Vanquish has been developed by Platinum Games Inc, and is being published by SEGA for the PS3 and XBOX 360. The game will be released on October 19th, 2010 for both systems. Brought to us by the director of the Resident Evil Series, Shinji Mikami, Vanquish is a sci-fi shooter with fluid action, that gives us the control over Sam Gideon who has a great arsenal of weaponry to Vanquish (pun intended!) his enemies with extreme prejudice.
Bringing together a mixture of the character “Raiden” from Metal Gear, the Gears Of War-esque over the shoulder cam complete with cover system, add a pinch of Lost Planet type of action, and you have the game Vanquish in a nutshell!
The game brings many of these different aspects together in a nicely detailed game that provides definite action. The demo gives you both a brief game mission along with a tutorial that will help gamers get familiar with the controls and combat system. The game play is actually quite easy considering the complex movements you see on screen. The controls probably could have been fine-tuned just a tad better, but they are solid overall.
Utilizing the controls I was able to slide around using the powerful reactive suit system. The game definitely shows all the battle movements fluidly with no lag and some great animations. The animations and graphics of this game are definitely inspired by Japanese Anime.
Playing through the demo was a great action experience. The game stuck me right in the thick of things, with some support of additional American troops to help me take down multiple enemies. The firefights are intense and well laid out. Some of the enemies are large and shoot from everywhere, but utilizing the evasive actions of the suit I was able to maneuver Sam around laser, gun, and missile fire; while taking out multiple enemies with different weapons. The main four you will use in the demo are: Machine Gun, Heavy Machine Gun, Shotgun, and Grenades. During the tutorial you will get to use the Disk Launcher, and Rocket Launcher, which would have been nice to have during the demo.
The game provides upgrades for your different weapons, so these regular weapons you see in most games should hit for more damage and hopefully will add more to the game.
Overall, the demo was solid. Graphics, animations, controls, game-play, and video clips all intertwine smoothly. The only thing I am concerned with is whether or not the action will get monotonous, and if the upgrades for weapons will not be enough for many gamers to enjoy with the action. If this becomes reality, the game will waste its good storyline, and smooth running graphics inspired by an anime type of action. I will look forward to this game, but with somewhat of a skeptic eye…
*All images provided by Xbox.com*
