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[Shurs]

I think that the amount of disengagement a bad story can provide for me is entirely proportional to how seriously it takes itself. KZ2 actually made me groan, whereas Vanquish's story is simply there as a vehicle for Sam's cool powers and a nice camera sweep.

I dunno, Rez, I felt like in the final act shit sort of got real.

 

[PowerSmell]

Anyone able to consistently spawn upgrade cubes? It seems to be based on how fast you kill enemies, but I'm not sure.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

well, you know, I'm sure there were people at Platinum who were super enthusiastic about it

 

[Shurs]

Anyone able to consistently spawn upgrade cubes? It seems to be based on how fast you kill enemies, but I'm not sure.

The only logic I assigned to the Upgrades was that they only appeared for whatever weapon I was using at the time.

 

[mattfabb]

What is he doing at 15 seconds?

I think he found the time to show off...punching a grenade mid-air? the shit just hit the fan if you ask me...

there seems to be things in this game that I cannot even imagine.

 

[robor]

I agree with you Shurs, I think a fluent story helps to flesh out the player's imaginable projections into the game. Of course my interpretation of a fluent story requires minimal use of cut scenes.

 

[panda21]

in a game like this, i want a story that makes no god damn sense and is utterly ludicrous and poorly acted. its part of the atmosphere.

 

[Prime crotch]

I gotta ask, with all the "no multiplayer" fear these days, on shooters mostly, how many multiplayer games people actually play if every other game has to have one?

Why is criticism of the game's story dismissed, or so easily written off? I know that it's not the "point" of the game, but it's still very much present as you play. I could understand completely writing off the story in a game like Super Mario Bros where the premise is laid down as: "The princess was captured, save her." In a game like Mario, where no context is attempted, the story truly is irrelevant. In Vanquish, a fair amount of play time is focused on story. Shouldn't that be fair game?

Still haven't played it, but Vanquish story doesn't seem disposable to me, it's all part of the experience, it's just that said experience is very arcade-ish.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

my favourite animation is the glide in one direction, shoot in another one where you fire your gun over your shoulder. so fucking cool looking.

Jump over cover and then shoot behind you(or maybe it's boost kick). Sam will flip upside down and aim between his legs.

but I thought it interesting that this game seemingly gets a pass while some other games (which are also not story-driven) do not.

I never realized KZ2 was attacked so much for its story. I never watched/read reviews for it actually.

 

[Vilix]

in a game like this, i want a story that makes no god damn sense and is utterly ludicrous and poorly acted. its part of the atmosphere.

Sorta like the old Kung Fu B movies. You didn't watch them for the story. You watched them for the insane action and to laugh how bad the voice over acting was. Kamiya's games remind me of this.

Bad Guy #1: I kill you. HaHAA!
Bad Guy #2: You die. HaHAA!

It was so bad it was hilarious. :lol

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Bad Guy #1: I kill you. HaHAA!
Good Guy: One liner. *pose*

It was so bad it was hilarious. :lol

Fixed.

 

[Zeliard]

Ninja Theory could really learn a few many things from Platinum Games. Games like this and Bayonetta are how you combine flash with depth and responsiveness. These things aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[rollingstart]

a story's only as important as the act of playing the game demands it to be.

on the first run-through of Vanquish all it needs to do is give you a vague scenario, on repeat-playthroughs it as non-factor. it's a story written around a game, not the other way around.

yeah, the story seems to be for keeping the game moving and maybe satisfying a Gundam/Casshern fetish Mikami and the team might have had.

 

[Amir0x]

I ignored the story too, until the end of the game, where I wasn't allowed to ignore it any longer.

