Quick Look: Rubber Bandits

by Ben Kirby
0 comment

Multiplayer online chaos has become a bit of a niche. With games like Human Fall Flat, Among us, Fall Guys, Gang Beasts and now, Rubber Bandits.

Get online for some silliness with your friends and just laugh, smile and watch chaos ensure in front of your very eyes.

Sure, all of these games are different, but basic controls, some punishing physics to make things funny, and bright colours. You’ve got yourself a modern online party game.

I can’t lie, they’re not my bag per se, but I’ve had more than my fair share of fun and Rubber Bandits is next on the list of games that made me realise I need to just relax sometimes and have fun.

Rubber Bandits gameplay

Rubber

Rubber Bandits isn’t just a play on the words “rubber band”, but you’re actually controlling little bandits made, seemingly of rubber.

Watching the little rubber bandits wobble and bounce around the screen is a source of joy all in itself. But there’s more to it than that!

A handful of game modes see you either working in co-operation with your friends, as bandits. Looting and escaping from small maps. Or, Rubber Bandits gives you some competitive modes, and I’ll be honest, that’s where the real fun is.

Everyone is ill-equipped for even the most basic tasks. So beating each other with objects in the environment, throwing bombs at each other or pushing people out of the map, become harder work than you’d expect.

With a jump, a grab, a throw and a melee. Rubber Bandits gives you a very small toolset to perform a heist or to try and beat your friends in a brawl. But that’s where the fun comes from. The games aren’t complicated, but you’re working against the movement a little.

The fun of Rubber Bandits comes from the silliness and the simplicity.

Rubber Bandits - Map

Small and Simple

Because it’s so simple, Rubber Bandits is able to revel in the chaos that it allows for. Maps are well-considered, giving you so many opportunities to pick something up and use it as a weapon.

Throwing something across the map is actually quite accurate, and with enough power, you can knock someone over from the other side of the room. The silliness, watching a little rubber dude collapse and hearing your friends chuckling at the sheer daftness occurring. This is how you make a game.

Not everything needs to be over-complicated. Rubber Bandits clearly set out knowing what it wants to be, and the care and attention put into it seep through. There’s real character in every part of it. The design and overall aesthetic is perfectly suited to the gameplay.

Character design and cosmetics are all there to add to the fun. Creating your own custom rubber bandit just gives you that extra investment into the comedy. Watching my Hotdog guy that I’ve invested in just topple over when a granny has lobbed a grenade at me, is just so absurd, it’s a sight to behold

Rubber Bandits Chaos

Overall

Rubber Bandits is a bright and vibrant game. Silliness isn’t optional, it’s basically a guarantee and if you have a few friends to play with, you’ll find hours disappearing and tears running down your face.

Better still, it’s on Gamepass so if you have a subscription, it’s just available to you to download on PC, and I think Xbox.

Even if silliness isn’t your thing as a solo player, some online fun here will break up the cycle a little and help you just kick back.

It’s a joy to behold, and I prefer it to most of the other games I’ve listed above. It isn’t heavy on content, but what’s there is perfectly formed and I think Rubber Bandits is better for it.

All being well there will be some more content added in the future to keep it fresh, but you can squeeze plenty out of it as it is now.

Excellent fun AND part of Gamepass.


For even more quick look game reviews like this, click right HERE.

You may also like

Leave a Comment