STACK #190 Aug 2020

GAMING FEATURE

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in the wasteland and… well… something will happen!” With so much new in the mix, we put Rogers on the spot – what does he think is the coolest addition? “That’s tough,” he muses. “I love our combat system – I think the character progression is really solid, and the items are fun to use. The cyborg mods add a ton of fun gameplay, and the new abilities and perks add a ton of variety to your builds. I honestly think the best thing is that Wasteland 3 is fully voiced. Not only is

The much-anticipated RPG Wasteland 3 arrives this month. STACK caught up with lead designer at developer InXile, David Rogers, to find out more about the game. Words Amy Flower TIME TO WASTE!

Wasteland 3 is a massive game, somehow bigger than even we expected it to be

the writing superb, the voice acting is fantastic, and it really brings the wasteland to life.” With the post-apocalyptic setting of Wasteland 3 , the game is likely to appeal to players not well acquainted with turn-based strategy. Rogers doesn’t think that this will be a problem for anybody willing to step up and play, though. “I think it’s fairly straightforward,” he tells us. “As long as you aren’t playing on one of the harder difficulties there’s a lot of opt-in combat complexity. Ability combo-ing, ability use, and even final actions aren’t

D eveloping a sequel to such a popular – and enduring – franchise could put the pressure on, yet David Rogers is accentuating the positive. “What I feel is a lot of anticipation,” he tells STACK . “It really feels like our fans are rooting for us and trust us to make something great. The feedback from our early demos was direct, but also generally very positive. We watched streamers have a blast with our beta, and it helps us know that we’re on the right track as we’re pushing hard to polish Wasteland 3 as much as we can” Wasteland 3 follows straight on from the previous game, and we’re promised a huge experience. “ Wasteland 3 is a massive game, somehow

bigger than even we expected it to be,” chuckles Rogers. “For people who beat Wasteland 2 , they know that Arizona has seen better days and could really use some help. The desert rangers set off for Colorado, where

the Patriarch of Colorado has offered them a deal of a lifetime: Clean up a little insurgent power struggle in his kingdom in exchange for enough food and supplies to get Arizona back on its feet again. The beautiful thing is that, from there, it’s up to you what you do. You can do whatever you want

something that you HAVE to use to succeed, particularly on ‘Rookie’. You can also avoid a ton of combat through narrative exploration. With the right skill checks and some clever thinking, you’d be surprised how much combat is actually avoidable in Wasteland 3 !” Ultimately, Rogers believes that Wasteland 3 is all about player enjoyment. “It’s a super simple answer – to have fun,” he enthuses. “I feel like that’s what we’re all in it for. I hope Wasteland 3 gives people 50 or maybe even 80 hours of joy and escapism. If you like story, we’ve got that for days – literally. If you like strategy combat and RPG customisation, you’re covered there. Our

WASTING WITH A FRIEND Multiplayer is new to the Wasteland series, and Rogers tells us that it really is all about teamwork. “Our primary mission when creating multiplayer was simply making that experience something you could share and collaborate on with a friend. Both of you are in it together, solving problems as a team and living with each other’s mistakes. There’s a real simple joy in roleplaying with a friend. We’re also taking special care to make sure that single player saves and multiplayer saves are identical. Any game can become a multiplayer game and then revert back to a single player game.”

favourite thing to do is watch players stream our games and enjoy themselves.”

• Wasteland 3 is out Aug 28

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