Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) boasts that his new FPS title, Vanquish, “isn’t a regular shooting game.” He claims that the game will set itself apart from other third person shooters thanks to its focus on acrobatics and agility. “I wanted to create a game that was speedier and more acrobatic than other shooters. It’s a brand new kind of shooting game that’s incredibly tense.” The acrobatics come care of a rocket powered suit and gravity, and Mikami added, “I wanted to make a shooter where the player is active – taking people on. I didn’t want the game to be like other third-person action titles, where people are just trying to survive, taking pot-shots at enemies from behind cover. So it is this aggression and active spirit that I wanted to capture with Vanquish.”

The story is set in the near future. Russia and the United States are vying for ownership of the world’s fast-depleting energy resources and the US has constructed a space station in order to harness energy from the sun. Russian forces capture this space station and divert its harvested solar energy into a blast wave that destroys San Francisco, in an attempt to force the US into total and unconditional surrender. Obviously the US isn’t going to take that, so they send an elite combat unit to reclaim the station, a la James Bond’s and Moonraker.

Vanquish is set to release next winter for the Xbox 360 and PS3.