Wasteland 2 Prison Level Walkthrough Features Morally Questionable Content

InXile Entertainment released a new video to their Kickstarter backers on YouTube and it features a walkthrough of the prison level from highly anticipated crowd-funded RPG, Wasteland 2.

The video is nearly 20 minutes long and features a nice wide range of topics, abilities, encounters and combat that players will have to deal with throughout the game.

There are a couple of real highlights of the play-through that I think are worth mentioning: First up, the “moral” issues that are discussed in the game are great. I love the gray choices in games like The Witcher and Wasteland and GTA IV (oh yeah, we all didn't forget about GTA IV's branching choices did you?) but the thing that really stands out is how there are subtle consequences that will affect your gameplay in what's described as short and long term effects. This is great, as it encourages multiple play-throughs just to experience every aspect of the game.

The developers also mention that you're not graded on the choices you make. Remember how in Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate and KOTOR you were constantly rated as “good” or “evil” for the decisions you made? Well, they're throwing all that out of the window. There are simply choices you make that best suit your role-playing experience and consequences you endure for having made those choices.

The video also gives gamers a nice look at the non-combat interaction systems... the one moment that really stood out to me was how players had to traverse through the minefield and there were several ways available to get through without completely killing off your character. The calling the goats and using them to feel out the process was brutal but inventive, and the mention of using perception to spot out the mines adds an extra layer of micomanagement that I think helps flesh out the overall playability factors.

For games like this, those little extra moments of environmental interaction can really dig some depth into the play-experience, as well as flesh out the role-playing so that it feels like more than just a talk-and-shoot, rinse-and-repeat setup sort of like what Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 suffered from so dearly.

As for the combat itself, I think it looks promising. It certainly does remind me a lot of Fallout with small hints of Jagged Alliance 2's position-based advantage system and light cover mechanics.

I'm a little torn on watching these videos because it's great seeing this project progress based solely on the funds of the gaming community – and seeing just how far inXile is taking the concept of an isometric RPG. However, at the same time, it's bittersweet because I'm seeing a lot of stuff I would rather experience for the first time by actually playing it. Oh well... such is the life of a gaming blogger.

You can learn more about Wasteland 2 by paying a visit to the game's official website. The game was recently delayed as the team had additional funds in the budget to expand and explore more concepts, so we'll keep you posted on when the game gets an official release date.

Will Usher

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend.