Weekend Gaming: "Vanquish" and "Killzone 3" Beta Invites [OPEN THREAD]

Fallout: New Vegas  was one of my most anticipated games of the year. I bought it Tuesday and I haven't even opened it yet. I will, I promise, but right now there is an unexpected love in my life.

Based on Samuel Axon's recommendation, I decided to pickup a copy of Vanquish the same day, and I've been completely hooked.

Vanquish (360, PS3)
Vanquish isn't a total reinvention of the third-person shooter genre, but it is a complete re-imagining of it. In some ways it's reminiscent of HALO, but the pacing and gameplay are the real story here, not that the plot is terrible.

The game starts with the U.S. under siege by an enemy with an orbital microwave weapon capable of wiping out cities. Your character is a DARPA operative who controls an Augmented Reaction Suit (ARS) that is capable of feats far beyond those of un-augmented humans.

As you can see in the trailer, the focus is on speed and fighting:


It almost feels like playing Contra, but not as a platformer. The settings are huge, but the enemies are even bigger, often times crushing the environments in which you fight. And it all happens so fast.
The tagline for Vanquish is "War Accelerated," but, the game is at its most impressive when the suit is used to slow everything down. You can then make snap decisions in the middle of the fray as bullets and lasers whiz past you. It's an absolutely essential feature, because the game moves faster than anything you've likely played.
Actually, the trailer above doesn't really do justice to just how fast this game moves, so here's a look at some actual gameplay:

Fruit Ninja (Android, iOS)

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Not much to say here: If you have not yet gotten Fruit Ninja, then get it. It's the ultimate catharsis to a long day, and it's consumed all of my time to and from work for the past week.

Killzone 3 Beta Invites (PS3)

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Special treat this week for you PlayStation 3 owners. Starting Monday, October 25, Killzone 3 will be entering a limited public beta. It has three fully playable levels that feature jetpacks, mechs and more.
We have 25 invite codes that will ensure you get a place in the beta. All you have to do is like this post on Facebook and we'll randomly select 25 winners from the group.

"Killzone 3" Teaser from Blake Robinson on Vimeo.