Vanquish, pt.1: Overview

This weekend I plowed through Vanquish and I wanted to share my thoughts. This should be a short review, however, as they aren't that extensive.

Overall, the game was fun despite story and character being thin because it made me feel like a proper badass. Advancement was weak but effects, kinesthetics, and core mechanics evoked a strong sense of power, technical skill, and challenge mastery; and level design threw enough curve-balls to keep me engaged. I could imagine some players not having the same sense of skill or mastery if the controls were a bit much (they kind of are), or they disconnected in frustration with its obnoxious death penalties instead of trying to improve to avoid them, but I bet most people who would even be interested in the game wouldn't be hindered by it.

Topics that seem worth getting into are:

• Story and Setting
• Kinesthetics and Mechanics
• Death and Challenge
• Tweaks

I'll probably slam through most of the list in the next part.