Review: VANQUISH

This is probably one of the most difficult reviews I've gotten myself to write. There are quite a few things I'd like to say about Vanquish but I wonder how and if people will misinterpret my words. On the one hand here's this great developer I hold with great regard. Platinum Games is the most talented risk taking developer in Japan right now. In addition to creating completely new IPs, each of their releases have been unique experiences as well. They should be championed for leading the way in a country that has long been criticized for sticking too much to traditions. But just because I have this respect for Platinum Games doesn't mean that I'll love everything they put out. It also doesn't mean that I won't be critical of decisions they make. And of course, just because they take these risks doesn't mean that they will translate to successes.

Vanquish (Xbox 360)
Developer: Platinum Games
Publisher: Sega
Released: October 19, 2010

In all fairness, the biggest problems I have with Vanquish are factors outside of game design. I think they are problems rooted within Japanese society as a whole and how it mentality effects their daily life, including game design. I've often been seen as the Japanophile of the site and for the most part I'm ok with that stereotype. But there in lies the problem. There are stereotypes present and the Japanese are notorious about wanting to make sense of things by classifying them and put them into categories.

In short this all boils down to how the Japanese developers view Americans or in this case, the game buying public in the US. After playing the story mode of Vanquish, I feel Japan and maybe even Platinum Games is at a severe disadvantage that they may never be able to overcome. If you didn't know, we Americans are largely seen as a country who loves it's military. We embrace guns and violence and the big summer blockbuster action movie. On the surface Vanquish has all the necessary ingredients to create something that caters to the American appetite. But from there on, I really get the feeling that Japan is missing the point completely. I feel as if we're being dismissed for just that surface layer and am almost offended by it.

This is completely not Japan's fault either. Japanese developers have the difficult task of trying to make games for a different country, one with a culture and different outlooks on life which they can't understand. They don't have the capacity to recognize these problems which also means they don't have the capability to fix it either. But because we are the current major video games audience, it means these are steps that have to be taken.

So Vanquish is supposed to be the Japanese Shooter that appeals to Westerners. From first glance it seems like they've gotten the formula down right. The problem is most everything else after that is still insanely Japanese. Now personally, I'm completely fine with that. I've long since said that Japan should keep doing what they do and developing games how they want to. But since we're in a position of Japan trying to be successful developing for America, this is how I'm reviewing Vanquish.

Most of everything in this game appeals to Japanese senses. The over dramatic dialogue. The convoluted political plot. And even the characters and the stereotypical roles they play. If you look at Japanese media, tv, anime, and movies you've seen these familiarities a thousand times over. Instead of creating themes common with the West, Vanquish is a throwback to how it is in the East. You'll see minor attempts at capturing the popular American culture. The main character in Vanquish is even given a background in playing college football. Again, from the surface, this screams America. But a lack of understanding, has this information just thrown out there randomly instead of being used, for example, like Gears of War, which molds the sports star stereotype to create a memorable side character in Augustus Cole. I'm not trying to argue the originality of the character Cole Train but instead trying to prove how a character like that resonates in the American psyche, regardless whether or not it's a stereotype.

I feel that on multiple levels Platinum Games missed the point when trying to recreate this familiarity. Initially I thought that the problems were based on the story taking place in space. But then looking at games like Halo, it's obvious that's not the case. Games like Call of Duty and Gears of War aren't popular just because it's a war and we love conflict. Also having the characters speak like soldiers and curse a bunch doesn't make them more of a badass. I think as American's we love these sorts of stories because it's a reflection on humanity and how America has it's effects on it. We want to play the hero not just for our country but others as well. That's probably because we live in a country that is more diverse than any other.

Again if you look at both games like Gears of War and Halo, there is a specific time, often referred back to, where the world changed. These are given extreme importance and have lore much reminiscent of World War II. The Fall of Reach or E-day, as it's referred to in Gears of War, mimic the significance of an iconic event in American history like Pearl Harbor. They are given proper back story and detail to why they are significant events and I think this is something that we as Americans instantly can have emotional ties to.

But take the example from Vanquish. Russia attacks San Francisco and destroys it via some sort of laser-nuclear satellite weaponry. They threaten to do it again if we do not surrender. Two thoughts come up immediately from this scenario. One, these events seem to mimic the wrong point of view in regards to history. If anything they directly bring up the past of Japan and the events leading to the conclusion of World War II. These are feelings that would be best portrayed towards a different audience altogether. Second, just because you blow up a major metropolitan city like San Francisco does not mean people are going to give a shit. Threatening New York is not going to all of a sudden put fear in game players . And while terrorism can easily evoke feelings of unification, just creating these emblems is not sufficient enough to drive the point home. There has to be some depth within the fiction. The characters need to be relatable. The villains believable. And the world contained within itself. All of which Vanquish does not do. What it does is recreate the Japanese Anime Mecha Genre and over it, they slap a coat of paint that resembles America.

