Blog Post: 2 games I missed that you shouldn't

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Well, we're into the dry spell of 2011. Typically the first few months of the year are slow ones for video games, a fact that seems to be especially true this year. Thankfully, 2010 was such a great year that there are still plenty of games I've got lying around that I need to play. Two of these games are what I'm blogging about right now, because they're both awesome games that may have been overlooked by a lot of people.

First up, Vanquish, (360/PS3) the latest from SEGA and Platinum Games, this one being directed by Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil. I'm not a person who usually gets into shooters, especially those in the 3rd person. But I have to say, Vanquish is one of the most fun and exciting action shooters I've experienced in a while. Rather than being slow and clunky like Gears of War, Vanquish gives you the ability to do powerslides, awesome melee attacks that involve your character jumping into the air, and it goes into bullet time whenever your health is low and it starts to regenerate. I'm just having a blast with this. The visuals and art direction are pretty amazing, at times reminding me a little bit of F-Zero, especially when set pieces take you onboard a moving platform and you have to shoot pursuing enemies. The bosses are epic in scope and quite a challenge but the game never gets too frustrating, and despite the terrible story, dialogue, and voice acting (which is about as cheesy as cheesy can get) the cutscenes are pretty epic.

It's a lot of fun and definitely worth playing. This one, like the other game I'll be talking about in this post, would have been one of my GOTY nominees if I'd gotten to play it in 2010. Vanquish is around $40 now so it's a definite buy.

Screenshots really don't do this next game justice. Red Steel 2 (Wii) is a beautiful-looking game, with a visual style that reminds me of the fantastic cult flick, A Scanner Darkly. The gameplay's awesome too, making great use of the Wii's Motion Plus attachment for sword-swinging and shooting accuracy that I haven't seen yet in a motion controlled game. There's a pretty big arsenal of combat moves you can use against the enemies you fight, and you continue to learn more and build your skills up as the game goes. Like Vanquish, the story's pretty dumb, but like Vanquish, the cutscenes are stylish and end up being a lot of fun to watch. Games like this are the reason you bought the Wii: they're the reason the Wii was created to begin with. So definitely give Red Steel 2 a shot. Game's on clearance now for only $20 (and that's bundled with the Motion Plus) so get it soon before it's discontinued!
(review coming soon.)