Wasteland 2 was first released nearly five years ago on PC, and has since seen re-release in a gigantic Director’s Cut form. The latest platform for Wasteland 2 Director’s Cut to get ported to is Nintendo’s Switch, but even that was more than six months ago on the eShop. More recently than that, April 17th actually, there has been a physical cartridge version released on the Switch that I managed to get a copy of for review.
Nearly five years ago, I reviewed Wasteland 2 and found it quite good. This article is meant to really just be a supplement to that original review. Anyway, if you are not used to deep RPGs, and I would still say today that I am not, the depth and sprawl of Wasteland 2 is kind of intimidating, frankly. The amount of detail that inXile has poured into this game is staggering. Everything from character creation, skill point assignments, combat tactics, conversations with NPCs, and the decision-making is impressively done. If you’re familiar with Star Trek you likely know about the Kobayashi Maru, a Starfleet Academy test for leadership which challenges candidates to face an impossible decision, one that has no fully positive outcome. These type of weighty decisions are common in Wasteland 2, forcing your team of Desert Rangers to make huge decisions. These decisions — go this direction, save these people, or go in another direction and let them face their certain death, and so many other varieties of conundrums — have a very real impact on the game world and it essentially assures that no two play-throughs are the same (and each is probably at least 80 hours long anyway). Character death is also permanent, too, so your Desert Ranger squad will likely come to mean something to you, especially if you took the time to craft them individually as opposed to choosing a stock group out the gates.
Playing through the massive world of Wasteland 2 is not something I have accomplished at the time of this writing. The game is challenging (combat especially) and huge. Despite the portability of the Switch, which helps a lot to get in more playtime, I have found myself preferring the PC version to it. Part of the reason is just the bigger screen real estate. Another reason is the much broader, customizable control scheme. I also do not experience any performance hiccups on PC, but the Switch version does still have some struggles. I’m not experiencing any crashes on Switch, just low FPS and stuttering at times. Font size and working the camera is also more intuitive and functional on PC than Switch. Regardless, the quality of the game content remains the same between Director’s Cut ports, so if the Switch is your only option, or just your preferred one, it’s still worth looking into, it’s just too bad the game doesn’t run more smoothly.
The Director’s Cut of Wasteland 2 is no doubt an excellent game at the top of its genre, but the Switch version has some technical issues that keep it from being a clear cut recommendation. Still, priced at $30, and given the quality of the game outside of some technical gripes, it’s well worth your consideration.
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