Vanquish is an adrenaline packed action-shooter from Platinum Games for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It was developed by Shinji Mikami, who is famous for his western touch with Japanese games. Long before we played anything from the west, and when games were pure and always rated for all ages, we were playing everything from Japan. They might not have won awards for their dialogue or storylines, but they generally felt good. And before I delve into it, I just need to tell the less informed about the title – Mikami told his team that he wanted Vanquish to “feel good”… and my word did his team deliver!
Vanquish takes place in the near-future where Russia and the United States vie for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources, the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, aiming to force the US into a total and unconditional surrender. In response, the US tasks its armed forces with recapturing the space station before the Russians can annihilate their next target – New York. [Platinum Games]
Vanquish is a perfect example of East meets West. It is super fast, over designed, over the top and filled with quirky aspects but well executed, and as is the norm with many Japanese developed games – the controls are epic. Tight, fluid and responsive as if they were designed then worked to death until they were perfect.
You play as a soldier in this extreme robotic suit that looks like something out of Halo, but designed to the max with loads of interlocking segments and a rocket that pops out on your back when you boost across the screen. You can also go into slow motion when things get too hectic or use the brilliant cover-system which feels very much like Gears of War. Other actions include a forward roll, punching ballistically, and oddly going into cover – lighting a cigarette – and tossing it over your shoulder (possibly to ignite things). You have an array of guns at your disposal, four of which you can carry and switch between. Overall you have a remarkable arsenal of weapons at your disposal which can be upgraded and transformed.
The graphics are crisp and bright to go with the futuristic look of the game and the sound is great too. Vanquish is an explosion of audio and visual aspects which permanently feels like there are bullets spraying everywhere. You hit the slow motion sequence for a visual treat and to allow some finesse (much like the dev used in Bayonetta). Dialogue is, well funny, but definitely cheesy, not that I had too much time to absorb dialogue as I was dodging the constant spray of bullets or bits from explosions.
The demo begins with you and your troop running down a corridor which leads you up some stairs into the mayhem in a futuristic hangar. All hell is breaking loose on different levels, with robotic soldiers and all sort of robots in an epic battle. Explosions, destroyed vehicles and objects flying over your head. It’s all going down. At first I frantically tapped buttons, working through the actions until I learned to use the actions to best affect. It doesn’t take long to get to grips with your actions but I look forward to how long it takes me to master them in epic multiplayer battles, which I foresee come the retail version. If the code is done right, this could be a multiplayer haven… chaotic haven that is.
I would describe Vanquish as Halo meet Gears of War, at 200 km/h. Fast, furious and fluid controls make Vanquish a pleasure to unleash combo upon combo of his melee attacks and ballistic firepower. Then the slow-motion adds the drama for a moment and it’s back to the furious action. I love the high octane visual treats, the blurred visuals in the midst of chaos, it just looks and feels baddass.
I would highly recommend you check it out the demo which comes in at under 500mb in the Xbox marketplace.
Vanquish is published by Sega and hits store in late October.
For more visit the game’s official site.
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