When Platinum games announced they were creating a new third person shooter, the gaming community sat up and really took notice of it. After the hilarious Bayonetta, we were all really hoping for a top class, over-the-top, insane game that would be a ball to play, and man have Platinum games delivered. although the rumours of a very short length a entirely true; supposing that I completed it in 4 hours, don't let it put you off. I can safely say that the 4 hours or so of gameplay that you play will be some of the best 4 hours of you gaming life, well 3 and a half hours, but I'll come to that later.
Now, your first thought with Vanquish is just wow. The graphics are simple put, A*. The ARS suit, of which gives our main protagonist Sam Gideon some 'special' powers, is one of the greatest looking character models of any game ever, the amount of detail comes close to that of Kratos from God of War 3. It is a real joy to see his suit transform and witness all the tiny moving parts that overall, create an insanely good looking charcter. But, its not just the character models that are briliant, its also the settings. Set mainly inside a giant space ship, you may be mistaken for thinking of just the same old bland backgrounds, but some how, vanquish seems to have you in constant awe of their ever changing backdrops. Taking a large influence from games such as Halo and Mass Effect, the settings are usually silver and shiny, but each with their own unique character, something which only a few games can achieve. However, the one down part about the graphics is that about halfway through the game you encounter a forest, and the woodland and more organic settings don't really stand up to the indoor settings, but its not a massive negative. One thing that made me buy Vanquish was that the explosions and guns looked awesome too, and in the full game, they really don't let this trade down. The explosions are by far the best and most satisfying that I have ever seen; you have not lived until you witness the pure beauty of a blue-spark explosion as you land a perfect headshot on a robot, pure heaven!
But is Vanquish innovative enough and polished enough to really make a stamp in the gaming world? The answer, yes. If you have played the demo for Vanquish then you will no doubt of fallen in love with the amazing ARS suit, or Augmented Reaction Suit. Created by DARPA, the sort of research lab of Vanquish, this suit gives Sam some awesome abilities that really change the course of the game and create a very deep, tactical shooter. The suit gives you the ability to slide around on your knees at ridiculously high speeds, enter slow motion and also it helps as an extremely powerful melee weapon. Platinum games obviously realised the threat that these powers may be too strong and ruin the challenge, but I can safely say that they have done a brilliant job at making them well balanced. Sliding around a giant robot whilst blasting its legs with a massive gun that shoots large discs is by far one of the most adrenaline pumping feelings ever to come out of a game. The slow motion is another fine addition as it comes into great use when outnumbered. A quick hold of the L2 button and then a tap of the X button slows down time and gives you the easy task of picking up those headshots. Also, this ability appears when you are near death, as it gives you a chance to escape or fight back, another fine feature. Overall, Vanquish is possibly one of the most amusing, fun and damn right enjoyable shooters out there. I could try to explain to you about it in further detail, but instead of reading this, download the demo to really see what I'm talking about. The gameplay is golden.
The weapons also play a massive part in Vanquish (duhhh). And Vanquish really doesn't let down on this apartment. The range of guns isn't massive, but it is satisfactory for anyone who wants to make they're style of play they're own. the weapons range from the classic light/heavy assault rifles, to powerful snipers and from huge turrets too a lock-on laser. Every weapon has its own unique feel and sound which makes the feeling much better when playing, as you can feel he differences in power and manoeuvrability. Each weapon is great use for different enemies too, as I would always use the Heavy for large robots and then the assault for just normal robots. Vanquish also adds a clever little upgrade system which can add a sense of desire to build up your weapons, but the upgrades become samey with a 10% ammo increase or increased rate of fire. Gaming has always had a slight hole in it, which is the fact that in games such as COD or Half Life, you could carry about 8 guns, all of which are massive. Us gamers have always thought, 'come on, that's a bit unrealistic', but Vanquish solves this problem in a very cheeky way. The ARS suit has a built in scanner that transforms into each weapon once you have scanned it, so no more impossibly sized back packs!
You may of noticed that by now, I havent mentioned the story, well thats because, to be honest, its crap. The story is almost non-existent and is the usual case of Russia goes to war with the USA. Its nothing special and takes the back seat, but, to tell you the truth, it fits with the game. Vanquish doesn't take itself massively serious, so it is a breath of fresh air when you see such a tongue-in-cheek story. It has its fair share of patriotism and backstabbing, but, overall, the story brings nothing new to the table, but as I just said, I dont really mind. One thing I do mind though is the characters. I have expressed my love for Sackboy and Drake many a time, but Sam Gideon and Sgt Burns are the two most obnoxious, arrogant, big headed dicks ever to grace a console. Yes, it fits the game once more, but these characters are just so unlike able that when Sam dies, you feel good that he has been taught a lesson. Sgt Burns is your stereotypical USA Marine leader, all big (ridiculously huge for that matter) and with the classic gruff voice, so, he is a dick. Another niggle with |Sam is that every time you get to a cut scene, he lights a bloody cigarette, which is not a good sign for the youth of today. The enemies you face aren't really a massive mixed bunch, but they offer enough variety to stop getting stale. I don't really understand how all the Communists are robots though, never really got that.....
Vanquish is, in a word, well three words, the dogs balls. Only rarely does a game so fresh, fun, enjoyable and damn right awe inspiring come along and Vanquish is one of them. It takes all the good things about western games and adds a bit of classic Japanese madness, and the risk paid off. Although it suffers from diabolical story and the biggest cocks in gaming, Vanquish redeems itself with epic battles, amazing graphics and some of the best, innovative game play ideas out there. I will have to admit that the last quarter slows down a bit and the pace is completely lost, but don't let that get you down. Vanquish is brilliant. Its been nearly a month after release, but my fears came true, Vanquish hasn't sold well due to other releases such as COD and Assassins Creed, but instead of dishing out your precious money to large over rated companies, give it to Platinum Games.
9/10
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