Vanquish is a third-person shooter from critically acclaimed director
best known for his creation of the Resident Evil series, Shinji Mikami.
It is without a doubt one of the most original and fantastic shooters
released in years, the only other being Resident Evil 5 in March of
2009.
"Resident Evil" was a survival-horror game released on the PSX, or Sony
PlayStation, and was one of the first games on consoles to feature
digital actors and their voices. Being one of the first, though, it was
also one of the silliest. Featuring infamous lines such as "master of
unlocking" and "jill sandwich", it was still an impressive game that
required serious strategy to get through, and only the ones who bowed
down to it's hardcore gameplay could hope to beat it. If they weren't
getting constantly freaked out, that is.
Over the years and after several sequels and other types of games,
however, Shinji Mikami left Resident Evil to do his own thing, and now
in this year, he has brought us nothing short of greatness in the form
of his third-person shooter, Vanquish. A game that is only single
player, and deserves serious credibility for that alone.
The developer responsible for Vanquish, Platinum Games, was also
responsible for a rather distasteful title in Bayonetta, but do not let
that cloud your judgment on this game.
Let's get the good things out of the way first.
It's the near future where the human population on planet Earth has
boomed so rapidly that resources began to dwindle swiftly. The United
States sought to alleviate its own energy problems by launching a space
station, rather a space colony reminiscent of one from Mobile Suit
Gundam, that is harboring a solar energy-driven generator to provide
them with an alternative source of fuel from the sun. However, the
Russian government was overthrown in a coup, and ultra-nationalists
calling themselves the "Order of the Russian Star" captured this space
station and diverted it's harvested energy into a gigantic microwave
colony laser and they fire it upon San Fancisco in order to force the
U.S. into a total and unconditional surrender in 10 hours before they
fire upon New York City as well.
You take the role of a DARPA field agent, Sam Gideon. Mr. Gideon is
equipped with some of the most high-tech weaponry known to our future
evolution, most noticeable is the ARS suit, Augmented Reaction Suit. The
suit allows him to glide across surfaces on rocket boosters attached to
his suit, and it will also allow him to enter into "bullet-time" mode.
This power comes at a cost, however. You have a limited energy bar that
you really do not want to overheat because you are extremely vulnerable.
If you overheat, your dash-rolls become slower and you can't dodge
anything, you can't do bullet time, and you can't slide. You need to
seek cover and sit tight so that it will cool off. Certain enemies can
also overheat you with an EMP shockwave. Using melee instantly overheats
you as well, sadly. Also, if you are critically injured, you will
automatically enter bullet time mode until you overheat, allowing you
time to get to safety.
The bullet-time mode does make cover practically useless when it comes to taking down enemies, though.
Not only that, he is armed with an experimental weapon system called
BLADE, which is capable of scanning any existing weapon and then
transforming into a perfect replica of that weapon. Its ability to store
three scans at a time means that at any given time the BLADE can
shapeshift between three completely different guns. This is also amusing
if you have a Laser Cannon or Rocket Launcher as well as an Assault
rifle, because then you can switch between any and it will take the form
effortlessly.
The weapons you can find are also upgradeable, and it is very satisfying
when you finally earn the top ranks for your favorite guns, mine being
the Laser Cannon(A Pre-order item), the Assault rifle, and the Heavy
Machine Gun. From how much I've played thus far, I am certain that if
you upgrade a weapon to maximum then ditch it in one playthrough, you'll
still have maximum rank later in the game if you pick it up, allowing
free reign for variety and you can still use your old weapons as much as
you want if you can find them again.
You upgrade weapons by picking up another weapon of the same type, and
if the weapon you have is at full ammo, it will gain a stripe. You need
to pick up three weapons to get one star upgrade, and most weapons can
be upgraded to 9 stars, which is the max. An eagle emblem shows the
weapon is fully upgraded. The upgrades are usually magazine size
increases, maximum ammo carried, and then firepower.
There is one other more uncommon way, however. After intense firefights,
you can sometimes find Upgrade Chips, which instantly upgrade the
weapon you have equipped by one star, and they also restore ammo to
full.
What makes this a much more intense shooter is that Ammo is never, if
rarely, scarce. This is a very good thing, because even a
headshot-maniac like me can run low from time to time. Every time you
pick up a gun and you have it already, your ammo is restored to full.
There is now middle ground to it. I highly approve, because it keeps the
action frenetic and doesn't make you have to contemplate what's next.
I don't think I've ever spoken or focused so much before on the player's own powers.
Anyway, there are a few more minor things that definitely need to be mentioned before I move on.
In this game, I have never before seen such a good use of cigarettes
outside of Metal Gear Solid, because while you lounge behind cover in
heavy fire and light one up, Sam then throws it out and it distracts the
grunt robots you fight, allowing you some free headshots. Of course...I
never really used this myself. Other people might get a kick out of it,
but I usually ditch cover and just head shot everything.
