At number twelve we have one of the true classics of the early PC era.
12. Wasteland
Interplay
1986
PC
GameSpot Review - 8.9 * (remember, an Asterisk means no official review, just a user review)
RPG
The developers on this game read like a who's who of RPG greatness. Michael Stackpole (writer of many books, developer of RPGs), David "Zeb" Cook (Writer of a few books, creator and writer of AD&D 2nd Edition), Liz Danforth (famous painter and RPG writer), Brain Fargo (creator of many famous RPG PC games and founder of Interplay), and Bruce Balfour (writer of many books).
Some of the game designers dressed up in Wasteland apparel and had their pic on the inside cover of the box. Unfortunately, the only pic I could find is not working
Instead, here is the Scorpitron - one of the toughest monsters in the game.
If you asked me what the best RPG ever designed was three years ago, i still would have said Wasteland. I don't think any RPG hit as many notes as perfectly as Wasteland. Even my Dad liked it.
What was good about Wasteland, you might ask? Everything.
Wasteland was an RPG that took place after a nuclear war cleaned the slate. You are a part of the Desert Rangers, and survived because you were underground. Your party emerges and heads out into the desert to investigate some odd occurances. You'll head to Needles, Quartz and Las Vegas to find out what is going on, and eventually you'll learn that a militaristic group of people who survived the Nukes have been building death robots and are building an army of them.
The game has a very Mad Max or Road Warrior feel to it, and its great!
It takes a long time to investigate the world and figure out what's going on. In the meantime, you'll have some of the most descriptive text in any game, ever. Here is a sample from a mere abandoned building. You got a short message of text with every step in the building. For the record, there are dozens of abandoned buildings in the game.
Quote:
The wind has been blowing dust and leaves into this room so long that it is now almost 3 feet deep.
There used to be a door here a long time ago.
The old brick walls are slowly crumbling and falling apart.
Though rusty with age the hinge springs will close this door after you walk away.
The squeaks of rats bounce off the walls all around you.
You are walking on the door to this room.
The walls and ceilings all around you are covered with graffiti and bullet holes.
Don't wiggle! This chair is trying to fall apart.
This wall is covered with gang names and warnings to other gangs.
THE WHITE BOY IS #1 has been painted over the hundreds of bullet holes in this wall.
Crude pictures of nude girls and gang symbols are all over this wall.
Don't put anything on this table. I don't think it could take the weight of a feather.
Either that trash is moving or something is moving under it.
Lucky you! That snake could have been very nasty if it hung around to fight.
These old dusty shelves have stood here unused for more years than you have been alive.
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With so many people who became published authors on the staff, you can understand why the text is so good.
The world is vibrant. Radiation has mutated a few, and there are realistic missions that take you all over the map. From a three legged prostitute to the Church of the Mushroom Cloud, you'll range all over. You'll either install a new mayor of Quartz, the leader of a group of thugs, or free the good Mayor Pedros.
During the game, your party can add three NPCs which are almost always (for me at least), Ace, Covenant, and one of the two dying people in Darwin Village, and usually Christina until then. I never liked Redhawk because he is too unstable.
Here are some of the inventive things that Wasteland did:
There are no healing items and no healing skills. There actually is a First Aid and a Doctor skill but those stop bleeding and so forth, they do not cure diseases and heal. Too many RPGs rely on healing items, but there are none here. You can go a Doctor but it costs a lot of dough.
Random encounters never drop money or items. Only set encouters do. Therefore, you will never get money and items unless you are advancing the plot.
Stores have a limited supply of items, and keep things you sell to them so you can rebuy them later. Many stores at this time had unlimited items or never kept what you sold to them.
If you kill an emeny with a gun, you get a certain amount of experience. If you pull out an axe or a spear and charge them, killing them in melee, you get double experience. This was a nice incentive to fight up close and personal.
NPCs in your will refuse to give the team items in their inventory, especially if they are vital, like body armor. Some NPCs (Redhawk) do this more frequently than others. I love this and it makes perfect sense that someone who joins your quest may not feel comfortable giving you back the armor you gave him.
A radiated monster:
Wasteland was such a great game, full of flavor, excitement, an advanced gaming system, and more. It's impact reached through the genre and inpired the Fallout series which in several locations has had references to Wasteland.
Unfortunately, Interplay was never able to really do a sequal. Interplay was a developer, but EA was the publisher. EA got the right to the name Wastealnd when they published it, and only recently (2003 in fact) has Bryan Fargo repurchased the name.
This guy's not happy to see you:
The game was the first high quality RPG. It influenced tons of games that came after. It was truly remarkable and great and more than worthy to be number 12 on my list of the top games ever.
-Anixety