Vanquish

"In truth, yes, I do take references from other games," he says. "Particularly for Vanquish, the reference points are taken from games such as Gears of War and Call of Duty. We didn't really consider Halo that much. When I heard that maybe the main character is similar to Master Chief - I didn't expect that, because I didn't consider that from the beginning at all."

It makes a change to hear a developer admit that yes, they have played one or two of the games in the genre their title belongs to, and that yes, maybe they have taken inspiration from them. But all the same, we've seen special suits, weapon crates, bosses with big red weak spots and so on before... So what sets Vanquish apart?

"In terms of what you can gather from just looking at the game - I mean, Vanquish might not be too unique compared to whatever else is out there," says Mikami.

"But I feel the uniqueness lies in the intuitivity of the controls and how it feels when you actually get to play the game... It's a shooter, but it also feels a lot like playing an action game. That's the main difference between Vanquish and the other games out there already. Once you get to play the game, you can experience that for yourself."

As there's no hands-on time today, however, all we have to go on is how the game looks. And it looks much more like a Western-style game than the likes of Bayonetta and MadWorld. Has Mikami been forced to abandon any of his more out-there ideas in the face of commercial considerations?

"There is a balancing act going on there," he says, referencing God Hand - clearly a project close to his heart. "That was a title I made very freely, but it didn't sell as well. Resident Evil was based more towards the commercial side of things; God Hand was at the other end of the scale.

"With Vanquish, I'm drawing up the ideas, then they get put on the table, and it's considered whether they will be successful in the market or not. There are a lot of points where I kind of have to bear that as a reality. So I feel that it's kind of between God Hand and Resident Evil - that's where Vanquish is."

Time flies when you're sharing an interview slot, and too quickly it's time to finish up, check out of the hotel and head to the airport. But back in London, I discover Mikami has one more thing to say. The MP4 player we received in the event goodie bag has a video message from him on the hard drive.

"Hello, European Press," says Mikami, from underneath a different baseball cap. "Vanquish is the first game in four years I have directed. This is a shooter game with fast, fluid and frenetic action. And I think it's turning out to be very interesting."

Just how interesting it ends up being will depend on what the game feels like to play, as Mikami himself pointed out. What we've seen so far is impressive from a technical point of view, but in terms of artistic style and gameplay concepts, Vanquish looks a little familiar. It doesn't have the instant visual impact of a game like MadWorld or the bizarro factor of a Bayonetta. But it's early days, and this is still a Platinum Games title, and this is still Shinji Mikami. Perhaps he should have the last word:

"We are working very hard on this, so please look forward to this title." Will do.