Recently, Skyrim was released for the umpteenth time, and it got me wondering about the game. Soon, my thoughts wandered to Fallout and how I wanted to go back to the game without actually going back to the game. And that was when it hit me. Buried deep in my Steam library of hundreds of games was one game I almost completely forgot about. That game was Wasted.

Wasted is a post apocalyptic rogue-like that can best be described as a low-budget randomized run through knockoff Fallout vaults. You play as a character in a post-apocalyptic U.S. where all of the smart people hunkered down in vaults called coolers and died from some malfunction while all of the dumb people survived. You play as a random character who decides to explore these coolers in search of loot and booze, but the problem with this is that everyone else is down in those coolers with you for other reasons.

I picked this game up in a Steam summer sale along with a lot of other games. I didn't play a lot of this game before moving on to play other games, but that doesn't mean I didn't like what I played. It wasn't until very recently that I picked up the game again and gave it a spin. And now I have sunk a good amount of hours into the game.

What's funniest to me about this game is how it is supposed to be a parody of the Fallout games, but is still a really fun game. The game is full of loot, enemies, enemy factions, booze that will give you positive and/or negative effects that will stick with your character until you die, an upgradable home base where you can store loot that will not disappear if you die, quests, and more. All of this tied to randomized coolers which means no two levels are the same.

To me, Wasted is a lot of fun because of both the fact that it is a rogue-like and that it carries over a lot of systems from Fallout. For example, the game has a S.H.O.T.S. system (similar to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system in Fallout) where changing these numbers made a difference in how I played. For example, wearing the cooler armor commonly found on the zombie-like creatures that used to reside in the cooler will give me a high tinkering level that will allow to me both disarm and loot traps. This system was affected by the clothes you wear and the booze you drink, and I had fun trying to decide what was most important to me. Another system similar to Fallout was the looting. Now of course this game being a parody, their is joke loot, but I was honestly surprised by how much loot is in the game. Their is stuff littered throughout each level to use, ranging from medicines that will give you a boost to a revolver with ricochet bullets. If you are looking for a game with Fallout-like mechanics, then I would recommend a try with this game.

As a rogue-like game, I think this is also a good pick. I love the idea of a randomized level, but the issue I have with games with randomized levels is the lack of progression. I know this is a trait in this genre of games, but I still don't like it that much and I wish that more rogue-like games had progression. And that is where this game comes in. Sure, every time you die you lose the loot on you and any booze effects, but anything stored in your home base will stay, which means you aren't totally resetting every time you die. That plus an evolving story, new coolers that present new challenges, character factions that I want to learn more about, quests, and more make returning to the game a lot of fun.

Despite that, the game has some issues. The 80s theme is rather annoying at times, the writing and voice acting is poor, and the game feels low-budget with the feel of the game and the levels. But these issues usually took a backseat whenever I played the game, as for everything I previously said and more were what grabbed my attention.

In the end, Wasted is a good parody game that targets Fallout while at the same time making an experience that took all of the fun parts of Fallout to me and putting into this game. This game will not be for everyone; but if you are someone looking for a good rogue-like and/or a Fallout clone, then this is a game I recommend.

Thank you for reading my entry(or just skipping to the bottom). This will be the last game I recommend for this year, so in light of this and because it is the holiday season, I will be giving away a free Steam copy of Wasted. Wanna know how to enter? Just send me a private message on anything, and I will choose someone at random to win a copy. That's it, just send me a PM. The entry will start now and end at midnight Saturday, and on Sunday I will announce the winner (if anyone actually does PM, last time I did a giveaway only one person did). If you have any questions about this or any comments or criticisms about this blog or my channel in general, feel free to comment below.