For those who have been following Wasteland 3’s development for some time, the new trailer won’t prove particularly revelatory. It’s more of a hype trailer to hopefully pull in new Wasteland 3 players rather than inform old Wasteland fans hoping for new details. In that role, however, the trailer more than serves its purpose. Wasteland 3’s dystopian setting and grim, harsh story are well represented.
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The trailer starts with a line of dialogue that’s been heard in other trailers. “Who would do this? Who would murder families and children?” with an image in the background of murdered people and graffiti saying, “Welcome to Colorado.” The message is clear. Colorado is the brutal setting for Wasteland 3 and death comes too soon for those within the state.
“Let’s find the monsters who did this,” is the next line of dialogue heard in the trailer, setting up the conflict within Wasteland 3. Everything may have gone to hell in Colorado, but that doesn’t mean the player is going to sit around and watch.
From there, the gameplay of Wasteland 3 does the rest of the talking. Over a dozen missions or scenarios are shown where the player’s team of well-armed survivors have to take on all manner of enemies, from other armed survivors to robotic monstrosities. Not every enemy is violently hostile, however, as some scenes show the player having to solve a situation through negotiation or diplomacy.
For a short trailer, it does a great job of giving an introduction to the mood, setting, story, and gameplay of Wasteland 3. Or at least the more dramatic and violent parts of it. There’s clearly a depth to Wasteland 3 that can’t be conveyed through one or even a dozen such trailers. This is a CRPG and not a shooter, after all. Nevertheless, hopefully the trailer will lead some new fans toward looking up more information about Wasteland 3.
Wasteland 3 releases August 28 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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