Ah, there you are. Thank you for coming, once again. You know the drill by know, don't you? No? Well, let me educate you, then. Here at One Hour In, we do our best to convey the opening hour of the featured game of the week. Simple as that, correct? Yes, it is. Would you like to get right into, then? Of course you would. Here we go!
Vanquish
I will say, unabashedly, that I am in love with Platinum Games. They've made some of my favorite games as of late. Bayonetta being at the top of the list, but even hearkening back to their Clover days, with Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand. They've made some of the most fun, off-kilter, unique games of the past few years. So, I was expecting no less than all-out crazy from the minute I fired up Vanquish. And, without skipping ahead too much, I got it! Let's head right into the fray, shall we?
In the immortal words of Barney Stinson, "It's time to SUIT UP!" And suit up I do, right at the get-go. I'm playing as Sam Gideon, a tough-guy DARPA agent putting the latest iteration of a new exo-skeletal combat suit through its paces. Elena Ivanov, whom I will call Sam's "handler" gives the go-ahead to test out the suit's systems. Professor Candide, the creator of the suit, is also observing the test. I put the thing through the wringer, testing maneuvering (ROCKET BOOTS FTW!), aiming and shooting, weapons switching (the gun actually transforms instead of carrying around a bunch of different guns), and so forth. Satisfied, it's time to get out of there and relax.
The scene switches to the city of San Francisco. People going about their day. Then, we're show some sort of complex. A sequence of some mechanism is kicking in. It's giant. Then, the exterior of a space colony, with panels aligning, and portals opening. An energy builds up in the thing. It's obviously a weapon. A computer targets San Fran, and a beam of light flashes from the colony. SF gets nuked (well, microwaved, actually), people literally explode in the streets, buildings get vaporized, and Golden Gate Bridge collapses. The "Order of the Russian Star" issues an ultimatum to the U.S. government. Surrender, or New York City is next. The President (a lady, who looks a lot like Hillary Clinton) vows that the United States will not negotiate with terrorists, and will eliminate this threat. There's only 8 hours to go until NYC gets blown off the map.
Time to assault! An armada of Marine space ships faces off against Russian ships around the space colony. We get introduces to Lt. Col. Burns, a man who's obviously seen some action. He's scarred and has a robotic right arm. It also seems that he and Sam may have some history? It's unknown at this point, but I'm willing to bet they've known each other previously. Sam is going to join the mission, and Burns doesn't seem too happy about it. He might not like DARPA so much. The ship Sam and Burns are on makes it through the front lines to the interior of the colony. The inside is teeming with Russian robots. The ship sustains heavy damage, as the Marines launch landing craft. Sam and Burns crash land, as the space ship plummets the the ground, barely missing crushing Burns' troops. It total chaos at ground level. Marines and robots shooting it out all over the place. We need to make it to the Main Gate to proceed further into the colony.
Fighting up further, the Russian robots are dug in, but I flank around them, using my suits boosters and evasions to get in close and knock some blocks off. We fight up to near the Main Gate, battling until Elena warns of a large heat signature coming in from below. A giant robot bursts through the ground! This is the ARGUS. It's a quadrupedal construct, so blasting the legs should help take it down easier. I cripple the knees, opening up the opportunity for some shots on it's core. Sustaining massive damage, it transforms into a more humanoid form. It's firing off lasers and missiles all over the place. I disable one of it's arms, and Sam decides now's a good time to go full-assault on the thing. He runs up the arm, kicks the back of it's head and leaps into the air. ARGUS fires cannon shots, which Sam evades, eventually kicking one back into the arm, destroying it. (or, at least that's what I think happened, it all when by so fast!) I fin ally get to a gun emplacement, and tear through the robot's core, and it blows apart. Elena hacks the gate, and we can proceed further into the colony.
In the next area, the Russians are holding some Marines hostage. Sam wants to free them, but Burns isn't sure he wants to sacrifice his squad to save four men. Sam assures Burns that he won't have to bother, Sam will take care of it himself. I blast around the room, taking out more Ruski 'bots and freeing the captives. As troop transports arrive to drop more robots, Burns, Sam, and the squad move up to secure an elevator to the next level. The Marines present tell the Colonel to go on ahead, they'll hold off the reinforcements. Sam, in bewildered that they'd stay behind, because he's sure they'll be killed. Burns orders Sam to move out, and they leave the brave Marines to their fate as the elevator takes them up.
And, *WHEW!* my hour with Vanquish comes to a dramatic close. If this pace keeps up, I think this will be a very satisfying experience. Platinum has crafted a slick, interesting shooter that's quite unlike anything that's come before. God, I just love flipping around, booster-sliding, and general looking like a fool in this game. But, that's the thing, even as silly as Sam may look doing all his acrobatics, he also looks bad-ass at the same time! I really am looking forward to getting further into this puppy to see what other bat-shit crazy stuff gets thrown my way. If the first 60 minutes is any indication, it'll be sweet!
Thanks, once again, for taking the time to join me. I'm not sure if I'll be doing an entry for next weekend, it being Easter and all. I may try and get one in early. (say near the end of the week; Thursday or Friday) If I do, I do; if not, I apologize in advance. Whatever happens, the next game will be a surprise! (mainly because I haven't decided what I want to do yet!) Oh well, see you next time, regardless, on One. Hour. In!
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