Wasteland 3’s second dev diary dives into the story and characters

Last week, inXile Entertainment released the first dev diary for Wasteland 3 and in it focused on combat gameplay and character customisation. This week, a second dev diary has been released and this one focuses on the world of Wasteland 3 along with the game’s story and the characters, with Brian Fargo and Nathan Long giving the insights. Wasteland 3 picks up directly from the events of Wasteland 2 which sees the Rangers down on their luck. They’re given a chance by the authoritarian character the Patriarch of Colorado, who promises to get them up and running again as long as the Rangers sort out some issues for him, which will be personal in nature instead of a grand scale taking over the world scenario.

In Wasteland 3 players will come across moral dilemmas to deal with as well as similar humour and atmosphere to that of the original Wasteland as well as Wasteland 2. Colorado was chosen as a setting for Wasteland 3 because of the presence of NORAD, the presence of doomsday preppers, and the superstitions that surround Denver airport. One of the groups in Wasteland 3 are called the Gippers and they are led by Mother Nancy Reliance. The Gippers core belief is that Ronald Reagan is a god. Nancy is the high priestess of the Gippers and apparently the god president’s wife. The Gippers are a powerful group since they control the entire oil supply in Colorado meaning you may have to forgo some stances to get hold of that resource.

The next character is Sergeant Kwon, a member of the Marshals who are the Patriarch’s police force. He is the liaison between the Rangers and the Marshals. They are a corrupt group and so is Kwon but he is generally a nicer guy than most of the Marshals. Slip him a bit of cash and he may just be able to sort some things out for the Rangers. A third character is someone called Vic Buchanan, aka The Psychopath, who continually taunts the Rangers over the radio as well as doing some terrible things to various people in Colorado. He also seems to be the Patriarch’s son and one of the missions is to find and retrieve him. Though you could kill him and deal with the consequences, or you get the Psychopath on side and make him a Ranger. Adding him to the party will change how groups perceive you across the world of Wasteland 3.

One of the changes to make Wasteland 3 a bit more immersive is changing the view to first person when in key conversations with other characters. Compared to Wasteland 2 the sequel has a story that is much more continuous. Where previously stories were only basically linked with each location having its own core story, in Wasteland 3 wherever you go there is a larger, linked plot at play. There are also multiple endings dependant on the choices made and actions taken.

Wasteland 3 will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One from August 28th.

Source: YouTube