Why don't I ever hear about Vanquish?

[bandit0802]

So, I watched the Unskippable video for this game called Vanquish and thought "Wow, that looks interesting." I got it on the PSN and found one of the most fun third-person shooters I've played. The battlefields are chaotic and open, the guns are effective and varied, and the weapon leveling system is simple. But the best part about it is the sliding mechanic. It's fast and allows you to shoot while you're using it, but it's limited and hard to maneuver, which encourages you to not rely on it. I'm not very far into it, but I've been having a blast.

I did a little research and found out that it was directed by Shinji Mikami, the guy behind Shadows of the Damned, Resident Evil, and God Hand, among others.

So, why hadn't I heard about it before Unskippable? Why is no one talking about it? How is it that something so fast-paced and fun just flew under the radar?

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well it's a one off and it was never that widely advertised, I think they only sold about 800k in 3 years now.
I know there is a very dedicated fanbase behind it but marketing always trumps quality when it comes to huge sales.

I would just like to see Platinum port some things to PC, maybe we need some more petitions going...

 

[DoPo]

So, why hadn't I heard about it before Unskippable? Why is no one talking about it? How is it that something so fast-paced and fun just flew under the radar?

Well, I've got no clue why you haven't heard of it - people do mention it often on the forums here and always in a positive light.

 

[The Wykydtron]

It's pretty old by now I suppose. I think it's a Platinum game which automatically makes it AWESOME. Their games have always been at least somewhat niche, with the exception of Metal Gear Rising because, y'know it's a Metal Gear game.

All I remember is that Vanquish gave me a horrible, horrible migraine after not even 5 minutes of playing it. It looked fucking amazing but OW MY HEAD! I NEVER get headaches from games. The last one was Kingdoms of Amalur because the camera was... Weird to say the least.

Bayonetta, the MGR demo etc etc were headache free, I don't even know why Vanquish is so different.

 

[hazabaza1]

Niche-ish one-off title from a Japanese developer with not great marketing.

It's fucking awesome though.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Dont know why you never heard of it there was quite a bit of coverage leading up to its release even if it was overshadowed by Bayonetta I havent played it yet (only the demo) but managed to pick it up for 3 pounds so I reckon I will get my moneys worth and then some.

Main complaint I heard about it was it was short but that dosent bother me, its not a mainstream game however nor is it real niche its sorta in the middle which probably hurt it more than anything plus the zero marketing after release or just before didnt help, why do it way before then stop?

 

[Ascarus]

here is my review of vanguish ... couldn't play it. i simply don't have the hand dexterity to use both sticks (one to aim, the other to maneuver) and multiple buttons at once just to shoot a specific location on a moving target. i never made it past the first boss and after multiple attempts spanning a few months or so, i shelved the game.

might have been a good game, but it frustrated the hell out of me.

 

[b.w.irenicus]

One of the best shooters of this gen, but quite short. Highly underrated.

 

[Baron_BJ]

I loved the game, but it has one MAJOR flaw, one that really guts the game and replay value.
If you use chapter select you lose all your weapon upgrades. If you die you lose some of your weapon upgrades. You desperately need all the weapon upgrades or you will not make it. You will save scum like a ***** to play this game (unless your playing on the shitty difficulties whereupon the game is laughably easy). It utterly ruined the replay value in my eyes; that one fucking godawful design choice ruined so much.

 

[Arslan Aladeen]

I think part of it is maybe cause most saw and played it like a Gears Of War clone, but my personal feeling is the more you get out of cover and push that meter (forget what it was called) to it's limit, the better it gets.

 

[JLink]

I heard about it and played it, but I didn't find it as amazing as everyone else did. Didn't like the feel of the weapons (feel too toyish to me compared to other third person shooters), the environments looked cool at first but after an hour or so I got sick of how everything looked, the dialogue was cringe-inducing and I got no feeling of satisfaction after destroying enemies.

 

[Benpasko]

I think part of it is maybe cause most saw and played it like a Gears Of War clone, but my personal feeling is the more you get out of cover and push that meter (forget what it was called) to it's limit, the better it gets.

