Sega and Platinum games have been hard at work lately as the studio brought us Beyonetta earlier this year and now Vanquish. Famed video game director Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil, took it upon himself to establish a new genre breaking 3rd person shooter that oozes sci-fi action. Vanquish is telling the story of a near future world where nations are at war over the planet’s remaining resources. A Russian extremest group called ‘Order of the Russian Star’, hijacks the space station ‘Providence’ which harvests the incredible power of microwave energy and uses it to attack San Fransisco.
In order to combat this situation the United States decides to fight back and retake control of the station. The USA deploys a massive fleet of marines alongside government agent Sam Gideon who works for DARPA where advanced technology, in form of a futuristic battle suit, is in development. Sam is wearing the ARS powered suit which is capable of slowing down time and equipped with thrusters for incredibly fast and mobile movements across the battlefield. This is a standout feature and makes traversal fun and accessible. Once Sam and the Marines get to the Providence all hell breaks loose. Russian robots, mechs and even larger bosses as well as an annoying Russian leader on a power-trip will stand in Sam’s way of regaining control of the station and free Professor Candide.
Okay, enough back story. To be blunt, Vanquish is an absolute blast and one of the best games to be released in 2010. It is rare that a shooter can be innovative and successful these days where only Call of Duty clones spur demand in the shooter genre. Platinum Games has done a fantastic job of creating a bright and exciting environment with loads of things happening at once without making the player feel overwhelmed. There are tons of enemies, explosions and set pieces going on at a given time but because Sam is equipped with the tools to handle it, all of that action feels well paced and just right. There are several different enemy types in Vanquish as mentioned before, which are challenging and fun to deal with. Sam’s ability to slide across the battlefield, go into slow motion and jump over cover while taking out robots with extreme precision is some of the most fun I have had this year. The gameplay in Vanquish does not get old.
Sam’s weapons morph into each other in a cool and smooth animation and can be upgraded along the way. In order to upgrade the guns, Sam will need to pick up the same weapon while having a full magazine which means you won’t be using that weapon if you desire to improve it. This is one downside I have found within Vanquishes leveling system. Back to Sam’s suit, it looks gorgeous and is a masterpiece which breathes new live in the shooter genre as it looks everything but generic. Loads of blinking lights and morphing makes this literally one of the game’s shining elements.
As noted before, Vanquish has a lot of big moments including giant set pieces which will have your jaw drop at times. The game is set in a beautifully sci-fi inspired world with great vistas. Many games attempt train sequences but often fail to succeed. Vanquish has one of the best train levels since Uncharted 2. It is an incredibly fast paces roller-coaster ride that plays and looks fantastic. In order to be successful in this game, players will need to utilize all of Sam’s abilities because some of the enemies will certainly test your skills and sometimes be frustrating. A few of the boss and mini-boss encounters will take some repeating as the learning curve may be steep for some.
While I could probably go on forever about the fundamentally fun and solid gameplay which Platinum really nailed, I do not have that many positive things to say about the story or character development. The plot and its characters appear as if a Japanese developer wanted to make some extremely American war heroes including bad puns and over the top voice acting. This will come across a bit awkward to most but really enjoyable to some. The plot itself is not that exciting or memorable which detracts a bit from my final opinion of the game but certainly is not a game-braker. Another point I must make mention of is that Vanquish is a bit on the short side and lacks multiplayer which really could have been awesome and fresh.
When I look back at the gaming year that was 2010 it will be incredibly hard not to mention Vanquish as one of my top titles of the year. Mikami and Platinum Games have created a 3rd person shooter that breaks the mold in terms of gameplay but leaves a bit to be desired when it comes to story and character development. Playing as Sam will be some of the most fun you will have this year. I hope Sega decides to make a sequel to Vanquish because this new IP deserves it.
Score: 8.5 / 10
Vanquish was developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PS3 on October 19th. A copy of the Xbox 360 version was provided to us by Sega for reviewing purposes.
