IGN: Vanquish Review

Vanquish is a stylish, spectacular looking game with great gunplay and some stunning set pieces. Although the game's story and character development pale in comparison to the action, IGN had a great time with Vanquish from the in-game tutorial all the way to the ending credits. Even though Mikami's latest creation is difficult at times, players looking for a highly entertaining shooter should look no further. Vanquish will keep you on the edge of your multi-thruster booster seat.

Presentation - 7.0
Graphics - 9.0
Sound - 8.5
Gameplay - 8.5
Lasting Appeal - 7.5

[Cloudberry]

.
Still want it despite whatever the game's lengths will be.

[GWAVE]

Yeah this score is really good.

[Active Reload]

I'm sorry, but, why does everyone feel that this game deserves great scores, compared to say....Enslaved? Soon as I come into the article or any article on this game, I read "...ahh, this game deserves better scores..." or I should say, most people lean towards giving it a favorable co-sign. And Enslaved is a good example, because before that, everyone was complaining about "...too many shooters..." and lo and behold, here comes Enslaved to save the day. But no, the majority of this site yells ignorantly "...Enslaved is crap!!!", when it is FAR from it. Just clue me in on reasons why this scenario is happening.

[Lifendz]

Times like this I hate being a student. Can only hope Netflix adds some sort of games rental option for customers. Guess I'm adding another one to the ever-growing list of games I want to pick up.

[number47]

People played the demo?

I didn't like it personally. But it has amazing production values & polish for a multiplatform. It has fluid controls, great sound. Just don't have the time for a score/crunching tps/arcade game. But you know a good game when you see one. Checkout that quick-play video of the guy rushing through the demo to get a rough idea of the type of game it is.

Enslaved on the other hand, is rigid and clunky compared to Vanquish, its animation is bad, and you can just see the clear difference in quality from the developer(s). The Vanquish team seemed to have a point, and did they best for what they could. Enslaved was preceded by its own hype from the developer, and failed to meet any expectations from it. Enslaved put itself out there to be judged & Judged harshly, Vanquish just came out and let people see that it was a plain old good game.

People say there are too many FPS shooters coming out, and thats generally directed at the Milking of FPS franchises over and over, when they all come out at the same time.

[fallingdove]

@ Active Reload

Enslaved IS crap. I share the setiment that there needs to be more 'non-shooter' games but Enslaved doesn't deserve some of the applause it has received. that and Vanquish's gameplay beats Enslaved's senseless.

Enslaved's Auto-platforming, shoddy framerate, stagnant(button mashy) battle system is maddening for an action/platforming lover like myself. - Oh god, Devil May Cry is in trouble.

-Goes back to playing Vanquish.

[Active Reload]

falling dove, your opinion is way on the other side of the Earth compared to mine, yeah polar opposite. BTW, did you actually pay $60 for Vanquish? After I played the demo of Vanquish, I'm in no rush to play it. But as the saying goes..."To each, their own...".

[tacosRcool]

Crap review. MoH had a short campaign and yet they totally dissed it while this (not so interesting) game gets a good score despite that? IGN sucks bro and so does their reviews

[MidnytRain]

I see this type of comment a lot so I just have to say something. All the "This site said this about Game A, but said that about Game B! That's stupid!"
The thing is, some people forget that the games are reviewed by two different people. Just because they work for the same site doesn't mean they have to share the same opinion.

[Cheeseknight28]

There is only one word that can be used to describe Medal of Honor's campaign: Derivative. Length has nothing to do with it; Vanquish, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air that isn't seen often enough in the industry.

I don't understand how you can compare a realistic modern day first person shooter to a futuristic fast-paced third person shooter. It just makes no sense. It takes me 4 hours to beat Donkey Kong Country 2, does that mean it deserves the same score as Medal of Honor?

[gamingdroid]

"I'm sorry, but, why does everyone feel that this game deserves great scores, compared to say....Enslaved? "

Because Enslaved controls where terrible just like Heavenly Sword. The controls aren't responsive at all...

Vanquish has fast fluid controls and is an excellent shooter with a weak character and lacking storyline apparently. None the less, it is a buy at $20 for me.

Will wait for the eventual price drop!!!

