Bandits: Phoenix Rising

"A very original and enjoyable game with a bad promotion"

Bandits: Phoenix Rising is a game about car fighting. You drive cars with all sorts of weapons (shotgun, machine gun, grenade launcher, etc.) and accomplish various missions such as attacking or escorting a convoy, fighting other gangs, stealing trains, infiltrating enemy bases,... The game is simple to play, yet it offers you a whole lot of fun. It is set in your typical post-apocalyptic world: wastelands, civilization almost non-existent except for a big city in the middle of nowhere and gangs of bandits raiding the nearby communities. With the car fighting theme, this closes up to the Mad Max series, so if you're a fan you can be sure you will like this game. If you're not then you may still be interested by this great game.

The plot follows two bandits, leaders of the Wolfpack gang, Fennec (charismatic, cynical and the brain of the duo) and Rewdalf (imagine a gun loving, loudmouth midget from half-Scot, half-Spanish origins and who likes to say ''crap!'' every 5 seconds, you got Rewdalf). These two aren't as bad as other bandits, you could say they have a good side. Ok, they're still bandits and look only for one thing: gold, but you have to agree they could have been worse. And after gold they are. The only real hive of civilization is the city of Jericho. Its defense system is so powerful that none of those who isn't allowed inside can enter. Our two heroes desire to get a hand on the gold reserve of Jericho but can't do a thing for the moment... But they heard of that mysterious tank, the Phoenix. A weapon so powerful it is rumored to be able to break the walls of Jericho and give access to the gold. Only problem is that the Phoenix has been separated in four parts long before the war, and each gang wants it. The Flaming Pumpkins, the Enclave, the Crusaders and of course the Wolpacks are on the hunt!

You will need some time to get used to the controls but after that period you will find them well adapted to them game. And the first missions are rather easy so you can learn how to drive and shoot at the same time. You control the view with the mouse and shoot the primary fire in that direction. In that mode, the car will turn to always go in the direction you look. So if you keep the up key pressed, you'll go straight wherever you look, it helps to always follow an enemy and never loose track of him. There is always a key that lets you drive free from the view, that mode is easy to run away while shooting enemies in your back. If it isn't clear, download the demo and you'll see what I mean. Just keep in mind that controls are simple to learn and intuitive, and in this case ''simple'' doesn't mean that it doesn't allow a deep gameplay.

The game is stable, except bugs with objectives in some missions (fixed with the patch) and a rather high difficulty setting, nothing to say about it. There are no in-game saving and this can be quite frustrating. It expends the life time of the game but the price can be the fun factor... The new 1.11 patch that has been out for some days should make the game easier by re balancing some of these issues, as well as fixing the bugs. You have two endings depending how you play the last mission. The easy ending is very very easy to get, while the hard ending... I won't spoil you but I guess you'll have to restart this level many times to get it! The patch lowers the difficulty but it should still proves challenging.

You get three different cars in the early missions and it's the same for weapons. Except for some missions where you can't change your car and equipment, you are free to choose in your weapon stash for the vehicle and weapons to use. You begin with the Badger, a dune buggy with a plane engine. Fast and very controllable but light armored and can't have a lot on weapons. You'll get two more cars later but I leave the surprise to you. Just know that they are very different from each other. Weapons comes in a good variety and some are a little crazy, like the umbrella bomb, but you'll have the surprise while playing the game. Maybe more cars and weapons would have been appreciated but I think Grin leaves that for Bandits 2. And as I said, you already have a good variety.

Because of that, you can replay the missions with a different car and a different weapon load out. It is likely that you will have to experiments many times what kind of things you should get it won this missions, but you can still replay the game with a different equipment.

The graphics are great. The game uses an enhanced version of the Ballistics engine (previous Grin game). Landscapes are rather simple but hey, it's wastelands! Some missions lets you drive in meadows or snowy mountains though, and these are well done too. Each map has a lot of relief, some plants here and there, sometimes signposts and other wreckage of the pre-war era (like a rusty boat in a dry river) but as I said landscapes are rather simple. Some reviewers didn't like it but I think it helps: you're in wastelands and don't expect to find a lot of things there... And the occasional wrecks looks nice in this settings. Plus it won't ask a lot of resources to make the game run. But as I said, each map has a lot of relief (don't expect flat ground!) and you usually drive quickly enough not to have the time to watch all the details here and there. In my opinion, this gets the job done and the landscapes looks very good.

