http://www.gametrailers.com/video/e3-20 … ish/100954

Now this is a game that will take gaming to the next level. I have a slight interest if Westerners will devour it (game sales wise) like they did with the Gears of War games.

Edit: The character just slide boosted underneath a flying car. Can this game get any sicker? Now we have a 3D incorporation of the coveted 2D slide mechanic (Castlevania, Contra: Hard Corps, etc.). So the game has taken dodging from PN03 to a whole new level (because the crouch roll was too slow and lame). I hope Mikami incorporates pummeling action from God Hand somehow.

Looks like Halo mixed with Bayonetta.

For me, Vanquish looks too much like a cross between Halo and Gears of War with a sprinkle of the newer Ninja Gaiden series (or even Metroid: Other M) to say that it "will take gaming to the next level". So, there isn't anything in that one trailer that I haven't seen before and the only distinguishing factor is the speed which I think could have been implemented in the Gears of War series if the story called for it.

As for whether Vanquish becomes a huge hit over here on the westside, I would have to take a look at the multiplayer/co-op side of the game before I could give an opinion.

Huh? What reminds you of Bayonetta in this?

You've seen a character in a video game boost slide underneath a flying car in a 3D action video game? How is this like Ninja Gaiden?

And yea, it looks like Gears and Halo because it's being aimed for the US audience.

As for what the game will add to the shooter genre that hasn't been done before:

Certainly no other shooter has all of these features: Max Payne bullet time, boost & sliding action, weapon morphing, large variety of close-ranged attacks, and boss battles.

Actually there is no multi-player. It's gonna be like RE4 or like pretty much every other Mikami developed game: single player.

Yea for nonsensical trailer intros.

"We've got approximately eight hours to stop that from happening..."
"We will stop that from happening."

"That" what?  Oh yeah, alien invasion, worldwide destruction, etc. etc.
Game may turn out to be great but they should cut the derivative cinematics and stick with the spastic action in their trailers.

About all I can say at this point is that it's a Shinji Mikami game. The dialogue looks intact.

It seems like one of the other Mikami quotes slightly contradicts your statement as it seems it's being developed for both Japanese and overseas audiences. Though I would like to think it's aimed more at the Japanese crowd in an attempt to create more interest in "shooters" there as the western hemisphere has more than enough shooters.

That aside, I hope they change up the visual style and skill set of the main character so it seems less like a cross between Halo, Gears of War, and Ninja Gaiden.

I was talking about that one semi-flashy close-quarter move I saw, which seems like something that would fit in more with a hack 'n slash game than a shooter. Well, unless it's a deathblow move. I don't know about action games, but Blur certainly has a lot of the boosting and sliding underneath of cars stuff (more intense, too) -- Does that count? Looking back at the sliding underneath the car sequence in Vanquish, it sort of reminds me of the Gears of War 2 roadie run through that huge worm at the beginning.

I don't think Vanquish will have every notable feature that has ever been used in a shooter and who knows how well all its gameplay features will turn out in real time. Like I said in my previous post, I've seen most of this before, so I personally don't see anything groundbreaking about a game that incorporates a lot of previously seen shooter features into its gameplay. And being that this is a shooter, the lack of a multiplayer does take something away from those features.

If it ends up being just a single player game, then I would say it has a 30% chance of being a huge hit, but that's only if it's released in a slow month. The plot/story is a little bland for my tastes and I've seen more interesting lead characters in recent shooters. Without a multiplayer feature and a decent story, the outlook is not so great.

Aw man. Really? You don't want to be like "You got Halo in my Ninja Gaiden. No! You got Gears of War in my Halo. Noo Noo! You got Ninja Gaiden in my Gears of War!" haha.

This game is going to be insane. We don't even know how the scoring multipliers work yet (or if they exist in the game). But assuming they work like RE4 Mercs and PN03, it's going to be like Horde Mode on crack.

Well we can hope they throw in co-op in the sequel. As for story, I can't imagine gamers really caring--we just want to shoot things!

edit: I found the trailer intro hilarious. If it eases any fears about story Mikami was responsible for the creation of killer7 (often cited as having the very best story of a video game).

edit2: In the trailer you can see the word "bonus" when some enemy is killed. I am curious if the distance meter is going to factor into the score. Like the closer you get, the more score you get for increasing your risk (getting up close to the action) in order to discourage sniping/cowardice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLxVt6qxDFM

Shows off melee attacks at the end (when the player stops camping/being boring). When grabbed the character responds like an RE4 grab break. What's cool about this game is that unlike RE4 and Gears, enemies regularly explode (mmm killer7 and Ninja Gaiden2). I am still waiting to see opponents launched into other enemies and exploding on impact for mass damage.

