Last week's EA Winter Showcase gave us a look at a ton of games, and Medal of Honor Vanguard stood out as one of my favorite games of the bunch. It's a return to the classic gameplay that made Frontline such a success, with a few new lighting tricks thrown in to update the graphics. When you get right down to it, WWII shooters have a few things that they need to do really well (like serve up accurate weaponry and deliver frantic and engrossing action), and Medal of Honor Vanguard accomplishes these goals and more.


Jump!

I started off my hands-on time with Vanguard about half-way through the game, during Operation Market Garden (famed for being an over-ambitious failure for the Allies). Similar to Medal of Honor Airborne, this level had me leaping from a flame-sprouting airplane (though Vanguard doesn't actually focus purely on the Airborne division) into a sky clogged with flak and exploding planes. Staggered by the amazing graphics erupting from the PS2, it took me a minute to regain my composure -- you really have to see this game to believe that the PS2 is still quite capable of packing the screen with gorgeous explosions and terrain. Anyways, let's get back to the mission at hand.

As I drifted earthward through puffs of black smoke, I could just make out a couple of green smoke bombs highlighting possible landing zones: one on the ground near a barn, and another in an abandoned grain silo. Here we have one of the examples of how Vanguard shines: I have the choice to land with my fellows near the barn, or I can strike out solo by landing in the silo to pick up a sweet sniper upgrade for my Garand rifle. So you get to choose your path a little, but the big payoff comes from the weapon upgrades that hide within the levels, patiently awaiting the more explorative WWII veterans. The idea is to reward exploration and get some more mileage out of the sprawling and beautiful levels.

Fatigued Men

To bring out the feel of camaraderie among soldiers, Vanguard's developers have boosted the detail on all of the characters in the game. The members of your squad now come equipped with double the number of polygons their predecessors enjoyed, and that means that each seam and patch in their uniforms is that much more convincing and realistic. There has also been a great deal of attention paid to the dialog of characters on both sides of the war. Allies and Nazis will comment on the ever-changing face of the battles they're embroiled in. So, if there happens to be a group of Germans setting up an MG42 nearby, your cohorts will shout out a warning to let you know that you need to put your face in the mud or get shredded by a searing fountain of ammo.


Beyond making your fellows more vocal and prettier (or at least better defined graphically), the developers behind Medal of Honor Vanguard have added some new doodads to the classic control scheme as well. First off, they've added a sprint function, so you don't have to get bogged down slogging through the European campaign. An improved peak and lean system enables you to handle cover better by giving you access to both left/right leaning as well as prairie dogging (poking your head up over something solid). Plus, what new WWII game would be complete without providing the ability to cook grenades? Certainly not Medal of Honor Vanguard, but worry not, because that functionality makes an appearance as well.

If EA can maintain the level of performance I saw at their Winter Showcase, Medal of Honor Vanguard could end up being the last great shooter on the PS2...unless they decide to make another, of course. I'll keep my eyes peeled for more updates on this title, but in the meantime, I'll be trying to contain my anticipation of Vanguard's late March release by obsessively harassing EA.