[fallingdove]

@Active Reload

Yeah, I paid $60 for it. For me it is worth every penny because I am big on fast, deep gameplay with a lot of options. The gameplay is incredibly polished. - Its clear that they put a lot of effort into fluidity.

Its interesting that my opinion is a polar opposite to yours because Vanquish and Enslaved are very much the same way. With Vanquish, the priority was its gameplay - the story leaves much to be desired; with Enslaved, the story was obviously the priority - the gameplay was really an afterthought.

As you say though - to each their own.

[stevenhiggster]

I have to say I'm with fallingdove here. And the strangest bit is, I was looking forward to Enslaved and until playing the demo I wasn't the least bit interested in Vanquish.
After playing the demos of both games, I did a 180. I thought the demo of Vanquish was awesome and the Enslaved demo put me right off it.

[tacosRcool]

@ MidnytRain

So your implying ,for example, that if someone is part of the democratic party, even though their individuals,they don't share the same opinions? So a news reporter from MSNBC is not gonna be liberal in thought, but whatever they think? No sir my friend. You hire people around you that think much like you on top of their skills. IGN is a close knit band of biased reviewers who love Halo and Call of Duty and give them damn near the best scores despite their flaws that are clearly present.

@Cheeseknight28
Its easy to compare depending on the context. Also your use of derivative doesn't make sense. A derivative of what?

[Ryo-Hazuki]

this game is for hardcore players. Its meant to be beaten over and over while increasing the difficulty. High scores and speed runs...I love this game

[N4g_null]

Yes vanquish says japan does get it. I say make a part two like now and use two disk. This is a game not a story book.

I wonder does contra have a story, don't think I ever cared. There is truely some horrible game play out there masked by $chills$ story and graphics.

It's too bad people arn't going to buy this because it doesn't last that long. This is how every fps should play from now on.

Action, action, action!

[MidnytRain]

I'm sure most people would think it's foolish to turn away a talented, unbiased journalist just because he doesn't share the same opinion. He should be hired based on his ability, not his way of thinking. It makes perfect sense for 2 journalists from the same site to disagree on something. That's why some sources like IGN and Game Informer have "Second Opinion" pieces.

[Cheeseknight28]

Of Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2. What else?

[tacosRcool]

Your thought is for an ideal working environment. It never happens. I am talking that IGN has biased reviews. For example, the recent Naruto game was reviewed by somebody that doesn't like fighting games and does not enjoy the very least anime styles. That is factored into the review and since people base their purchasing options on reviews like this, they won't buy it. At least have somebody that enjoys fighting games and appreciates anime styles. Also IGN's second thought is laughable anyways. I don't ever trust their reviews because of very inconsistent score given to games. Most games that are given great scores fall victim to all the hype it was given.

@Cheeseknight28

So your saying that if any game has any similarities in their campaigns, the game who came out later is not as good as the game that came before?

[Yi-Long]

... just not for full-price. I can wait till it's 15-20 bucks orso.

[zeddy]

if you get the game, play on hard or it'l be over in a flash.

[deafwing]

..> I have to agree .. the game is too freaking hard!! LOL even normal kicks your electronic nano connected butt across the screen kicking and screaming. Still I like the pain - it's fun to play. :D

anways they need to do multiple language tracks like this in all games (this was a small blessing)

[UltraNova]

I dont know if I can buy a 6 hr/60 buck game again.. It just feels wrong! Even if its as good and interesting as Vaquish..

[Downtown boogey]

Yeah... If a SP-only game is that short, it would have to truly be a great EXPERIENCE, comprising a good story as well to be worth such price.

[FanboyPunisher]

.

[Jamegohanssj5]

Lasting appeal shouldn't be that high.

TGSI

[deafwing]

... it's important, if she doesn't stay in my mind by next day, then most likely I will forget about her all together.

[jjohan35]

What the hell? No multiplayer? I thought the controls and movement would have been awesome for multiplayer.

[Christopher]

Wait... they said the vistas were inspired by Halo and Gears of War? Really? I was looking at a lot of those and thought Mass Effect 1 and 2 and neither of those even went into my head unless you were talking about being a third person shooter similar to Gears of War.

