After being in development for well over three years SEGA and Platinum Games have finally announced a release date for their video game Vanquish for the PS3 and Xbox 360: October 19. This week a demo was released, showcasing a prequel to what's to come in this upcoming title. I came out of this demo with many high hopes, but not without a couple concerns.

In the demo players take control of Sam Gideon, a government agent suited in battle gear to help the US defeat the Russians, who have captured a space station to use its energy to destroy various American landmarks. (You can add your own Cold War joke here.) During the Vanquish demo you take down enemy soldiers and the robots they control, leading up to a massive boss battle involving a giant robot with a weakspot or two. I won't lie and say that the boss battle here will probably take you a long while to accomplish, and you will probably die a few times before you figure out how to complete the level. This is why I believe that having a good strategy -- as well as a strong trial-and-error process -- will play an important key role in Vanquish during the long run.

Playing the Vanquish demo was similar in vein to many of the recent third-person shooters, including Gears of War and Monday Night Combat. You aim, shoot and sometimes chuck grenades at the opposing forces. If you are seriously injured during the fight the game slows down to a nice bullet-time mode, where while you search for cover to heal you can return enemy fire and still manage to dodge theirs. (At first I was confused as to what was going on when this first happened, and was thinking Gideon was near-death.) In regards to the boss battle players will have to weaken the robot in order for it to expose its soft spot. It's a tough battle, but fortunately if you do wind up dying you'll just start from the beginning of the battle, and not the start of the level.

Graphics in the game are gorgeous, and is perhaps the best-looking game SEGA has put out. On top of that the music and sound in the demo definitely knows how to set the mood and atmosphere in what's to be expected from the full game. The quality of its appearance and sound are nearly on-par with some of the CGI effects in the most recent of blockbuster films (especially the boss bot at the end, who looks like he could've just trampled on-set from the Transformers movies).

I had issue from time-to-time with the control scheme for the Vanquish demo, however, which may make it a tough sell in the long-run. Switching weapons is tricky (using the regular D-Pad on the PS3 version), and why they didn't put the grenade-throwing maneuver on L1 instead of the current Triangle-button is beyond me. (If shooting your gun is R1, it should have been a no-brainer to put grenade-throwing on the opposite side.) I do have to give credit with the aiming system, which helps to easily point out your enemies and fire when ready. Granted you'll have to do a little searching around to scope out for enemies, but once you find one of them killing them is literally as easy as a simple push of a button.

All together the demo for Vanquish has left me very optimistic about this game. If the rest of the game is anything like this demo then we can expect a mighty fine title in the end. Let's just hope they fix the control scheme near the end, or make it so you can do custom controls. I'd hate to waste perfectly good ammo because of where a certain button is placed.

Demo Grade: 8.5 (out of ten)

Day Two of PAX EAST and Panda's had her hands on a lot of things...most recently Red Dead Redemption.

It is day two of PAX EAST and I have laid hands on Red Dead Redemption. Needless to say, this was a title that a lot of media wanted to get some hands on time with since the line was lengthy from the get-go. The screens around the booth were rolling with footage of game play and even some snippets of cool elements that will make your time in this interactive world a lot more enjoyable.

The gameplay seems a lot smoother from what was shown and played over at PAX Prime, and even though I wasn’t privy to that particular experience;the slight pre-demo buzz from the line voiced concern over sluggish loading screens and game controls. Having no experience with this game’s predecessor, Red Dead Revolver; I had no formed opinion about it. I could tell that Nick, the man who gave the demo was truly passionate about what he was showing me.

When it came time for me to wander through this dried up shriveling frontier, I felt assured enough that I would adapt quickly. I didn’t have to worry about that too much since they mirrored the mechanics used in the Grand Theft Auto series.

The thing I am most looking forward to from this title is the exploration of the ever- expanding sandbox world. Right off the bat, Nick was quick to mention that this sandbox world is far bigger than any that Rockstar has ever created. Size isn’t all that’s going on here; action is all around you—wild feral beasts that can and will attack you at a moments notice, a new variation of the wanted system, and even a fame/honor system that can shift the course your story will take. These are all things we, in the gamerdom are familiar with but sometimes even the smallest change will have a lasting effect on you.

Also out of the corner of my little panda eye, I noticed that on the main screen of the demo was a multi-player option. There was no information on that aspect for Red Dead Redemption. In most of my other third-person shooters, I always want to see a mode of gameplay that would allow me show off my hot shot skills on unsuspected fellow gamers. It also gives me a place to team up with friends to take on a green patch of newbies. This is always good in my book.

Outside of the long press wait, the demo was worth it to me. This isn’t to say that others will share in my opinion but I am looking forward to its May 18th release.

In this episode of the podcast, NinJaSistah and Pandalicious talk about video game franchises and sequels on the current console generation and the observed emergence of a new video game genre, "psychological thriller." The conversation then turns to re-defining the "mature" game label and ponies.

Need a bit more convincing that this episode is interesting, check out some of the titles we came up with, but didn't use:

• Losing a Finger for Valentine's Day
• I Know All About Horses – I've Read Animal Farm
• See SAW? Not Me
• and finally
• Shepard. Space Jesus

It's time again to grab your favorite beverage and enjoy ESH Podcast Episode 184: We Want Everything Under the Sun (And a Pony)!