The graphics in this game are very vibrant, and the game does its best
to take you to all sorts of environments so it can show off. Nothing
feels rigged or glossy, it is all natural and beautiful. Unlike certain
"shooters" released this year.
The attention to detail is very "Japanese" if you know what I mean. What
I mean is, there is a lot going on at all times. Every time you shoot a
robot infantry's head off, a plethora of pretty blue sparks come out of
it's now ragdolled body and shower the area around it. They seamlessly
bounce off the ground as they explode into a blue flame surrounded with
yellow electricity. This game does color right.
There is no sepia tint in this game. Even the water looks very
picturesque, and you never even get to swim in it. All of the models are
highly detailed, especially Sam's. If you look carefully at his BLADE
when you switch weapons, you see how it works. The transformation of one
weapon to another is all very well animated and very fun to watch in
the half-second breaks you get to see it.
Providence, the space colony you battle on, does its best to suck you
in. There are many scenarios and environments you will battle across,
most ruined as they may be. From dangling on a giant bridge on the verge
of collapsing to zero gravity, you will see everything and be bedazzled
by the glamour of it all.
The animations that Sam takes when using his boosters to slide around
the battlefield are varied and all look incredible. It is almost like
Resonance of Fate to a degree, because even as you slide you can take
aim and enter bullet time to take pot shots at the enemy.
AI competence.
The AI is some of the best I've ever seen, no doubt. Few games have
captured real shooter AI in ages, and this game stands out for it's
spectacular programming.
Marine allies will take cover, they CAN defeat enemies, and they WILL
work together. Lead by their fearless leader with a hilarious physique,
Robert Burns, they will take the fight to the enemy while you work your
magic on the sidelines.
Robert Burns, the Marine's leader, often barks orders, and the marines
will follow it. He tells them to move forward, they do, and they clear
out what ever is in the way. What makes this more enticing is that if a
marine gets seriously wounded, a first-aid symbol appears on the screen
and you can hurry over to them and administer a stimpack to them. They
then immediately thank you, but not before dropping a weapon or upgrade
chip for you.
They take cover and return fire. Sometimes they even assist you and
follow you around. The enemy AI is no different. You may face mindless,
faceless entities in the form of the Russian's robot army, but they are
still very clever and do just the same.
They don't order each other around, but work as a collective. They jump
really high and overtake marine positions, they roll from cover and
surprise you, they are worthy foes for the man in the ARS suit.
Now to the meat of it all. Gameplay!
Vanquish is a unique title. It features epic gunplay, new features, and
improves on the genre just like Resident Evil 5 did. In a world of
lackluster titles like Halo and Gears of War, this game does its own
thing and almost takes the gold trophy. There are a few chinks in the
armour of this game, though.
Every battle will most likely unfold in unbelievable ways. One, you
could dash ahead recklessly on your boosters and start swerving while
taking aim at enemies. After blowing away three and nearly overheating
your suit, you dash into cover and take some more potshots before
focusing and moving forward, taking advantage of bullet time manually.
This game is like the real-time, third-person shooter version of
Resonance of Fate. Instead of three misfits, you get one hardcore hero
with a powerful suit and a super weapon only he can use.
You fight robots for the majority of the game, all varied and all
threatening. From the red painted grunt soldiers to their gold-plated
leaders, to the varied giants called Romanovs, to shocktrooper-esque
monstrosities like Bia's and even fully equipped battle tanks, you take
it all on. But you are usually never alone, either.
There is one thing that is a common complaint, and it's that there is
not enough varied bosses. The final boss is just two of one you face
earlier on. You fight the same boss four times, one time you even fight
two of them at once. You fight an "Unknown" boss twice in the game as
well.
The developers did a good job on trying to make each fight unique,
though, and for every boss there is a special QTE event unique to them.
When you injure a certain part of them enough, Sam runs up and engages
in melee or some other thing. The two Argus robots you fight at once, if
you destroy the head of the bipedal one, Sam jumps up to it's head and
starts pummeling it at light speed, and then ending with a shoryuken
that sends it's head off into in the air crashing right behind him as he
jumps down.
For one, Sam gets attacked but he counters by firing wildly at it's weak
spot. When it's damaged, Sam then jumps into the air and spins very
fast and uses his feet like a drill. He twirls so wildly and rapidly in
one place that I nearly felt sick myself, but he punctured a very clean
hole through the giant robot and instantly destroyed it.
It's the interaction that really makes you feel like you're a hardcore
badass, while the game itself assures you that you are still human and
will die if you try to stop a giant missile with your face. The first
time you fight an Argus, you have the opportunity to shove a missile
back into the arm that fired it. Oddly enough, nobody ever comments on
you when you do these stunts.
There are intense firefights on several monorail systems, you take
flight on an enemy transport, you destroy a massive warship with your
bare hands.
I found cover to be very useless in most regards. I defeated all of my
enemies by using manual bullet time and shooting them all in the head or
their weak points. I then proceeded back into cover and cooled off the
suit. Perhaps I cheated, but I didn't get tired or bored with it at all.
