This is the next Mikami game, his first major title (from a budget point of view) since he almost single handedly invented the modern third person game with Resi 4. The guy is a legend, one of the best japanese designers… Just look at the list of games he worked on.
I’m pretty sure the game is going to get rave reviews from almost everywhere that counts.
Dave should change the title, at least Mikami does Gears would be more appropriate.
I’ve been keeping an eye on this game since the demo impressed me. Review here says it’s a 4-6hr campaign but still gave it 89/100 planetxbox360.com/article_12006/Vanquish
selected quote “It’s difficult to put into words why Vanquish is a fun twist on your average 3rd-person shooter, but if I could sum it up the most caveman-esque of terms, I would call it badass. This isn’t the badass found in Gears of War or other antiquated 3rd-person shooters, but there is something fresh about Vanquish.”
Other reviews from metacritic give it an 80 and a 93. From that 93 a good quote “All the relentless pace and slick style of a classic 2D Japanese action game in a 3D modern masterpiece.”
Just picked up my copy after trying the demo last night and loving it. That LB power slide is wicked fun.
Define “everywhere that counts.” GI already gave it a mediocre review.
Edit: Ars gave it a Rent verdict. Not glowing. I smoke, I joke, I kill: Ars reviews Vanquish | Ars Technica
All I want to know about this is if the “casual automatic” difficulty is as awesome as the “very easy automatic” difficulty in Bayonetta.
Better ask somebody else. I’ll be playing on the opposite end of the spectrum, especially if the campaign is said to be 4-6 hours. I’ll be opting for Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult mode.
Eurogamer gave it a 9, says it is a game-changer.
OK. It’s still not getting “rave reviews” from “everywhere that counts” unless you define everywhere as “all the places that agree with me.”
I might have been a bit over enthusiastic (but when i wrote it I could only speculate), but by “everywhere that counts” I meant any site that has at least some critical insight.
That didn’t include IGN and their stupid 3/10 God Hand review, for exemple.
Don’t know where Ars stands on that front.
EDIT : to be frank, if you actually read the Ars review, it’s very positive, the only major disappointment seems to be the lenght… Which is more a matter of budget than of artistic vision…
Unfortunately, both GI and IGN have a lot of influence with their critical appraisals, regardless of their status with regards to journalism. That GI article hurts.
Ars doesn’t review everything and their focus is obviously more generally tech oriented, but they seem to have thoughtful reviews. I know they have a large readership.
From what I can tell in the demo, Casual Automatic just automatically snaps and locks on your targetting reticle to the nearest enemy/targettable spot to your crosshairs. (It might have been dealing out more damage too, it was hard to tell.) It actually seemed more trouble than it was worth against the boss; there were multiple moments when it was snapping my crosshairs to, say, its arms when I really just wanted to knock out its leg so I could man one of the big mounted turrets to hit its main weak spot for massive damage. The mounted turrets didn’t automatically snap crosshairs, though, so the easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy setting actually trains bad habits there. Then again, every other cover-based shooter trains bad habits for the game; things clicked for me much more once I realized that cover was mostly just there for the times I let my slidey/slow-mo gauge get away from me.
The demo’s definitely piqued my interest in the full game. Filed under “eventual.”
I have this game right now. It’s pretty awesome.
Yeah, both of those are worth less than a dogs fart in my book.
Especially after IGN reviewed this truly awesome Shinji Mikami game on the left:
The fact that I managed to see two God Hand references within thirty minutes of starting the game doesn’t hurt either.
This game is tough, I would not recommend Hard right away. I’ve died 14 times in 3hrs and 3 Acts. Where I may identify that this game is good and not great is that 12 or 13 of those deaths happened at a boss, rarely is the game challenging vs. normal enemies. It shouldn’t be this way.
I’ve found a couple of little statues that change color if you shoot them. Anybody know what they are for?
I have no interest in anything IGN says about games either but unless the same person reviewd both games, isn’t it rather silly to compare the two sets of meaningless numbers at the end?
Of course! But that comparison is pretty damn funny.
This is no time for humour - there are people to be shot whilst sliding along the ground on your knees!
This thread dropped off the first page way too quickly. I was hoping you guys would follow-up on your initial enthusiasm for Vanquish with some extended impressions and concrete details. I was especially hoping Tom would chip in. I’ve really been in sync with his tastes in Japanese home console games for a while now, so his opinion is valuable to me.
Before I crack my copy open, I’d like to address some concerns I have with the game. I don’t care about the abbreviated length of the campaign, but I am worried about its pacing and replayability. I’ve read that all of the weapons are made available within the first few hours of the game, and that, aside from some basic weapon stat boosts, there are no new abilities or upgrades provided for weapons or the ARS suit for the duration of the campaign. In light of that, I’m concerned about the campaign’s ability to provide a satisfying sense of progression. It sounds like the game runs out of new toys for the player well before the halfway point. Have you guys found this to be a problem with Vanquish? What keeps the game fresh after you get access to all the toys?
Replayability is my other concern. From the demo, I gather that the enemies have an aggressive AI that takes over as soon as they make their scripted entrance onto the battlefield, like Halo. So, how savvy are the bad guys? Are you seeing enough variety in enemy tactics to make you want to play again on higher difficulty levels? What about the scoring system? Do you find yourself wanting to replay levels to get a higher score?
Oh, almost forgot. Does the game offer enough variety in terms of level design and mission objectives? I’ve read some stuff about the campaign being repetitive. I’m a tad concerned about the excessive amount of silver I see in the demo and screenshots.
Thanks in advance for the feedback, guys. And if I don’t get any, well, then I think I’ll have my answers.
Luke, I’d say your concerns are definitely going to be a problem in Vanquish. It’s certainly spirited, but it doesn’t do the combat sandbox thing nearly as well as, say, Halo Reach or Lost Planet 2. What’s more, it’s missing the long shallow learning curve and RPG persistence that drove Bayonetta. I’m pretty disappointed with it. :(
-Tom