BioShock vs Vanquish
BioShock
BioShock is one of the most highly acclaimed steampunk-themed shooters that has a very interesting twist - your very character's DNA can be modified through the use of a selection of plasmids and a special resource called ADAM, allowing you to have superhuman abilities which will serve you well, sometimes more so than the weapon you wield, in your adventure through the fallen underwater city of Rapture. Aside from the many violent mad men (a.k.a. Splicers), the game also provides players with challeging encounters with the iconic Big Daddies and Little Sisters.When it comes to non-military-styled shooters with an intensely immersive storyline, BioShock is among the handful of the "best of the best" (which includes the Fallout series, the Borderlands series, the Deus Ex series and others). The game boasts of having a rather dark storyline that actually challenges you to think about it in a more in-depth way; to link all the clues together to get the complete narrative that is surprisingly a lot more engaging that you'd expect.
2K Games has just released the remastered version of the very first Bioshock last year and if you can get it on Steam, you really should. The very unique experience it can offer you is very well worth the cost.
Vanquish
Vanquish puts you into the shoes of government operative, Sam Gideon, who is part of the elite group of operatives that has their own Augmented Reaction Suit which give them superior firepower, superhuman speed and agility as well as a certain amount of suave as they take down groups of hostile and deadly robots. The combat system in this game is incredibly well-made and unique. Aside from having a bullet time system, it also provides players with a smooth gameplay, be it when they are performing kinetic melee moves or when they are trading gunfire with the robots.However, many players have mentioned about the flaw when it comes to weapon upgrades in this game. Unlike most games, you actually have to be equipping the correct gun type in order to pick up the upgrade cube, which randomly appears. It does provide players with the incentive to keep replaying the game but it can be pretty frustrating if you had to give up picking up a hard-earned cube because you don't have the weapon you need.
Besides this downside though, Vanquish is among the top-most third-person shooters that have excellent, well-designed mechanics. If you enjoy smooth combat and a cool and somewhat Halo-like suit, then this is definitely the game for you!