Wasteland - Remaster vs Original Comparison

The remaster of Wasteland has just been released! The role-playing game from 1988 was the template for the Fallout series and will soon have a third part. Developed for Interplay by Brian Fargo (also known from the Bard's Tale series), it is now re-released for modern systems by Fargo and his new studio inXile.

The Remaster is more of a remake, because the engine is completely new, the graphics, sounds, music and controls have been completely redesigned. For fans of the original game this version is definitely worth a look. Newcomers can't expect Fallout 5, of course, but they'll get a taste of the atmosphere of the old days in a prettier form.

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#wasteland #wastelandremaster #remaster

[nat]

I think the only thing i dislike about the new visuals is that they made your character look like a board game piece

[Glassandcandy]

This is amazing. I've never seen another remaster that so perfectly keeps all of the things of the original that made it special while also giving the much needed facelift. I would hate if they remastered it to play like a modern top down isometric RPG because that's just not what Wasteland 1 is. Wasteland 2 is like that, but the game was designed with that kind of play in mind. This is a relic of a long gone type of RPG that may seem strange to modern players or those unacquainted with the style of old DOS rpgs, but it's great that we have this shinier, faster version of the game but that it still plays like the old build, leaving things for your imagination to do. That's something I miss about old games. Sure, it's great having these amazing looking, cinematic games in 2020, but there's something special about games that don't give you everything up front and compel you to imagine the action going on. It's comparable to a great book in which things may be vividly described, but it's up to your imagination to visualize it for yourself. I'm really happy with the way they've handled this project, and I hope it got some new folk to go back to the original progenitor of series like Fallout.

[IOSARBX]

Game Intros & Finales, Yay! I liked this video so much, it made me smile!

[avalonjustin]

Legendary games never die, and war never changes.

[NCRVeteranRanger]

Say what you will, but this is actually pretty awesome! The only complaints I have are:

1. They could’ve added sprites for the characters in combat. For example, when a character gets hit, they would’ve had a sprite that showed them grimacing.

2. The circle beneath the player is kind of distracting.

Other than those two things, I really look forward to buying the game.

[DavidfromMichigan]

I use to play this on commodore 64. Had like 4 disks. Best damn game ever.

[mohammadhussien]

Lord British i saw what you did there.

[phimseto]

Thanks for posting this! Just as fun to watch as the Bard's Tale one!

[malcolmdale]

I loved the original on my Commodore 64. Before you could play you had to copy four 5 1/4 inch floppy disks that took about 20 minutes each. Then it came with a clue book . I really don't think I want to play it again - things have progressed so much since those days.
Anybody else remember URABUTLN?

[MattW]

I’m really glad i held off on playing wasteland, I had no idea this was a thing until now. Definitely going to be my next purchase!

[richardkenan]

The remaster looks better, but it's missing some important features. Notably it lacks the macro feature that allowed you to automate some of the tedious repetition. Who wants to hit U 4 S 3 -> to unlock a door to your right? Especially when it probably takes a dozen or more tries to do any door appropriate to your character level.

Still, having stuck my party in an unwinnable save state, having multiple save games so I can go back to before the giant coyote monster put all but my "camp on the surface to heal up" guy in critical condition while they had all my keys. Autosave when I'm forced to switch to the surface guy and the game is over, have to restart completely. I ain't got time for that any more.

[DavidfromMichigan]

Lol. Angela death and snake vargas! Holy shit this brings back memories. Then in the railway station with all the hobos. Yo this game was the best on commadore 64.

[PrinceOfPlateia]

Fuck I am so old I remember the Original... Lets find those Titus games too :)

[gloriousnoobs]

I don't have a problem with the 3d tabletop things is going for, but I wish it was a bit more gritty, with more muted colors. The still images on message pop ups kind of give a good vibe but then you get back to the rather goofy looking 3d map. Seems like a missed opportunity to really enhance the gameplay through a more atmospheric approach, which wouldn't need more costs, but rather a more inspired art direction.

[tommyhatcher]

Personally I think video games are art and that's a big reason why I like them. If I wanted a game with fancy graphics I'd play one, and leave these old games for when I want that kind of art style. And the hardware used to make graphics great impacts the style. I stare at any one generation of graphics for too long it looks dull and all the same. Then it's refresh to go from PS5 to the Amiga, or the other way around. Also game makers aren't the leaders of computerized animation anymore, Hollywood is. This video popped up and I just felt like popping in here to say that. Honestly, an old game with modern improvements looks infinitely more outdated than it's original version. The original looks different. This just looks like something inferior to other new products.

[Hawthorne-Studios]

For some reason I don't think this was released in the UK as I haven't only heard of it now and back then nothing was mentioned in the UK gaming magazines, not that I can recall anyways.

[ErikMalkavian]

That's better than the Pixel Art of the Original.

[edybocman]

This need a remake more than a remaster

[northwindkey]

I'm still mixed on this remake. It's a weird case where it's so true to the original, yet not the original, that I don't know who it's supposed to appeal to. It's not anymore newcomer friendly than the OG (Unless your issue was "No polygons"), all the QoL stuff is already in the "Original Classic" version, it has no new content for old fans, it's just the original game. With polygons.

I was expecting something like, say, the Final Fantasy 4 3D remake. A remixed experience that can introduce a new audience while also catering to veterans (In FFIV's case, the 3D version provided a level of challenge not seen in any other version of FFIV. Especially in America since our FFIV, which we called FFII, was dumbed down to ridiculous levels). I wasn't expecting it to play like Wasteland 2 (Which would've meshed horribly), but I was expecting something more than just "What if Wasteland had 3D visuals that won't age as well as the 2D visuals?".

Cause yeah, call me a boomed, 2D ages better than 3D. There's a reason a game like Ultima VII still looks fantastic 30 years later. Wasteland didn't even have great 2D visuals (It never had a true VGA upgrade). They could've given it some HD 2D sprites with stylized backgrounds and animations and it'd have been a better "definitive edition".

[I-AM-EL-ZOZO]

I saw that on game pass in xbox you can get wasteland remastered and wasteland 2 and 3 and I've only heard of this game, I've never actually seen any game play, I absolutely love the Fallout franchise to death, I sorta like metro, the newer one that is, tried the others it just has this feeling I don't like, however when I saw this clip I just kept thinking to myself "wow this is like the original fallouts grandpa!" It seems really similar, I haven't played it or the original Fallout but wow! Am I interested! It seems so fun yet so difficult kinda like Fallout 1-2 "you have discovered that this game literally wants you dead ASAP, here's $5 in-game currency and good look out in the wasteland"