Wasteland 2 is an unusual looking game, especially when compared to the sorts of titles its predecessor inspired, like Fallout 3.
It is oddly out of step with today's big blockbusters. It features the increasingly less popular isometric view, distinctly this-gen graphics, noticeably amateurish voice acting and text, lots and lots of text.
But the moment developer Brian Fargo brought up the game in the backroom of a Deep Silver booth and I caught a glimpse of the character inventor page I was hit with an honest-to-god jolt of excitement. This was the game I've been waiting nearly 20 years to play, the game Fargo has been waiting nearly 20 years to make. That gamers of my ilk, and developers like Fargo somehow discovered one another through Kickstarter is a miracle of the modern gaming age.
Wasteland 2 appears to be exactly the sort of game I expected and that Fargo wanted to make, a game that is distinctly not for everyone, something that publishers turned their backs on, but that some gamers waited their lives for.
Wasteland 2 will take place 15 years after the first game ended. That means its jump in time is less than the real one that occurred between Wasteland and the sequel. It will be 100 years after bombs dropped, desert rangers will still be the cops of the future.
The game's characters will feature six attributes, a dozen combat skills, some knowledge skills and even more general skills. Those general skills run from the mundane (weapon smithing) to the unusual (kiss ass).
The game seems packed with the attention to detail and level of nuance that today's gamers might not enjoy. There is, for instance, quite a lot of text in this game, just like in the original.
Fargo seems to be creating a game he's been thinking about for a long time, following an idea he's been pondering for years.
He says he doesn't know when the game is coming out yet (the beta is in October) and that he's not going to rush that decision.
"I waited 20 years," he said. "Lets get this right."