Sometimes I took fire from behind cover, but you cannot use your
slow-mo from behind cover for some reason, so I only used it to get some
safety if I got critically wounded or needed to cool off.
I did get the trophy for beating the game without dying doing it this way, though...
Shamelessness aside, even if you played it like I do, there are still
some noticeable problems I need to get off my back now. I felt that some
enemies were impregnable and quite unfair at times. Especially the
Bias. There was a part later in the game where you fight two of them at
once.
Bias are bipedal robots that can transform into scorpions. In their
bipedal form, they have this giant staff that can become an axe, a
rocket gatling gun, or a shotgun. In scorpion mode, they can jump at you
and claw you. I believe they also have an instant kill attack by
grabbing you with their tail but I avoided it thankfully. They only have
one weakpoint and it is the size of an egg on the top of their backs.
Even shooting this most weaponry, I never really did much damage and the
fight dragged on unnaturally and ruined the pace a bit.
There are also many types of enemy attacks that will instantly kill you,
even if you are behind cover. I've watched videos and can only imagine
how frustrated I myself would be if it happened to be. The early Romanov
variants will unleash a giant fireball if you aggravate them enough,
and it passes through everything. On the top of my head I can't remember
the name of another enemy that can do it as well, but the Bia's axe can
also penetrate through thick walls, even if there was no possible way
it could see you.
I also noticed some amounts of "trace aiming", as I call it. Basically,
the game cheating. Just miliseconds after I jump out of cover, I
sometimes get nailed by a rocket I had no idea was fired, and I am
instantly put into a critical state and my rhythm is ruined. The rocket
usually comes from a Romanov and they give off no indication when they
fire one.
The Argus can also do this in their four-legged form. They can fire
rockets and always hit you unless you dodge right as they fire. Older
players with arthritis may have problems with this later when fights get
ruthless.
The bigger problems of this game are not just minor inconveniences,
though. The game is remarkably short. When I beat the game, I completed
it within 05:13:25. 5 Hours, 13 minutes, 25 seconds. It is not a
terrible thing...but there is a distinct lack of good challenge
post-game. Sure, you can replay the story. Good as it is, though, it may
get repetitive after a second playthrough.
One of the best games in the replayability department is Resident Evil
5. Especially with it's DLC. The Mercenaries is the most perfect example
of how post-game content should be.
The tactical challenges you unlock by beating each of the five acts are
just time-attacks against waves of the robots. I can get into it, but it
feels really lackluster. I would much prefer to take them on with a
coop buddy and have a score counter with a timer ticking down until it's
over. Better yet, not over until we die.
I also feel that this game would have been nothing short of amazing if
you had a coop partner. There might have been padding of enemies in the
story, but with a little work, this could have been a stellar game.
Fortunately, this game is well received, and the ending does allude to
more happening, so there is a good possibility for Vanquish 2 to take
everything that makes it good and use newer things.
This game talks big, but it doesn't really say anything. It lacks
content. The single player is basic, but great. You've got everything
you need with it, but that's about all there is. If you're a nerd, you
can go back and get better scores and times.
Another very annoying gripe is Sam's melee. He has a plethora of awesome
attacks and he can do it really well, but every time you kill an enemy
with melee or just hit one and not kill them, you are instantly
overheated. I do not get why that is, and it's like a spoiled carrot
dangled in your face. Melee is very fun to do, you can even do it when
you're boosting, but when you do it you lose the enjoyment of your
suit's abilities.
In closing, this game deserves appreciation for doing what nobody else
wants to do. It's a single-player focused game, a shooter no less, in
this market of dreary mockeries of the genre. It doesn't do
multi-player, and it creates fresh things on it's own. It adds
improvement to the genre that will sadly probably never inspire anything
to take it's place. It hits hard, and you won't regret purchasing it.
If there is ever a time when you need a quick game to play, this is it.
It doesn't skimp on the action at all, you've got a deadly array of
weaponry at your disposal, and you've got endless hordes to mow down
single-handedly.
This game does not hold your hand. Even with all of these powers,
enemies are still very much a threat to your existence. The bosses all
have arguments against it which they would like to talk to you about,
and it's very well paced and balanced. You've got a super suit, super
weapons system, and you're working alone in the crowd. There are plenty
of surprises to keep you on your feet, and the QTEs are not aggravating
because most of the time they are all unique to a situation and will not
result in death if you fail it.
A Crystal Viper is an enemy that you fight later in the game and it's an
assassin droid. It will charge at you with it's sword, but if you time a
press of Square right, you will uppercut it then slam it face first
into the ground, giving you free shots. There is simply a lot to do, and
you will have a lot of fun doing it. This is the very first time in a
long while that I have ever felt good about purchasing a shooter.
Imagine if this game had the length of one of the most well-paced
shooters released, Half-life. Now that's something to think about.
