Genre: 3rd-person shooter, Action
Available Platforms: PS3, 360
Platform I played it on: PS3
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Sega
So I’ve been gone a little while, so as per my custom allow me to come back by sucking Platinum Games’ dick super hard. As is probably evident by this little blog about nothing, I’m a HUGE fan of their games and Vanquish is no different. Actually to be fair, in terms of Platinum Games, Vanquish is a lot different. By now, Platinum is basically known as the go-to developer in the industry if you want the most amazing, fluid, kinda dumb, over the top character action games. Vanquish is kinda like that, except instead of fluid combo action, you get one of the most fun and interesting third-person shooter games I’ve ever played.
The set-up for the game is actually pretty strong, a standard shooter setting with a nice twist. Sometime in the future, an ultra-nationalist terrorist group called The Order of the Russian Star hijacks a space station and uses it’s solar energy to obliterate San Francisco and hold New York City ransom. You are Sam Gideon, a DARPA agent sent in alongside the usual space Marines in order to stop this insurgency and save the world, armed with nothing but some really big guns and your high-tech, mechanical battle suit. The story isn’t the game’s strongest point, but goddamn if it’s not the most fun, explosive ride ever. It might be dumb and corny, but it oozes the usual Platinum style, ingenuity, insanity and charm from it’s every orifice. All of the characters in the game are very likeable, from the chain-smoking asshole that is Sam himself, to the gruff, chain-gun armed Marine commander (voiced by Steve Blum of course) he fights alongside, to the smooth, quintessentially Russian villain: Victor Raitsev. Sadly though, the relatively short length of the game leaves all of these characters underdeveloped and the ending is a ridiculous cliffhanger (although the awesome credits sequence kinda makes up for it).
The game follows the shooter formula of going from set piece to set piece, ramping the stakes up as you go along to ridiculous heights (another Platinum staple). I hesitate to say this, but no game deserves it more: it’s a non-stop action thrill ride (I know, I feel bad already). The majority of the enemies you fight will be A.I robots, with obligatory boss fights thrown in for good measure. The game reminded me a lot of Binary Domain, specifically that satisfaction you get from ruining a robot’s shit super hard and the way they break apart depending on where you shoot them. Enemies are smart and will wreck you really hard if you’re not careful or play recklessly. Bosses can be very annoying as a lot of them actually have an instant kill move and I will admit to dying about 500 times to the very first boss because of this.
The gameplay is standard third-person shooter fare. You get your selection of guns, you get your grenades, you get a competent destructible cover system, now go out and kill shit. Where Vanquish stands out is in the use of the unique Augmented Reaction Suit which allows you to do some really cool things. For one, you can slow down time in order to line up shots easier (called AR Mode, but it’s basically Bullet Time). This can be triggered manually by aiming and then dodging. It also activates automatically if you take too much damage so you have a chance to survive. Another neat feature (probably the game’s best) is the ability to use jet thrusters to move around the battlefield at incredible speeds. You can use this sliding boost ability to zip from cover to cover, dodge, use bullet time, flank enemies, or pretty much anything you can think of. The use of these abilities is governed by an overheat system. Prolonged use of the boost, slow-mo, as well as melee, causes the suit to overheat and it will have to cool down for a short time, limiting your mobility speed and leaving you open to death if you take too much damage. Managing this meter is of the utmost importance if you want to be awesome and stay alive. You can upgrade your weapons by picking up upgrade boxes or the same weapon while your gun is at max ammo. Upgrading your weapons increases various stats. These upgrades can be applied to every single one of your weapons, as well as grenades, just making you a more efficient killing machine.There are a few other little gameplay things thrown in such as using cigarettes to distract enemies and some of the most inventive QTE events I’ve seen (*SPOILER*: spin the analogue stick to spin a missile around) to take down big enemies and bosses.
As expected from a Platinum game, everything just runs buttery smooth. The gameplay is fast, fluid and responsive, bringing the Platinum character action edge to the shooting action. Due to the very nature of how the game was designed, it forces you to play at a faster pace than other cover shooters. Cover gets destroyed easily and bullets literally fly from everywhere, forcing you to stay on the move and clear out enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible. You are graded after every encounter based on various factors, similarly to Bayonetta or Revengeance, and while it might not matter much, I found myself trying hard to maximize my score.
Overall, this is one of the most fun games out there. It’s far from perfect but it’s definitely worth playing if you haven’t yet. The visuals are gorgeous to this day still, the gameplay is inventive and addictive and it’s Platinum at their very best, trying their hand at something a little different. I highly recommend it. So, with all the dick sucking out of the way, all I have to say is: WHERE’S MY VANQUISH 2, PLATINUM?!
Conclusion: 4.5 jet slides out of a possible 5
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This article is crackerjack content. By this, I mean it’s expertly written with many valid and interesting points. These views coincide with my own views. Thank you for writing this.