Tread carefully through the Wastelands! It won’t think twice about treading all over you.
A.E. Jackson Review Score: 4 / 5 Ravens
How was this review scored?
When another new gamebook from Savage Realms Gamebooks arrives, you get excited! I put aside whatever mundane routine task I had at the moment, and dove straight into Wasteland by H.L. Truslove. You may recognize the author’s name from their previous creation - Alba, a post-apocalyptic Open World Adventure Book.
Forced to become a wanderer in an unforgiving world of ruin and ash, can you survive and reunite with your home, or will you succumb to the perils and terrors of the wasteland?
This beefy, 300-page-tome, cover lures readers with its stunning detail, just as nausea turns their stomach in the same moment. The Shardik-esque creature lumbering out of Wasteland’s jacket is both a threat - and a promise - of end-of-the-world adventure to come.
For the cover art, Savage Realms Gamebooks brought in the insanely talented Helge C. Balzer. Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and Magic the Gathering have all turned to Balzer to bring their words off the page.
Loyal readers also expect to discover stunning art within. Illustrator Gary Trow was commissioned to bring Truslove’s words to life. He turns loose over twenty years design experience in magazines, book cover and interior, roleplaying and tabletop games, product visualisation, and computer games. Previous clients include: Mongoose Publishing, Frog God Games, Pulp Hummock Press, and Fighting Fantazine.
Sprawling. From backwater towns made of tin shacks to unforgiving barren landscapes to hints that man once had some semblance of control. Truslove ushers readers into a fully realized world then grips them by the neck and pins them down to beg for mercy. The gamebook scope and environs are nothing if not sprawling.
True to form, as with other Savage Realms Gamebooks, just as the player believes their main concern is resolved, the story begins and innumerable threats arrive. When mapped, the decision tree for Wasteland is massive. Not a passage is wasted, nothing appears duplicated or used more than once. For the competitionist in the crowd - good luck - you’re going to need lots of it.