Low on Substance and Price

User Rating: 6.5 | Vanquish PS3
Vanquish is a glossy, good looking game with a marginal story and enjoyable controls and game play. What it lacks in story it makes up for in variety of environments and enemies. The game is not one I would say I needed to play or have, but when PS+ was giving it away for free, I thought, why not? With a price of free, I can't be disappointed. The game took me less than 10 hours to get through, though I admit I may have set the difficulty to something easier just to get through it.

The story revolves around Russia destroying San Francisco and a special soldier joining the Marines as they try to retake the space station and the weapon that was being used. There are a good amount of twists and turns to keep you engaged, but ultimately you come to this game knowing it is a cover-based shooter. Each mission is scored separately and you can replay any one at any time, but the save file coordinates with the entire chapter, or at least it seemed to imply that.

The controls were very fluid. There were times when you'd try to hide behind cover and the controls wouldn't quite take, but for the most part, I didn't run into any issues and the game never seemed broken, which is something I've encountered far too often these days. I loved the variety of weapons. The only downfall being you could only carry three, much like Gears of War.

And that is really where the praise for this game slows. At every turn I felt like I was playing either Gears of War or Bulletstorm. The story was uninteresting and the characters felt like they'd been thrown together. The voice acting was over-the-top, which probably was how they wanted it, but it felt put on to the point that I wanted the game to be over.

Overall, for a game I paid no money for, it wasn't bad. Considering how old the game is, I also have to give it some leeway there. However, a story that was written as it was has nothing to do with age. The game was fun, but you're not playing for plot, just to shoot things mindlessly, which probably works for most gamers.