Wasteland 1: The Original Classic

This old game was what got me into rpgs. Back then it was all fantasy, sword and sorcery magic whatever. This game brought rocket launchers, full auto and things that go boom. A much welcome change at the time. I replayed this game many times over. Still have the original game in box, also all the Fallout sequels and even backed the amazing kickstarter remake Wasteland 2. (WL 3 is on the to get list soon.) This original might not stand up well today, but back then it was amazing... even on my old EGA 16 color monitor PC . Ahhh fond memories of being young with no other responsibilities :)

Wasteland is a classic. And even today it can be very enjoyable. It looks dated, but not ugly. It sounds good. It is fun still today. But it does have one massive problem: it is one of the most frustrating games I've played in recent times. Since the game only offers one save slot, and it saves automatically very often, one mistake can be fatal. And sometimes you only realize you did something wrong when it's already too late. I had to start all over again way too many times, and now I decided to simply give up. I wouldn't write a review of a game I've not finished if I didn't think it was relevant. I believe that Wasteland IS worth playing if you care at all about the RPG genre and 1980's classics. But be careful: it can be extremely irritating at times.

I enjoyed the game and understood why people called Fallout a sequel to it. It has a fun story and I found myself playing for hours and thinking it was minutes. It was like taking a time machine back to the finest the 80's had to offer, so I saw why it was legendary. That said, I used a walkthrough and am not ashamed of it. There are items you need to finish the game, and if you drop them, you lose them forever. There are bugs that will destroy your game and the primitive save mechanism means you have to go into folders and copy / rename backups. I still recommend the game, but I cannot give it five stars. IMO, newer games have better patches that fix these kinds of problems but the 80's were a different time. It is old.

What a great classic. I feel that everyone that is a fan of fallout should play this to see the game that preceded fallout. Be warned that this is a very old game which means that this game explains nothing and there is permadeath. Once you understand that you can start to enjoy the game.

When Wasteland originally came out, I was a big crpg fan having played the Ultima, Bard's Tale, and M&M games that had come out to that point. A post apocalyptic crpg was definitely something different, and I decided to give it a try. Needless to say I loved it, and by my 20's when I stepped away from crpg's I always lamented it never having gotten a sequel (yes I know Fallout was basically it's spiritual sequel). Fast forward to a couple of years ago I decide to get back into crpg's and find GOG! Not only did I immediately purchase and play the original Wasteland, but low and behold Mr. Fargo finally got his sequel which is near the top of my back log of games to play next, with Wasteland 3 right behind it. If you enjoy post apocalyptic crpg's and you've never played the Grandfather of them all, what are you waiting for?!?