[Daoshai]

I buy just about every single game that comes out, getting vanquish today for $35 off plus $30 off LoS when you buy vanquish. Looking more forward to playing LoS than I am Vanquished, but I'll get both for that kind of price. Go Kmart!

Anyways to people saying Enslaved is garbage, you couldn't be more wrong, actually one of the best games I've played this year. Never condemn a game unless you've played it making conclusions off the demo is just stupid.

[AntoineDodson]

Seems solid. That the story is crap is a given but that's not something people are buying this for. It seems to do the job rather good, giving high speed action.

[hamood]

and why can't action game have a story? this is what i really hate this generation,

[Neckbear]

They want gameplay over story.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Here, read that.

Anyways, while I enjoy a good story in my games, I kinda agree with them.

Gameplay over story. Always.

[despair]

yea gameplay over story is not an excuse, so many games have excellent gameplay and great stories, the reviews should take away from the score for the very very poor story scenes and horrible voice acting.

For those who say it doesn't matter, for me it does, its part of the reason I couldn't or rather wouldn't finish Bayonetta, the horrible story and voice acting with that awful music just gave me a bad headache every time I played the game.

Poor story and voices can take a lot from a game and many other games get penalised for it while this one gets almost a free pass. I couldn't finish Bayonetta for the same reason and it had one of the best fighting systems I ever played.

[Hakimy]

it's actually the opposite.this gen gives credits to story more than previous gen.remember the first devil may cry? no one cared about its story and the game was praised by everyone (even bayonetta story was more interesting).how about the first resident evil? everyone mocked its VA till this day and called the story a B movie story yet it gave us a unique experience and the list goes on.every game doesn't have to have a hollywood like music or story.yes we would love to have a great story and a great gameplay at the same time but when giving the choice,it's gameplay over story (except for RPGs.they should have both).

[despair]

true that this gen is more story oriented and that's part of the evolution of gaming, not all genres need a big story but at least if you're doing voice acting make it tolerable, it should get rated down for things you have to suffer through, games should not be chores they should be fun through and through so I should not have to suffer when playing a game because they decided to search Craigslist for actors and writers.

[Baka-akaB]

"and why can't action game have a story? this is what i really hate this generation, "

And from wich generation are you ? I remember stuff like turricane , actraiser , shinobi , on consoles and arcades from the 90s without a good plot neither .

The 80s were even more of a joke in that department .

I feel sometimes people whines and chimes in nostalgia for the heck of it .

@despair

Variety exist for many reasons , some of those being that we can't always love every games .
There were very few games focusing more on gameplay that the rest , this generation , in the hack and slash action genre . Stuff like bayonetta is there precisely to feel such void and found its public .

[hamood]

@despair: you are my hero, finally some one who understands what i am saying

@neckbear: for me if a game got a shitty story then i believe that reviewers should reduce points for that and not give a high score because Platinum Stated They want gameplay over story.

@Baka-akaB: wait dude i am not that old,i am a late 90's guy and i remember that games focused on story back then specially the Japanese ones, MGS,Silent Hill etc

[Baka-akaB]

none of those are of the same genre than bayonetta or vanquish , or even action game ...

And it's not like each dont have sequel or equivalent with the same focus on story . If you are not an old gamer i get even less your complain ... most games theses days actually cater to your taste , not those of old arcade and action games .

Vanquish is the oddity many awaited , rather than the norm

[Redempteur]

@hamood
silent hill a action game ???
WHEN , WHERE ?

[hamood]

i never mentioned bayonetta but i think for hack and slash games god of war got the best story among them . i am just saying that games had better stories but now most games have no story at all

also for action games i think MGS 3 is considered action, yakuza,syphon filter, the first COD, killzone, not all of these games were good but they did include a story where you actually give a damn about the characters instead of some random events like most shooters today

[despair]

@Baka-akaB

Its more that with games like Bayonetta there was a very robust variety of weapons and combo moves that varied enough to make it more interesting, still couldn't stand the rest of the game but the gameplay was really good.

With shooters its a different story, the most that usually changes are the different weapons you get and even though some might be interesting for a little while, 99% of them are just point and shoot a bigger bullet/beam/rocket etc.

It gets old fast if there isn't enough of a change up even in short games. Gears did it well enough and so did Uncharted but this one is an arcade shooter that just looks repetitive to me, plus it doesn't have the story to pull you in to make up for the gameplay getting old.

