Wasteland 3 is the next installment in the Wasteland series. Setting-wise, it can be considered post-apocalyptic with a fair amount of science fiction mixed into it. Mechanics-wise, it is unusual because it will be a squad-based RPG, which isn’t exactly the most common genre of game that can be found out there. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Wasteland 3:
1. Can Trace Its Roots to the Late 1980s
Wasteland 2 came out in 2013. However, it is interesting to note that the Wasteland series can trace its roots to the late 1980s because the first title in the series came out in 1988. Technically, there were a couple of follow-ups between those two releases. One title called Fountain of Dreams was released but was changed so that it wasn’t marketed as a sequel to Wasteland. Meanwhile, the other title called Meantime was set in the same universe but was on the cusp of completion when it was canceled because of bad market conditions.
2. Has a Connection with Fallout
Speaking of which, the Wasteland series has a connection with the Fallout series. Essentially, Interplay wasn’t able to get the rights to the Wasteland series, which is why it proceeded to create the Fallout series instead. As a result, it is no wonder that the two series share a lot of setting details.
3. Set in Post-Apocalyptic United States
For instance, the Wasteland series is set in a post-apocalyptic United States that has been brought to said state by a nuclear missile exchange. However, while the Fallout setting came into existence thanks to a war between the United States and China, the Wasteland series was more conventional in the sense that it came into existence thanks to a war between the United States and the Soviet Union. As for the cause, there was apparently an impact event because of a cluster of meteors that kicked the whole thing off.
4. Centered on Rangers
The Wasteland series is centered on a group called the Desert Rangers. In short, the group came into existence when a group of U.S. Army Engineers were building bridges in a place situated close to a death row prison plus a number of survivalist communities. When the nuclear missile exchange happened, said group proceeded to take over the prison, expel the prison inmates, and then invited the survivalists to join up with them, thus putting them on the first step to becoming the Desert Rangers.
5. Sci-Fi Elements
There are very blatant sci-fi elements that can be found in the Wasteland series. For instance, Wasteland 2 had so-called “synths,” which stood for synthetic humans. Even worse, it had a fully-functional AI that had genocidal intentions towards the human race, seeing as how it intended to either kill them or convert them into its controlled minions.
6. Continuation of the Story in Colorado
Wasteland 2 was a continuation of the story told in Wasteland. Likewise, Wasteland 3 promises to be a continuation of the story told in Wasteland 2, though it remains to be seen which ending will serve as the basis for the follow-up. Regardless, it has been revealed that much of the upcoming title will be set in Colorado, meaning that interested individuals can expect a fair number of frozen landscapes. Something that is perhaps unsurprising for those who have been following the trailer releases.
7. Being Made By inXile Entertainment
In a sense, there is a continuation between the people who made the first Wasteland and the people who are in the process of making Wasteland 3. This is because inXile Entertainment was founded by Brian Fargo, who was one of the co-founders of Interplay. As such, said developer has made a number of titles with some kind of connection to Interplay’s output, though Wasteland 2 and Wasteland 3 are unusual in that it actually managed to get its hands on the rights because the previous holder Konami let them lapse. In contrast, Torment: Tides of Numenera was just a spiritual sequel to Planescape Torment.
8. Has Been Impacted By Microsoft Buyout
Recently, inXile Entertainment was bought out by Microsoft. Due to this, Wasteland 3 was supposed to have been released in Q4 of 2019 but has since been pushed back to early 2020. As for why Fargo agreed to the buyout, it was apparently good for the developer in the sense that Microsoft support would enable it to move towards making high-budget games rather than remain stuck in its previous position of making games that weren’t quite indie games but weren’t quite high-budget games, which was very awkward under prevailing market conditions.
9. Funded Using Fig
It is interesting to note that the upcoming title was funded using Figrather than Kickstarter. This was an interesting choice because Fig is an equity crowdfunding service, meaning that it offers interested individuals to buy a stake in its funded projects. As such, while a Kickstarter project is very reliant on people having some kind of emotional investment in the premise, a Fig project can dangle financial considerations as a way of securing more funding from more people as well. Something that can be very useful when the crowdfunding market is as crowded as it is.
10. Current Release Date Set for May 19 of 2020
Currently, Wasteland 3 is expected to come out on May 19 of 2020. Besides this reveal, a fair amount of other information has come out. For example, it has been revealed that the upcoming title will be more of a standalone so as to make it more accessible to people who aren’t interested in playing its predecessors for a complete picture. Likewise, it will apparently have some kind of cooperative multiplayer mode built into it. For the time being, Wasteland 3 is still some time out. As a result, more information is bound to come out in the months ahead, meaning that people with a taste for post-apocalyptic RPGs might want to keep a watchful eye out. The better informed that they become about the upcoming title ahead of time, the better their chances of making the right choice for their personal preferences, particularly if they are intrigued but still not sure about going ahead with an actual purchase.
