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Computer
roleplaying games are often reviewed in 'Manoeuvres',
and from the sceptical standpoint of a live roleplaying
purist -- convinced that a form of entertainment that
relies on human interaction and is practically a kind
of improvised theatre couldn't possibly be reproduced
on a computer -- I have come to enjoy this sub-genre
of the strategy gaming world greatly. A good computer
RPG can offer hours of continuous absorption, being
less frustrating than text adventures (which, like cryptic
crosswords, stop being fun when you get stuck) and less
serious and technical than straightforward wargames.
But having had a fair number pass through my disk drive,
I have also got tired of the cliched, unimaginative
and humourless settings and plotlines offered as standard.
Far too many RPGs use scenarios that would have seemed
antiquated even in the early days of D&D.
Having
complained about this loud and long in recent issues.
I'm delighted this month to have received Wasteland
for review. Wasteland comes from EA, who also
publish the more conventional Bard's Tale series,
and is an RPG set not in the orc-infested pastures at
Fantasia, but the irradiated wastelands of post-holocaust
America.
In
a few explanatory paragraphs, the game designers boldly
root their scenario in the immediate future. Ten years
from now, in 1998, America is to have completed a space
station which the Russians insist is a military launching
platform. Tensions grow, and the nations of the world
line themselves up behind the two superpowers. But two
weeks before it is due to go into operation, the space
station transmits a distress signal and, mysteriously,
all the satellites orbiting the planet disappear. The
response of the superpowers is carefully considered
and rational: they discharge their nuclear arsenals
at each other. Civilisation As We Know It is neatly
destroyed, though convenient pockets remain here and
there in a state of anarchy most conducive to adventurers.
The
player takes on control of a party of Desert Rangers.
The Desert Rangers follow in the great tradition of
the Texas and Arizona Rangers, and were formed to help
survivors of the holocaust rebuild their communities.
They come from the strongest and most successful of
the surviving settlements, descended from a group of
Army Engineers who were working in the southwestern
deserts when the nuclear attack began. Seeking shelter,
they turfed out the inhabitants of a newly-constructed
federal prison and invited the surrounding survivalist
communities to join them. This prison is now known as
the Ranger Centre.
There
have been disturbances in the desert recently, and it
is the duty of the Desert Rangers to go out and investigate
them. The player is given no more information than this
in the introduction to the rulebook, which lets down
the atmosphere just a bit; surely the real Desert Rangers
would know the nature of the 'disturbances', and have
some theories about who or what might be causing them
and how serious they were? The brief is really 'explore
the desert and its scattered pockets of civilisation,
and discover what you're supposed to be doing as you
go along'. Fair enough. Many games of this type insist
that the player has a blank formatted disk to hand to
use as 'character disk' and very often an extra one
is required to save the game. I always find this irritating,
for blank disks, like safety pins and policemen, are
never around when you need them. Wasteland absolutely
requires you to have four disks. Four! And unless you
have them, you can't play the game at all. The reason
for this lies in the nature of the gameplay, which constantly
alters the state of the map and the position of objects
and the lives at NPCs -- and at least the requirement
is clearly advertised on the front cover. The first
two hours after purchase are spent copying four sides
of data onto the disks, and silently vowing to be very
cross indeed if the game itself turns out not to be
worth the wait.
Once
you finished you do at least have the comfort of knowing
that the original two disks spend most of their time
safely in the packet, and you're working with back-up
copies. And if anything goes disastrously wrong in the
course of play, you can repeat the process and go right
back to the beginning.
Initially,
the player commands a party of four Desert Rangers.
The party can be expanded to seven by the recruitment
of three NPCs met in the course of play. For the player
who wants to get straight on with the game, four pregenerated
characters are provided. New characters can be created
in the Ranger Centre. Characters have a standard set
of RPG attributes: strength, intelligence, luck, speed,
agility, dexterity and charisma. Most of these affect
the character's, ability in play in some way or another,
and they can all be used directly in situations whore
the player thinks they might be of some advantage; using
strength, for instance, can force open a locked door,
and charisma can charm an NPC into talking. Attributes
are generated at random, and you can 'roll' continuously
until you get a set you want. Hardened RPGists might
regard this is as cheating, but it seems unimportant
in a computer game. The character has a number of skill
points initially equal to his intelligence rating, and
the player uses these to buy a variety of skills from
a generous selection detailed in the rulebook. The skills
are an important part of the game. Their availability
is restricted by the characters' IQ. While someone with
an IQ of 3 can learn to swim or fire a rifle, an IQ
of 16 is required to learn cryptology. The most advanced
subject is metallurgy. Skills are all fairly cheap to
buy at level one, and it's possible to get the entire
range between the four characters. Raising the level
of the skill costs double what the previous level cost.
