There is a refrain that I hear often on gaming sites: “turn-based combat in RPGs is dead.”  As anyone who has been paying attention knows, it is a favorite hobby of games journalists and bloggers to proclaim the death of this, that, or the other.  For instance, adventure gaming has been declared dead on more occasions than I can count, and yet seems to be enjoying quite a resurgence at the moment; episodic Monkey Island games, some fantastic-looking titles like Machinarium, and a host of others are popping up for download on a weekly basis.

So why the eulogies for turn-based (TB) combat?  The general consensus seems to be that TB combat is simply too boring in this new world of HD graphics and multiplayer FPSes. People want speed and twitch gaming, the writers say, and turn-based is just too slow and old-fashioned to keep people interested.

This is a pretty shallow way of thinking, I’d argue.  Yes, turn-based combat is by definition slower than real-time, but that does not automatically make it boring.  Boredom is in the eye of the beholder, and for those used to speed and action, turn-based systems must feel like a long walk through a muddy swamp.  But depth and choice can be exciting, and TB systems can usually offer those in spades.

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I have always had a soft-spot for post-apocalyptic fiction.  From movies to comics to games, if something is set after the end of the world, I’m usually willing to give it a shot.  Sometimes this turns out for the best, such as when I find something I enjoy like Jericho. Sometimes it doesn’t go well at all and I end up spending $9 to watch something like I Am Legend.

I trace most of this strange love of mine back to a little game called “Wasteland.”  Released back in 1988, Wasteland was an RPG in the mold of Bard’s Tale, but set in an America destroyed by nuclear war.  As a team of Desert Rangers (the law and order of the wastes), you wander the shattered lands of Nevada solving problems, saving lives, and kicking ass. I played the hell out of Wasteland, trying to make my way through it with various teams and skill sets, seeing what worked out the best. And, for years, Wasteland stood alone in terms of RPGs sharing the post-apocalyptic setting.  There were rumors of sequels (and one sort-of sequel called Fountain of Dreams, but we won’t talk about that…), but for the most part Wasteland was a lone oddity in a world of swords and sorcery.  That is, it was alone until the mid 90′s, when Black Isle Studios released what most called a “spiritual successor” to Wasteland.  That game, of course, was Fallout.

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