Game Preview: Vanquish

            Being punched in the face is not normally a good sensation, yet I found myself thoroughly enjoying the metaphorical equivalent in the newly released, super-quick paced demo for Platinum Games’ upcoming ‘third-person action shooter’ game Vanquish.

           

            From the outset, Vanquish looks like the lovechild of Gears of War’s or Uncharted’s third-person cover-based shooter mechanics and Halo’s sleek sci-fi, space marine sheen – a combination that has seen many people dismiss it for being “just another shooter”. However what this game truly has to offer makes it a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant, over-saturated market. This game is Gears of War on ‘roids.

            You take on the role of Sam Gideon, a battle-hardened military man who is the brains behind a new, experimental piece of battle armour – the A.R.S. (Augmented Reality Suit). Gideon, along with his suit and a whole battalion of marines are dispatched to a space station that has fallen under attack from Russian forces. Platinum Games have always been one for surprisingly western storylines considering their Japanese origin, and the meshing of this narrative with the absurdly crazy and slick gameplay and art design Japanese developers are famed for lends for a truly unique and enjoyable title.

            The demo is presented similarly to the one Platinum put together for their last release, Bayonetta; featuring two parts of an early level (in this case, ‘Act 1 – Level 3: Giant’). The first section introduces you to the core gameplay elements of running, gunning and covering.

All basic stuff, right?

Wrong. One press of a button and you find Gideon blazing across the battlefield thanks to his rocket-propelled mech suit. Start shooting while sliding and you enter Augmented Reality mode; where the world around you grinds by in slow motion as you pick off enemies one by one with deadly accuracy. The action in this game is fast – and that’s an understatement. If you don’t keep moving, you’re going to find yourself coming under heavy fire from the very smart A.I. of the enemies and visiting the game over screen often. Thankfully, the NPC allies are also smart enough to look after themselves and not get in your way.

The second part of the demo is a boss battle against a giant robot that puts even the most epic of Bayonetta’s foes to shame. I found myself zipping around the arena-like level avoiding an endless onslaught of attacks, trying to wear down the enemy’s armour until its core revealed itself to the business end of my sniper rifle. This process was both fluid and an enjoyable challenge – taking me the better part of twenty minutes to take the behemoth down!

One major worry many have had while observing the development of this title has been whether or not the frame rate could hold up or the graphics remain looking so sharp with so much happening on the screen at once, what with the two army factions going head-on with bullets, missiles and debris filling Gideon’s field of vision. However, while playing I noticed not one moment of lagging or graphical inconsistency at all and it appears the PS3 won’t be getting shafted like it did with the terrible port of Bayonetta, as the console is being used as the lead to design the game and the demo appeared as smooth as could be.

There were a few issues I had with the demo, such as the camera not being quite quick enough to keep up the insanity of the action, which hopefully will be fixed before release. The voice acting, too, seems very over the top. Yes, we understand that characters are bad ass space marines here to blow sh*t up and be done with it, but it appears Platinum Games wanted to make extra sure we knew it – the two leading males’ voices could be likened to Solid Snake talking in unison alongside Christian Bale’s Batman, with extra gravel shovelled down their throats. Oh, and not forgetting the button solely assigned to lighting up a cigarette in the middle of the battlefield!

This brief look at Vanquish and its world elevated this release from a possible low-price pick up, to a potential day-one purchase for me. Everything seems to be in place for an exciting deviation from the run-of-the-mill shooters that litter the gaming market these days, and with promises of varied missions, countless collectables and high replay value, the final product looks set to vanquish the competition (pun!).

The demo is now available on both the PlayStation Store and Xbox LIVE Marketplace, with the final game set for release on October 22^nd (E.U.). Expect a full review around that time.

Movie Review: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

            I am a gamer. The ideas of health bars, 1-ups and enemies bursting into coins are not alien to me; they are ones I grew up with. That makes me, it seems, the kind of audience Edgar Wright’s latest film – Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – is aiming for, which is both its biggest strength and greatest weakness. It is filled with so many references to not only classic video games but also television, comics and movies, that it becomes something of a pop culture cocktail that will have would-be nerds salivating into their popcorn, though it may find the uninitiated’s interest waning at what seems to be a meaningless mess of bright lights and flying fists.

