RICHARD WONG
Arts Writer

You are Sam Gideon and you are a badass.

Vanquish from Sega puts you in the shoes or, more appropriately, the battle suit of the proverbial one man army. Entrusted with the responsibility of donning the one and only Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS), Sam is America’s most powerful weapon and he is called into action when a Russian extremist group attacks San Francisco.

From the moment first mission kicks off, it’s obvious that Vanquish is a gorgeous game. Environments are vibrant and characters pop off the screen. The animation is outstanding and everything in the game from the rendering to the core gameplay has been created with a stylish flare that is sometimes absent in shooters. From start to finish your visual and auditory senses will face a not stop barrage of explosions, bullets and a handful of moments that will leave your mouth agape, looking around the room to see if anyone else just saw what you did.

The controls are tight and responsive, though a few buttons perform multiple functions depending on the situation. This can be confusing in a game that moves as blisteringly fast as Vanquish does. Amusingly, there is also a button dedicated to lighting up a smoke for Sam in the heat of battle. All of the action is interwoven with quick time events that require analog sticks or buttons to be used in specific sequences that will prompt scripted animations that would put even the latest summer movie blockbuster to shame.

Being a third person shooter, players are treated to a close up of the immeasurably cool ARS suit. Ultra futuristic and containing several independently moving parts, the suit gives a hint of possibly being sentient. If that wasn’t enough to nerd out over, the suit also gives Sam incredible strength, speed, agility and the ability to absorb enormous amounts of damage. On top of that, the ARS has the capability to temporarily manipulate time in order to get the wearer out of sticky situations.

Then there is the game’s signature rocket slide, which is depicted on the game cover itself. With this, Sam will quite literally drop to the ground and slide around the environment at blurring speeds, using the suit’s built in propulsion system. This move is not only tremendously cool but very useful as well. Vanquish employs a nifty cover system that is more easily traversed using the signature scooch. Don’t think that simply crouching behind a crate will get you entirely out of trouble, though, as most of the cover is destructible and will send you on an adrenaline-fueled scramble for safety when it is blown up with you hiding behind it.

On offence, Sam’s ARS is able to equip three weapon classes and two grenade types at any one time. The different weapons types can range from run of the mill to all out exhilarating, although the number for different available weapons is somewhat limited. Each weapon can be enhanced throughout the campaign by collecting upgrades and most all of them can end up being quite formidable.

It all makes Sam Gideon’s journey sound like a transcendent experience, and at times it can be, however Vanquish is far from perfect. This is not an easy game. The difficulty, especially on higher settings, is brutally punishing. The game is certainly beatable; however you might end up with a broken controller or two and, depending on your age, a bar of soap in your mouth. Also, attempting certain sections over and over can make the gameplay feel repetitive and stale. Rocket sliding is fantastic fun but not if you have to slide around the exact same obstacle 25 times in a row. At least those who stick it out won’t have to toil for long.

In terms of pure content Vanquish is an unconscionably short game, relying solely on the excessive difficulty to extend gameplay hours. Not only is the game short but this is a bare bones title with the campaign representing the one and only game mode. Once finished, the game gives little reason for players to indulge again unless you are a glutton for punishment. If one does choose to bare the absurdity once more, it won’t be because of the riveting story.

The plot is filled with clichés: from the gravel-voiced protagonist all the way to his Russian extremist foes. How many Russian extremist groups can there be anyway? The dialog and voice acting are funny but not in a good way. The tough guy stereotypes and one liners come off as extremely campy and fill the game with so much cheese that you just might be able to slap the game disc in between some rye and grill it up for lunch. Those looking for an epic saga or even a solid story just aren’t going to find it here.

There is a ton to like about this title and most of it lies in the manner in which the game was brought to life. Vanquish is the gaming equivalent of the aforementioned mindless summer movie blockbuster, or like a roller coaster that is riding straight through the middle of a fireworks show. It’s a shame there just isn’t enough of it.

Thrilling moments of white knuckle action are offset by inaccessible difficulty levels, a lack of content and the embarrassingly poor voice acting and dialog. Vanquish is well worth consideration if you are looking to rent a game for a short blast of fun. However it is tough to recommend spending upwards of $70 to purchase this game when you could be finished the campaign inside of three days and with much of that time being spent replaying near impossible sections.

Then again, if any part of Vanquish sounds interesting to you, maybe you can just let it slide.

*An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Vanquish was a North American game. The game developer Platinum Games is in fact a Japanese company. Thanks to commenter Jordan Bolt for the correction.