I just got done spending some time with Vanquish‘s newly released PC version, and it’s a solid port. Looks sharp, moves well, and offers an acceptable array of graphics options. There’s just one problem: It has a really, really strange graphics bug.
First reported by Wesker on NeoGAF, the bug essentially causes you to take more damage — almost immediately forcing you into “oh crap, oh crap” slow-mo mode — if your framerate is above 30 FPS. Check out these GIFs.
This one’s at 30 FPS:
This one’s at 60 FPS:
In the first, noted cigarette and whiskey connoisseur Sam Gideon can take significantly more damage (and even stumble a little) before entering “you’re gonna die if you don’t get the hell out of here” mode. In the second, it takes only a couple of light taps to send Sam to the flashing red rave we all attend before we die.
I tried this out on my own PC, and the results were similar. I could take markedly more damage playing at framerates closer to the game’s originally intended 30 FPS than I could at 60. The good-ish news is, according to most reports, the damage you take stops increasing after 60, so if you play at a higher frame rate than that, it’s not like you’ll drop dead the second a robot tells you that, actually, your knee slides look kinda dumb.
I reached out to Sega to find out if they’re working on a fix, but as of writing they had yet to get back to me. In the meantime, much as I hate to say it, you might be better off playing the game below 60 FPS. Otherwise, you’re gonna die a lot — even if you’re good. Vanquish is a game about flow, and having it broken every handful of seconds isn’t my idea of a good time.
Sounds similar to the Dark Souls PC weapon durability glitch. Presumably they have something linked to iterations of the game loop rather than the wall clock.