Mikami Gives First Details on Futuristic Shooter Vanquish

The creator of Resident Evil has opened up the curtain on Vanquish, his next project with Platinum Games.

The first the world saw of Shinji Mikami’s Vanquish was a trailer that, while using an intriguing mix of both CG and real-life actors, didn’t really explain what the game was. In a recent interview with Famitsu, Mikami has revealed that Vanquish is indeed a shooter, as would be expected from the trailer, though he wants to differentiate it from the pack.

Vanquish is somewhat of a challenge for Mikami, going for a third-person shooter now in contrast to his action games of the past like Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe. Resident Evil had guns, but I doubt anyone would call that a shooter either. As for why Vanquish will be different from Gears of War or the multitudes of other gun games out there, Mikami says: “Making a normal shooter wouldn’t be interesting, so it has the concept of the feeling of speed and good tempo, and something flashy.” Vanquish could be the spiritual sequel to Mikami’s P.N. 03, it seems.

Mikami is bringing his action game experience over to Vanquish, he believes. “It will be a shooter that places importance on the good tempo and feeling of rhythm you get from playing an action game.” Boss battles may provide the experience of something like God of War, where the action is broken up into varied gameplay segments at times.

The main mechanic that could make Vanquish different is its “Boost” ability. Boosting will allow the player to slide around, closing a gap between an enemy to reach melee range, or quickly hiding behind obstacles. The gameplay is currently described as “move quickly, take out enemies, then hide.” The player does not collect weapons, and instead his weapon will change shape depending on its use. There is also a bullet-time mechanic that involves close range attacks, which might be something a little different.

Lastly, Vanquish doesn’t actually involve an alien attack, as the trailer made it appear. The game’s story involves a standoff between Russia and the United States in the near future, so all of the robots and other technology shown are controlled by human hands.

These new details give Vanquish more potential than it had as a simple idea, as I like the idea of a character in a shooter that is more mobile. A small selection of new screens is available on Vanquish‘s website.

(Via: Andriasang)