This is exactly it. You can sit in cover as much as you want, but the game sucks as a pure cover shooter. The real fun is pushing yourself to the limit running around and meleeing enemies and sliding at 40 miles per hour. The incredibly limited amount of energy you get just adds to this, because you're always flying around so close to death and running out that when you pull it off you feel like a winner.

 

[daveman247]

here is my review of vanguish ... couldn't play it. i simply don't have the hand dexterity to use both sticks (one to aim, the other to maneuver) and multiple buttons at once just to shoot a specific location on a moving target. i never made it past the first boss and after multiple attempts spanning a few months or so, i shelved the game.

might have been a good game, but it frustrated the hell out of me.

Too, bad... You did know to activate the slow-mo during those times right? (helps a lot)


OT: Lack of advertising, simple as. Has garnered a somewhat cult following though. Some of the best use of slo-mo in my opinon, second only to max payne.

Plus it had a smoke button. A whole button, just to take a fag break, could be used to distract enemies too.

 

[Orange12345]

I got it on ps+ a few weeks ago and though it was awesome, even got all the trophies including the challenge ones (the 6th was a *****) the only real complaints I have is that they kept breaking up the game for to many cutscenes and that there just wasn't more content in the game

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

It was a boring, bland and generic shooter despite the "unique" elements. I played as long as I could, maybe chapter 7 ish, but ultimately it was just a boring chore to play. There are many better shooters than this and many more better games overall that I'd rather play than waste my time on something (generously described as) mediocre.

 

[xPrometheusx]

It was a boring, bland and generic shooter despite the "unique" elements. I played as long as I could, maybe chapter 7 ish, but ultimately it was just a boring chore to play. There are many better shooters than this and many more better games overall that I'd rather play than waste my time on something (generously described as) mediocre.

I'll second this. I played it and was completely unimpressed. It had a few unique mechanics, yeah, and it was cool to exploit the shit out of the dodge function for about half an hour. Then it got really, really boring once all the 'look it's shiny!' wore off. I don't even think I completed it, there were better things to hold my time.

 

[Tanis]

It was marketed fairly poorly and it was too expensive when it dropped.

Vanquish is a GREAT game, but it's not 60USD great.
It's more like 40USD great.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

You could beat it in 4 hours if you were competent at playing any game like God of War or Bayonetta. No it's not a brawler, but it also relies on the slow motion button which made it feel like cheating. The game was marketed well enough contrary to what people are saying on this forum, but as soon as reviews came out and called it really short and not worth replays, no one wanted to spend $60 on it. Which makes sense considering it came after Bayonetta, another niche title, but at least it sold enough and was critically acclaimed.

 

[Hazy992]

I fucking love Vanquish, and I seem to be one of the rare people that actually bought the game at launch.

As others have said though, it wasn't marketed particularly well, the short time it took to beat probably put people off and it came out at an awkward time (like a week or two before Black Ops if I remember rightly).

 

[G-Force]

It was a boring, bland and generic shooter despite the "unique" elements. I played as long as I could, maybe chapter 7 ish, but ultimately it was just a boring chore to play. There are many better shooters than this and many more better games overall that I'd rather play than waste my time on something (generously described as) mediocre.

I'll second this. I played it and was completely unimpressed. It had a few unique mechanics, yeah, and it was cool to exploit the shit out of the dodge function for about half an hour. Then it got really, really boring once all the 'look it's shiny!' wore off. I don't even think I completed it, there were better things to hold my time.

It was a boring, bland and generic shooter despite the "unique" elements. I played as long as I could, maybe chapter 7 ish, but ultimately it was just a boring chore to play. There are many better shooters than this and many more better games overall that I'd rather play than waste my time on something (generously described as) mediocre.

I'll second this. I played it and was completely unimpressed. It had a few unique mechanics, yeah, and it was cool to exploit the shit out of the dodge function for about half an hour. Then it got really, really boring once all the 'look it's shiny!' wore off. I don't even think I completed it, there were better things to hold my time.

Medicore and bland? Are you telling me with a game that lets you do this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je1J4TxldPY

Is no different from any cover shooter on the market? Hell when you get in the swing of things it cover becomes something you rarely use. That is by far one of the thoughest challenges in the game as your facing several ingame bosses at once and barely does the guy hide behind a wall