Vanquish (AKA the mecha-lover's wet dream) is all about being badass, killing aliens and being badass some more. What did you expect from a game where your basic movement option isn't running but jetpack sliding through walls? It is not entirely clear to me just how this game wasn't among the highest selling titles of the year. Sure, there's the cover based gameplay and there's the over-the-shoulder point of view, but it moves away so much from the basic TPS formula that it may as well be considered a new genre altogether. You won't be stuck in some corner nibbling at the enemies from behind an indestructible wall here: instead Vanquish forces you to literally slide directly into a hostile and jetpack-kick him into oblivion. There's some storyline, but there's no reason why anybody should care about that. The developer had suceeded in creating a brutal and visceral combat, and the game is well aware of that. You will be pushed from one firefight to another in an all too short campaign, but the gameplay experience is still joyous.