Its definitely a balancing act for developers and we have to respect them for the very difficult job they have to do but we also cannot cut them slack for not having high standards on all fronts of the game. We are paying them for this product and we should always expect the best not say "well some games the story is not as important" or "gameplay is everything". I hate settling for good, give me the best and push them to make the best.

@zatrox

yea that what I was saying, Uncharted is a great example of the same gameplay not getting repetitive and boring because they used other factors, the environment, settings and story, to make it more interesting.

Now of course I haven't played full version of Vanquish so I am going by vids and reviews to tell me what the game is like. Sure things like enemy variety will change up the game somewhat but from what I saw even with the big enemies you just do the same thing; dodge/take cover, shoot at them/hit glowing weak points and repeat. That's not exactly encouraging or varying to me.

I know there will be changes to gameplay as you go through, I mean there were controllable Robots and turrets just in the demo, but the question for me is "is it enough" to break from repetitive.

[zatrox]

I disagree. Shooters can feel very different depending on the situations you're on, boss differences and enemy variations.

You won't be using the same tactic for a smaller enemy with a bigger enemy that throws missiles at you, nor you will be using the same weapons.

Play the challenge mode Demo, and see the enemy variation there. You aren't doing the same crap over and over again.

Uncharted did this on level design. For it to not become so repetitive despite having a laughably small variation of weapons at your disposal, they opted for giving you these different stages all over the game, and thus, it didn't get boring at all.

@hamood

God of War? CoD? Killzone?

I think that's only your opinion. I couldn't care less about the story in these games.

[creatchee]

There are two things that do not REQUIRE a story: shooters and porn. You certainly can have a story in either of them, but that isn't the point of the experience.

[N4g_null]

Seriously video game stories have always sucked. Yes I've played uncharted, and heavy rain. A great story reaches people in games they are only reasons to play or excuses.

No one played tetris for the story, pacman or Mario. Quake arena had no story.

Actualy really the only stories I like in games are the ones attached to great game play.

I'm really wonder what's in your comic book collection or on your book or movie shelf if gaming stories are the reason you play.

I think some of you confuse story with imagination. The player makes the story.

[UNCyrus]

tomorrow can't come soon enough. Thanks Shinji Mikami

[MegaMohsi]

but truth be told i'll probably be putting most of my hours in fallout new vegas, probably wait for a price drop on this.

[jc48573]

have fun and hopefully you do get this game in the end.

[MegaMohsi]

definitely will and hopefully they consider making a pc version sometime down the road, although I doubt it.

[AllroundGamer]

it's an ok game (i finished the game this weekend), sadly the upgrade system sux which takes some of the motivation away... but since it's so short...

[Neckbear]

And have to tell you that the game expects you to play by their rules.

Basically, they prevented the upgrade system to be much else than weapons because it could break the game.

How fast would someone beat the game if they had unlimited A.R.S.? It would totally break the scoreboards.

While I agree there's a little of dissapointment because you cannot upgrade the A.R.S. and have to save Bullets to upgrade your weapons, think about it.

Giving you weapon upgrades and A.R.S. upgrades would break the game.

Also, replay that shit, man.

[AllroundGamer]

well i just wanted to start a second playthrough and i found out, that i can't transfer the weapon upgrades with which i finished the game first time... (you know like a classic continue, but instead in Vanquish if you press Continue in the menu even if you have finished the game, it will repeatedly load the last checkpoint at the ending :DD just really bad decisions were made here) there goes the replayability... also why would any game want you not to shoot from a weapon so you could upgrade it? (the upgrades aren't so great either) I never said anything about unlimited A.R.S., if the developers would take some more time polishing the upgrade system, it would have at least some nice RPG elements (you know like adding some new parts to the weapons, new moves etc.) The gameplay is fun, but it just isn't enough to justify a full price for this game, maybe next time...

@despair

well there are also some train riding-shooting scenes in it, but it really felt the same :) personally i think it's like a shallow low budget shooter, but i hope they will make a sequel with more variety in it.

