Sid Meier's Civilization IV vs Wasteland 1: The Original Classic
Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization IV is the fourth installment of the incredibly-successful grand strategy franchise, Civilization. In addition to the many features that had made the previous games great, this iteration brings the series to greater heights by adding in multiple improvements and new features, including new ways to play and win, tools to manage and expand your civilization, easy-to-use and more extensive mod capabilities as well as much more exciting and intense multiplayer modes. The graphics are so much better than Civ 3 though, there are still some flaws in this version, namely the relationship between nations (AI-played nations seem to get angry at you pretty easily) and the happiness level in the regions you control. That aside, Sid Meier's Civilization IV is a pretty awesome and older game to play, especially if you enjoy a deeper gameplay. Give it a try!Wasteland 1: The Original Classic
Wasteland 1: The Original Classic is the father of modern post-apocalyptic RPGs and rightfully so. Set in the year 2087 after an all-out nucler war, the game lays out the precedence for games like the very first Fallout game. In fact, from the game itself, you can see some of the similarities. That said, Wasteland 1 is a lot more old-school than Fallout 1 and hence, there are plenty more undesirable aspects, bugs and glitches that may make anyone albeit a hardcore fan to throw up their hands in despair.Nevertheless, Wasteland 1 is still a classic in many ways. It is possibly among the first games with a consequence-driven reactive world, for instance, and it has a party-based system allowing you to recruit people to help you on your quest to find out what's threatening the very survival of the remnants of humanity aside from the usual roving mutants and raiders.
Despite the novelty, we honestly wouldn't recommend Wasteland 1 to anyone who has not played the game before when it was first released... back when games were still primarily text-based. Instead, if you'd like to experience a much better and advanced version of Wasteland 1, you should get Wasteland 2.