Wasteland 3 Gameplay - Top 10 Features You Should Know

Wasteland 3 Gameplay
Fish-Lips being fishy


There it is Rangers. A new home for you in the Colorado territories. Or a cloud of death spilling over your mountains like poison.
See you soon.

Wasteland 3 Cover
 

10. Computers and Consoles

Wasteland 3 is on both Computer and Consoles

Robot: This is a placeholder for consoles and computers

InXile entertainment have decided they are going to release Wasteland 3 on computer systems and video game consoles. It will be available to play on Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, and PS4. So yeah, no need to buy a new console or gaming computer just for one game *ahem* I’m clearing my throat at you Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

9. It’s cold..oh so cold

Wasteland 3 Winter is coming

Meme: Brace yourselves Wasteland 3 will be cold

Enter the frozen wasteland..pun intended. Post-apocalyptic games have mostly been miles of barren desert or mixtures of urban rubble and overgrown greens.

Wasteland 3 will explore “the remnants of mankind trying to survive in a hostile, frozen landscape. More than anything, a solitary building or town amidst an unblemished field of snow emphasizes an overwhelming sense of isolation that is key to the post-apocalyptic story. It is this rarely found setting and aesthetic that we want to explore in Wasteland 3.”

8. Deep Tactical Combat

Wasteland 3 battle

Firefight: These dead people didn’t take cover...tsk..tsk

The sky's the limit with the amount of tactics involved in this game. Outsmart your enemies with flanking maneuvers or attack from above using rooftop elevation. Your troops even have combat skills with special tactical effects. Protect your squad and weaken your enemy so that they become easy pickings for the rest of your team.

Don’t let yourself get pinned down and also don’t forget the most important rule of warfare: do not, I repeat..do not stand out in the open waiting for frostbite to set in when you can be cozy in cover.

7. This is Ranger Base

“The Ranger Base is a key location in all the Wasteland games, and Wasteland 3 will be no different. This time the experience will be much more involved, as you are establishing a brand new Ranger base to survive and even thrive in the hostile snowscapes of Colorado. Rather than the base being primarily a place to pick up new missions and replacement squadmates, we're expanding it so that it is a full base of operations that is a part of the narrative and world reactivity. The Ranger Base will not be a place you have to micro-manage in great detail, but it will be a key location with significant narrative opportunities. Based on your decisions, events will open up and the base will evolve over the course of the game.”

Wasteland 3 Base Meme

Because you know I'm all about that bass, that bass no treble 

6. I’ve got a reputation to keep

Ranger Squad in Wasteland 3

#SquadGoals: A group of rangers posing, they sure do look reputable

In Wasteland 3 you are the lone surviving member of the Desert Rangers. It’s a heavy burden to bare, Mr. Frodo.

It will be up to you to build up the reputation of the Rangers. Will you save the land or let it go...let it gooo (okay no more references). You will have the option to choose who you ally with, will you side with certain gangs or will you have them exterminated? The choice is yours and the consequences might just be more unexpected and far-reaching than you might think.

5. It’s also Multiplayer!!!

Asynchronous Multiplayer Wasteland 3

Pretty cult lights: Imagine having gone to sleep and then waking up to find your partner having done something like this

InXile entertainment has decided to make Wasteland 3 multiplayer! So now you have the option to play the game solo or with a friend.

“By making the decision to include multiplayer early in the development process, we will be able to design a game that is true to the core principles of the Wasteland franchise and our studio. Wasteland 3 can be played as an offline, single-player game, and will be built from the ground up with a focus on story and reactivity that makes no sacrifices for the multiplayer experience. At the same time, co-op players will enjoy working together to change Wasteland 3’s highly reactive world… or finding ways to destroy what their friend has worked to accomplish.”

You have the option to play at the same time and what’s even more unique is that you also have the option to play asynchronously. While your friend is offline, you can still continue on and play. The next time you friend gets online, the world might not be the way they remembered it. You can ruin all the hard work they put into making Colorado a better place but don’t be surprised if they ruin your Snapchat streak.

4. Vehicles for transportation

Vehicle in Wasteland 3

Tamater without the ta: Travel around Colorado in a vehicle like this

How will you be traveling the frozen wasteland? As ranger you can’t just walk on foot everywhere, you will need a vehicle. In the gameplay video released, the rangers are shown traveling in this four-wheeled vehicle. You can also use vehicles for exploration, storing essential goods, and of course survival. Don’t forget to gear up your vehicle because out in the frozen wasteland, shiny wheels just aren’t going to cut it.

3. Oh how I longed for the tree of Dialogue

Dialogue in Wasteland 3

Dialogue tree: A variety of options can be chosen from hostile to comical

“Wasteland 3 will feature an intricate dialog system based on Torment: Tides of Numenera’s branching system. Players will choose lines of dialogue that lead them through branching conversations. Choosing certain skills for your character may open up completely new and unique branches. And last but not least, in key conversations the camera will pan in to show a closer shot of the person you’re talking to.”

Sounds too good to be true, but in early gameplay footage the dialogue and conversation is teased; the nuances and mannerisms of the Hard-Head gang’s Fish-Lips are shown and he is not someone I’d like to have my afternoon tea with. In fact, I wouldn’t want him on any creative team projects with a name and gang name like that.

2. Turrets!

Vehicle turret kills Hard Hat Gang member in Wasteland 3

Mince meat a la turret: A turret being used to annihilate an enemy

Don’t you just wish you could slaughter people with more than just little guns? If you do then please visit the nearest therapist or counselor in your area. Just kidding, Wasteland 3 allows for firepower that will satisfy all your rapid-firing turret needs. Install a turret in your vehicle and those silly enough to fight you will meet their end all too quickly.

1. Moral Choices and Sacrifices, Oh My

Fish Lips in Wasteland 3

Fish-Lips you da Real MVP for being in so many pics

By now you’ll have realized that this game is going to be cold but not just temperature-wise. Wasteland 3 will give you moral choices that will test your mettle and leadership skills. You’ll have to make sacrifices for the greater good or you might just watch the world burn, excuse me, freeze over. “The snow glows white on the mountain tonight not a footprint to be seen a kingdom of isolation and it looks like I'm the queen…” -Elsa, Frozen.


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Born in Karachi and raised in Houston, Waseeq is half human half elf, full defender of the physical and cyber lands. An expert with the tea kettle some go as far as to say he's a jack of all trades.
Gamer Since: 1999
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Darkest Dungeon, The Banner Saga 2, Shadowrun Chronicles: Boston Lockdown
Top 3 Favorite Games:Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, XCOM 2, Dragon Age: Origins


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