The game is awesome, and the story didn't take away from my enjoyment of the game, so there's something to be said there. I don't think I'm going to spend a lot of time on the story in the review, as the game's finer points, of which there are many, completely dwarf any issues I have with Vanquish's narrative, but I thought it interesting that this game seemingly gets a pass while some other games (which are also not story-driven) do not.

it's about focus

Vanquish story is hardly there at all, it's background noise and you can ignore it all if you chose. The level of criticism a story deserves is directly proportional to how much it impacts the quality of the game. For RPGs, that sort of criticism is unavoidable, for extremely story-driven action games like Metal Gear Solid, it's also unavoidable. For Vanquish, well, again it's my opinion but it was just empty air, a thin layer to provide player motivation to move from one stage to the next.

 

[Shurs]

it's about focus

Vanquish story is hardly there at all, it's background noise and you can ignore it all if you chose. The level of criticism a story deserves is directly proportional to how much it impacts the quality of the game. For RPGs, that sort of criticism is unavoidable, for extremely story-driven action games like Metal Gear Solid, it's also unavoidable. For Vanquish, well, again it's my opinion but it was just empty air, a thin layer to provide player motivation to move from one stage to the next.

Fair enough.

And, for the record, I was never arguing that Vanquish places as much emphasis on story as a Final Fantasy game, just that the story is more present than in a game like The Club.

 

[∀ Narayan]

I think he found the time to show off...punching a grenade mid-air? the shit just hit the fan if you ask me...

there seems to be things in this game that I cannot even imagine.

He didn't punch it. He just timed the animation well enough to look as if he did.

Also, his time isn't even the best one.

 

[rollingstart]

the box for vanquish (ps3 version) is funny for two reasons

first, the box quote is from destructoid, and unless I'm mistaken, they trashed the game in a review.

second, it says the game has custom soundtrack support. Vanquish does not have custom soundtrack support.

He didn't punch it. He just timed the animation well enough to look as if he did.

Also, his time isn't even the best one.

so you can't punch a grenade

I was thinking he might have timed it and I think that's actually more impressive in the end.

 

[jetsetfluken]

There is no hype IRL either. Sold one copy since launch and they wanted to return it the same day. Bought it in the morning, tried to return it early in the evening. "Beat it, no multiplayer. Sucks. Give me my money back."

He did not get his money back. :lol

Platinum Games titles just will never hit with the amount of people they should. They're too addicted to the AAA.

Ugh. Exactly the beast that this generation has cultivated in the last few years. It's everything that's wrong with the consumer base of the industry.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Fair enough.

And, for the record, I was never arguing that Vanquish places as much emphasis on story as a Final Fantasy game, just that the story is more present than in a game like The Club.

Link us to the review when you finish.

 

[Retro_]

The only logic I assigned to the Upgrades was that they only appeared for whatever weapon I was using at the time.

he's talking about cubes though

which are universally used for all weapons

 

[Shurs]

Link us to the review when you finish.

Sorry, but I don't link my writing to GAF. Anything I have to say about the game I can say within this thread, and I don't score games in my reviews.

 

[theMrCravens]

Is there splitscreen co-op for this ?

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Sorry, but I don't link my writing to GAF. Anything I have to say about the game I can say within this thread, and I don't score games in my reviews.

I don't care about scores that much(not anymore anyway ); I just like reading. But okay.

Is there splitscreen co-op for this ?

No.

 

[slaughterking]

My game finally arrived today. Played the first two acts and I yes, this game is amazing.
My only gripe are the plenty and badly placed cutscenes. It's not uncommon for them to play in the middle of battle or the nanosecond before I want to engage into robo-beating with a knife between my teeth. It's not terrible, but a game with otherwise carefully crafted pacing should have done this better. And it's not like the cutscenes are particularly interesting anyway. At least they are easy to skip in the upcoming playthroughs...
And I wonder why they only give me two options to customize the shoulder buttons. Did they really think there is no way anyone could prefer a different button placement or why did they not add a few more simple options? :lol Blows my mind, really.

Otherwise it's a one of kind fuck awesome action wonder with ridiculously precise control over your own character and the seemingly uncontrollable chaos around you. It truly is an exceptional achievement.

