In 2010, PlatinumGames was still a new studio made up of an all-star cast of developers who mostly came from Capcom. Shinji Mikami, the creator of the Resident Evil series, was one of those developers, and his first game at the helm was Vanquish. It certainly left a mark.
Vanquish is a sci-fi third-person shooter and is arguably the best game PlatinumGames has made so far. It’s PlatinumGames at their peak. There are lots of guns, lots of explosions, lots of destruction, and lots of space marines talking and yelling in gruff voices. Vanquish is essentially PlatinumGames’ version of Gears of War.
If I had to describe Vanquish in one word, it would be ‘relentless’. The intensity level starts off at about an 8/10 and slowly ramps up as you go through the campaign. By the time you’re finished, you’re at about a 15/10. It doesn’t let up.
While there is a story, it’s secondary to the gameplay, which is superb. Vanquish’s gameplay is all about duck-and-cover mechanics, very similar to Gears of War. Sam can take cover behind just about any structure or object. Then with a push of the aim-button, he’ll point his gun towards the enemy, and then it’s up to you to aim and shoot and take them out. It’s a simple mechanic that’s implemented very well and is the centerpiece of the gameplay.
Sam also wears a power suit, called an Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS), which allows him to slide on his knees or backside to get where he needs to go. This becomes essential in getting behind cover quickly, helping a fallen ally with some medical assistance, or helping your squad in combat. Plus, it’s just stylish and cool.
Whenever Sam takes critical damage, his suit goes into emergency AR mode, which is basically bullet-time. Everything slows way down for about 20-30 seconds, during which time Sam is free to take out enemies at will. Or he can find cover if he finds himself in trouble. This ability will automatically be triggered if Sam takes critical damage, or he can trigger it himself if he’s slide-boosting. This makes the combat much more cinematic, stylish, and makes Sam much more deadly as a fighter. Sliding on your knees towards a bunch of enemies, triggering AR mode, and taking them all out in one fell swoop, is very satisfying.
That being said, the gun and traversal mechanics are air-tight.
The gameplay and controls are simple enough that it doesn’t take long to get the feel for them. There’s a handy tutorial section you can play through as many times as you like until you’re comfortable.
The weapon system is simple as well. You can hold three different guns at the same time, plus grenades. Every gun in the game is upgradeable. If you pick up ammo for a gun you’re already holding, it will refill the ammo of that gun. If the ammo for that gun is already full, you’ll get a little symbol next to the gun on your UI. When you repeat that a few times, you’ll get a gun upgrade: it will get a little stronger, or more accurate, or the magazine capacity for more ammo will get larger. So the weapons you use the most will get the most uprades. Pretty simple.
The guns don’t get too exotic, but they’re all satisfying to use in their own way. Personally, I stuck with the tried-and-true assault rifle, plus shotgun, and grenade launcher, with some sniper rifle mixed in. They served me well no matter what crazy enemies the game threw at me, but for repeated playthroughs, there was also the option to use the boost machine gun, assault handgun, disc thrower, and others to mix things up.
Enemy variety is good. Enemies big and small are constantly being thrown in your path. Taking down bigger creatures is very satisfying, especially as you learn their vulnerabilities and attack patterns. Knowing what weapon to use to most effectively to liquidate them becomes part of the difficulty curve. QTEs come into play on some of the bigger boss and sub-bosses as well, so you have to be ready.
Vanquish is a short game. You can probably beat it in ten hours or less. There is some replayablity with five different difficulty levels, plus a challenge mode. The game also keeps score and has online leaderboards based on your completion score and time for each mission, how often you die, and other criteria.
Vanquish runs beautifully on PC. It’s an older game and doesn’t require a powerful rig, but still looks great, and has 4K options. It’s available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One as well.
VERDICT
If you like third-person shooters, I can’t recommend Vanquish enough. The guns and the mechanics are rock-solid and provide the bedrock for a very fun and satisfying experience.
The only negative critique I can think of to aim at Vanquish is that it never got a sequel. Shinji Mikami is long gone from PlatinumGames and there’s been a lot of turnover at the studio since it originally released in 2010. Since Sega was the publisher, it might be their call on whether a sequel ever gets made, and by whom. Regardless, Vanquish is one of the best third-person shooters I’ve ever played. Highly recommended.
The Gamer's Standard 