In a medieval world of swords and sorcery, battle mechs (known as ATAC's) have been the mainstay during the epic war between two feuding forces - the Kingdom and the Empire. Vanguard Bandits' focuses on a young boy, the game's protagonist known as Bastion. The outset of the story paints the theme for which Bastion, along with the aid of his father and two close friends, will embark on a quest to defeat the Empire.

Vanguard Bandits operates on a text-driven system. While much of the story is exceptional, much of it seems to throw off the seriousness of the plot. To illustrate: you'll discover that characters will exchange words with lots of formality and gravity. While this is fitting for the medieval setting; there are a few instances where I discovered that certain areas of the dialogue as being - out of character, using words such as "smack down."

Besides this minor flaw, I found Vanguard Bandits to be excellent. The most significant highlight can be seen within the gameplay. In my opinion, Vanguard Bandits is the most entertaining strategy game since Final Fantasy Tactics. Fights take place on a polygonal map adorned with as many as 20 ATAC's at once! As turn-based operations go, options consists of "move", "check stats", "view turn list", or attack if you're in range of an enemy. There are two bars you will need to to closely monitor while the action is taking place, respectively the FP and AP bars. Walking takes up AP whilst fighting takes both AP and FP. Basically, any action deducts your AP, while attacks raises FP. When the FP bar reaches 100, your troop becomes totally vulnerable. Attacking, blocking, and dodging will be disabled. Speaking of defense, players will discover an innovative setup where that enables various evasive actions based on the region you're attacked. For example, when attacks occur from the front, you'll given the option to counter. Keep in mind that this is not avaiable in the event you're hit from the flank or rear. Minor aspects such as these truly make the game a challenge.

However, Vanguard Bandits isn't all about fighting as the usual nuances are well accounted for (i.e. stat building and item purchaes). It's quite evident that Human loves you since they've developed these aspects to be as painless as possible. Purchasing equipment is a cakewalk, and building stats are done entirely on the battlefield. What's even more impressive is how you level up; instead of the game automatically hiking up certain attributes, you have full freedom to distribute points. Thus, this allows you to set up a legion of brawlers or even a set of speed demons, the choice is yours. In short, the ease of leveling up and buying stuff makes it easy for you to concentrate on the fights themselves. With 56 missions and 5 endings, I'd say Human was wise in making the rest of the game so manageable.

Visually, the game stumbles a bit. While the art portraits are impressive, there's little else which seems to impress. More specifically, the ATAC's themselves are tiny on the field and not very detailed. Thankfully this all changes when you get into a skirmish, to which the game switches diverts to a full 3D view of both mechs in action. Meanwhile, little insults are shouted back and forth via text boxes at the bottom of the screen. While this equates to being a novel feature, it's nothing to be fascinated by. Additionally, animated segments seem to prolong the duration of battles then they require. Fortunately, Human provides an option to disable this feature.

The sounds are exceptional...and far from being audibly unpleasant. The melodies that play forth are enjoyable; resembling themes from the 16-bit era of RPGs. I especially like the synthesized guitars found in some tunes; (chalk it up as nostalgic appeal or good taste). The sound effects are, like in many games, decent but fail to be noteworthy.

In conclusion, Vanguard Bandits can certainly pique the attention of any player looking for a new RPG. Sprinkled with solid elements within the story and gameplay...also features a bonus to further enhance your enjoyment with a a playable demo of Lunar 2. At the very least, the entire package is sure to keep your intrests well occupied until Working Designs publishes the eagerly awaited Lunar 2, and most importanly - Arc the Lad Collection.

· · · Hero