 

[Y2Kev]

I will compile the names of anyone who gave this less than a 9 and publicly shame them later

my only complaint is that the FMV looks like it is from a dreamcast game

 

[54-46!]

I played the first two acts, good stuff I really like the direction they took with blending a shooter with action game elements, having all the tricky stuff you can do and the ranking after each mission. I want more games to do this, Bulletstorm seem to take the same direction.

.. maybe it's just me having played alot of PC games recently, but I really want this to be 60FPS - there's so much shit going on and it's always moving at mach 10.

 

[LALILULELO]

About the story comments..
The story was just as non-important as in RE4 and Godhand..
But the delivery, characters and overall "plot" were far more enjoyable in aforementioned games.

The tried to make quasi serious but at the same time a parody of itself and the genre it just didn't work here, to me it became more annoying instead of more enjoyable.

Bad one liners can be fun, the Leon/Salazar conversations, although cheesy as hell, were far more entertaining than the Sam, Burns and Elena interactions.

Is it important? To me it isn't, not in a game like this (pure arcade action) its second to the gameplay I now just click everything away.
However I would have preferred it if the story and the characters were more entertaining, making a better overall experience.

Like I said before the RE4 story was cheesy and cliche but at least enjoyable (for me)

 

[Amir0x]

I will compile the names of anyone who gave this less than a 9 and publicly shame them later

my only complaint is that the FMV looks like it is from a dreamcast game

my only complaint is that this game is never going to get a sequel and maybe some developers will take this to mean that this game doesn't have basically the most perfect third person action control scheme/concept ever, and therefore a river of tears should be shed by all with taste

let us mourn this day for quality games everywhere

 

[Lostconfused]

basically the most perfect third person action control scheme/concept ever

Max Payne 2 is still probably better in the shooting things department. At least in my opinion.

 

[Y2Kev]

It's amazing how the controls have 0 lag. Crisp, clean, perfect. And yet you still feel like a mothafuckin tank. Amazing. Mikami just gets it.

 

[Amir0x]

Max Payne 2 is still probably better in the shooting things department. At least in my opinion.

i honestly love Max Payne 2, but don't agree. Max Payne 2's concept is actually fairly routine. Vanquish excels because of its inexhaustible combination of incredible concepts. It combines slow mo, rocket sliding and a shotgun blast to the fucking face with non stop adrenaline and a hit of kicks that snap someone's spine in half. And a cover system so you can take a cigarette break.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Is it important? To me it isn't, not in a game like this (pure arcade action) its second to the gameplay I now just click everything away.

More like a distant fourth behind performance and visuals.

 

[mjc]

I wasn't planning on picking this up til a price drop, but I've decided to award myself by buying this later today. I am shamed.

 

[Animator]

This is a arcade game done to perfection. Bitching about the story on this is like bitching about the story of street fighter.

 

[Lostconfused]

i honestly love Max Payne 2, but don't agree. Max Payne 2's concept is actually fairly routine. Vanquish excels because of its inexhaustible combination of incredible concepts. It combines slow mo, rocket sliding and a shotgun blast to the fucking face with non stop adrenaline and a hit of kicks that snap someone's spine in half. And a cover system so you can take a cigarette break.

No I agree that boost movement, melee, cover all come together to create a better game. When it comes to gunplay though I prefer Max Payne's style of being able to slow mo dive into a room full of bad guys and drop 4 of them before any of them get a shot off.

 

[Saty]

I don't think it's 'unfair' to critic the game on the story - if it was to be disregarded they shouldn't have dedicated substantial portion of the playtime for story-elements which at best hinder the game.

Anyone getting the notion that Slow-mo is crucial element not (only) because of any artistic choice by P* but out of technical and practical reasons? I don't believe the game is decently playable on dual-analogue without it - quick enemies, long distances, enemies on different vertical levels and a 'busy' visual style that more often than not makes it hard to spot the attackers.
And in relating issue, the cover system that shouldn't be there. Slow motion and boost are more than enough in the game - the cover system is the odd man out in all what the game tries to be.