Cars are different: lots of details, you can see they are made of different salvaged parts put together, you see the painting going away here and there... Very good design! Too bad you don't see cars being damaged over time, like in GTA III.

Speaking of damages, the terrain takes damages! You launch some grenades and they'll make hole in the ground. This can help to slow the enemy down and keep hammering him as long as you have ammo. The ultimate missile, the Excalibur, dig a big hole in the ground when it explodes! Very impressive.

The physics are very interesting, a mix of simulation and arcade. Simulation because your car acts according to its weight, the most powerful weapons have recoil and you may think twice before shooting with a machine gun while driving. Some weapons are best fired while standing with the hand brake on or else you risk loosing control of the vehicle. You get a great feeling with this.

And arcade because when your car roll on the upper side, it will put itself back on the wheels after some seconds and other things like that. The game is very realistic but not too much and so keep the fun factor very high: the fast action is never meant to be interrupted. And that's what this game is about, fun.

Sound and music are great. You have a lot of different music to choose from in the game, you can even change it if the one you listen to doesn't please you. Thanks Simon for your work. Sounds are well done too: engines, weapons, taunts of enemies... Nothing special to say about it except it sounds very good.

Voice acting is worth mentioning. You'll mostly remember Rewdalf and his crazy taunting. Fennec isn't bad too as a wisecracking hero. Others characters of the game are good too and dialogs are always funny and make the plot advance. Fennec and Rewdalf talk a lot during briefings and sometimes talk a little during missions, mostly to taunt enemies. Great work once again.

Multiplayer... Well, here comes the downside of the game. Only two modes available: deathmatch and team deathmatch. It would had been so nice to have modes like CTF, escort convoy, etc. That and it isn't possible to set a dedicated server... I still look for time to time if there is someone playing but I find nothing. I haven't even played the game in multi yet, though I want to. I think you're better off on the official Bandits forum to ask people to play with you. On paper it looks nice: you get to choose between one of the three cars of the game and between all of the weapons available. Maps looks suited for the job. It can just be hard finding players. I think the action should be as fast as the single player mode but I can't review this part yet.

Gameplay: 9/10
Very original gameplay and setting, think of Quake on a car in the Mad Max universe! The game is all about fun and is played very easily.

Difficulty: 7/10 (8/10)
This game is challenging. No in-game saving and missions can be tricky. I have nothing against it but I sometimes had to retry a mission for several time and at the end it was less fun (though I was very proud of myself). The new 1.11 patch re balance the game by giving your cars more armors and making some bosses (Vincent and Sebastion) less armored (they are still deadly!). The train in mission 13 has more armor too. I still haven't replayed the game with the patch but if the changes to the trick, then this rating could go to 8/10.

Graphics: 8/10
Good landscapes, great looking cars. Effects such as explosions are well done. Some might find it too simple but I like it that way, it looks like my idea of wastelands. Some landscapes are more detailed though, for example the enclave base.

Music: 9/10
Funny thing is that this isn't my music style at all. Yet I like these. They go very well with the action and come in different varieties. You can even change the music while playing.

Sounds and voices: 9/10
Good sound effects, very realistic. Voice acting is excellent and dialogs are always funny.

Multiplayer: /
No dedicated server, making it hard to find a game running. Only two modes of game (DM and Team DM). The maps look good and this mode should be fun if you happen to play. The problem will be to find players for it. I haven't tested it so I can't rate it.

Overall: 9/10
Very original and enjoyable, long and filled with many, sometimes too hard, levels. A good deal of humor and a lot of action. Bandits: Phoenix Rising is a very good surprise. Unfortunately the distributor didn't make a lot of promotion and so this game is almost ignored by everyone. The game was a very good experience and I recommend buying it. Of course, you should try the demo first, just like each game, to make your own opinion. But it is worth buying. Many had a hard time finding it in store so you may consider ordering it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/03, Updated 06/04/03