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Vanquish
PlatinumGames’ revolutionary sci-fi action shooter slide-boosts onto PC. Battle legions of future-tech enemies using a vast arsenal of weapons, including all DLC. Fully unlocked framerate and gorgeous HD resolutions up to 4K. The definitive way to play: war has accelerated.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
75 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“It took a while for the game's approach to click with me, but it eventually did. The way your bullet time and movement work off of the same resource creates a combat system that's simultaneously methodical and tactical,…”
“It's like Metal Gear Rising but with guns. Bravo Mikami”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Generic sci-fi story, flat character writing and poor voice acting. Yet so much fun! The shooting and mobility is just fantastic. Simple upgrade system for weapons, and plenty of playstyle variety. Surprisingly cool…”
“i played this when i t first dropped 15 years ago and was amazed. i played the hell out of it. so happy to stumble on it years later in steam. 10/10 for sheer fun!! the storyline is corny, the script is hella corny the…”
“[b] Style over cover ALWAYS. [/b] [h3] Pros: [/h3] Sam is a very cool character, the game has aged okay, the gameplay mechanics can be VERY high ceiling if you do not know what you are doing, I recommend watching Ziko…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“What an epic rollercoster of emotions did I get from this game. Extremely satisfying gameplay, epic battles. Sometimes that's all you need.”
“Good game, I don't understand how it flopped back in the day. Dev really did try to get creative with the story. That may have offended some people I guess. Anyway good game.”
“Fun combat, great story and the final act was awesome”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I love Vanquish, it's an amazing game but sadly they NEVER fixed the bug where you get more than damage than you should due to the game running at higher framerates. The unlocked framerates are mentioned as a selling…”
“Played on PC/Steam Deck. Steam Deck held up really great for this title, although battery life is about 2ish hours on one charge. The game did have a few minor things that I wish was fixed. I had glitches where the my…”
“Fun. Punchy (and crunchy). Doesn't overstay it's welcome. Knows what it is and leans all the way in. Great port of a game from an era that wasn't known for good ports (when they happened at all). I'd heard a lot of…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“It took a while for the game's approach to click with me, but it eventually did. The way your bullet time and movement work off of the same resource creates a combat system that's simultaneously methodical and tactical,…”
“Goes from 0-100 often on hard mode! Strikes a great balance between cinema and hardcore gameplay. The stat tracker after each mission makes this very replayable! 10/10 (There is another tier of difficulty after hard…”
“An incredible blend of cover shooter pastiche, premium arcade action and stylish B-movie excess that becomes less than the sum of its parts more often than you'd like it to be. At least challenge mode is there to…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“Dated shooter so rife with cliches it's laughably bad. If this were a movie (and the 10 minute first level cutscene tried to be one), it'd be a direct to DVD bargain bin. Thematics aside, the mechanics are shallow at…”
“It's not a bad game, but it's meh at most, even considering it's old now. The gameplay is OK, story is run-of-the-mill. Only 6.5h to beat it at a slow pace, that's not a lot. My biggest pain is that the gameplay is…”
“For the reputation this game has it is EXTREMELY ok and mediocre. If you like cover shooters from the GOW era then sure i guess but myself i've played a gazillion versions of this game already it feels like so it really…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 14 of them still recommend the game.
“Dated shooter so rife with cliches it's laughably bad. If this were a movie (and the 10 minute first level cutscene tried to be one), it'd be a direct to DVD bargain bin. Thematics aside, the mechanics are shallow at…”
“Vanquish is a really fun shooter, that goes all out from the first moment. Don't be distracted by the testosterone overload or the weak plot, the gameplay is where it's at. It's quick, you have a load of options how to…”
“It's not a bad game, but it's meh at most, even considering it's old now. The gameplay is OK, story is run-of-the-mill. Only 6.5h to beat it at a slow pace, that's not a lot. My biggest pain is that the gameplay is…”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“It's not a bad game, but it's meh at most, even considering it's old now. The gameplay is OK, story is run-of-the-mill. Only 6.5h to beat it at a slow pace, that's not a lot. My biggest pain is that the gameplay is…”
“This game is underrated, and its really fun but also short unfortunately, but really good, i recommend it”
“Absolutely incredible third person shooter, with tons of techniques to master, but it is the definition of something that ends when it should've started.”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“I'm not typically into shooters, but I had the itch for something like this and heard good things. Well, those good things are true. This game is just so cool. It's hard not to feel like a badass as you slide across the…”
“Decent game I enjoyed it a bit even though some parts are really annoying and sometimes get one shoted by mini bosses. Decent story too I guess sucks that it left off on cliffhanger. Also I'm not fan of the controls its…”
“Vanquish is a movement shooter without a jump or wallrun. Instead, it straps rocket boosters to your suit for sliding around and lets you trigger slow motion to manage the resulting chaos. Both abilities use up your…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“It took a while for the game's approach to click with me, but it eventually did. The way your bullet time and movement work off of the same resource creates a combat system that's simultaneously methodical and tactical,…”
“A nice 6.5 time. Gameplay never does anything different. You never get new abilities, and upgrades are largely useless. Level design is hit n miss, and it feels like half of them aim to LIMIT your movement which is just…”
“Turn of your inner critic. Give into the flow of the game. Do not think too hard. Pros: Overall, game has nice dynamics and atmosphere. Shooting feels nice. Good mix of mechanics. Nice bgm. Cons: Some mechanics are…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 89.6% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“16 years later and this game still kicks tits. The method of dodging from cover, activating slow motion, shooting and evading is some of the most beautifully choreographed gameplay that is still super fun to play. If you enjoy third person shooters definitely play this. Just…”
— a player, Steam review · 9 hrs played“This is metal gear rising, but as an action shooter. Except Sam in this game is actually badass. Hidden gem, no idea why is this game not more popular [spoiler]if you dislike the game, at least you get to shoot developers in the end 👍🏻[/spoiler]”
— a player, Steam review · 16 hrs played“Why does John Vanquish have a visor over his mouth and not his eyes? Why can he baseball slide at 30 miles an hour but can't run? Fantastic game”
— a player, Steam review · 8 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
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http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/28757520/b69680d8bc6e1f3593698abd889899479e8490ea.png
Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action |
| Player tags | Action · Third-Person Shooter · Sci-fi · Singleplayer · Fast-Paced · Shooter · Third Person · Bullet Time · Futuristic · Mechs · Robots · Arcade (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Full controller support · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Remote Play on TV · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian * , German * , Spanish - Spain * , Japanese * * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 50 |
| Official site | http://www.vanquishgame.com |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Microsoft Windows 7 / 8 (8.1) / 10 Processor: Intel Core i3 (2.9 GHz) or AMD equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Dx9 compliant video card with 1 GB VRAM (Nvidia GeForce 460 or AMD Radeon 5670) DirectX: Version 9.0c Storage: 20 GB available space Additional Notes: Microsoft no longer supports Windows 10 or older versions