Published by: SEGA
Developed by: Platinum Games
Genre: Third Person Shooter

     A great game that no one is playing.

     Flying under the radar of the CODs, Battlefields and Gears of Wars is one of the more exciting action games to come out in awhile. To say that the game Vanquish holds your attention would be an understatement. You barely have time to breathe let alone feel bored in this non-stop and relentless firefight. At one moment you’ll be dodging attacks in the slow motion bullet time and then you’ll be accelerating form 0 – 60 in seconds thanks to the sliding boost feature. Throw in a few quick time events and you begin to feel like a 75 year-old man trying to cross a busy intersection because of those pesky mechanical horse drawn carriages.


Boosting, it's not just for cheap imported cars anymore.

     Created by the same developers responsible for the all-time great game Resident Evil 4, including lead director Shinji Mikami, Vanquish prides itself on being fast and furious. You’ll quickly lose yourself killing wave after wave of robots in a very unique and interesting sci-fi atmosphere. The game contains an abundance of cinematic cut-scenes that are very well directed and edited. A variety of weapons keeps the disposing of your enemies fresh, although I could see some gamers finding the combat repetitive. The game’s story is very laughable but the cheesy dialogue and over-the-top characters are part of its charm. Vanquish creates its own identity and sticks to it. The game encourages smoking, drinking, and showcases plenty of short skirt low angle shots of the game’s main female character. Despite racking up a body count that would rival most major wars the game also carries a sense of humor that keeps things fun.


Can you count the number of bullets in this picture?

     Those looking for a multiplayer experience will be disappointed because MP is not an option, which I didn’t mind because I couldn’t see multiplayer being feasible due to the bullet time features of the game’s controls. Vanquish is also a very short game. I consider myself someone who takes their time while playing through a game and I beat the main campaign in just under 7 hours (6:59:59 to be exact). I guess this is partly due to the incredibly fast pace of the action. You can start a mission and be done it within in five minutes. Not to say this a bad thing because within those 5 minutes there can be 5 holy shit WTF moments that you don’t experience in other more conventional action games. This is the first game in a long time that I started playing again as soon as I had beaten it. I never do that! Also, if you make it to the end make sure to watch what is perhaps the most clever credit roll in gaming.

4 Over the shoulder tossed cigarettes out of 5