 

[badcrumble]

I agree with Rez that all I could ask for from the story is that it be crazier and funnier.

 

[jetsetfluken]

I will compile the names of anyone who gave this less than a 9 and publicly shame them later

my only complaint is that the FMV looks like it is from a dreamcast game

I was planning on taking the GameInformer review apart piece by piece.

It's all a part of a conspiracy to keep Western developed games in the spotlight and keep Gamestop on top in the US (as they "are" GI) and Western developers to Western press in links and co-operate to produce maximum profits. :lol

But seriously. That GI review made me want to hurl. Someone wanted to get it over with ASAP and convince themselves it's not good, so they can get back to Fallout.

 

[Feindflug]

I don't think it's 'unfair' to critic the game on the story - if it was to be disregarded they shouldn't have dedicated substantial portion of the playtime for story-elements which at best hinder the game.

Anyone getting the notion that Slow-mo is crucial element not (only) because of any artistic choice by P* but out of technical and practical reasons? I don't believe the game is decently playable on dual-analogue without it - quick enemies, long distances, enemies on different vertical levels and a 'busy' visual style that more often than not makes it hard to spot the attackers.
And in relating issue, the cover system that shouldn't be there. Slow motion and boost are more than enough in the game - the cover system is the odd man out in all what the game tries to be.

My main tip for God Hard is to use cover, roll out when your ARS is full, headshot a robut or two with your assault rifle, then roll back into cover and wait for your ARS to fill again. Don't ever let it overrun into overheat mode, and use backpack reloading (or whatever it's called that lets you reload a weapon as you switch to another) constantly.

I wouldn't call the cover system useless...

 

[slaughterking]

It was my honor to fight on your side:

Spoiler

http://i53.tinypic.com/2qajx5d.jpg

 

[Urban Scholar]

The title change is rather amusing but most of my peers don't even know this game exists. For that matter most of the games I find interest in aren't know by anyone.

I found the time to pick this up today. Forgot I had it all paid for well in advance, so I'll be busting a cap in robots in due time.

 

[Beezy]

I wish it would sell decently, but I haven't seen any ads for it anywhere. Hopefully this is because Platinum's and Sega's expectations were low and it didn't cost too much to make.

I just want a sequel. Vanquish made me believe that Mikami and crew could totally make a ZOE style game if they wanted to.

 

[Amir0x]

I was planning on taking the GameInformer review apart piece by piece.

It's all a part of a conspiracy to keep Western developed games in the spotlight and keep Gamestop on top in the US (as they "are" GI) and Western developers to Western press in links and co-operate to produce maximum profits. :lol

But seriously. That GI review made me want to hurl. Someone wanted to get it over with ASAP and convince themselves it's not good, so they can get back to Fallout.

The Game Informer review wasn't actually that offensive at all, really. I don't agree with it, but it's not something worth caring about. No reviews are.

All game journalists reviews everywhere are crap, so there's no use wasting hate on one of them because they complain about something as bog standard as game length or lack of content.

They all suck. We as gamers should all collectively agree to STOP CARING

I wish it would sell decently, but I haven't seen any ads for it anywhere. Hopefully this is because Platinum's and Sega's expectations were low and it didn't cost too much to make.

I just want a sequel. Vanquish made me believe that Mikami and crew could totally make a ZOE style game if they wanted to.

I honestly believe if we had full NPD data, this game would be stunningly low. Something like under 40,000 sales for the entire month, imo. In Japan, I doubt it's gonna be substantially better either. It'd be the most shocking thing ever if this got a sequel.

