Wasteland

Wasteland is a post-apocalyptic RPG developed by Interplay and published by Electronic Arts in 1988 for the Apple II, DOS, and Commodore 64. It was later followed by Wasteland 2 in 2014, with a few failed sequels in between.

Clearly, this is a precursor to Interplay’s series Fallout, one of my favorites. In the aftermath of World War III, you are the leader of a band of rangers traveling the Wasteland. You travel around on a top-down map with random enemy encounters possible, and utilize a point-and-click interface. Combat itself is turn-based, and you can see a little picture of your enemy as you fight them. There are also towns to visit to acquire party members, items, and information. The feature that set Wasteland apart was its skill system. You can raise your character’s skills and attributes, but they will also affect outside of combat. These attributes include Strength, Dexterity, Charisma, etc. Your character can also learn skills like climbing, lockpicking, and Medic. You can use the skills to help with combat (weapon proficiency), but you can also utilize them to solve specific dilemmas in many ways (like opening a locked gate). Another standout feature of Wasteland was the environmental continuity. Meaning that whatever you have done in an area stays that way, rather than resetting itself. The game is vast, varied, and challenging.

Wasteland was critically acclaimed upon release and won multiple awards. It is part of the Top 20 Games ever created for the Commodore 64 chart. RPG fans should play classics of the genre.