Wasteland Remastered

I was really looking forward to this one as I played the original over 30 years ago on the C64 and still love that version on my PC. So as the remastered Version was announced and after the Baldur's Gate remake was quite nice it was an instant buy for me. I shouldn't have done that! The game is heavily bugged and unplayable for me at the moment. I do not mind the still clunky interface or tha fact that it is not really better gameplay wise. Just the presentation and graphics would have been enough to make me happy. Unfortunately that seems to much to aks. I do not even tallk about the fact that choosing another screen resolution is the first issue that you most likely will encounter. Frustrating but there is a workaround... But then after I made my party I wanted to equip items (weapon & armor) and it simply does not work. So gamebreaking bug right of the plate... As long as the game is not patched it is a no-go...therefore 1 star (for the intro, i suppose).

Background: Iplayed the original C64 and MS-DOS versions and recently the so called original classic. General: - apart from taste issues and bugs, this version does almost everything the old versions did, only better Pros: - save system. You have autosave AND saveslots. - Journal (where you can review passwords, paragraphs and statistics) - cutscenes (skipable, narrated) - combat feedback (sound and graphics) - immersion, atmosphere and presentation. Managed to update the graphics without loosing the original feel. Due to more realism you loose some instant recognition and speciality highlights, of course. - sound - since i never used macros i did not miss them and btw, they seem to have been added now. - feedback in the way your first char looks and what weapon is currently used as well. Different genders/nationalities/NPCs look different on the map Cons: - bugs, though probably better than you could think from the reviews. Few freezes under windows 7 when the engine wanted to start a cutscene. Brother had random freezes under windows 10 that increased in probability the longer he played (making him stop on that PC). Changes: - gameplay changes noticed: when you party is uncounscious and you wake up, it does not go into combat automatically like in the old versions. This allows for complete usage of medic/doctor/weapon swapping (but if you want the old way, you just hit E). - After you solve the game, you now have some more feedback What could they have done better? - you still loose all items you drop and any NPC you disband. Shops still keep items sold, though, Some storage or the NPCs going back or staying somewhere would have been a nice feature for a remake - the quest system is basically just a measure how well you stick to the wasteland 2 lore, no real choices except "do or do not". But it works fine as checklist. - more character design options After all a decent update in the reviewd version (1.24).

...still not for everyone. By the way? The game's been patched to its latest version since May of 2020, when most people were complaining at this game's release. This game is a remaster, not a remake. It's got a great newcoat of paint, but it's still very much the original game. For better or worse. If you're into old-school CRPGs -- especially the original Fallout titles -- it's worth a spin. Just remember that we live in an age of walkthroughs, and that old-school RPGs be cryptic. Don't be afraid to bust out the pen and paper for notes (or just Google it). THE PROS + Marvelous new soundtrack. I'm fond of the Quartz town theme and AK-97 (the main battle theme) myself. Cool opening cutscene. UI that fits the newer continuation of the series, Wasteland 2 and 3 (both great games in their own regard, too). The animated enemy images are still animated. + If you start with the premade team (which is pretty dece), Snake Vargas and Angela Deth now have unique images. + Multiple solutions to scenarios and optional things you can do, like in the original Fallout. Y'know, Wasteland's spiritual successor. Blow up doors you can't pick open with a grenade. Break into a gang's hideout from a rooftop glass panel. Shoot some little kids who laughed at you, if you want (sicko). + Being able to trade multiple items at once to your different Rangers (and friends), and to organize items and skills. Not sure if you can do this in the original. You can also read all the copy protection paragraphs at your leisure, and they're also played out in cutscenes that reference which paragraph they're from. THE CONS - The base game is still the base game. Plenty of hot menu action. Multiple enemies on the map popping up feels like a slog, especially if you use melee. - Exploits caused by glitches are gone, like the infamous "super loot bags". Exploits intentionally put into the game, like how OP Pugilism is, still exist. Underwhelming skills are still underwhelming. Yay?

I was really happy to hear they would remaster Wasteland, one of my favorite games from the 80s. And while the remaster isn't horrible, it ends up getting an E for Effort. The good: - I do like the new graphics - Integrated journal and a voice over narration of the same really helps - They added little animated scenes for various story relevant steps. These are not super fancy, but that fits the style well. Now the bad: - Tons of ugly new bugs that crop up immediately give the impression that QA was asleep at the keyboard - Controls are still clunky, they really should have been updated for the 21st Century - Gameplay really hasn't aged well - They couldn't even be bothered to pick proper fonts for the main menu - Despite all the things they felt they shouldn't touch, they made the weird decision to force weird gender politics into the game - all player characters are referred to by the gender-neutral pronoun "them" instead of their correct genders (he/she) - which you do pick as part of the character creation process. Please keep your odd agenda out of my childhood experiences, thank you. If you played this game in the 80s, save your nostalgia and 15 Euro by not buying this game. If you never played wasteland, you can safely pass this one unless you really, really want to force yourself for completionist or historic reasons or whatever. tl;dr not worthwhile; weird design choices; not worth buying.

I really wanted to like this. I spent a couple of hours trying to get the perfect team. They were flush with cash. But the game is broken. I went to the first town, the first quest (rabid dog). There I was in the cave, facing Jackie (the first recruitable NPC). So, how do you talk to Jackie? I have NO IDEA. I was standing right next to her. Press right? Nope. Use Perception? Nope. Right-click? Oh, that's right. The mouse is close to useless in this game. Seriously, this game COULD have been great. The graphics are acceptable, and the plot (from what I have read) seems solid, But the user interface is a mess (a hold-over from the DOS days). I would rather have the original graphics, but have improved controls. Being able to use the mouse to navigate would have been nice. Being able to right-click to use a skill or item would also have been MUCH improved. But to have to guess to figure out how to talk to an NPC? Unacceptable. If and when the developer gives us a MAJOR update, it might be better. Until then, hard pass.