Wasteland
Genre(s)Role-playing
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Creator(s)Brian Fargo
Platform(s)
First releaseWasteland
January 2, 1988
Latest releaseWasteland 3
August 28, 2020

Wasteland is a role-playing video game series created by Brian Fargo. The first game, Wasteland, was originally developed by Interplay Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1988.[1] inXile Entertainment later acquired the intellectual property from Electronic Arts and developed two sequels, Wasteland 2 (2014) and Wasteland 3 (2020), based on crowdfunding and published by Deep Silver. The games are set in post-apocalyptic open worlds and features turn-based combat similar to that of the earlier Fallout games (also developed by Interplay), of which they are a spiritual predecessor. Xbox Game Studios owns the series after their acquisition of inXile Entertainment.

Wasteland (1988)

Wasteland was developed by Interplay Productions, which later developed the Fallout series.[2] The game was published by Electronic Arts.[1] A remaster developed by Krome Studios and inXile Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios was released in 2020, months before the release of Wasteland 3.[3][4]

Wasteland 2 (2014)

Wasteland 2 was developed after Brian Fargo, the director of the original game, obtained the rights from Electronic Arts in 2003.[5][6] Fargo developed the game with his company inXile through crowdfunding in 2012.[7] The game was released in 2014 for Linux, MacOS, and Windows.[8] InXile earned $12 million in revenue from the game.[9] A director's cut of Wasteland 2 was released for Linux, Mac, Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2015 and for Nintendo Switch in 2018.[10]

Wasteland 3 (2020)

Wasteland 3 has improved graphics but a shorter playtime of 50 hours compared to the second installment, which had over 100 hours,[11] and is set in Colorado. It includes co-op multiplayer with two players, as well as an updated combat system similar to XCOM: Enemy Unknown.[9] The game was released on Linux, macOS, PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One in 2020.[12][13]

Novellas

inXile had planned to set up two novella series for the franchise after releasing Wasteland 2. These were to be called Rangers & Raiders and Cults & Criminals. However the project was soon abandoned with only three digital novellas released and a fourth one authored by Chris Avellone being shelved.[14]

The three digital novellas for Wasteland 2 were released alongside its "Director's Cut". Two of them, The Earth Transformed – Ghost Book I and Death Machines – Ghost Book II, written by Michael A. Stackpole and Nathan Long, form part of a single narrative and feature Ghost, a clone who joins the Desert Rangers during the events of the first game. All Bad Things was meanwhile written by Stephen Blackmoore and focuses on Luke Samson, the founder of the religious cult called "God's Militia" which appears in Wasteland 2. Those who bought the director's cut received the novellas for free.[14][15][16][17] All Bad Things was also released in paperback format.[18] In 2018, inXile gave away the novellas for free to those who purchased Wasteland – 30th Anniversary Edition.[19]

Upon the release of Wasteland 3, three more digital novellas were released and focus on characters from the game. Legend by Ari Marmell focuses on Saul Buchanan, No Way Home by Carrie Cuinn focuses on Angela Deth, and Ironclad by Matt Wallace focuses on Ironclad Cordite.[14] They were included in the game's "Digital Deluxe Edition".[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nutt, Christian. "Wasteland : Developing an open-world RPG in 1988". Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Plunkett, Luke. "Why People Give a Shit About a 1988 PC Role-Playing Game". Kotaku. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "InXile Entertainment Announces Wasteland 30th Anniversary Bundle". techraptor.net. June 11, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "inXile Entertainment Announces Wasteland 30th Anniversary Bundle". Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  5. ^ Matt Kamen (May 26, 2014). "Wasteland dev Brian Fargo on crowdfunding sequel". Wired. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  6. ^ Tal Blevins (October 29, 2008). "Fond Memories: Wasteland". IGN. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  7. ^ "Wasteland 2". Kickstarter. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  8. ^ Pereira, Chris (August 19, 2014). "Wasteland 2, Sequel to Fallout's Predecessor, Launches on September 19 After 26 Years". GameSpot. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Wasteland 3 will have multiplayer, XCOM-style cinematic camera (update)". Polygon. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "Wasteland 2: Director's Cut". nintendo. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  11. ^ LeJacq, Yannick. "My First 20 Hours With Wasteland 2". Kotaku. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "inXile announces Wasteland 3 - and it's got multiplayer". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  13. ^ "Snowy Wasteland 3 Launches Crowdfunding On Fig". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. October 5, 2016. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  14. ^ a b c Tagaziel (September 14, 2021). "Wasteland in Other Media". Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Dealzon (September 25, 2014). "Wasteland 2 now available at more digital retailers". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  16. ^ "The Earth Transformed – Ghost Book I". Smashwords. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  17. ^ "Death Machines – Ghost Book II". Smashwords. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  18. ^ "All Bad Things - Wasteland 2". StephenBlackmoore.com. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  19. ^ Elena Schulz (June 28, 2018). "Wasteland Remastered - Neuauflage des Endzeit-RPGs von 1988 angekündigt". GameStar (in German). Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  20. ^ Carrie Cuinn (November 28, 2020). "Writing my tie-in novella for the Wasteland 3 video game". CarrieCuinn.com. Retrieved December 18, 2021.

External links

Wasteland series
Xbox Game Studios
Categories