Wasteland 2: Directors Cut

The tactics are calculated, the world is callous, and the humor is bone-dry. All of that only makes it feel even more like a wasteland.

Wasteland 2 has aged poorly so this recommendation is a qualified one. The story is great, the setting is great, but the mechanics are clunky, unintuitive and unforgiving.
Did you play the first Wasteland way back when? Then you'll enjoy this.
Did you recently play and enjoy Wasteland Remastered? Then you'll enjoy this, it definitely won't feel as archaic as the systems in that game.
Did you love Wasteland 3 and want more? Then this is worth trying, but you may find it hard going. The systems are much more primitive in this game. Wasteland 3 is much more polished by comparison.
If the answer to all of those is no, only give this one a try if you're willing to put up with game mechanics that are distinctly less than modern.

If you were one of those dudes trolling No Mutants Allowed forums back in the day, Wasteland 2 & 3 are the closest things we have to an updated isometric Fallout experience. There are a lot of great reviews that speak more to the game as a whole, but there are two things I want to focus on that, in my opinion, represent the highs and lows of Wasteland 2 (and the series).
Party Creation:
It took me a minute to understand, but once I realized that my party of Rangers functions the same as my solo cRPG/Fallout 1 & 2 character, I was fully onboard. Give your Rangers flaws, make them weird, make things goofy, but for the love of God make sure you min/max your party at least a little bit. There are no generalists in the Desert Rangers. Every member of this A-Team should play a specific role and be competent in that specific role. If you do this, the game is a ton of fun right from the beginning. I have grown to absolutely love party creation over a single character and I hope more cRPGs embrace this.
Design Philosophy:
Much of my frustrations with Wasteland 2 was addressed in Wasteland 3, which, I think is the better game. Wasteland 2's major flaws come from certain design philosophies that feel archaic and fail to recognize that most people don't want a better-looking Wasteland 1. They want a modern Wasteland 1, which I believe Wasteland 3 is. The greatest example I can think of are quest objects and keys stored in your inventory. For both item types, you need to have them either queued up in a quickslot or find in the correct item in your inventory and right click to use. For some gamers, especially the die hard No Mutants Allowed crowd, this could be awesome. But for the majority of players it feels very counter-intuitive to have systems in place that sometimes require the player to find the specific item, right-click use it, then highlight over the appropriate door/object, instead of simply right-clicking the door/object and being prompted to use the item in question. Especially because skills tend to work as the latter - very rarely did I have to click on the skill and then click on the item in question. But the few times I did have to do this, I found it frustrating and confusing. In general, whenever this would occur and I had trouble digging through my inventory, I would check to see if it was a bugged quest. Sometimes it was, but more often than not, I had just missed the correct item in my inventory. Is this on me? Yes. But does that make it good game design? I would say no, and I believe that's why they updated it for Wasteland 3.
Overall:
This is a strange series because I would recommend every Wasteland game, but would highly encourage you to start with the Wasteland 3 and work your way back towards 1. Wasteland 3 is super accessible and will help you understand the core mechanics that are present throughout the series, like party creation. Wasteland 2 is big, beautiful, and frustrating. Wasteland 1 is next on my list. I hear great things and also hear it is very unkind.

Having played Wasteland 3, Wasteland 2 feels rough to me. Aside from being generally dated, it lacks so many QoL features. Nevertheless, it has many things I want from a CRPG game. Varied ways to solve an issue, some narrative choices and many endings. However, I don't really feel invested towards the character/story, partly due I have played some CRPGs with more immersive story.
P.S. I don't know why Steam shows my playtime for regular edition, but I have about 33 hours for director cut edition.

Sure, it's a dated game, and post-Baldur's Gate 3, the quest system seems even more primitive, but it's a solid game and decently strategic. It's pretty stable, at least on my system. The sense of humor is a little juvenile sometimes, and there's really more to do than you might even want to deal with, but it's worth picking up if you like the genre and it's on sale.

Wasteland 2 is a deliberate return to the roots of classic CRPG design, a game that wears its old-school philosophy proudly while infusing it with enough modern sensibility to feel both nostalgic and new. Developed and published by inXile Entertainment as a long-awaited successor to the original Wasteland, it thrusts players into a post-apocalyptic American Southwest scarred by radiation, tribal warfare, malfunctioning technology, and the desperate struggle for survival. You begin as a squad of rookie Desert Rangers attending the funeral of a fallen comrade, and what starts as a simple investigation into his death slowly widens into a sprawling crisis involving rogue broadcasts, machine uprisings, hazardous ecosystems, and competing factions each clinging to their own vision of the future. The narrative is shaped heavily by player choice, and its strongest appeal lies in how reactive, unpredictable, and morally gray its world becomes as you push deeper into its irradiated wastelands.
Character creation sets the tone for the entire experience. Wasteland 2 offers an exceptional amount of freedom, allowing you to craft a squad of four Rangers whose skills, backgrounds, and attributes dictate not only how they fight but how they interact with the world. Skills like Lockpicking, Demolitions, Animal Whisperer, Leadership, Survival, and various weapon proficiencies aren’t mere flavor — they change how events unfold, what paths open or close, and how effectively you handle crises. The addition of recruitable NPC companions further broadens party identity, as these characters bring distinct personalities, goals, and occasional unpredictability to your team. Every decision you make during character creation has consequences hours later, making the game feel like a massive interconnected puzzle where experimentation and planning are equally important.
Exploration is harsh, deliberate, and always tinged with threat. The wasteland is a dangerous place, and Wasteland 2 emphasizes that through its resource management and encounter design. Water, ammunition, first-aid supplies, and even safe travel routes matter deeply; a poorly planned trip across the desert can bleed your party dry before you ever reach the next settlement. When combat erupts, the game shifts to a turn-based system that rewards tactical positioning, use of cover, and thoughtful resource allocation. Battles feel gritty and grounded — enemies don’t fall easily, and a single misstep can leave one of your Rangers bleeding on the ground or permanently dead. Firefights take place in varied arenas, from cramped interiors rigged with traps to open wastelands filled with unpredictable hazards. Every encounter reinforces the necessity of caution, scouting, and preparation.
One of Wasteland 2’s most compelling strengths is its reactivity. The world responds to your actions with a depth rarely seen in modern RPGs. Saving one settlement may doom another. Supporting one faction may lead to hostility from others who interpret your choices as betrayal or favoritism. A single skill check might prevent a disaster, while failure or neglect can cause irreversible damage, from town massacres to faction collapses. The game encourages experimentation, but it also forces players to live with the consequences of their decisions. There is no perfect route, no ideal moral path — only hard choices shaped by imperfect information, desperation, and the harsh logic of survival. This dynamic approach gives every playthrough its own unique texture.
The writing embraces a blend of bleakness, dry humor, and absurdity that feels authentic to the wasteland setting. Conversations range from heartfelt pleas for help to bizarre cult ramblings and dark comedic encounters with malfunctioning AI or mutated wildlife. The tone shifts seamlessly between tragic and outrageous, creating a wasteland that feels both lived-in and strangely human. Characters are flawed, frightened, hopeful, or broken, and the stories within each settlement — whether involving religious fanatics, environmental extremists, corrupt sheriffs, or renegade robots — add layers of depth to the wider narrative.
Yet Wasteland 2 is not without its rough edges. Visually, the game can appear dated, with environments that are functional rather than visually striking. The interface can feel cluttered or unwieldy, especially during inventory management or complex encounters that require juggling multiple skills. Combat balance can occasionally feel uneven, with some early fights feeling brutally punishing while certain late-game builds become overwhelmingly strong. Despite these issues, none of them fundamentally undermine the game’s identity; instead, they reflect its commitment to an older, more demanding style of RPG design that prioritizes depth, consequence, and player agency over streamlined convenience.
Ultimately, Wasteland 2 stands out as a rich, challenging RPG that rewards patience, planning, and thoughtful decision-making. It is a harsh journey through a world where survival is earned rather than given, where every town has its own tangled problems, and where your squad’s personality and skills shape the unfolding story in meaningful ways. For players who appreciate tactical combat, reactive storytelling, and the unmistakable charm of classic CRPG mechanics, Wasteland 2 offers a deeply satisfying and immersive experience — one that captures the spirit of its predecessor while carving out its own identity in the wasteland of modern role-playing games.
Rating: 8/10

it was good but dull the third installment makes up for it ,still a good game of the genre just not as special as people make it to be.