History Main / Wasteland

* ''TheWasteLand'', a poem by Creator/TSEliot

* ''TheDarkTower/TheWastelands'', book three of Creator/StephenKing's TheDarkTower.

* ''TheDarkTower/TheWastelands'', book three of StephenKing's TheDarkTower.

* ''TheWasteLand'', a poem by TSEliot

->''[[BookEnds "Your life has ended in the wasteland."]]''

This is about the game; if you're looking for the poem, see TheWasteLand.

A 1988 CRPG that was groundbreaking in its combination of a gritty post-apocalyptic setting with a nonlinear play style. The designers notably sacrificed more modern graphics for extended detail in the gameplay, as well as creating a rich false backstory that appeared in the game's copy protection, a set of 'Paragraphs' that were referenced by number at various plot points.

Celebrated on several sites, most notably at the [[http://wasteland.rockdud.net Ranger HQ Grid]], which includes info about the game as well as some surprisingly good FanFic.

After a very successful [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2 crowdsourced support campaign]], [=InXile=] Entertainment, under Brian Fargo's leadership, have begun work on the sequel, ''Wasteland 2'', with ObsidianEntertainment, and ChrisAvellone in particular, joining in as co-developers. The game is currently expected for a October 2013 release.

See Also ''{{Fallout}}'', the series' SpiritualSuccessor.
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!!This game provides examples of:

* ActionBomb: The Radiation Angels at the Temple of the Mushroom Cloud explode into a pile of glowing blue dust after you defeat. Why yes, it is radioactive.
* ActionGirl: Christina, one of the few recruitable [=NPCs=] who has a unique picture.
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal In the southeast corner of the agricultural center's farm, there are four foot tall pears. They're pleasingly plump, and perfectly prepared to possibly plummet.
* AfterTheEnd: "Somehow, life goes on in the Wasteland."
* AIIsACrapshoot: AI research goes pretty badly awry, and is hinted to have caused nuclear holocaust in the first place.
* AKA47: Averted. Weapons are either real-life firearms, fictional sci-fi guns or fictional advanced versions of contemporary guns, as explained by the [AllThereInTheManual manual].
* AnAxeToGrind: The Proton Ax, found in a deserted building guarded by the game's most powerful enemy.
* AntiHero: The player characters can be a group of these depending on the player's style - going straight into near-VillainProtagonist levels (you can, for example, choose to [[MoralEventHorizon freely butcher the innocent children at a summer camp]] because [[DisproportionateRetribution some of them make fun of you]]).
* AntiVillain: Finster believes that with nuclear holocaust humanity has proven to be bad stewards of the earth, so he is terraforming it to start over. The [=PCs=] are just in his way.
* ApocalypticLog: A number are found and related in the Paragraphs, including actual logs from the Sleeper Base.
* ArtificialStupidity: [=NPCs=] are only under a reasonable amount of control by the player. Often they refuse to take orders or take them too well. They also can't tell between friendly and non-friendly non-party [=NPCs=].
--> "[[TriggerHappy Ace]] rips a clip on the rabbit."
** VAX and Christina in particular will use full auto (which empties a magazine) as an attack option 90% of the time, wasting precious ammunition, especially if they're using energy weapons.
* {{Backtracking}}: Getting the Bloodstaff for Charmaine.
* BettingMiniGame: Vegas.
* BigDamnFireExit: Big damn escape pod, actually.
* BloodyHilarious: Due to the graphical limitations of the game, the results of combat were described rather poetically, resulting in enemies being ''[[LudicrousGibs turned into chunky meat kibble]]'', ''reduced to an undertaker's nightmare'', or ''[[PinkMist blown into a fine red mist]]''.
* BoringButPractical: Assault rifles are, short of rockets and energy weapons, the most practical weapons around.
* CharacterCustomization, including nationality, which doesn't affect anything.
* CharacterPortrait: Seen in combat.
* CloningBlues: If you take the time to learn the associated skills, you can clone any of your party members. This can be used either to invoke WeHaveReserves should you manage to lose one of them in battle OR to outfit your team with a carbon copy of your most badass Ranger to increase the team's overall badassitude.
* CriticalExistenceFailure: Averted. Dropping below 0 hit points results in a number of progressively serious wounded states, and unless the Medic or Doctor skill is applied, the character is [[FinalDeath toast]].
* CutAndPasteEnvironments: There are a lot of identical abandoned buildings.
* DumpStat: Charisma.
* EverythingBreaks: Not really, but the furniture in the abandoned buildings is described as about to fall apart at the lightest touch.
* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: Cacti.
* {{Exposition Break}}s: Conveniently broken out into paragraphs.
* FetchQuest: Refreshingly rare. The Bloodstaff is one.
* FreewareGames
* GangOfBullies: The kids in Highpool who laugh at your troop of hardened soldiers falling on some slippery rocks. [[VideogameCrueltyPotential You can kill them]] if you choose to, although everyone hates you for it and it results in the town becoming deserted.
* GrimyWater: The fish are biting. Ouch!
* HackingMinigame: Finster's virtual reality, sort of.
* HealingPotion: One of the earliest complete aversions.
* HitPoints
* IFoughtTheLawAndTheLawWon: Averted. You can shoot up an entire police station.
* ImpassableDesert: In-map desert requires a canteen.
* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: Usually averted. You can blow up or knock down virtually any door (including several that have [[LockedDoor key slots]], but can only be opened with explosives) and a lot of walls, and there are a good number of walls that can be climbed, too.
* InUniverseGameClock: Runs at different speeds on maps of different scales.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: Mort, Ralf, and others.
* LockedDoor
* LudicrousGibs: Described in loving detail, due to the lack of graphics.
* MonstersEverywhere: The whole game, but especially Finster's wasteland.
* MsFanservice / LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The bathtub girl in Paragraph 1, who exists only to remind players not to cheat by reading through the Paragraphs book.
* NonLethalKO: Most enemy attacks knock you out, and you can get back up later (or even mid-combat).
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Finster's virtual reality.
* OptionalSexualEncounter: The three-legged hooker.
* PreExistingEncounters: The Citadel.
* PurelyAestheticGender: It influences exactly one thing: which restroom you can enter.
* RailRoading: Beautifully averted. While the car takes you from city to city and there are two locations that [=NPCs=] need to reveal, but otherwise, you are free to explore the whole map, returning to any earlier location you like and even trying farther ahead ones.
* RandomEncounters: Everywhere.
* RegeneratingHealth: You can get back to full health by waiting. In some versions, when your entire party is unconscious, they may recover after a few minutes. However, if you are sick or became seriously wounded from combat, you must get medical treatment or die.
* RPGsEqualCombat: Somewhat averted. While most of your experience will come from combat, successfully using noncombat skills can earn experience as well. In at least one place this can be abused for [[GameBreaker infinite experience]].
* SavingTheWorld
* SpreadShot
* StoryDrivenInvulnerability: There are characters who can be attacked and those who can't. The vast majority, including people you wouldn't want to attack, are the former, but a few (like Spam Shade) are the latter. Some of these change types after a given plot trigger, such as if you complete Fat Freddy's quest.
* ThreeQuartersView: The city maps; the main map is TopDownView.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Killing the kids at Highpool.

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''[[http://wasteland.inxile-entertainment.com/ Your mind just exploded like a blood sausage.]]''

* PointBuildSystem

* MsFanservice / LeaningOnTheFourthWall: The bathtub girl in Paragraph 2, who exists only to prevent gamers from reading through the Paragraphs book to cheat.
* NonLethalKO: Most enemy attacks knock you out, and you can get back up later.