After 14 years, one of the devs behind the "fourth-best shooter" of 2010 says it was perfectly positioned to be a cult classic

PlatinumGames' powerslide shooter opus Vanquish launched to good reviews and some dedicated fans, but in a year dominated by some of the best FPS games of all time, it never got much appreciation in its day. Now, one of the devs is reminiscing about how it was basically perfectly positioned to be a cult classic.

Jean Pierre Kellams, narrative producer at PlatinumGames at the time of Vanquish's release in 2010, says on Twitter: "Someone very smart said that year 'never be the third-best shooter.' With BLOPS, Battlefield, and Halo - we were the fourth 'best' shooter. Combine that calendar with some bad marketing and poof - cult classic." 

Someone very smart said that year "Never be the third best shooter." With BLOPS, Battlefield, and Halo - we were the fourth "best" shooter. Combine that calendar with some bad marketing and poof - Cult classic. https://t.co/Gcc43ibIIoFebruary 13, 2024

In fairness, those games were the original Call of Duty: Black Ops, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Halo: Reach, all of which have proven to be among the most beloved entries in their respective series. But Vanquish was unlike any of them, and not just because of its third-person perspective. It was a fast-paced cover shooter that was as much about moving efficiently as it was about popping off headshots, and one that ended up feeling more like Bayonetta than Gears of War.

We don't need Kellams' comments to recognize that Vanquish has become a cult classic, but I'm taking this as an opportunity to wax a little nostalgic - and to remind you that the game got a re-release on modern platforms, which eliminated the frame rate issues that plagued the original version.

Vanquish was competing against the likes of Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Red Dead Redemption in its year of release, but it was also up against the very perception of Japanese-developed games at the time. In 2010, Capcom was between the most maligned entries in the Resident Evil series, Nintendo had gone all in on