As the player progresses further into Rapture, different types of ammunition become available. Quantities of some advanced types of ammo in a machine may be limited. Inventable ammo, such as Electric Gel and Trap Bolts, are not sold by the machines at all. The machine will show how much of each type of ammo is being carried by the player, and what the carrying limit is, so unlike the U-Invent machine, the risk of buying more than its limit is minor. (It is possible to be carrying near the limit and buy more than the limit. The excess will be left at the machine.) If the player is at the limit, the ammo will be grayed out in the machine's listing of ammo.
In BioShock 2, El Ammo Banditos appear aged by rust and water damage, along with a torn hole on its image that exposes its linear fluorescent bulbs. The dollar symbol below the coin slot has been replaced with an embossed letter 'A'. These Vending Machines, as well as the variety of ammunition they sell, become more plentiful. While Circus of Values will sell the player some varieties of ammo, their selection is extremely limited by comparison.
A Successful Hack on an Ammo Bandito will lower the overall price of its stock, as well as give access to limited stock. The limited stock usually only has one unit, and will sell out upon purchase.
Each successful Bonus Hack will cause the machine to dispense a unit of a randomly-selected product, free of charge. The ammunition dropped is independent to that sold by the machine itself.
In BioShock 2, El Ammo Bandito Machines have their own map icons, as corrected from using the same icon as the Circus of Values Vending Machines in BioShock.
In BioShock 2 the sound effects and voice-overs for the El Ammo Bandito and other vending machines are missing. This was revealed by 2K-Marin Audio Lead Michael Kamper to have been an accident caused just before the game was shipped.[1]
The advertising jingle that plays every time the player gets close to an El Ammo Bandito is voiced by Mauricio Tejerina, one of the concept artists on the BioShock development team. The jingle is "Bienvenido Al Ammo Bandito!", which translates into "Welcome to the Ammo Bandit!" [2]