One has to ask: how does the government get funding for all the fancy doohickeys in shows like Patlabor and Casshern? In Vanquish, the US army somehow manage to come up with funding for not only a white-washed suit called ARS, but also for a white-washed training room with sterile-looking training dummies and giant metal hatches made for punching. One also has to  wonder how the Russian army (the antagonists in the game trying to rule the world with a high-powered satellite) get the funds for the endless slew of red-colored robots they seem to throw in infinite quantities at hero Sam Gideon’s direction.

Thankfully, we don’t need to answer such trivialities; all that you need to know about Vanquish so far is that you blow stuff up real good and cruise along for the ride at blazing speed. You see, what separates Vanquish from other shooters is its Boost system. Pressing the L1 lets main character Sam slide on his robo-suit knees and speed off to any direction of his choice. He can also dodge and slow down time (dodge with X and a direction while holding L2). The time-slowing mechanic also triggers when Sam is critically injured.

Of course, you can’t keep using these abilities whenever convenient; they use up your ARS meter (bottom right) and you won’t have access to them for a short time when it’s drained out. Combat in Vanquish is a matter of taking cover, boosting your way to any part of the map and also away from enemy fire, and using the time-slowing mechanic to take out multiple enemies in one go.

Sounds simple, yes, but only in theory. In practice, you will need some time getting used to the fact that (a) Sam is weak as a kitten when hit by a single shrapnel of a rocket launcher, (b) meleeing someone will drain all your ARS meter, and (c) taking cover is assigned on a separate button (Square in this case), not on the same button as the dodge (the X button). For those used to playing Gears of War or any shooter with cover-heavy mechanics, you’ll need to adjust to that mindset; I did get killed a couple of times because I keep spamming X near a closeby pile of rubble that could give me temporary shelter from hailstorms of artillery. There’s a tutorial in the already-out-on-US-PSN demo, so at least you can get acclimatized to Vanquish’s mechanics and controls.