On Aesthetics and Mechanics:

Since I am an RE4 expert I would like to share new insight on Mikami's RE4 game and Vanquish. Due to aesthetic choices Mikami was not able to do certain "disgusting acts of violence" to the Ganados. If you look at Resident Evil, you should remember that you could blow zombies' legs off. This was originally going to be included in RE4 (I cannot find the spong article). Not only that, but other body parts like arms. This was deemed to violent by the ESRB (lol at Japan)--it would have been really cool if RE4 had a down attack ala the old RE games and killer7. The game would have been radically different if legs and arms were allowed to be blown off of Ganados. This feature did make it into the game with the Regenerator though. We all remember how fun that was to spray bullets all over their bodies; we took full advantage of the multiple hitpoints. However, Ninja Gaiden 2 certainly allowed for non-discrimination of limb liberation on all creatures including humans...so the ESRB is a bit confusing; granted some changes took place in rating scale (Mario Strikers got that new weird rating).

For Vanquish Mikami practically has free reign to do whatever depraved stylish acts he wants on robots for American audiences. The aesthetic choice also makes it easier on Japan's censors because they are shielded from seeing human blood spilt. Also of note is that Mikami has been told he is free to do whatever he wants. Mikami is confident and won't let the haters get to him.

The setting of the game is an aesthetic choice to affect cool value:

Just how in RE4 Mikami didn't want Leon to be "too buffed out" (watch the RE4 pre-order dvd), Mikami again doesn't want some beefy character for this game. Which is why the Gears games were a slight to Mikami; look how he openly mocks Gears in the first two lines delivered in the trailer.

Haha, that's awesome.
Good to see the guy has a sense of humor.

Looks pretty good.  Much better than Lost Planet 2 and Devil's Third.  If they put out a demo and I like it, I'll get it when it drops to $30.

Hmm so you are tight on cash, have too many games (or pre-occupied time right now) to play, or do you not believe Mikami games have a "$50" value?

You already posted that one. And it's even less convincing the second time around...

Hmm. Yea. I don't think I really made the point clear enough on the urgency of owning Mikami games and playing them as soon as they are released. As for the insomnia links--I got the message: I will stop posting them.

I have little free time to play games, and I have plenty of games to play, so while I'm working on those, I can wait for a game I think looks cool (but don't absolutely need to own at launch) to come down in price.  It'll be just as good of a game when I buy it for $30 as it was when it was $60.

LOL. I didn't realize it at first, but we're pretty similar. I don't buy games at the rate I used to with Gamecube. That's why I typed $50 price for the game--I have bought a scant amount of games for 360 at this generation's new $60 asking price. Death Smiles at $50 with LTD stuff lets me keep the good times rollin.

source: http://platinumgames.com/blog/

And much more to be read on that site.

(Referring to the initial trailer)

Hillary Clinton as president? It really is the apocalypse...

Granted, either, (1) the REAL Hillary wouldn't be alive in the futuristic time period in which the game is supposed to be based, or (2) the game is supposed to be based in a much earlier, less realistic time period, in which they expect technology to develop much more rapidly from what it is now.

It really IS hard for any Western Sci-Fi military game NOT to look like Halo or Gears of War; they all follow a similar set of aesthetics: Photo-realism, and dark, grey color schemes; seems to be the formula for Western Sci-Fi military games, be they first OR third-person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8qp1Ura0R8

GOTY

Hahaha... I think you're asking to much of the development community there.

Well after reading all the reviews I decided to take the plunge and buy the OST and the game. Its strange really. The game scored at like a 8.5 to 9 everywhere but I still have a rotten taste in my mouth after reading them. Luckily the game rescued me and washed the taste away. The story looked like it was supposed to be something grandiose in Mikami's eyes. What ended up happening was Command and Conquer style cheese. That really doesn't matter though. The action is pumping, the graphics are nice (not impressive but nice), there is an endless wave of enemies and you never feel safe. I spent the entire day playing it just waiting for the end of a chapter or a really long cutscene that I could save so I could do some work around the house. No dice. The game just kept chucking the action in front of me. It was breath taking and exhilarating. About 6 months ago I mentioned to my friend that the game looked like generic mechanical TPS garbage. I had zero faith in it really. What looked like a horrible, bland war game shaped up to be a wonderful shoot n' spray brawler. Oh and I love the way Robert Burns abuses me. It feels so good to have campy Action back. Does anyone else get a Mystery G vibe from him?

Yeah, the game definitely moves at a constant and relentless pace, and chapters take much longer to complete than I thought.

I love the Gears of War meets P.N.03 vibe to the game (they should've made this a P.N03 sequel in the first place), but I'm not feeling anything special from it so far.

It's very good and solid, but it lacks anything really interesting (I'm still only in chapter 1 though), although the boss battles are pretty cool.
I decided to just dive head-first into Hard Mode from the get-go, which poses a good challenge, but not too hard.

Nice game, but nothing mind-blowing.

I played the demo, and I'm not impressed.  I think I officially hate the overuse of "cover-based mechanics" in video games.  Vanquish feels too much like a Japanese version of Gear of Wars.  No thank you.  I did order the OST when I saw that Masafumi Takada was involved, however.

I picked this up today for $11.24 at K-Mart.