
- 72/100
- Players16 ratings
More scores
- Metacritic usersuser score
- 84/100
- GameFAQsJust Right-Tough
- 3.56/5
- Player reviews
- 96% positive1,174 reviews
- Steam Deck
- Playable
- Runs on
- Windows, Mac, Linux
- Price
- US$6.99
Where to get it

1998 · K-D Lab · Action-adventure · Adventure
Vangers
Mind-altering sandbox game that can be described as a racing role-playing adventure game with a complicated storyline. You’ll find a unique atmosphere, complete freedom and lots of gameplay hours to figure out what’s the game is all about.
- Released
- 1 June 1998
- Platforms
- AndroidFreeBSDLinuxWindowsmacOS
- Genres
- Action-adventureAdventureArcadeCombat racingPost-apocalypticRacingRole-playingScience
- Developers
- K-D Lab
- Publishers
- Buka Entertainment1C CompanyMidas Interactive Entertainment
- Modes
- MultiplayerSingle-player
- Perspective
- Bird view / Isometric
- Themes
- ActionOpen world
- Country
- Russia
- Age ratings
- USK 12
- Languages
- English, Russian
- Time to beat
- 12hmain story35hcompletionist
About
Vangers (Вангеры, also known as Vangers: One for the Road) is a racing role-playing video game developed by K-D Lab, a Russian company. It was released in North America in June 29, 1998 after receiving positive responses at that year's E3. An updated re-release was made available on Steam and GOG.com in 2014. The re-release includes support for Mac OS X and Linux.
Players say
Media
The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
The player controls a vehicle ("mechos"), which can drive and jump. Installing equipment such as weapons and rigs (auxiliary equipment) allows the vehicle to attack targets, fly, burrow into the ground, float, etc. Different mechos have different equipment slots and trunk size. All vehicles are protected with armor, and energy shields that slowly replenish.
The game takes place in 10 connected worlds, three of which are inhabited. Each of them has unique landscape, and the inhabited worlds feature excaves - underground cities, vital for progression. There reside unique Bioses (races/species). When entering the cities, the player reads the narrations of Bios representatives (called Counselors), is allowed to use the trading facilities to buy mechoses, goods and equipment, and can ask patterned questions of "what or who is", about the notions encountered to the point in game. Advancing the plot requires gaining the favor of Bioses, which means for player character to successfully participate in their rituals, to transport goods, to compete with and destroy other, computer-controlled Vangers.
Story
At the beginning of a new game the player is provided with text introduction to the major events of the game world genesis.
According to the introduction, a faction of advanced humans, termed as Spirits, at some point in time gains a technology of creating the Passages between different worlds, the source of technology being Spirits' transcendental contacts. With this knowledge humans undertake rushed construction of the Passages and the new worlds colonization. These events are portrayed in the later Perimeter game, which is the prequel to Vangers.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. Next Generation said, "It's a shame there wasn't a quick-action mode to simply jump in and enjoy the game because what fun there is to be had is buried deep within the pages of a convoluted science-fiction script. Sorry, folks, being weird doesn't always work. Still, if you like the story and don't mind reading a lot of text, there is a fun game here."
Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World praised the game for its dark, detailed combat simulation with "ten strange and wonderful worlds filled with alien creatures and constructs". 95. However, he found the controls confusing and the futuristic vocabulary contrived. In addition, the README file contained solutions to all of the puzzles in the game.
Releases by platformdates and regions as published
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Collections1 collection
Genres
- Racing gamesList › 1990s
Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.
