Vanquish Game Review

Vanquish is the latest third-person shooter to hit the market from the creator of Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami. This alone is enough to capture the interest of the gaming world. Vanquish is a Sci-Fi third-person shooter which provides eye catching cinematic moments along side gameplay which feels as great as the game looks.

Vanquish, the fourth attempt from Platinum Games, takes place on a orbital space station called Providence. The station has been overtaken by a Russian extremist group known as The Order Of The Russian Star. The extremists take control of the station which is energised by microwave energy and use it to attack San Francisco. After the attack San Francisco is devastated leaving the United States with no option but to send a full fleet in order to prevent the next attack on New York. The military are not alone in their fight against the extremists, joining them is DARPA researcher Sam Gideon who comes equipped with the ARS battle suit. The military are under the impression Sam is joining them in order to gather intel on the suit's performance in the field however this is just a front for Sam's secret mission. His goal is to locate and rescue the captive professor candidate who created the energy system powering the station and suit. This may sound very traditional for anyone familiar with the Sci-Fi genre of games or movies and it is, the games weakest point is definitely it's mediocre story but with fantastic action sequences and cinematic thrilling moments the game does enough to let you forget about this issue.


Gameplay is incredibly fast paste and frantic, delivering some of the most amazing action sequences ever seen in a video game. Vanquished is reminiscent of western Sci-Fi games such as Mass Effect or Gears Of War, taking inspiration from the art and gameplay mechanics. Sam will encounter quite a few different gun types throughout his mission on Providence, all the basic weapons expected in a shooter are present, Sniper, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, and a Rocket Launcher. These all feel great when shooting them and work just as they should. There are also more unique weapons such as a lock-on laser that fires beams of light skyward and a low frequency device that fires energy through walls. These weapons are all fun to use and in specific situations they can be essential tools for taking down the impressive forces you are faced with.

If you don't like to be tested when you play a game then Vanquish might not be for you, it's incredibly difficult at some stages, especially in the beginning. Thankfully the game implements a very responsive cover system which you can use to lock onto a wall or sandbag at the tap of a button. Unlike other third-person shooters on the market you will need to use this cover system to survive and advance further, it's a vital tool which is essentially more important than your weapons. This difficulty is great because it creates a sense of fear when you are being pressured by the opposing forces, almost like a mouse being cornered by a cat, it will ask you to think fast and this provides some of the most daring action filled moments in a game.

When you take too much damage and you are low on health, Sam's ARS suit will slow down time giving the player an opportunity to either finish off his enemy or retreat to cover which is always provided in any area of the game very well.

The boss battles are very impressive, at times i would find myself just admiring the design of them. I am a huge Sci-Fi fan and i can tell you this game has some of the most unique looking bosses i have seen in a long time, while they are unique and beautiful to look at and appreciate the detail of them, they are also tough. The bosses can sometimes frustrate you with a one hit kill however it's not that they are overpowered or the game uses unfair tactics, the bosses give off signals when they are about to attack and this is made even more clearer with audio queues so it doesn't feel cheap when you are killed with one hit. This could put allot of people off this game but without it the game wouldn't feel as urgent and provide such thrilling frantic boss fights keeping the player on his toes fighting for his life so i am personally pleased to see this in the game.

When you defeat enemies in Vanquished you will receive a score which will also indicate what type of reward you will receive, this added a nice arcade feel to the otherwise very realistic approach to the game and made enemies feel more satisfying to take down.

There is also a simple but effective upgrade system, enemies will sometimes drop an upgrade cube which can be collected by Sam. However you must select your weapon carefully as it will upgrade the weapon you have equip. Sam can carry five weapons, two are grenade types so he can only take 3 guns with him at any one point. The strict limit on what you can take encourages players to manage their inventory with intelligence. The game will constantly force players to change tactics and use different strategy's, each weapon can be powered around ten times before maxing out leaving players with the option to change weapon and plan attacks more thoughtfully. The upgrade cubes can enhance a weapons ammo capacity or attack power and while it's not a game with as much depth as an RPG shooter like Fall Out or Mass Effect, it's still nice to see an upgrade system in the game. You can also pick a weapon up from the ground which you have full ammo for and receive a chevron mark on the gun, do this three times and you will be rewarded with a full power up. The game doesn't push the upgrade ability's or offer anything we haven't seen before but it does manage to give a satisfying and rewarding feel to the player when achieving his final goal.

The best part about the gameplay in Vanquish is the boosters that Sam's ARS suit is equip with, allowing him to boost around the battlefield faster than Sonic The Hedgehog at insane speeds. This is not just great fun and effective during gameplay, it also produces some of the best action sequences during the game like when you burst under the legs of a giant enemy and the camera angle turns with cinematic quality providing a feeling of complete satisfaction. The boosting mechanic serves several purposes, first, moving from cover to cover is much quicker and safer for Sam. Second, it can help the player glide through a level much faster and improve their overall score at the end. It is also really helpful during boss battles when you are trying to avoid a bosses one hit kill attack. Overall it's just fun and never gets boring.

My favourite aspect of Vanquish was the unbelievable action set pieces during the campaign. There are times when you will be blown away by what is happening on screen, entire highways crumbling to dust beneath your feet, buildings falling down and even high speed trains that spin upside down during combat. The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by everything that is happening on screen, you really feel like you are in a war. The game looks phenomenal as well and Sam's suit alone is breathtaking. The orbital station while not as varied in locations, the settings always look unbelievable and these eye catching visuals along with cinematic thrilling and explosive moments complete one of the best looking games of the year.

Outside of the main campaign there is not much offered, this would be ok if we had a solid story with interesting characters, like Bioshock, but the game doesn't have any of those things so after the short campaign is over there really isn't much replay value. There is a challenge mode which has players fighting against waves of enemies attempting to rack up a high score, but no co-op or multiplayer is really a big disappointment.

Sadly the games storyline doesn't capture any imagination and lacks creativity, forcing a familiar stereotype of a Sci-Fi plot onto the player and showing no emotion or character development throughout the game. The game thankfully has great action and fantastic thrilling cinematic moments to keep the player satisfied at least for one play through.

Vanquish is a game for people who don't like to take their games to seriously, it lacks any real story or emotion and players won't find any attachments to the characters, however it provides some of the best graphics and action sequences in any Sci-Fi third person shooter on the market.

  

Vanquish is fun but not long lasting 8/10