Re-releases (and compilations) went from a niche thing that the PS3 was known for to being a very prevalent release type for the major platforms. It’s a strange thing, with people like me who will wait for a huge game like Dragon Age: Inquisition to get its inevitable, freshly released GOTYE before jumping in. By then, it’s safe to assume that all major game bugs and balance tweaks and extra content and all that stuff you wish was in place day one is included and fully functional. The same goes for Wasteland 2 — last year, I reviewed the game but I never finished it, and a huge reason for that was because it was apparent it needed time for patching and balance fixes (like nearly every other major game anymore).
Enter the Director’s Cut. Savegames are not compatible with the original release, which may reasonably lead you to conclude how much the game has changed since its original release. For some, that might be 70+ hours that you have to reinvest, but from my experience with the Director’s Cut thus far, it may very well be worth it. The core game hasn’t changed tremendously — it’s still a very immersive, squad turn-based strategy with deep RPG elements. The Desert Rangers, seemingly the last of humanity that can stand up for the weaker good folks against all of the evil of a post-apocalyptic south western US, return to form. As before, you can use the prebuilt characters to dive into your own creation, but it’s not for the faint of heart — before Wasteland 2, I had not played the original Fallout games which the Wasteland games are sort of spiritually connected with (especially given the lead producer here was one in the same for the original Fallout — Brian Fargo). The character creation is a bit challenging because, well, if you’re like me anyway you’ll have a concern that you made the wrong choices and the game will be brutally tough because of it ten, twenty, or thirty hours down the road. So for newcomers, it may be best to tackle it with the built-in Rangers or at least base your creations off of their initial attribute allocations.
On that note, one new element with the Director’s Cut is the Perks and Quirks system, which alters the traits and attributes of your character as they progress in new ways. It gives each character more value and depth, and an additional layer of, well, character or uniqueness about them. It’s not enough to make up for a poorly created character, but if you’re returning to Wasteland 2, it’s a nice subsystem that gives the game its own extra flavor.
Graphically, the game now runs on Unity 5 and it’s a significant overhaul from the original. This isn’t a complete remaster, that wasn’t necessary anyway, but expect improved character models and overhauled environments. Honestly, I can’t recall the specifics of the original Wasteland 2 well enough to be able to point out the major differences, but suffice it to say that the Director’s Cut looks and runs great. When I first reviewed the game, I was running on weaker system than what I would build a couple of months later. For the purpose of this review, I am running on a i7 4790K with 16GB and a GTX970, and at 2560x1080p in Beautiful settings, it’s running smooth and looks awesome. Being able to zoom in on the new Precision Strike system is a visual treat and a fine new addition to the gameplay. Precision Strikes is exactly what it sounds like, your characters can target (and be targeted on) specific locations on foes, increasing your chance of causing multi-turn negative effects on them.
Actually even more impressive than the graphical upgrades is the new dialog — more than 8,000 new lines of dialog were recorded for the Director’s Cut. There’s a whole lot of dialog in Wasteland 2 and with so many new voiceovers the experience is lot more robust.
Gamepad support was added for the PC version too, but I only tried this and the PS4 version for a short period. Wasteland 2 is a ‘textbook’ PC game in the sense that it controls best with mouse and keyboard. While the console effort is commendable, and support gamepads is cool and all, the most efficient way to play remains the mouse and keyboard.
Lastly, numerous other gameplay mechanics and elements have been changed. A whole lot of small things that add up to make a big difference, things that, unless you were really paying attention in the original release, you probably won’t specifically notice here. The list includes alterations to everything from new weapons, tweaked weapon stats, loot drops, the location of containers, etc. Most of the combat encounters have been re-worked to alter enemy placement, numbers, types, and so forth, not to make it easier, but to simply change and improve the experience.
In summary, while at the time of this writing I am still far from completing Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut, I can see, hear, and feel enough changes and improvements from the original release that the Director’s Cut is clearly the definitive way to play. There should be little surprise in that, though — any game with what amounts to about an extra year of development time is bound to improve, but inXile, fueled by Producer Brian Fargo, have clearly not lost the passion for this game and it shows with the sheer volume and depth of changes they have incorporated here.