Once
the party is assembled, exploration can begin. The wilderness
map is conventional and reasonably attractive, showing
an overhead view of a landscape that conspicuously fails
to look threatening or irradiated. The party crunches
across plains and desert, heading for interesting-looking
features in the horizon. The three neatest settlements
to the Ranger Centre are Highpool, the Agricultural
Centre and the Rail Nomad's Camp -- these are mentioned
in the introduction as places to search for clues --
but there are plenty of other mysterious and dangerous
locations to get killed in. Wandering too far into the
radiation zones is fatal, but I suspect that equipment
as yet undiscovered by me will enable the party to survive
such trips. Random encounters with belligerent inhabitants
of the wasteland such as Nuke Pooches and Wasteland
Warriors hamper progress, but not irritatingly so.
Combat
is smooth and swift. Each character starts the game
in possession of a basic fire arm and a clutch of cartridges,
and when a hostile group is encountered the player is
given the choice of several actions for each character
in the coming combat round. These orders, and the opponent's
response to them, are processed in order and described
in a scrolling message. Once a character loses all his
hit points he is rendered unconscious, but recovers
spontaneously if left alone by the enemy. Combat, particularly
with large packs of unintelligent monsters, can sometimes
drag on too long to be enjoyable. Once the party's weapon
skills have improved, accurate and damaging firepower
usually gets rid of the enemy in a couple of rounds.
There are clumsy aspects to the combat system -- it's
frustratingly difficult to run away, for instance --
but on the whole it's satisfying.
The
real meat and interest of the game is contained in the
locations, which, when entered on the main map, resolve
into a smaller and much more varied map. The 'towns'
of Wasteland are not the standardised cityscapes
of games like Ultima, but excitingly different
and unexpected. Highpool, close to the Ranger Centre,
seems to be the remains of an American summer camp and
is populated by a disturbing race of mutant teenagers.
The Agricultural Centre lets the player's party loose
on fields of giant turnips, carrots and wheat, infested
by equally large and vicious bunny rabbits. The rail
Nomads live in trucks and tents. Further to the northwest
is the city of Quartz with streets of dangerous buildings
to investigate.
There
are shops in many of these places, buying and selling
equipment, and healers who will cure diseases and restore
hit points for a price. Often the use of skills and
attributes will uncover hidden entrances to underground
mines and concealed passageways, and there are many
different characters to meet and converse with. The
screen display is enhanced by frequent passages of text
describing what the party sees, and this is supplemented
by the ingenious use of a book of 'paragraphs' supplied
in the packaging. When appropriate, the game prompts
the player to a particular numbered paragraph in the
booklet and information too wordy to be contained on
the disk is imparted in the time-honoured way. The only
problem with this system is the temptation to cheat
and search through the paragraphs for clues!
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TACTICS
It's
about time that someone besides me did the work for
'Tactics'! Come on -- there must be hundreds of successful
strategists out there eager to impart the benefit of
then experience. I challenge all readers of 'Manoeuvres'
-- yes, both of you -- to write in with advice on how
to succeed in your favourite wargame or Strategy game.
You can't all be floundering helplessly after the second
turn!
Wasteland
from Electronic Arts, awarded a Sizzler this month,
is a complex and exciting game with many secrets to
be uncovered. Those who would prefer to find them out
for themselves are advised to turn the page quickly,
but some of you might welcome a few clues to get you
started.
When
creating your party, make sure you have the complete
range of skills between the four characters. This means
'cheating' and ensuring that at least one character
has an Intelligence of 17 or above. I'm not sure yet
what Metallurgy is used for but it must be important
eventually! It is in fact best to have two characters
with an intelligence of over 15, so that you can have
two medics in the party. If points permit, buy one character's
medical skill up to level 2. Don't forget to give every
character a clip pistol and rifle skill, or it won't
be easy to increase your party's firepower when the
opportunity presents itself.
Highpool
is the first location west of Ranger Centre, and it
is equipped with a shop and a doctor. Walk around the
inside walls of the buildings to discover a note pinned
up. The entrance to the underground cave must be discovered
by the use of the Perception skill. Enter by using the
rope included in the standard adventurer's pack. If
you kill Bobby's dog then be prepared to fight Bobby
himself on the way out, but don't waste too much time
trying to exterminate the Mutant Kids.
The
shop in the Agricultural centre will open when you've
killed the Bunny Master.
In
the Desert Nomad's camp, Brakeman, who lives in one
of the railways carriages, will give you a Visa card
to deliver to Head Crusher in Quartz.
The
town of Quartz is a little way to the northwest of the
Agricultural Centre; follow the river upstream on the
east bank, past the bridge. It's best to gather as much
loot as you can before visiting there, as the shop sells
lots of goodies. In Quartz you can buy a flamethrower
if you have 3000 dollars, and you can certainly equip
yourself with armour for the first time. Most of the
buildings in the town are empty, but head for Scott's
Bar where you will find Head Crusher. 'Use' the Visa
card to give it to him and provoke a reaction. The answer
to the first riddle is 'toast'. Use charisma to get
information from the girls in the Ladies. Ignore the
provocation of the dancer, and don't go onto the catwalk
-- you'll only walk into a fight with several large
bouncers.
The
most efficient way to regenerate your party's hit points
is, curiously, to wander about for a bit in the dangerous
wasteland. The timescale of movement on the wilderness
map is greater than in the towns, and the encounters
are significantly less vicious. You must, however, resort
to a healer if you contract a disease.
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