10 Hidden Gaming Gems That You Totally Missed Out On

7. Vanquish

After Gears popularised 'stop n' pop' cover mechanics that would go on do be subsequently ripped off by everybody from the Wanted movie tie-in to 50 Cent on his way to retrieve a certain diamond-encrusted skull in Blood On The Sand (Google it), there is but one other game that actually did something unique and fun with that basic idea. Enter Vanquish, the crazy rocket-propelled Gears-on-steroids that exists in its own cosmos of cult-fandom and self-confidence. By taking the core principles of the aforementioned cover system and putting them through the ringer by way of a character and setting that was completely anathema of what Gears had become i.e. giving you an insanely athletic, backflipping-badass with a penchant for slow-motion mech-destruction, all taking place inside a beautifully rendered world that had more than just greys and browns. The story in Vanquish is absolute toss, but you were never coming here for some narrative luminescence, instead developer Platinum Games (of Bayonetta and Metal Gear Rising fame) knew exactly what they were doing, and appeared to not care less about getting any recognition for their efforts either, with you having to quiz a good few hundred gamers to find any that could recall what this is through a total lack of promotion.