Vanquish | Review

October is an unforgiving month.  With all of the AAA games coming out in its window, it's a shame a title like Vanquish gets thrown in the mix to fend for itself amongst the Fables and the upcoming Call of Duty's, etc.  Vanquish, the Platinum Games developed (and Sega published) title, isn't by any means a AAA title, it does have some pretty redeeming value to it.

Developed by Shinji Mikami, most notable for his hand in creating the Resident Evil series, Vanquish takes a turn from the horror past, and shoots an adrenaline-filled syringe right onto your screen.  Where story, and dialog lack, action, graphics and speed makeup for.  When I mention story, there is one, but it's skippable at best.  It's (of course) the near future, and there's been an attack on the US by a Russian coup.  Rather than giving into their demands, the President of the US, calls on you, Sam Gideon, who's been equipped with the ARS (Augmented Reaction Suit), or better known as, "an ass-kicking robotic suit of armor".

Played in the Third-Person, Vanquish borrows a bit from a few titles.  Mixing a little Gears of War's cover system, with the over-the-shoulder third-person camera angle of a few others (Lost Planet, Resident Evil 4, etc), but then adds speed of a Devil May Cry (or more appropriately, Bayonetta).   And it's this gameplay where the title shines (or causes epilepsy, it's a fine line), as you slide from cover to cover, shooting with various normal and unique weapons, and even adds some melee, all while keeping a smooth frame-rate.  That's the impressive part.  As you'll encounter waves of enemies, and Boss battles, that have so much going on screen, it's a wonder our Xbox didn't melt.

We've been hearing that play time is "under 4 hours", but in reality, most gamers will take beween 6-10 hours depending on their gaming experience and difficulty, fitting in with the length of most of these games nowadays.

Mashbuttons.com gives Sega's Vanquish a 7 out of 10, and is available now for Xbox 360,  and PlayStation 3

Editors Note: A copy of this title was sent to us by the publisher for our editorial consideration