Vanquish - A Shinji Mikami joint.

Sinatar wrote:

This game doesn't exist in my city. I've tried all over and all I ever get is a blank stare when I mention the title, usually 3 or 4 seconds before being asked if I want to preorder Call of Duty.

*sigh*

Tell me about it. I went to the one Kmart in my local area and they had all sold out. Guess the $20 coupon/$30 off deal was a hit.

Also, don't know if anyone caught the developer speed run through the demo:

pretty wild.

Switchbreak wrote:
Certis wrote:

I got pretty effusive about Vanquish on the show this coming week. It's such a great, technical action game. I'd never have looked at it without that great demo.

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking your taste in games more and more.

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking the output of Platinum games more and more.

Jonman wrote:
Switchbreak wrote:
Certis wrote:

I got pretty effusive about Vanquish on the show this coming week. It's such a great, technical action game. I'd never have looked at it without that great demo.

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking your taste in games more and more.

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking the output of Platinum games more and more.

I see that brand, I think of the word "skill."

Jonman wrote:

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking the output of Platinum games more and more.

Exactly. I was put off by the presentation style of MadWorld, but Platinum is a developer on my list to keep an eye out for.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking the output of Platinum games more and more.

Exactly. I was put off by the presentation style of MadWorld, but Platinum is a developer on my list to keep an eye out for.

Yeah, Madworld was a bit of a non-starter for me too, but with hindsight, you can see the lineage. Visually arresting, fast paced over-the-top action, and a strong sense of a unique artstyle.

nel e nel wrote:

Also, don't know if anyone caught the developer speed run through the demo

I'll sound like an ass for this, but you'll agree with me once you've played for a while: none of that stuff was super duper impressive. I think knowing what I know now I could shave some time off there, not even considering that starting the QTE at the end of the boss was a huge waste of time. The Argus had a sliver of life left, you could take that off without even knocking out a limb.

Thirteenth wrote:
Jonman wrote:

Between this and Bayonetta, I'm liking the output of Platinum games more and more.

I see that brand, I think of the word "skill."

Funny thing, I just noticed I've bought every single game they developed on day one (Infinite Space for DS is the title not mentioned in the thread yet).

Man, the demo didn't do that much for me and I'm not really planning on picking up the full game - just too much to play - but that video IS pretty badass.

I love this game, but I have trouble playing it for prolonged periods of time. So intense.

gains wrote:

Aww, how can anyone not play with English language when Steve Blum is voicing the sarge? The growl-off between him and Gideon is great!

Steven Blum is in the game? I'm SOLD!

I got him to sign me a message to 'El Taco' early this year!

Certis wrote:

I got pretty effusive about Vanquish on the show this coming week. It's such a great, technical action game. I'd never have looked at it without that great demo.

Damn it, now I have to go download another 50 megs of excellent podcast.

I finally started this last night and played through the first act on Casual. I'm bad at shooters... I got my butt repeatedly handed to me by the first boss, which you see in the latter part of the demo above, being defeated with embarrassing ease. On the bright side, it taught me to start trying to play the game right: manually triggering "AR" (slow-motion) is as vital to getting good at this game as "Witch Time" (slow-motion) seemed to be in Bayonetta.

That demo was educational. I haven't been using the shotgun or sniper rifle, I didn't know you could trigger "AR" in any way but doing a dodge roll, I didn't know you could take over those walking robots if you sniped their drivers. (I've been sticking with the Assault Rifle, Heavy Machine Gun, and Laser Cannon, trying to level them up.)

Since I eventually got good enough at Bayonetta to beat it on Hard, I'm hoping I can get similarly good at this. Both seem to have excellent learning curves. Both manage to be exciting and get my adrenaline pumping without making me tense.

The speed run (and Andrich, damn him) sold me on the game. It was appealing to me in the same way Bayonetta was and just like Bayonetta I'll wait until I only pay $20. Steam has spoiled me so.

Well, that and paying for holiday gifts is a factor.

How do you trigger AR without doing a dodge roll? I don't remember them covering that in the tutorial, although it's been awhile.

Dodge roll then press left trigger.

Ordered...even though I already have Fable 3 and Force Unleashed 2 coming today in the mail. The demo was fabulous. Thanks for the heads up!

BNice wrote:

Dodge roll then press left trigger.

But how do you do it without doing a dodge roll? I noticed in the speed run video that the player was triggering it in midair while vaulting a piece of cover.

Just press and hold down left trigger after you vault. You can use that in different ways as well. When you get home, try this maneuver as it's a ton of fun: slide towards an enemy, while sliding press melee which will make you do a kick flip, mid kick flip press left trigger and shoot some more robots in slow mo.

Edit: Also, you can trigger ARS mode simply by shooting while sliding.

Double Edit: I completely misread your first question. Sorry about that

I'd like to interject that slo-mo while leaping over cover is my favorite move. If done right, you can see over the next piece of cover, headshot the robot on the other side and when you land, run up to that wall and make it your next jumping off point.

gains wrote:

I'd like to interject that slo-mo while leaping over cover is my favorite move. If done right, you can see over the next piece of cover, headshot the robot on the other side and when you land, run up to that wall and make it your next jumping off point.

I had no idea you could do that. I'm so excited to jump back into it now!

gains wrote:

I'd like to interject that slo-mo while leaping over cover is my favorite move. If done right, you can see over the next piece of cover, headshot the robot on the other side and when you land, run up to that wall and make it your next jumping off point.

To feel completely badass, do this, then at the next piece of cover blind toss a grenade over it and while it explodes press the cigarette button.

I have a barely used copy of Fable III I'm looking to trade for this. Anyone interested?

Traded.

About 3 hours in and really, really enjoying this one.

The cutscenes are enjoyably over-the-top and well-executed. The controls are different enough from most action games to make the gameplay interesting, while still remaining ultra-precise. The action is fast enough to get the blood pumping, but not so ridiculously fast that I can't tell what's going on.

It's the rare game that I can envision replaying enough to advance to higher difficulty levels.

Woo! 5 hours and 16 minutes in and I've completed the game. What a wild freakin' ride eh? Such solid gameplay.....so fast I don't know how I kept up.

Story wise though....meh.

Spoiler:

I pretty much walked away from this thinking.."soooo we lost?"

I like how the two defining characteristics of the protagonist are "smoker" and "crazy rocket legs."

He also used to be on the same blitzball team as Jecht. Backstory, son.

I just cracked the shrink wrap on this. The difficulty is punishing but it knows enough to punish me while wearing stiletto heels and a push up bra, so I forgive it.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I just cracked the shrink wrap on this. The difficulty is punishing but it knows enough to punish me while wearing stiletto heels and a push up bra, so I forgive it.

I played on hard out of the gate, because I really dig third person shooters and to extend the life of the game. It never felt cheap, thankfully. I plan to do God-Hard mode and all the challenge maps at some point, self-abuser that I am.

Erm, nevermind the last bit.

imbiginjapan wrote:

I just cracked the shrink wrap on this. The difficulty is punishing but it knows enough to punish me while wearing stiletto heels and a push up bra, so I forgive it.

Oh man. Sigged.

Cool that this game is still being talked about. I was looking for a palate cleanser in between rounds of MK and started playing Army of Two: The 40th Day... but I think what I really want to do is a Hard run through Vanquish.

It's one of the prettiest, silkiest, most challenging third-person shooters I've played this generation. Some of the bosses annoy me but that's a given

On the whole, I really enjoyed the bosses. I kept coming a cropper in the firefights. I haven't finished it yet, having been distracted by many other games, but definitely want to get back to it.

For anyone who hasn't played it, it is a steal at the prices you can get it for now.