Vanquish Demo PS3/X360

[Kongster]

Downloaded the PS3 demo from the US PSN store this morning, and I have to say that the game looks great on the PS3. From what I (briefly) played of it so far the gameplay seems rather uncompromising but rewarding at the same time, and not to mention insane!

I'm liking the Turbo boost feature. I think it's fantastic as it allows you to speed up the action, close in on your enemies and hit 'em up with some melee attacks if you wish. Spamming the Turbo boost, however, will get you killed in no time.

Will play a bit more later in order to try and fully get to grips with the system. That's where the tutorial mode comes in handy!

[MisterBubbles]

Well i enjoyed the demo, but there's no original ideas there, but im down with that , its gears of war plus MGS plus lost planet 2 , especially the gruff voice lead Sam , who want to be Snake's chain smoking little brother.

[Spatial]

Even with the tutorial I found this to be messy. After Bayonetta being so approachable this doesn't half feel like a step backwards (before tumbling over some bin bags and down a flight of stairs).

I love the setting and the amount going on / particle effects are incredible. But the Bayonetta demo grabbed me straight off, giving me a big cuddle and clutching me to her witchy bosom whispering

"You know what, it's OK if the other l33t games laughed at you, I won't do that."

Vanquish however, seems to be extending it's arms to draw you close and then delights in repeatedly hitting you right in the nose shouting:

Man up you frickin nancy boy! This has robots and marines so it's hardcore time!!!!!!!

The mechanics felt alien to me despite the tutorial - it just didn't gel straight away, whereas Bayonetta just made you feel included from the start. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and on Normal I kept getting my arse handed to me.

Should I stay in cover? Should I be on the move constantly? Should I be aiming to get in close for the melee attack? Why does my suit keep restricting what I can and can't do with it's overheating?!

Okay, so the melee attack powered by the suit if stupidly powerful and I can see why the needed to limit it, but the cool down period it requires is a bit daft, especially when it cripples your sliding dodge move and leaves you way too vulnerable. It's the same as if Bayonetta had decided to limit you as to how many times you could activate Witch Time.

Perhaps it's a bad demo. Perhaps I need to spend more time with it and learn what I'm doing - the Auto mode does make it much easier but then I feel like I'm cheating (and I didn't play Bayonetta that way).

It does seem like the "easy to learn, difficult to master" of Bayonetta has been tossed back out the window and replaced with that stale old, "difficult to learn, and if you're finding it difficult, I will laugh in your face and punch you right in the gut!" *hoof*

It's the same awful approach that Devil May Cry took and made me feel like I was a simpleton. I don't pay to play games like that any more (which is probably an age thing).

The Bayonetta demo sold me on the game straight off - Vanquish's demo means I probably won't be touching this until it's sub £20

[Darwock]

It's a bit hectic, that's for sure. I think I was running around shooting at my own team for quite a long time. You seem to be able to take an awful lot of punishment though. Also, Robert Burns? What?

It's pretty much a straight shooter, right? No combo meters or anything that I noticed.

[Eight Rooks]

Complete opposite here - it's confirmed it's a day one purchase. Yes, it's difficult, but not that difficult... I mean, the only point I've died is on the boss. Cover and blindfire will still get you past an awful lot. It's not quite as slick as Bayonetta - the knee slide looks daft when you're powering into a wall, every bit as silly as shootdodging in Max Payne - but it still works wonderfully.

It is Bayo with a sci-fi makeover, yes, but even from a casual play it feels appreciably different enough that it seems they'd both still be great fun to stick with. It's fast, frighteningly so, but it is doable. You can still brute force through it - it didn't feel remotely as alienating as DMC to me. And even flailing around like an idiot it's still frequently glorious.

If the full game keeps up this pace I doubt I could ever touch Gears of War again. Sorry, Epic.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm fairly sure I noticed a score going up the few times I managed to pull off anything fancy. I don't know where it went or what it did, if anything, though.

[Silvergun X]

Is this up in UK then?

I will be hammering this as soon as i'm at home.

[Kongster]

It'll be on the UK PSN store sometime this afternoon, I believe.

[Nisa]

Didn't have much of a problem getting through the demo myself and I'm hardly the greatest at action games like this, certainly didn't feel it was as punishing as Bayonetta. It's very much like a Japanese Gears of War which is fine by me as I love Gears 1 & 2. The only thing that confused me slightly at first was how the health system works but it seems to be the same as just about every western shooter i.e. Gears,Call of Duty etc.

[Akira]

patiently waiting for an EU release on either XBL or PSN. Hurry up!!

[MisterBubbles]

patiently waiting for an EU release on either XBL or PSN. Hurry up!!

Get yourself an american PSN account you'd be playing from last night

[Akira]

^ how complicated is the process?

[Shozuki]

managed to squidge this in during my Metroid session, and I personally think its awesome, its a 3rd person shooter with some added depth and challenge. Looks lovely too. I didnt actually get into Bayonetta but this is definitely a day 1 purchase for me!

[Uli]

can someone comment on the visual inconsistencies between gameplay and cut-scenes i noticed in the 360 demo build playable at gamecom. how is the situation on PS3?

[SuperBeatBoy]

Just played this, god it made me SEX WEE! Its like PN03, but even better. ^^

[teddymeow]

Just played this, god it made me SEX WEE! Its like PN03, but even better. ^^

My sentiments exunctly.

It's the E3 demo but without the pressure of havin Kamiya and Mikami around so it's fine that I suck at it!!

Day 1 buy fo'sho!