My third completed game of 2011 is Vanquish from Platinum Games.
Third person shooters can often be accused of overusing dismal grey and brown palettes, and while that’s certainly okay in some contexts, it can get a little bit depressing. The remedy to this malady is Vanquish, a shooter which isn’t afraid to splash a bit of colour into the world (particularly white and red).
Off the back of the demo last year I wasn’t really that impressed and didn’t feel like adding this game to my “pile of play” in 2011. However, as I received this for christmas from my brother, I felt obliged to give it a try and see if maybe I was being unfair.
I’m happy to say I was wrong, this game is fantastic! The action is frenetic, the range and creativity of the enemy design keeps things exciting, there is plenty of wise cracking from the main characters and some humourous of in-jokes for fans of sci-fi movies and games. Most importantly, the game is short enough to keep you engaged, but with plenty of replayability in the form of leaderboards, collectibles and achievements.
With such an interesting and outrageous game world, I’m hoping that we’ll see a sequel to Vanquish at some point in the future, there’s certainly more room in my gaming heart for Sam Gideon and his Augmented Reaction Suit. But don’t just take my word for it, you can get it for less than twenty quid now on Xbox 360 and PS3, a bargain for a game of this caliber.
