Wasteland 2 is the upcoming post-apocalyptic RPG title under development by inXile Entertainment, and is the first official sequel to the first Wasteland, released back in 1998 for Commodore 64, DOS, and the Apple II, and was considered a massive hit.
Wasteland has received its funds via Kickstarter after the developers made the plans for the game public. With its crowd funding campagin a success, the game has been given an estimated release date of late 2013.
As far as a plot is concerned, similar to the Fallout series, Wasteland 2 is set in an alternate timeline, in which a nuclear holocaust took place in 1998 following an impact event where a cluster of meteors brought about a global nuclear war.
On the same day amid the calamity, a group of U.S. Army Engineers were in a remote location in a desert area constructing bridges in an area consisting of small survivalist communities and a newly-constructed federal death row prison. Now with the world falling apart, the soldiers sought shelter in the prison, while expelling the inmates, and invited nearby survivalists to join them.
Years later, these soldiers and survivors together formed "the Desert Rangers, in the great tradition of the Texas and Arizona Rangers," to help other survivors in the desert and beyond.
Back in April last year, Kickstarter confirmed that the team was almost successful in bringing over the next iteration of Wasteland to fans. By that time, the team already boasted $2 million for the project with close to another 41,000 backers for the project.
To further explain as to what would happen if the project reaches $2.5 million, project creator Brian Fargo stated in the official Kickstarter page: “So at 2.5 million dollars we would bring in another couple of designers to help create more areas.”
“This will not only increase the overall size and depth of the world, but it translates to more story lines and more player options as well. At this funding level we would also bring more level scripters in to allow us to get levels in faster. When we get levels in faster it allows more iteration time to really hone things in. I believe that iteration time is the single most important factor towards shipping a polished and deep game.”
Needless to say, the team has achieved its goal now with more funds than required and with just over 61,000 backers.
Speaking about the team’s entire journey from the first Wasteland to the new Kickstarter project involving Wasteland 2, Development Director Chris Keenan stated that when Brian Fargo and his team released the original Wasteland in 1988, “They had learned many lessons from the game and wanted to apply them to a sequel to Wasteland, but they couldn’t get the rights for it. Instead of selecting a new project, they started a new post-apocalyptic game, which was Fallout.”
“There was obviously a disconnect between the level of interest from fans and publishers,but not much we could do about it. Cue Kickstarter and Double Fine’s success. As soon as Brian saw that, we immediately got started dusting off the pitch documents and preparing for our first Kickstarter. Luckily, the Wasteland community won in the end and we’re developing it right now,” he told Gamingbolt back in May this year.
Keenan stated that Wasteland 2 is a party-based game where players can “create 4 desert rangers and give each one unique tools to be able to navigate and explore the Wasteland. Along the way you can pick up additional companions that each have their own personalities.”
“While they will add additional firepower and help, they won’t always listen to you when you tell them what to do. One of my companions might not like stray cats so instead of shooting at a synth during combat, he explodes the stray with a grenade.”
“How you deal with that is up to you. Maybe his skills are good enough that you just put up with it, or maybe you kick him out of your party or even kill him. Another major element we are sticking with is the extremely heavy literary feel,” he added.
Wastesland 2 is said to feature a high-angle, semi-overhead camera view that can be rotated as per player desire. The game is basically a turn-based (and part-based) RPG title that also offers tactical combat.
As revealed, the player’s party is set to support seven characters, including the four player-based Rangers and up to three NPCs. While the Rangers are highly customizable and will receive individual personality based on the player’s statistics, skills and appearance, the NPCs are also expected to arrive with their personality, opinions and agendas.
Wasteland 2 is currently scheduled for a late 2013 release for PC, OS X and Linux.