            Scott Pilgrim, played fantastically by Michael Cera, is a charmingly awkward slacker from Toronto who finds himself falling in love with the girl of his dreams (literally), Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). Yes, this is Cera playing yet another clueless, hopeless romantic, but having read the series of graphic novels the movie is based on I find it hard to imagine anybody else stepping into the shoes of the nerdy layabout – he captures the geeky nature of the character perfectly. And this is a character that is well fleshed-out; he is a flawed individual and his actions are not all one-hundred percent honourable, making for a surprisingly interesting hero to follow. Other characters are also brilliantly realised in their transition from print to big screen: newcomer Ellen Wong puts in a great turn as Scott’s initial high school girlfriend, Knives Chau, and Alison Pill as drummer Kim Pine is divinely sarcastic, providing a great launch pad for much of the film’s humour, while Jason Schwartzman gives us a terrifically loathsome villain to hate upon.

            Even though the rest of the cast are stellar in their performances, none of the characters bar Scott’s nearest and dearest are fleshed out anywhere near as much as they should be. It is disappointing that a roster of such fantastic characters in the graphic novels suffer from such neutered development, though any film attempting to fit a series of six books into a two hour slot was inevitably destined for severe cuts, and in all fairness the movie works wonders with the runtime it has, but one can’t help wonder how much more gold could have been mined out of the source material had the story been split across two or three instalments.

            The time Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World does have is spent primarily on action. Scott must defeat his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes if he wishes to keep dating her, and this is where the true meat of the film lies. Essentially being a romantic comedy, it was very surprising to see how well choreographed the fight scenes turned out. These were some of the most stylish, frantic and down-right absurd battles to grace cinema screens since this summer’s blockbuster Inception or even the past decade’s Matrix trilogy, with the entire cast involved being very convincing in combat. Who knew Michael Cera could be such a bad ass?

This is also where the heavy-hitting video game references come into play, with health bars and hit points flying into the air, oversized weapons being pulled out of nowhere and enemies bursting into coins. This isn't taking into account the plethora of sound bytes from games such as Zelda, Super Mario Bros. and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as a Sims-like “pee bar” that appears when Scott visits the bathroom. Realism certainly is not top priority in this film, but Edgar Wright implements them in such a way that by the time the movie has reached the first ‘boss battle’ everything falls into place and even the most over-the-top moments flow naturally from the narrative. Video game fans will rejoice at moments like these, while others may get the joke or miss the point completely.

            The editing also deserves major praise. Little moments like whenever Scott’s hair is mentioned and he is suddenly shown wearing a hat in the next shot or having conversations take place over numerous timeframes and locations go a long way to give the film that comic book feel without seeming overtly gimmicky.

            The final piece of this epic puzzle is the music. Bands play a huge part in the graphic novels and this adaptation is no different. Scott’s band Sex Bob-Omb (yes, that’s another gaming reference!) sound exactly like I imagined they would when reading the book; absolutely terrible but great and infectious at the same time. The other numerous bands throughout the film all have great songs written by real musicians like Beck and Metric and they fit the feel of the film perfectly. Not forgetting the excellent score composed by Nigel Godrich featuring 8-bit style tracks that really completes the atmosphere, the best example possibly being before the movie even begins: an 8-bit rendition of the Universal Studios theme and logo.

            Despite poor character development and a somewhat rushed second half, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is a fantastic movie that is the best possible adaptation of the graphic novels any fan could wish for, as well as being a great stand-alone experience that anyone who enjoys being entertained will love. Some may be turned off by the frantic pace and the tidal wave of pop culture references – it is certainly a piece for the MTV generation – but I have no problem recommending it to anybody willing to give it the chance it deserves.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Am I Dreaming?

I just dreamt you read this. Is that weird?

"No... No. It's just, like, this really convenient subspace highway happens to go through your head. It's like three miles in fifteen seconds..."

Oh.

Anyway, as you're here... Welcome to my blog, where you'll get an insight into what's going on in my head. I'll mainly be posting reviews of movies, albums and games as well as some entries on whatever happens to be going through my thinker at any given moment.

I hope you enjoy your stay!