda, eventually they simply used their other IP, which is Wasteland, that ironically preceded and led to the Fallout universe they later made that got bought out by Todd.

This is true Fallout. I beat it twice. Chapter 2 is like an entire new game stitched to this one. Get it. I haven't had that much fun since Fallout 2.

General Patton
General Patton

I have fonder memories of this game than I do trying the newer Wasteland 3. For some reason, I didn't give this alot of replay. It should be there though.

berserkerbg
berserkerbg

Major bug warning - transferring ammo betwin heroes may result in dissapearing ammo! I forgot other bugs, but there is! I reported ammo bug, but i was ignored or i recieved link to guide to solved bugs, none of them about ammo or missing items! I was forced to restart entire game! Still somewhat good game. I got this game from speacial deals.

aninaninaa
aninaninaa

It seems to be broken. Rookie difficulty, but still feels like a constant grind. Hit rate around 15-30% despite it says 50-80%
I dont think its playable in this state. Same thing in normal game or directors cut.

Shooter McGavin
Shooter McGavin

It took me 82 hours to complete this game. The developer's 80 hour estimate was accurate.

renegade_sock
renegade_sock

Really great turn based RPG, worth its price for sure. The sequel is awful though

NoxieProxie
NoxieProxie

Gmae Good
Me Play Game
Me Like Game
Play Game Make Life Good
Life Good Because Me Play Game

superturboextragnarly
superturboextr…

This was incredible and for some reason I didn't make it to the end. For me it was X-Com meets Fallout and it worked so well. I need to finish this game. Wasteland 3 is on the drive ready to play after.
What really makes this party-based RPG was how solid and polished everything felt.
+The environments and animations are top notch.
+The combat is satisfying. Nothing new but done well with no weirdness.
+The choices all matter, and the writing is great.
+Angela Death is Wasteland's HK-47.

biglu
biglu

This is a solid RPG although I am really enjoying wasteland 3 right now.

Erroneous Fatality
Erroneous Fatality

Rich with atmosphere, story and witty humor. A great RPG.