‘Wasteland 3’ release date, gameplay: Developers reveal how the “world is always watching’

As the countdown for the “Wasteland 3” release continues, more details about the upcoming inXile Entertainment squad-based role-playing video game have surfaced. Recently, studio head Brian Fargo and senior writer Nathan Long senior writer discussed how the title introduced the concept of choice and consequence into its gameplay

In “Wasteland 3,” the Rangers make a deal with the Patriarch of Colorado where the latter agreed to help the Rangers rebuild their base if they help him deal with some problems in Colorado. The story starts as the Rangers journey to Colorado to speak with the Patriarch.

While the plot of the upcoming title picks up from where “Wasteland 2” left off, its gameplay mechanics are way more complicated than its predecessor. One way “Wasteland 3 is more immersive is how the game reacts to the decisions a player makes inside the game appropriately called choice and consequence by its developers.

“If you want to shoot everybody in the game, we’ll let you do that,” Nathan Long said. “What we try to do is make sure than when you do these things, even if you’re not punished, you see the consequences.”

“If you decide to kill some refugees, you’re going to see a weeping mother or a lost child,” he added. “You’re going to understand that what you did has consequences for people in the world.”

The consequences might even be broadcasted for all of the world’s inhabitants to hear. “The choices they make ripple through long periods of time,” studio head Brian Fargo explained. “There’s nothing better than when you made an earlier decision and later on somebody’s commenting on it.”

The game has a simple device on how this is achieved. There’s a paperboy in town who’s always yelling out the events going on in the world. “The world is always watching you, always reacting at different times,” Fargo said.

This freedom to make choices in the game means that there are multiple possible outcomes. “We actually have multiple endings along the way. There’s the ending that the writers wrote - if you want that - the entirety of the game but if you decide to take this path, it’s gonna get you a completely different ending, I mean one with a credit roll and the whole deal. That's where the game will end and it will be a different story ending.”

“Wasteland 3” will be launched on August 28 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned for updates.