[despair]

@AllroundGamer

thats one thing I always loved about Ratchet and Clank games, you upgrade the weapons you you use the most the fastest, also sucks that you cant carry over weapon upgrades to a new playthrough but it makes sense in the context of high scores for the leaderboards if you are overpowered on level 1. I mean most shooters don't do that anyway so its not that big a deal.

The biggest problem is that from all the gameplay I've seen it looks like it doesn't change much except for the set pieces; shoot these guys, go there, shoot more guys, kill a boss with glowing weak points and repeat.

Even a generic shooter like COD MW2 short SP had variety in the different levels with vehicle stages and a few other things to change up the format.

[deafwing]

seriously ... we're getting spoiled. I never remember this being an issue with a shooter (you just shoot things, that's it, no upgrades) ... why the tears?

[Ryo-Hazuki]

Its all about gameplay and thats what Vanquish is about. Day 1

[Fishy Fingers]

Rental for me, short campaign I'm likely to only play once, doesnt justify a purchase for me.

[Croash]

Still need more reviews though!

[WLPowell]

Remember, reviewers just couldn't enjoy the game on it's own merits because the short length kept pulling them out of/and ruinging the experience. Yet since it's a shooter, we don't even mention 4 hours...

[Pennywise]

a multiplatform shooter. Don't leave that part out. HS was PS3 exclusive and back then the PS3 was pillaging villages and raping children.

[FwanK]

People complained about Medal of Honor length and it was 5 hours of pure epicness

[CR-Y-SIS]

IGN says the gameplay takes 6-7 hours to complete!!

[makingdamage]

Why is it so hard for developers this gen to make long enough games?

[SovereignSnaKe]

-whatever they state for a Completion time, i tack on about 2 to 4 hours, I'm sloooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwww :D

[Baka-akaB]

not really , people always bullshit over length of games ,especially short ones .

There is no way someone discovering a few of the games slammed for it , for the first time would be that quick .

Unless going in easy mode , which disqualify such opinions anyway . After all if you took on easy mode , isnt it to finish the game faster ?

[memphis2]

looks like they did not play the game all the way through. what kind of bs is vanquish will take you 4 hours to beat even on easy mode. hmmm i wonder if they only play 40 mintues of the game. IGN STATED the game will last 6-7 HOURS! which is fine with me it's standard for shooters

I WILL NEVER TRUST GAMEINFORMER FROM HERE OUT

[Baka-akaB]

meh much be some of the idiots claiming they finish mgs4 in 4hours in the first go too .

[The_Devil_Hunter]

The game looks really good just don't know if it's worth 60 bucks cuz of it's length.

[Kakihara]

The Japanese language track is a big plus for me, games like this need Japanese voices chattering away on them. I wish the characters were also oriental looking but I guess you can't have everything.

[silvacrest]

so maybe its not really a issue?

either way im still getting this

[Tdmd]

He DID mentioned the game's length.

Here:
"The entire campaign can be completed in approximately six to seven hours, so it's not a particularly long game."

and here:

"The campaign will only take six to seven hours to complete. Fortunately there are challenge stages to fight waves of enemies in a focused battle scenario, but Vanquish could have lasted a bit longer."

I really enjoyed the demo, but the game is too short for my taste. I'll wait for a price drop.

[Djinn]

4 hour campaign and it gets an 8.5? bullshit

[zatrox]

It's 6-7 hours long, according to the reviewer.

[cygnuszero]

Awesome, more shooters. If this game scored an 11/10, Id still skip it.

[Djinn]

Exactly. So would I.

[Relientk77]

I'm on the fence for buying this game

I heard its real short

However, the games getting pretty good reviews

[zatrox]

It's 6-7 hours long, but the reviewer stated that it's more like an arcade shooter of some sort.

You hunt down high scores, there's also the challenge mode, yeah.

Besides, it's not all that short if you compare it to other shooters, and there seems to be enough variation.

[OhMyGandhi]

beat enslaved just recently and...*shock*...loved it.
The game is awesome, it has a unique storyline, beautifully rendered environments, the world is fleshed out, and highly detailed, and contrasts most post apocalyptic games with it's vibrant colors. Music was great, voice acting was awesome (Andy Serkis, from Heavenly Sword, and Gollum from Lord of The Rings plays Monkey), and someone stated that the animation wasn't good? are you f**king kidding me? smooth as butter. The game was interesting, because of the variations in play style, such as going on Monkey's hoverboard, using turrets to take down the enemy, and the on rails events with the boat driving.

