Copyright © 1998/1999 Human Entertainment, Inc.

If you've been waiting for an exciting and enthralling game where you can command squadrons of sword-wielding giant robots in vicious hand-to-hand combat, VANGUARD BANDITS is almost exactly what you've been looking for. Almost.
VANGUARD BANDITS featured just enough mecha action, intriguing characters and animated bits to keep me playing to the end, but not without pointing out the games multifarious and annoying flaws. This game lacks some of the basic elements of most RPGs (such as opportunities to increase stats and the freedom to wander around), plus the utter inability of the characters to take themselves seriously got on my nerves.
Originally released in Japan in 1998 as EPICA STELLA, BANDITS could easily be seen as a cross between two successful SquareSoft games, FINAL FANTASY TACTICS and XENOGEARS. BANDITS features a strategic turn-based battle system very similar to TACTICS' use of preset battlefields and limited movement ranges. BANDITS also evokes XENOGEARS' mecha combat system, where combatants choose their attacks and pay appropriate energy costs depending on the ferocity of that attack. This is a PlayStation game so the graphics won't knock your socks off, but the graphic designers did save their best work for the robots (called ATACs in this game).
One intriguing element of BANDITS' battle system is that, provided you have enough movement points remaining, you are given a chance to counterattack or outright avoid attacks from other mecha, even if you have already taken your turn. No more standing around completely helpless, waiting for you next turn as you get pummeled after moving a few squares. I also appreciate the fact that you can save the game at almost any point during the battle, which can salvage a lot of time and heartache when a confrontation doesn't turn out the way you hoped.
Unfortunately, I think what could have been the best part of BANDITS' combat system is marred by the immaturity of the script. During a battle you have the option of "viewing" the actual interaction between the robots involved. For example, if you choose a "Thrust" attack and your opponent counters with the "Avoid" option, you will then see a dramatic close up of the robot making the attack and the enemy's response. BANDITS' ATACs are colorful and intriguingly designed, so it really is fun to watch them beat on each other. Sadly though, beneath each ATAC appears captions from the combatants, spouting truly ludicrous statements at each other. Here are a few inane examples: "Savor my flavor!" or "Was that you, or a fly?" or "A foolish attack from, err, a fool!" I felt that this turned the game's niftiest feature into a dopey reincarnation of WWF SMACKDOWN. These not-so-witty witticisms distracted me from the more interesting combat onscreen, and they also serve as an example of the entire game's biggest problem.
As you might expect in a game like this, the plot is terrifically complicated with various kingdoms, empires and duchies waging for dominance as hordes of their respective princesses, heroes and mercenaries duke it out in ATACs. Throughout the game you control Bastion, a young green-haired fellow with a tragic past who enlists a variety of other individuals (and their robots) to his cause. So while the plot concerns itself with sweeping themes of familial vengeance and continental rebellion, the characters themselves keep lapsing into bawdy and childish attempts at humor. Much of the interactions between the male and female characters are full of silly double entendres, particularly when the ridiculous Andrew is a member of the party.
Probably the worst example of BANDITS' inability to take itself seriously is an early mission where you go to great pains to rescue a general who is imprisoned in an enemy castle. During a cut scene before the ATACs even take the field, two female characters murder the guards and then make jokes about feeling up the corpses to find the keys. Then, the first thing this supposedly heroic general says after he is freed: he needs to go to the bathroom. I found the whole three minute segment to be completely juvenile and unnecessary.
Quite simply, I think that BANDITS could benefit from a little less toilet humor and a little more freedom in its plot structure. Your characters are shunted from mission to mission, with very little choices offered to you and no opportunities to improve your stats without purchasing items (and the chances to shop are infrequent as well). While leveling up by defeating reams of enemies is often a tiresome portion of any RPG, it is also an essential element if you want your characters to have access to the more powerful abilities. As far as I can tell, BANDITS doesn't give you this option, so you better make sure the characters you control gobble up all the experience points available in each mission.
Furthermore, there are three distinct endings to the game, but bear in mind that two of these won't be available unless Bastion performs extremely well in the first three missions! This is ludicrously difficult for anyone first playing the game, particularly since you are not able to control the stronger members of your party at that point in the game as they manage to defeat every ATAC in sight. One final irritation, it is only by completing those two alternate endings that you can unlock the bonus animated sequences found in the game.
Putting, my criticisms aside though, I did find playing BANDITS to be a generally enjoyable experience. Some of the missions are indeed challenging, testing your ability to think a few moves ahead and strategically match up ATACs. I eventually found myself able to tune out the captions during the mecha clashes, and by merely skimming the character's comments between missions I was able to fairly quickly move to the good parts: the mecha combat I bought the game for in the first place.

Rating: 6.0 / 10

English translation © 2000 Working Designs
PlayStation
Strategy
1 Player
Vibration compatible
SLUS-01070
$39.99
Available Now in the USA
Where to buy