Vanquish Review – PC

Just shy of its seventh anniversary, the sleeper hit Vanquish makes its triumphant transition from last-gen to this-gen with a PC port that has everyone asking, “What SEGA title is coming to PC next?” Well, why we wait for that to be answered you can enjoy one of the best console shooters of 2010, turbo charged for current PC tech including a full 4K visual facelift and some precision gameplay thanks to some smartly implemented mouse and keyboard controls.   Console gamers have not been left out, as there is still excellent support for Xbox gamepad and Steam Controller.

Vanquish opens with a slick basic menu set against a sweeping curved city in the background that only hints at the spectacle to come; especially if you have one of the latest 4K-capable video cards and can crank this game to its ultimate settings. A robust option screen allows for tweaking of all the important settings including, camera speed and mouse speeds for movement, shooting, and zoom. Regardless of your chosen control method you will likely need to fiddle with these. Personally I found things a bit too sensitive by default.

Before the story kicks off, gamers are required to report for a bit of mandatory ARS training, which is both useful and even a bit entertaining thanks to some witty banter with your handler, Elena, and Dr. Candide, the creator of the fantastic mobile armor you find yourself wearing. Once you learn how to move, dash, and shoot a variety of weapons you are then ready for action.

The game kicks off with a stunning opening cinematic – we’re talking theatrical anime caliber here; the kind of high octane movie that would send Michael Bay scrambling back to film school – where San Francisco gets “cooked” by a space microwave, and an epic space battle ensues with giant battleships (that look like they were lifted from Starship Troopers) advancing on an enormous space megastructure similar to a Dyson Sphere, but this one is cylindrical in shape.

After your ship slips past the bay doors you are deposited in the first of many stages, this one requiring that you merely traverse a hallway before another cutscene takes over. Vanquish is extremely cinematic, especially in the beginning where you may only actually play the game for 3-5 minutes out of the first 20. The movies ease up in duration and frequency soon enough, but given their high quality and the fact that they seamlessly integrate with the gameplay; I had no problem with them. And you can always skip them if you just want to kill robots without knowing why.

To summarize, Russian terrorists have taken over a massive space station/city and turned it into a giant microwave weapon. After cooking San Francisco they give the U.S. eight hours to surrender before they turn the weapon on New York City. You play Sam Gideon, a special operative from DARPA with an experimental combat suit, sent to assist the regular marines. Your high-tech handler, Elena, is always in your earpiece to provide you with the latest intel and tech support.

Vanquish is first and foremost a third-person action shooter with a fantastic cover system. The only thing that rivals the maneuverability of Sam’s suit is the incredibly cool BLADE weapons system and the lengthy upgrade tree for those weapons. You have four weapons slots; one is dedicated to grenades that come in EMP and explosive flavors. Your other three slots can be swapped out with whatever weapon you like.

The upgrade system is slick and intuitive. If you pick up a weapon that you already have it will refill the ammo for that weapon. If you already had full ammo then it will upgrade that weapon. Every few levels your weapon will improve, both in damage and ammo capacity. Levels are indicated with ribbons, chevrons, and stars, and it can take over half of the game before you max a weapon. Interestingly enough, if you ever drop a maxed-out weapon you will lose one level of upgrade. Even grenades can be upgraded in number and blast radius.

The weapon selection is very imaginative with some standards like heavy and normal assault rifles and a rocket launcher, but then you have things like a Disc Cannon, the LFE cannon that shoots a giant disabling plasma ball, and the Lock-On Laser that can lock-on and fire numerous laser bolts in swarm missile fashion. Weapons are generously scattered about the levels, both on the fallen enemies and in green Marine drop boxes, making it easy to switch or level up your arsenal before each new encounter. From time to time you will also find an upgrade power-up that will instantly upgrade your current weapon one level.

Combat controls and precision fluctuate based on your controller choice. There is no aim assist so accurate targeting with a gamepad relies on you tweaking the camera speed settings, whereas mouse aiming is so precise it can actually reduce the overall difficulty of the game, so veteran PC gamers may want to jump straight to Hard mode. While a gamepad offers better analog movement and intuitive access to frequently used commands, true shooter fans will want to use mouse and keyboard.