I hate to be pessimistic but this game did virtually nothing right from a marketing perspective. Shitty game journalists hardly helped them, the level of advertising is shit and the type of ads they had were shit so it won't help them, and the hype level among even the hardcore is alarmingly low. This is going to be Platinum Games biggest bomba yet. Even worse than Mad World, I suspect.

 

[iconoclast]

I wouldn't call the cover system useless...

Yeah, on normal the cover system is just a catalyst that lets you style on some robots in different ways. On God Hard it's pretty damn important if you want to survive. For my current skill level anyway. Maybe in 6 months there will be video of some Japanese player blazing through God Hard annihilating everything in his path.

 

[Beezy]

I honestly believe if we had full NPD data, this game would be stunningly low. Something like under 40,000 sales for the entire month, imo. In Japan, I doubt it's gonna be substantially better either. It'd be the most shocking thing ever if this got a sequel.

I hate to be pessimistic but this game did virtually nothing right from a marketing perspective. Shitty game journalists hardly helped them, the level of advertising is shit and the type of ads they had were shit so it won't help them, and the hype level among even the hardcore is alarmingly low. This is going to be Platinum Games biggest bomba yet. Even worse than Mad World, I suspect.

Yeah, just look at the leaderboards for the first chapter of Act 1. I don't understand why they didn't promote it like they did Bayonetta.

 

[Urban Scholar]

I hate to be pessimistic but this game did virtually nothing right from a marketing perspective. Shitty game journalists hardly helped them, the level of advertising is shit and the type of ads they had were shit so it won't help them, and the hype level among even the hardcore is alarmingly low. This is going to be Platinum Games biggest bomba yet. Even worse than Mad World, I suspect.

But, but, but it has a tv ad that plays on gamestop TV only though. Surely this will help...

 

[Amir0x]

But, but, but it has a tv ad that plays on gamestop TV only though. Surely this will help...

It's a true shame. Like Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, it's a game that came out around the time other more hyped titles came out, yet they were both the game that deserved the sales over the others. They are the ones that the deliver the type of consistent, amazing hardcore gaming experiences that we on these forums love to talk about, but when push comes to shove can't get their mothers to pay the price for it.

 

[Urban Scholar]

It's a true shame. Like Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, it's a game that came out around the time other more hyped titles came out, yet they were both the game that deserved the sales over the others.

You know ever since joining the forums, I've come to realize I'll will find niche titles like Vanquish & the aforementioned a more worthwhile experience than AAA flavor hype of the season. Under-rated elitism? Just a wee bit.

 

[andymcc]

You know ever since joining the forums, I've come to realize I'll will find niche titles like Vanquish & the aforementioned a more worthwhile experience than AAA flavor hype of the season. Under-rated elitism? Just a wee bit.

i wouldn't say that my tastes have expanded as a result of joining GAF, but i would say that i have a way to converse with people that have tastes similar to my own. i have many friends that are into games, but mostly all of them are stuck on hotly-marketed AAA or Nintendo titles.

 

[Amir0x]

You know ever since joining the forums, I've come to realize I'll will find niche titles like Vanquish & the aforementioned a more worthwhile experience than AAA flavor hype of the season. Under-rated elitism? Just a wee bit.

I love many big titles too, but this year especially there were many titles that were heralded by the pathetic "game journalists" over other titles which were less supported, either by hype or actual sales.

In this case, LIMBO came out around the same time as Lara Croft, yet Lara Croft was the infinitely superior value - tons of replay value, way better gameplay, just perfect controls and an incredible turn around story for the Tomb Raider franchise. And then here we have Vanquish, around the time of Dead Rising 2, Castlevania and a bunch of other titles. Dead Rising 2 and Castlevania are massively flawed games, whereas VANQUISH is as concise and refined an experience as it comes - ignorant individuals and/or writers who lack the critical faculties to understand the difference between "lack of content" and "lack of replay value" have cosigned VANQUISH to one of lesser value.

It's a shame but at least this thread has led me to add a few more people to the list of GAFers whose opinion I know I can value.