Rubber Bandits – Analysis (Review) – Rubber thieves, chaos and lots of confusion

GAME SHEET: Release: December 2, 2021 Players: From 01 to 04 players Genre: Action video game, Fighting video game, Independent electronic game, Casual electronic game, Casual, Comedy, Multiplayer, Party, PvP Developers: Flashbulb , Flashbulb Games ApS Publisher: Flashbulb, Available languages: German, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Spanish, French, English, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian Available on platforms: PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S Rating: Over 6 years old. Game version analyzed: Nintendo Switch.

Imagine a very clumsy thief, walking around in super colorful environments, doing the most diverse tasks to complete his missions (robberies), running away from the police, interacting with the scenery and causing lots and lots of confusion… well, now add an online game to this idea, with a crossplayer feature, where you and your “accomplices” will organize several robberies, including a lot of confusion along the way, well, this is Rubber Bandits, a chaotic, super colorful, fun game that gained great visibility on streamer broadcasts around the world. Let’s now talk a little about this super fun mess and give a simple opinion about the Nintendo Switch version!

Rubber Bandits is a multiplayer heist and comedy game that arrived on the Nintendo Switch on January 19, 2023. The Flashbulb game was already available for PC and other consoles since 12/02/2021, and with the recent arrival on the hybrid console from Nintendo, crossplay now covers all current platforms.

In the game, the main character is a criminal who is in jail, because he was caught after committing robberies and is now trying to escape, to continue his life outside of prison, committing more robberies and creating a lot of chaos wherever he goes. At the beginning, inside the cell we already have our “tutorial” of the game, where we are introduced to the charismatic and curious character, in the process of escaping from the xilindró, we are presented with the movement and mechanics that will be used during the game, the character has a curious movement, which already makes clear the tone of the game here, the criminal in question is a rubber doll, that’s right, in this universe, people are rubber dolls, with clumsy movements and who interact with objects in the world. scenery, using these objects as weapons or simply destroying part of that scenery to generate the chaos that the game seeks.

After leaving jail, we find ourselves in a place that we can call the “headquarters” of our rubber bandit, this “HQ” is our menu screen, where we can navigate and direct ourselves to more than 30 phases with the most diverse missions, as well as choosing different game modes, clothes and accessories and also taking tests before going on assaults with the most fun chaos.

Our beloved Rubber Bandits became famous for having their games broadcast by streamers around the world, after all, the most interesting thing about the game, which has more than 30 stages and seven game modes, is precisely the chaos that we can see on screen when several people are playing together in various game modes. Among these modes, to start learning and understanding the game and the movements, we have the Arcade mode, which is a very interesting option, as it is like a story mode that allows you to play practically all the maps, therefore, a good way to get to know each scenario, and also, earn a little money from the heists by playing against the CPU.

Each stage has a small map where instructions can be found when loading the game. In it we can see the “heist plan” where each point of interest is shown, such as where you start, where the money is and the escape location to end the phase.

Although small (as the levels are contained environments, such as buildings and rooms), the levels are fun and well developed, bringing a good variety between them, making it difficult for the game to become boring. Furthermore, eventually as you lose your character’s 3 lives, the maps undergo small changes where the money is located, making Arcade gameplay more dynamic.

There are some very interesting maps, in one of them, the assault must be carried out in the dark, and in another there is a large dinosaur fossil that can also be used as a bridge, and this is another interesting point of the game, the interaction with the scenery and the things that are there are a point to be highlighted.

In turn, the online mode has a crossplay option with an open or private lobby, remembering that, in the case of the tested version (Nintendo Switch), the player needs a Nintendo Switch online subscription. How the online crossplay option works is very straightforward: just enter the online mode door in your hideout and you’ll soon start organizing your assault mission.

After each match, all players can vote on which mode they want to play next. If there is consensus, that’s what counts. Otherwise, the game will draw one of the chosen options. Each mode has its own phases, which always guarantees good surprises and unpredictable gameplay.

The game also offers daily missions that can be achieved both in the Arcade and online play. These missions can give cosmetic items, which make the matches even more comical, chaotic and unpredictable, after all, that is the idea and starting point of this game.

All modes can be played alone or with up to 4 people, it is also possible to place more people from local multiplayer in the online lobby.

Despite being fun, the game occasionally suffers from performance problems on the Nintendo Switch, and the mandatory subscription for online play, as well as connection to the network, makes portable mode unfeasible depending on where you want to play. The graphics suffer a little when played in portable mode, so the game drops a little in performance, damaging the experience a little.

Conclusion

Strengths

Rubber Bandits is a fun party-style game, with actions and interactions between players and the scenario in such a chaotic way that it creates good moments, laughs and super comical moments. The movement of the characters in the “rubber doll” style makes it even funnier, the robberies, even if they are well carried out, always have the intention of leaving a trail of chaos and madness, which characterizes this game as a true “party game”, with a focus on online gaming and matches to be transmitted via stream channels, making the strongest point of this game the multiplayer matches.

Negative points

As the main weaknesses, these scores are due to the performance in portable mode and the impossibility of offline singleplayer.

Rating: Graphics: 7.5 Fun: 8.0 Gameplay: 7.5 Sound: 8.0 Performance and Optimization: 7 FINAL RATING: 7.6 / 10.0