Vanquish PS3 Demo Impressions • QSF5

Update: It actually has 2x AA.

I want more Vanquish. That 711 MB PS3 demo wasn’t enough! I haven’t felt this bad ass since the original Max Payne. Vanquish is slick, stylish and a reminder that there’s more to shooters than an M16A2 burst to the head.

Platinum Games knows its audience and the options menu is a testament to that. An option for improving the visibility of text on standard definition TV’s? No problem. An option to use L1/R1 for shooting? Of course. It runs well on PlayStation 3 hardware? Absolutely.

It doesn’t looks like it features 2X anti-aliasing and it is a bit blurry (possibly running 1024×720 as well?), but it’s fine because I’m too busy sliding on my knees and unloading bullets into the the face of robots. The slow motion slide reminded me of the diving bullet time shooting of Max Payne. It’s a very uncommon perspective and sensation.

The voice acting is solid and — I want to say — deliberately cheesy. The techno ramble fits and it somehow helps sell that awesome high tech armor the main character, Gideon, is wearing. I love watching that suit transform and morph; it’s quite possibly the neatest looking suit of armor I’ve ever seen in a game.

I died once in the demo. It was during the boss battle. I don’t know why, but I feel that this game should have a jump function. It seems weird to see Gideon sliding with rocket propulsion and not be able to jump. I also felt sliding with L2 and holding L1 for the slow motion while pressing R1 to shoot was pushing the limits of controller comfort. I’m sure I’ll get used to both those quirks, but it’s still worth noting.

Nitpicks aside, I’m sold on Vanquish. It runs well, looks good and it’s a barrage of fun. Looking forward to October 19, 2010!

For more information on Vanquish, visit the official website.

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