What I find most interesting about the goings on in Vanquish is whether or not it's a social commentary about Nuclear Power, Underhanded Political Dealings, and America's Involvement in those areas. This would be much like the original Godzilla movies being a protest against nuclear weapons. I also find it painfully disturbing that the antagonist country Russia, as well as the game's previous candidate for antagonist China, are both countries that Japan is currently in political turmoil with over land disputes. Is there something more going on there? I'm not sure but it's not in my opinion that you should go making a villain out of someone your country already views that way, even if it is fiction.

The common discussion I've had with others who have finished Vanquish is should there have been a story at all? Would it have been better served if there was minimal story line? And would removing that which took focus away from the gameplay fix the problems. I'll say this is an interesting argument but to appeal toward a larger audience, a story is integral to hooking people who don't just play games just for the mechanical draws. I think most people who are really going to enjoy Vanquish will do so be because of it's depth in combat and uniqueness in playability. Much like why people continue to play fighting games to hone their skills, that's the way I view a player liking Vanquish. It's technically designed on a level, that I think will be lost on a majority of players. I was overwhelmed by all the strategies, options, and complexity. The game should not be played like a traditional shooter mindlessly gunning down everything that moves. There's an elegance behind all the style and I feel there are certain steps that could have been taken to ease players into the depth of combat. There is a learning curve and to the majority it's possible that unfamiliarity will cripple their experience.

To very quickly touch on the actual gameplay of Vanquish, the player's health bar is directly tied together with their boost meter. This makes for an interesting mechanic of constantly monitoring that meter for fear of overheating and being put in a vulnerable state. I love the concept but my problems arise when most of my moves for getting out of danger are tied to that boost meter that I've already depleted. So if I'm in a fight for my life, I can't do the things that would best get me out of that situation. I also can't melee up close enemies as that is tied to the boost meter as well. Naturally this became a reluctance for using my powers for fear of putting myself in a useless state. I feel this could have all been alleviated had the time for overheat recharge been shortened allowing me to get back into the thick of things, the enjoyable part of the game. Another thing that drove me insane is the auto triggering of slow mode. At times in the game, I would get hit with something that caused considerable damage. This cause auto slow mode to trigger in order to give me time to collect my thoughts and evaluate the situation. The problem being that there was no control over the length of this slow mode. It ran continuously until it exhausted my entire boost bar, again leaving me in the situations of vulnerability. Many times I was already out of harms way or had dispatched the enemies in the immediate area, but still had to wait for the bar to completely wind down and then completely recharge from the overheat before engaging again. I found this to be extraordinarily cumbersome.

In the end, what I learned from this review is that I completely do care about story in a game like this. I don't care nearly as much about the technical depth and  since I'm not a huge shooter fan, I need something to tie the package all together. I think the story and world of Vanquish may have been much better suited with a style like the movie Shoot'em Up, which is completely over the top and ridiculous in it's gun play. To hammer this point home, there's even a point in Vanquish where the main character corkscrews through a giant mech. Literally he spins himself around like a top and drills through a robot. But I think Platinum Games chose not to take this route in an attempt to differentiate themselves from Bayonetta. Instead they created a game that was trying to be serious on the surface but in no way could be taken seriously. Just being serious is not why American's care about story. It's about believability and relating to the situation set in front of them. I apologize that my review ended up being mostly about that subject matter, but I felt the topic at hand was whether or not a Japanese Developer could capture the draw of an American shooter. And in this case I felt they couldn't.

Score: 75 out of 100 (70-79%: Solid - A solid title that has a few major issues.)

(Credits to Kedo for the review Banner)

-Side Notes-
I feel that in my review I left out a lot regarding the upgrade system and how the game looks and feels. I suggest listening to podcast 198 to get more impressions as Brad and I talk about specifically gameplay portions.

I've also been in a few discussions about how self aware Vanquish is. There are certain points in the game that Vanquish breaks out of it's over serious tone. It's interesting to note wonder whether Platinum Games was taking the whole over serious tone in a joking manner. There's a point where your character walks in on a bunch of enemies just sitting around dancing. A completely out of character moment in the game. Also the ending credits sequence is very oddly handled with staff members flying in as meteors and you the laser cannon shooting them down. Personally I don't think this is enough evidence to pursue that angle but if that's what they were doing for, it definitely wasn't convey well enough.

It's also notable that the Treaty of San Francisco is what officially ended World War II and that the Soviet Union opposed the agreements partly because there wasn't enough inclusion of China during those proceedings. I always found it odd that Platinum Games chose San Francisco as the target of the game attack. But of course this is all just a conspiracy theory.