One of the biggest RPG releases of the year, Wasteland 3, is nearing its late-August launch. The CPRG's deep tactical gameplay and post-apocalyptic storytelling look to make Wasteland 3 one of the strongest titles in the genre yet. But there's one aspect of the game that's certain to be popular, though has received surprisingly little attention. That being Wasteland 3's cooperative multiplayer gameplay. To bring more attention to it, inXile has release a new trailer focusing on co-op.
In the trailer, prospective Wasteland 3 players can see how the game's 2-player co-op gameplay looks, though only in glimpses. The Wasteland 3 trailer doesn't go into any particular amount of detail, only shows cinematic examples of how co-op works in practice. It's a trailer with a singular purpose, which is to inform those who love cooperative games that Wasteland 3 includes the feature and that it's robust. It's not just a token co-op gimmick.
While the trailer doesn't have any rich detail about Wasteland 3's co-op mode, that information has been shared prior. inXile has already confirmed that Wasteland 3 supports 2-player co-op for the entire game. There are no restrictions, no split campaign, and no limitations on the story. The entire single-player campaign can be played co-op. Further, the huge world of Wasteland 3 is shared between both players, with neither player being leashed to the other.
A fully-shared world means that one player can go into a battle on one side of the world while the other is shopping with a merchant on the other. Progression will occur regardless of whether one player or both are involved. Players will still want to group together, though, as co-op still only allows for six controllable ranger party members. Where these six rangers will follow players wherever they go in single-player, co-op players will have to split them up. As such, players will be strongest when working together.
There are some meta-features that Wasteland 3 players will likely wish could have been implemented. inXile probably wishes it had the time and budget to implement them, too. Regardless, both players will need to own Wasteland 3 to play co-op. No one gets a free ride, though Game Pass should certainly make it affordable. Co-op also doesn't work via cross-play. Both Wasteland 3 players will have to be on the same platform. And thirdly, there's no matchmaking. Players will have to find their own co-op buddy.
Co-op in Wasteland 3 should be flexible, regardless of the lack of cross-play or matchmaking. Being able to play through the entire game together is an awesome opportunity that more CRPGs are allowing for. It's great that Wasteland 3 is making the most of it.
Wasteland 3 releases August 28 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.