There are loads of games that come out that would be considered “over the top.” Obviously those games have never heard of Vanquish. Vanquish is a 3rd-person shooter lovingly crafted by the notorious Platinum Games who delivered Bayonetta earlier this year. While Vanquish is a shooter in the likes of Gears of War with a great cover system, burly men with intimidating voices and a hail of bullets, it strays from the typical conventions of any other shooter of its kind. The star of this bullet-driven narrative is Sam Gideon, a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) solider, equipped with the new suit of armor known as the ARS or Augmented Reaction Suit. Sam is on a mission to take down a Russian group known as the Order of the Russian Star who have taken over a space station utilized by the US to harvest energy for the sun and have in turn turned the installation into a weapon, annihilating San Francisco. Unknown to the other marines, Sam has also been tasked with retrieving a leading DARPA scientist from the station. The ARS is equipped with state of the art jets on the arms and legs, as well as a gun dealing in kick-assery known solely as the BLADE. The extent of the narrative is far from deep, with a few absurd voice actors that are somehow likeable due to the nature of the action.
While the plot is far from deep, it is driven by the outrageous and fun scenarios that Sam encounters through the space station. You aren’t going to delve into Vanquish’ deep story, but I can assure you you’ll find resolve in its sleek and sexy action sequences that are in abundance. I’d be hard pressed to say that there is a moment of silence in Vanquish’ 4-6 hour campaign, as Sam tears through the Russian opposition. Yes, you read that right, 4-6 hours, but every hour is an adrenaline rush hardly seen in shooters in recent memory. The means by which Sam is capable of doing so is robust, with a variety of weapon types the BLADE can transform into and the variety of maneuvers the ARS is capable of. What really makes Vanquish feel so intense is the ARS’ ability to glide across any ground surface for a limited amount of time at a high rate of speed. Sam is capable of attacking during this movement, which in turn kicks the ARS’ reaction time speed up slowing time to a crawl. Sliding across the ground, under a massive mech with time chugging, never gets old, ever. If Platinum Games nailed one thing in Vanquish, it is easily the lack of repetition. Even repetitious moves and weapons remain fresh throughout your playthrough. There is a limited arsenal the BLADE is capable of transforming into, but each weapon can be upgraded via “upgrade” cubes dropped by enemies, or simply by picking up a gun that is currently in your BLADE’s inventory. Weapon types are include but aren’t limited to, an Assault Rifle, Heavy Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher, and a variety of others. In the end, your goal is to lay out an enemy and with a game as fast as Vanquish, the means of doing so are hardly noticeable.
Did I mention Vanquish is fast as hell? Probably, but if you didn’t catch that, I’ll attempt to reiterate it. Not only does the reaction of the ARS kick in manually by sliding and shooting, but it is also activated if Sam receives a decent enough pummeling. This gives you a chance to dash away from the mech that just handed your ass to you. There is also a small handful of QTEs littered over the course of the game, but spread so evenly and unexpected that they never become a hindrance on the strong gameplay. It’s difficult to put into words why Vanquish is a fun twist on your average 3rd-person shooter, but if I could sum it up the most caveman-esque of terms, I would call it badass. This isn’t the badass found in Gears of War or other antiquated 3rd-person shooters, but there is something fresh about Vanquish. Almost every mission in the game there is some unexpected obstacle that holds Sam back from reclaiming the space station. Whether it is one giant mech, or two, a bridge crumbling beneath your feet, or a stealthy entrance into the next area of the station, you’ll never know what to expect next and there is always a rewarding feeling when you complete an area the first attempt. On top of all this, there are results at the end of each chapter that reward you for speed and lack of deaths. There are various other factors that account for your overall score, but Vanquish encourages completing each mission using the ARS to its fullest extent. If you are connected to Xbox Live, your score for each mission is uploaded to a leaderboard that only extends replay value even more.
It would be in poor taste to call Vanquish a visually astounding game. While it is a well-polished one, Vanquish will hardly ever drop jaws with its visual prowess, but that is hardly an issue when you are sliding through environments so fast you’ll hardly have time to enjoy the view. Thankfully, Platinum Games turned their attention to making Vanquish’ high-octane combat work instead of creating a breath taking experience. The framerate is unbelievable strong for a game with so much going on in every nook of each area. There is a lot happening in every nook and cranny of each mission and the game hardly has to take a breather to keep up with the bullets filling the canvass. You could say Vanquish and Bayonetta are both very similar in design. Both are extremely entertaining and are expertly-designed takes on over-used genres. Vanquish takes almost every exciting component from our favorite 3rd-person shooters and combines them into a hell of a good time. While the campaign leans a bit towards the short side, it has a high replay value, with unlockable difficulties that will test your skills with the features of the ARS. Sam Gideon leads an enjoyable, yet highly predictable dash through the narrative, with ludicrous cutscenes that are pure, unadulterated fun. If you whatsoever appreciate the work of Platinum Games, run and pick up Vanquish this next Tuesday, my face is still sore from the kickass-induced grin I was wearing during the entirety of my playthrough. Much like Bayonetta, Vanquish is hardly revolutionary, but at heart it’s truly a best-of compilation spawned from all the great shooters of the current generation and then some.