Honestly, the game was fine. People like to say something is "crap" when it's clearly not. Heavenly sword to me, was a game dripping with potential, but failed to live up to it's promise. is it crap? hell no. Is MW2 crap? hell no.
stop with the extremes of reviewing, it seems like everyone on this damned site feels obligated to state that if a game DOES NOT get a 10 out of their favorite game site, that it's some damned conspiracy, that their lives will forever be crushed by the breaking words of critics. people need to grow up, and stop being so melodramatic.

[J-Killer15]

This is just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when reviewers complain about the difficulty level in video games, predominantly action and fighting games. Video games are supposed to be challenging, at least that's what I thought the essence of gaming was. I can understand disappointment with the lack of a tutorial in a game, but that doesn't mean it should be dumbed down; which is one of the main reasons I dislike the majority of the products that were released during this generation of consoles.

[AssassinHD]

By the reviewer's own admission the campaign is only 6-7 hours long, although many have claimed that it can be completed in 4-5. Granted the challenge stages will extend the game a bit, but with no multiplayer component I can't see how it gets a 7.5 in "lasting appeal".

By the way, IGN gave Medal of Honor a 7 in lasting appeal. How does a game with multiplayer get a lower score in lasting appeal than a game that has a 6 hour campaign and no multiplayer?

[zatrox]

One is fun to play and worth replaying.

The other isn't, despite having multiplayer.

@AssassinHD

How can you have consistency in review scores despite not being able to enjoy said game?

The gameplay might be flawless, and graphics could be beautiful, but what if the game isn't fun?

If the game simply isn't enjoyable? Would you recommend said game to other people?

Yeah. Reviewers are opinions, indeed. On where the reviewers also state how the game works, and after reading the review, the score seriously comes down to how much enjoyment the reviewer had with said title (Wich may vary between people. Alot, in fact. IGN gave Atelier Rorona a 5.0 and I'm enjoying it.)

It all comes down to opinions, and consistency can't be had in those. Read the review material instead of looking only at the score.

Oh, and to that edit, fun can be also found in the "lasting appeal", where you replay the game alot and have fun with it.

[AssassinHD]

Fun is subjective. My only qualm with arbitrary scoring is that there is no structure behind it. I realize that reviews are nothing more than opinions, but I think that professional review sites should have a structured system of measurement. I want consistency.

By the way, fun is covered under the "gameplay" score, not "lasting appeal".

[kaixxi]

wait whaT?!?!@?!
no multiplayer?!@?!@?

[Baka-akaB]

welcome to the first news about the game 18 months ago

[AKissFromDaddy]

I gotta buy this b/c I love it :-)

[Mahr]

"Vanquish has an impressive level of polish. The story and character development, however, aren't engaging"

okay IGN while you talk about things that should not really matter in an awesome shooter, i'll just be over here.

[Thoreau]

isnt worth 60 bucks, i will wait for the price to come down.

[pwnd_of_lol]

rental game confirmed...

[ngecenk]

good job. add a multiplayer and fix the character and its a perfect game!

[SnakePlissken]

First off, whoever the knuckleheads are that are bashing on Enslaved over this recycled typical shooter, need help. Duck, cover, shoot, over and over again! Looks like Gears mixed with Halo. Seen it all before, way too many times. No creativity, repetetive gameplay and same looking environments. Gets old and fast! Why people are comparing this with Enslaved and bringing that game into it, i have no idea. I own that game and will say that Enslaved is miles more superior in every way! Some of you Call of duty, shooter only kids need some riddlin.

[kasasensei]

Six to seven hours in normal, so... between 9 and 14 hours in hard. I'm in, i'll buy it. :)

[xinren30]

welcome to :
http://www.shoeswholesale.u...
This is a shopping paradise

[hesido]

I played the demo.. It's a frantic shooter, with so many things going on that it induces headaches on me. So I'll pass.

[SnakePlissken]

played the demo as well and it was extremely mediocore. its a 7.0 at best. definately not worth your time. so many other better games out there right now. PASS!