At its absolute best, this plays like a worse version of Fallout 4. Wastelanders is a great step in the right direction, but far too little, far too late. The game is still super buggy, so much is locked behind paywalls (but not nearly enough to justify what is essentially an MMO subscription), and the only way I can imagine enjoying this is with a large group of friends, and even then there's just not much depth. Too often I would discover a cool new location, only to find out that the entire area had been cleared out moments ago. Fallout and ES are about exploration, discovery, and crafting your own journey through a complex world, and they missed the mark on all of those things here.

This game is Bethesda at its greediest. Quality didn't just take a back-seat to profit-making, it got left on the side of the road.

At its absolute best, this plays like a worse version of Fallout 4. Wastelanders is a great step in the right direction, but far too little, far too late. The game is still super buggy, so much is locked behind paywalls (but not nearly enough to justify what is essentially an MMO subscription), and the only way I can imagine enjoying this is with a large group of friends, and even then there's just not much depth. Too often I would discover a cool new location, only to find out that the entire area had been cleared out moments ago. Fallout and ES are about exploration, discovery, and crafting your own journey through a complex world, and they missed the mark on all of those things here. This game is Bethesda at its greediest. Quality didn't just take a back-seat to profit-making, it got left on the side of the road.