It is hard to believe that it’s been ten years since the release of Vanquish. Just a few years ago I remember going into a local used game store and finding a PlayStation 3 copy for dirt cheap. After hearing some great things about it I decided to jump on the opportunity. Upon rushing home to play it, I was left exhilarated by the fast combat, slow-motion takedowns and the crazy thrill ride. I enjoyed it, despite the multiple frame tears, slow-down and the at the times unresponsive controls, which left me a little frustrated. I should mention however, that this is a review of the newly enhanced Xbox One version, not the 10-year-old PlayStation 3 version.

Platinum Games has a great reputation, as they have worked on Bayonetta, Nier Automata, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It is safe to say that character-action games are definitely the studio’s strong suit and that is just as true with the underappreciated cult-classic Vanquish.

Vanquish has a simple and straight forward narrative. The Russians have developed a weapon that has the capability to destroy cities, and unless the United States surrenders unconditionally they will destroy the rest of the country with both the weapon and an army of robots. The US sends out Sam who is able to pilot a suit that enhances not only his strength and speed but also gives him the ability to enter “AR mode” which allows him to slow down time. This is where one of the greatest shooter mechanics I have ever seen comes into play.

There are lore cards that expand more on the characters and their motivations, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, these are tied to loading screens and cannot be accessed later. Ten-years-ago this wasn’t a problem as most consoles took around 45 seconds to a minute to load and would give plenty of time to read over the paragraph. Sadly, now the loading times have been shorted to a second or three, so I had a hard time trying to read past the first line or two.

People want to feel powerful when they play games, and Vanquish allows you to do just that. Even better, you get to feel it and experience it all in a beautiful 4K visuals with 60 frames a second so sliding, shooting and slow motion all feels buttery-smooth and exhilarating. For a ten-year-old third person shooter Vanquish does a brilliant job in standing the test of time with its gameplay at least. The writing and humor feels reminiscent of the very early 2010’s. From an overly-vulgar sergeant constantly butting heads with our protagonist, even down to the grunt’s lines it all feels a little dated.

As an action game, Vanquish nailed it in 2010 and it still sticks the landing in 2020. The gunplay feels fantastic too. As Sam, you are equipped with a morph gun that will change on the fly between three different weapons. Whether you have a heavy machine gun, a sniper and energy rifle or have selected to bring a rocket launcher along, you will be constantly finding new weapons to play with. This also allows you to experiment, leading to each battle feeling a little different each time. However, I did find that the game grew a little stale in longer play-sessions so I found myself only able to play for about an hour before needing a break.

Being a super soldier of sorts allows you to do some pretty incredible things in Vanquish. For instance when you vault over cover and aim, you enter “AR mode” which allows you to slow time to shoot enemies accurately and effectively. This also lets you reveal boss weak points and the feeling of power-sliding behind enemy lines, slowing time and taking out five or six robots is an exhilarating blast to play.

That being said, Vanquish only lasts around five to six hours; However, Platinum Games pushes a little more longevity out of the game if you enjoy high scores. At the end of each level you will be scored for various actions. The more comrades you let die, the less points you accumulate. If you rescue soldiers you increase the score, and the less time you take on a mission the better the score. Each difficulty also has a different score multiplier to keep you coming back to play on harder difficulties. This kept me a while after finishing the game; but sooner rather than later I didn’t feel like running back to score attack and just wanted to play something with a little more substance.

At the end of the day, Vanquish is a great action game and deserves a lot more credit then it is typically given. Platinum Games put a great amount of love and care into the game, and it really shows that during the time of generic shooters Platinum created something fresh, exciting and colorful. Vanquish is an action game that is well worth your time especially on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

An Xbox One Review Copy of Vanquish was provided by Sega for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Vanquish

$19.99 USD

8

Score

8.0/10

Pros

• Exciting Combat
• Varied Weapons
• AR Mode

Cons

• Forgettable characters
• Flat Humor
• Outstays welcome in long play Sessions