Vanquish

Vanquish is the fourth and final game in PlatinumGames’ suite of titles that were part of an exclusivity deal made with Sega in 2008, an agreement that produced original IP’s such as MadWorld, Bayonetta and DS title Infinite Space. Earlier this year Vanquish was revealed through a cinematic live-action trailer that hardly shed any details. Now after sitting in on a demo with Vanquish director and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, we have gathered new information on this third-person, sci-fi shooter.

In Vanquish, a powerful solar blast destroys San Francisco after Russian forces capture a United States space station used to store energy. In response, U.S. armed forces are tasked with recapturing the space station before a second enemy strike. Our protagonist, Sam Gideon, joins the fray sporting the Augmented Reaction Suit, full-body armor that grants the wearer enhanced physical abilities. As a researcher for DARPA, a team key in the development of the ARS, Sam has a true understanding of the suit’s abilities giving him an advantage against the giant mechs he’ll face off against.

“The suit is what allows the main character and the player to use superhuman actions within the game environment,” Mikami says. “Sam as a member of DARPA wouldn’t necessarily have the ability to simply jump in with the space marines and go attack this place. It’s this suit and his knowledge of it that allows him to operate it at the same level or even a superior level to these guys.”

During the demo, we got a chance to see the suit in action. Sam’s ally, Elena Ivanova, feeds tactical information over the radio regarding a major looming threat. She warns him that a heat source is emanating from a substructure behind him as he starts one of his own. As she relays the information, Sam takes a pronounced hit from a freshly lit cigarette. The breather is cut short as he turns around to find a Russian Argus robot, a massive heaving mechanical creature on all fours rising up from a platform below. Sam will have to take it down limb by limb.

Sam switches between his shotgun and machine gun for a distanced assault on the mech’s legs, utilizing neon blue grenades for added damage. To quickly approach the beast and get past the rain of bullets it periodically unleashes, Sam initiates a booster on his back that allows him to dart toward the Argus’ legs at high speed, all the while taking shots at the enemy.

You’ll notice in Sam’s design that he is lighter and leaner in appearance, opposed to the typical beefy action hero. This gives him greater agility and speed in order to keep up with the frenetic firepower unleashed by his foe. Even though speed is a key gameplay element, it does help to occasionally slow things down. To help get a better handle at targeting the Armus’ limbs amid heavy artillery shots, Sam initiates a bullet time-esque Augmented Reaction Mode that triggers a stylized slo-mo sequence for spectacular blows against enemies. While these are common combat features seen in recent action titles, Mikami promises there will be more abilities and weapons available that will fall in line with the science-fiction backdrop.

Once Argus’ legs reach a low damage point, the massive mech shifts gears Transformers-style rising into a bipedal stance, thus doubling in size. This reveals a glowing red core at the mech’s torso, which must be destroyed. In this new position, the beast swings its large, heavy arms and adds a new laser beam attack, which Sam avoids with his boost function. Once Sam catches a hurried break, he takes a grand leap atop the giant mech’s shoulder and makes his way toward its claw. The Argus’ claws are cannons for Sam-sized bullets that he has to dodge during a quick time event. The player is prompted to swivel the analog stick causing Sam to glide past the bullets as they shoot out. Once the coast is clear, he dives into the claw opening and bursts out the side destroying the arm. He then repeats the process with the other arm, jumps down and follows through with a ground assault to destroy the Argus’ legs, then finally takes shots at its generator core for an extraordinary explosion.

In smaller skirmishes, Sam can unleash powerful melee attacks and take control of enemy artillery with the help of AI squadmates. Along with the additional firepower, your allies will run by and heal Sam if he’s low on health. Sam can also nurse an injured comrade back to health that will earn him extra items. While these features would lend themselves well to a cooperative or multiplayer space, Mikami says Vanquish is strictly single-player.

“What that means is by focusing on the single-player experience it allows us to operate on a higher spec with the game engine, and graphics and so on,” Mikami says. "You’d have to scale it back to accommodate for all the multiplayer elements, and there’s also the high-speed element of the game. It’s much more doable with just the single-player game.“

So far the game looks promising, and we look forward to getting our hands on the game to give the Augmented Reaction Suit a test run. Even though Vanquish has drawn comparisons to other action shooters, most notably Halo as a result of the sci-fi, Spartan-esque uniform, Mikami says “there’s definitely a whole lot to look forward to” when Vanquish ships for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 later this year.

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