This game sat on my coffee table for literally four months before I even took it out of the box. I didn’t even buy this game – it was the last item I picked when redeeming my Chase Visa Rewards. However, when choosing between a new hand mixer and Vanquish, I’m pretty glad I chose the game. (Although I did still go to Walmart and buy the hand mixer.)
Visual Effects: 10/10
The god damn visuals are stunning. Simply amazing. Overall the game was very visually pleasing. I believe there were only two points in the entire game where I thought the skybox looked a little wonky. Otherwise, effing mind-blowing.
Story Line: 7/10
Unlike the visual effects, the story line wasn’t great. You basically crash-land on a giant futuristic space station and have to shoot your way through swarms of robot infantry (“RI”) to stop some evil Russian baddie and rescue your friend. Along the way you’re helped by your completely sexy sidekick, Elena Ivanova. Oh, and you have a completely bad ass robotic suit of your own that basically lets you slow down time and replicate any gun you find. If that doesn’t sound like your typical Japanese SEGA game, I don’t know what does.
Controls: 8/10
For some reason, third-person shooters just don’t sit well with me. It might just be me, but being able to see around corners and knowing where the enemy is all the time feels like cheating. I’ve played Gears of War a billion times that I’m used to it, but anyone who plays primarily first-person shooters may have a difficult time adjusting.
Aside from the camera perspective, the controls weren’t too difficult to master. I kept forgetting which button threw the grenade and which combination of buttons triggered forced-”slow-down-time” mode, but I’m also kind of an idiot.
Artificial Intelligence: 6/10
The AI really wasn’t bright in this game. Sometimes the enemies would run right up to you – in the middle of a gunfight from the other side of the map – and start melee attacking; other times they would run away and you’d have to go poke around to find them just staring at the wall like, “Oh, right! I was attacking you.” And some of the bosses and mini-bosses even stand still for you so you can find their obvious weak points.
Gameplay: 7/10
This game plays a lot like Gears of War. It’s fast-paced and full of action, explosions, cut-scenes and closeups of a sexy nerd-woman. Which I like. But sometimes I got a little angry at the game and wanted to throw my Xbox through the window. Like the time I kept dying to the same pair of enemies over, and over, and over. Some of the enemies barely make a dent when they hit you, while others are like “WTFXPWN!!1″ and you get one-shotted, reducing all your power with no chance of escaping. And if it’s both enemies focusing you? Well then you’re basically screwed and need to start over from a checkpoint.
Achievements: 9/10
I died a lot of times in this game trying to get all the achievements for this game. I know that Brutality Bonus is toadally bugged for me, and Living Legend is damn near impossible to get without cheating. I really like how they didn’t do the standard “Destroy 100 enemies with ABC gun”, “Destroy 100 enemies with XYZ gun” like they do in other games. *Cough, Army of Two, Cough*
What’s the score?
I give Vanquish for Xbox 360 a 7.8/10. The visual effects were great, the story line was pretty standard, the controls were manageable, the AI wasn’t the best, the gameplay was okay and the achievements were interesting enough to keep me playing until the end. If you’re looking for a good game for a low price, I would definitely recommend this game.
Tags: Vanquish, Xbox
