Vanquish Steelbook Edition Xbox 360

Released on 22/10/2010

• Vanquish - Preview

  Vanquish

  When Shinji Mikami comes up with a brand new game, it's sensible to pay attention. This is, after all, the man who created Resident Evil and went on to helm the barking mad beat-em-up God Hand for cult development outfit Clover Studios.

  With such an illustrious and unmistakably Japanese pedigree behind him, it's hard to quell the initial sense of disappointment when you discover that Vanquish, Mikami's latest, is a third person action shooter with a heavy emphasis on cover-based firefights. Don't we have enough Gears of War wannabes from western developers, without the brightest creative minds from the East jumping on the bandwagon?

  Thankfully, a few minutes of play is all it takes to realise that Mikami isn't content to simply ape a popular hit in exchange for some commercial success. While Vanquish may sound derivative in concept, the execution oozes style and strategy, injecting grace and energy into a genre best known for bull-necked grunts stomping from one firing point to the next.
  

  
  Set in the near future, the timely story finds America and Russia engaged in a new conflict as they battle over a dwindling supply of energy sources. With Earth-bound fuel rapidly depleting, the US takes the initiative and builds a giant space station to harness untempered solar radiation from the sun. The Russians don't take kindly to this act of one-upmanship and promptly invade the orbiting platform.

  And that's where you come in. You're playing as Sam, an elite agent kitted out with a bionic battle suit. Just as well, since the Russians hardly come armed with peashooters themselves. They've sent an army of robots and battle mechs, and it's these you must blast your way past in order to save the day.

  Your suit is up to the job, of course. Rather than carrying your gun in your hand, like some old fashioned dinosaur, the suit's arm becomes the weapon, shifting and morphing to take the form of whatever firearm you need. Want a shotgun? There you go. Need an assault rifle? You only had to ask.
  

  
  There are other friendly forces on the station, and you can keep them alive by injecting them with health boosts. You can't control or order these guys around, but in a game where enemies come thick and fast, having as many autonomous allies providing additional fire is always a good idea.

  Mostly, you'll be going it alone, and your agility is such that making nimble dashes across open ground and outflanking the bad bots is usually your best bet. Sam's suit clearly takes more than a few cues from Iron Man, since it also comes equipped with booster rockets that allow you to slide across the floor on your knees, like some cyberpunk guitar hero. And, yes, of course you can shift to slow motion as you do this, and pick off enemies as you screech past, ducking under their fire to deliver incredibly satisfying headshots.

  There are times when such antics won't be practical, so you're also able to use EMP grenades to temporarily disable some of the larger mech suits before hopping into the driver's seat and unleashing some serious ordnance. These clanking monstrosities have become something of a gaming clich but as with so many other elements of Vanquish's familiar construction it's all in the execution. You've commandeered hundreds of mechs in your gaming life, but few have packed the take-your-breath-away punch of these brutes.

  Helping to sell the beautifully choreographed carnage is a graphical palette which deliberately ditches the muddy, bloody browns and reds that typify western shooters in favour of a crisp and clean Apple-style space station environment, all brilliant whites and bold primary colours.

  Vanquish is published by SEGA but developed at Platinum Studios, where Mikami is joined by other luminaries of the Japanese development community. Since Platinum has already rocked our socks off with cult classics like Bayonetta and Madworld, we reckon there's good reason to start counting the days until Vanquish's winter release.

• Platinum Games working on new title for SEGA

  Japanese developer and fan favourite Platinum Games will be making another game for SEGA, according to reports at Eurogamer.

  This is great news, as the games Platinum has made so far - MadWorld, Infinite Space, Bayonetta and Vanquish - have been some of the best of the last few years. MadWorld's a black and white score attack masterpiece for the Wii, Infinite Space is a sci-fi RPG and one of the deepest, most involved DS games around, while Bayonetta and Vanquish have both rocked the PS3 and Xbox 360 with frantic action, casting you as a spooky, gun-toting witch, and a super-speed spaceman respectively.

  So is the game going to be a sequel? If so, the smart money's on Bayonetta. Replying to a Tweet a while back asking if Bayonetta 2 would ever see the light of day, the Platinum Games co-founder Hideki Kamiya said simply, 'I believe so.' He also said, 'She'll be back if you believe so,' to another follower. Sounds promising.

  All Platinum Games' releases have been successful with critics, but Bayonetta made a particularly big splash, its fast-paced fighting and lustrous visuals getting it a 10 from EDGE Magazine. We'll keep you posted when we have more news on this one.

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