Wasteland 3 Review (Meat-King, The Ultimate)
"Explosives can be useful to get by a difficult fight, but remember - they are both heavy and expensive, like my ex-wife."
Wasteland 3 (2020) represents a round-based role-playing game (RPG), developed by the company inXile Entertainment and published by the company Deep Silver. Frank Brian Fargo, the CEO of inXile Entertainment, was a co-founder of Interplay Productions (1983), responsible for later game series such as Fallout (1997) and Wasteland (1988).
Pros & cons:
++ Solve your problems however you like. Talk your way out of most conflicts and situations. Help Santa to distribute a super drug and siphon off the profit. Depose a tyrant and become the messiah of the wasteland. Get royally rewarded as a slave bounty hunter. Pull out superior armour and weapons from inconspicuous toaster units. Break the game by investing all your points into awareness, explosives, luck and stealth, and one-shot half the screen with one nuke. Afterwards, bath in the holy glow of the irradiated remains of your enemies!
++ A mixture of dark humour, gritty realism, and witty writing are the foundation for the main story and side quests. Some of them will even test your morality, and your decisions will come back to haunt you.
+ Played it with brother, and we indulged in several discussions about my slave trade business and his humanitarian messiah complex.
- Worst glitch I have encountered was a random fight on the world map, which did not end after all enemies has been turned into goo. I had to load and maneuver around those spots that came up on an irregular basis. Hours later, the machine gods fixed that issue in their sadistic benevolence, and I descended with a vengeance upon that cursed goat. May it burn in hell for all eternity!
Summary:
Consistently good characterization and writing, combined with the freedom of choice to deal with every situation as you see fit, make Wasteland 3 a great RPG experience. Alas, it is overshadowed by bugs and glitches that will occasionally dampen the immersion.
Recommended for post-apocalyptic enthusiasts and free spirits.
Achievements:
Estimated time for 100% completion: +120 hours
Singleplayer achievements: 86
Multiplayer achievements: none