Vanquish review

Vanquish is a 3rd person game published by Sega. I feel that the game has concepts from 3 styles of games: Gears of War and Lost Planet. It is a single-player only game that is fast-paced and fun. There is no DLC for the game; then again there doesn't need to be any.

You play as Sam Gideon, a person who was recruited as a DARPA agent. You must stop Russian forces from destroying NYC after San Francisco was destroyed in a shockwave blast. This is an easy story to follow. The game is split into 5 Acts with 5-7 chapters per Act. I was able to finish the game in about 15 hours playing on hard. The Gear of War comparison comes in due to the use of a good cover mechanic. I use the lost Planet comparison because some bosses and almost all tough enemies have a glowing red weakpoint that appears. You can slow time for a few seconds but this can be used to your advantage especially when getting out of a tough spot or for killing enemies before they can land a hit. You can slide instead of jump which takes a while to get used to at first. There aren't that many weapons (only 8) but you will favor some over the others and all weapons can be upgraded.

Throughout the game little yellow statues can be found and shot at. These collectibles are needed only if you are going for the achievement/trophy. They can be challenging to get but it's worth it. After you complete each act, a challenge opens up. There are 5 initially and a 6th opens up when all 5 are completed. These challenges aren't easy so I recommended you complete the game first before attempting these. The challenges do not have to be completed in numerical order. Both the challenges and the main game have a ranking system so if you sign in to PSN or XBL, you compete against others for fastest completion time and highest score when each chapter or challenge is completed.

This game is fun but not for everyone. If you like fast-paced 3rd person action games, get this game. Try the demo to see for yourself. Does this game need a sequel? No and I hope it doesn't get one. If you want multiplayer, this isn't the game for you. But if you want just a fun game to sink hours into, try it. This was one of my favorite games of 2011 (even though the game came out in late 2010). You may enjoy it as much as I did. Have fun.