Perhaps one of the coolest parts of combat is your ARS battle suit. This suit is able to withstand massive amounts of damage and when it does finally go critical you will automatically go into AR mode where time slows and you can either escape to safety or get in those final few shots with precision aiming. AR mode can be manually triggered to enhance normal combat with a simple button combo. This allows you to slow down the otherwise frantic and often overwhelming encounters and choose your targets with far greater precision. It also helps in locating and hitting those glowing “soft spots” on the massive bosses. And finally, your suit can also jet propel you around with super-speed like a runner sliding into home plate. Any use of the ARS including taking damage increases the heat. If the suit gets too hot you will go critical and have to wait for it to cool down before you can trigger AR mode again.

The cover system works nicely and is required in nearly every encounter, at least until the enemy starts shooting up the place. Your jets will allow you to zip from cover to cover then peek out and fire when safe. The enemy AI is adequate and any lapses are made up for in sheer overwhelming numbers. Vanquish is hard, even on the normal skill setting. You’ll encounter your first boss about 20 minutes into the game and are destined to die several times figuring it all out. I will tell you here and now, it is paramount that you diligently find upgrades and level up those weapons early and keep doing so throughout. Firepower is king in this game.

The action in Vanquish is so non-stop and over-the-top that it often felt like an arcade game, especially when periodically, a scorecard would pop-up tallying your progress for the previous level and the overall game up to that point. Personally, I thought the scoring was unnecessary, but I guess that’s a big deal in Japan, and it does lend itself to replayability and competitive leaderboards.

Graphically, this game was impressive back on the Xbox 360 and this PC 4K/HDR upgrade takes it to the next level; not just in resolution but in stunning new 4K textures, lighting, and overall enhanced detail. It lacks a bit when it comes to environmental complexity or outdoorsy appeal, but for high-tech futuristic polish, it doesn’t get much better than this. As previously mentioned, the opening movie and every other cutscene in this game is summer blockbuster quality with huge sweeping camera pans of the planet-sized city in space and awesome reveals of some of the largest bosses in gaming history. One boss is so large it takes a Saturn V-size rocket just to lift one foot off the ground. Levels mix indoor and outdoor locations; there are some wild train rides, a collapsing highway, and even a mission in a forest. Since the cutscenes were pre-rendered back in 2010 for 1080p displays if you are playing Vanquish in 4K there will be a nominal quality variance when transitioning between movies and gameplay.

Narrowing the visual focus, the enemy creations are marvelous in their detail and animations from the smallest of spider-bots to the largest of bosses. Sam’s looks incredible with detailed suit graphics, pulsing energy, and the morphing animation for his weapons is super-cool. Even his grenades switch out on his belt. Lighting, effects, smoke, damage; it’s all just perfect – even the gratuitous up-skirt shots of Elena in nearly every scene.

Complementing the mind-blowing visuals is a cinematic score worthy of a sci-fi blockbuster. It’s a mix of atmospheric, orchestra, and even some cool techno club beats if you can find a secret robot dance club. The voice work is exceptional, especially for Sam who sounds remarkably like David Hayter (Solid Snake). The overall surround mix will completely immerse you in this fantastic action-shooter and even aid you in locating off-camera enemies by sound alone.

Vanquish is a solo experience with no multiplayer, and I have no problem with that. The game delivers a solid 8-hour experience that will have you loving every memorable minute. Interesting enough, when the game starts and the Marines are being briefed on their deadline, a counter appears above their heads indicating they have 8 hours and 4 minutes to save the world. My completion time was exactly 8 hours and 1 minute. There are lots of fun and challenging achievements you can earn, some of which will have you replaying all or at least parts of the game over again. And when you finish each story chapter you will unlock a grueling challenge mission; six in all that will test your gaming mettle.

Vanquish is truly a shooter like none other. It was totally original back in 2010 and has yet to be matched since. The action is relentless, the challenge is immense, the settings are breathtaking, and the feeling you have when it’s all over is indescribable. You’ll want to call your friends and have them come over and play just so you can watch and appreciate it all over again. Vanquish may have been the best kept secret of 2010, but in 2017 it is a testament to how PC conversions should be handled with attention to controls, customization, scalability, and next-gen video quality. It is also a cover-action-shooter that no true gamer should consider skipping.

Screenshot Gallery



Author: Mark Smith
I've been an avid gamer since I stumbled upon ZORK running in my local Radio Shack in 1980. Ten years later I was working for Sierra Online. Since then I've owned nearly every game system and most of the games to go with them. Not sure if 40+ years of gaming qualifies me to write reviews, but I do it anyway.

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