Vanquish

Vanquish (ヴァンキッシュ) is a third-person shooter video game developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles. Having been in development since 2007, the game was released in October 2010.

The game was created by the team previously responsible for Resident Evil 4, including lead director Shinji Mikami. Vanquish is notable for introducing several innovations to the 3D shooter genre, including a fast-paced style of gameplay reminiscent of 2D bullet hell shooters, beat 'em up elements, and an original sliding-boost mechanic.

Reception
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Vanquish respectively debuted at number four (48,318 units) and number 14 (11,204 units) on Japanese sales charts during their release week. By the end of 2010, the game sold over 820,000 copies worldwide, and over 830,000 copies as of March 2011.

Vanquish was widely acclaimed by critics, with many reviewers praising the game's visuals, gameplay, innovation, fast pace, and over-the-top style, though some also criticized its short length, lack of multiplayer, mediocre plot, and corny dialogue. GameTrailers gave it a 9.0, noting that it is hard to imagine the slow-motion gameplay working in multiplayer. Game Informer stated "Don't be surprised if you finish your first playthrough in four hours or less." This view was challenged by Platinum Games writer Jean Pierre Kellams and Eurogamer.

Vanquish has received Game of the Year awards from the Classic Game Room, Zavvi.com, and TGN Times. X360 gave it the "Best Shooter" award, and GamesRadar gave it an award for Most "Oh Shit" Moments Per Minute. IGN gave it the "Best Sci-Fi Game" award, and nominated the game for the awards of "Coolest Atmosphere", "Most Challenging", "Most Addictive Game", "Best Visuals" and "Best Blockbuster Game". GameSpot gave the game the awards for "Best Game No One Played", both the editors' award and the Readers' Choice award, and "Best Original Game Mechanic" for its rocket-sliding game mechanic, which acts as both a defensive escape and an offensive setup, opening up new gameplay possibilities for action games. GameSpot also nominated the game for the awards of "Best Shooter", "Best Sound Design", "Best Original IP", "Best Xbox 360 Game", "Best PS3 Game" and overall "Game of the Year".

The game has set a new trend, with its influence seen in recent shooter games that have incorporated similar sliding-boost mechanics. Some of the games that appear to have incorporated similar mechanics include first-person shooters such as Bulletstorm, Crysis 2, and Killzone 3, third-person shooters such as Sega's Binary Domain and Taito's Gunslinger Stratos series, and first-person shooter Titanfall.