BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA 

 BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA (BANDIT) is the fourth in Koei's
series of historical simulations of Asian empires from long ago. 
This game is slightly different from previous Koei efforts in that
its main inspiration is a semi-fantastic historical novel. (This
review is based on the IBM-PC version.) 

 The major objective of BANDIT is not the conquest of ancient
China, but the killing of an evil minister, one Gao Qui. Gao Qui has
managed to usurp most of the power of government so that even the
Emperor Hui Zhong cries out for help. Your job is to gather a loyal
group of bandits, conquer and develop provinces, and grow in
strength so that you may destroy the heinous Gao Qui. 

 The basic system of BANDIT is extremely similar to that of earlier
Koei efforts. Game play occurs on a large-scale strategic map that
encompasses most of China. This map is broken up into provinces
controlled by players. During a turn, play proceeds on a
province-by-province basis. When your province is selected, you may
issue orders for that province and any units it contains. Wars are
initiated when one player sends a bandit (or official for Gao Qui) 
into a province controlled by another player. When war begins, play
shifts to a tactical map depicting the terrain of the invaded
province. Players' bandits and their men move about and fight for
control of the province. 

 There are some small differences between BANDIT and other Koei
games. First, an important part of the game is character
development. In BANDIT, your character (called a Good Fellow), has
several attributes: Body, Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. The
difference is that these attributes are directly impacted by your
actions. Different actions accrue experience points that will
eventually raise the value of the character's attributes. This is
handled in a sensible fashion, so that each action affects an
appropriate attribute. 

 Another difference is that you can only directly control a province
if your character is in it, or if the bandit controlling it in your
name is a Sworn Brother. And you cannot simply swear brotherhood
with any bandit you recruit. Instead, your ability to swear
brotherhood is based on the bandit's loyalty, _and_ the
compatibility of your personalities. Personality is measured by
three attributes: Integrity, Mercy, and Courage. These attributes do
not change, so each character tends to accumulate Sworn Brothers who
are "compatible" with him. 

 The effect of these changes is to give BANDIT much more of a
role-playing flavor than any other Koei game. Unfortunately, the
actual impact of these changes in game play seems rather small. 
While character development is nice, players are not likely to
change their strategy in order to facilitate their character's
development. Nor are the slight increments in attributes likely to
greatly affect a character's success. 

 The graphic presentation of BANDIT is excellent, as is generally
the case with Koei's products; the opening sequence is particularly
sharp -- almost worth the price of the game by itself. The interface
is still keyboard-based, with little substantive change in style. 
The packaging and supporting materials are very well done: The rules
are reasonably brief and the historical documentation is excellent. 

 The IBM-PC version of BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA displays in EGA
(640x350x16) and CGA (640x200x2) modes. It requires 384K and two
floppy drives, or a hard disk. There is no copy protection of any
kind -- a welcome change from earlier Koei games. Input is via
keyboard only, and no sound boards are supported. 

 Despite all of this, I had some real trouble with the game. I've
played and loved earlier Koei games, to which BANDIT is very
similar; in fact, it's _too_ similar. Though the individual
characters are given greater emphasis, the overall flavor of BANDIT
is almost exactly the same as ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS. I would
like to see Koei devote its considerable talents to development of
completely different sorts of games, if possible. In many ways, 
BANDIT reminds me of the "Star Trek" movies. The first was flawed, 
if interesting. The second was a vast improvement, but later
installments have seemed increasingly superfluous. 

 The bottom line is this: If you've played and enjoyed Koei's games
in the past _and_ you want more of almost exactly the same, buy
BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA. If you've never played a Koei game, 
this is a good place to start. However, if you're looking for
something from Koei that's a little different, this isn't it. Maybe
the next game will be. 

 BANDIT KINGS OF ANCIENT CHINA is published and distributed by Koei
Corporation. 

*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253