| Medal of Honor: Vanguard | |
|---|---|
Wii version cover art |
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| Developer(s) | EA Los Angeles Budcat Creations |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Composer(s) | Michael Giacchino |
| Series | Medal of Honor |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 Wii |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) PEGI: 16+ CERO: C |
| Media/distribution | DVD, Wii Optical Disc |
Medal of Honor: Vanguard is the tenth installment in the Medal of Honor series of World War II first-person shooters. It was developed by Electronic Arts' Los Angeles studio with Budcat Creations and released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii on March 26, 2007, in the United States.
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Players take on the role of Cpl/Sgt. Frank Keegan, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and 17th Airborne Division fighting the Axis forces of Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy.
The first mission, which is Operation Husky places Keegan in a C-47 aircraft somewhere off the coast of Sicily Suddenly, the plane explodes, and Keegan is thrown out. He manages to deploy his parachute and make it to the ground, where he fights through a town against Italian Blackshirt forces. Once through the town, they make their way around the coast to a bunker somewhere in Sicily, and shoot their way in, defeating the German forces inside. For this level, you are armed with a Thompson submachine gun and the M1 Garand rifle, you may pick up weapons such as the MP40.
In the second mission, Operation Neptune, Keegan is transferred to the 17th Airborne Division glider unit for the invasion of Normandy. The glider crashes, and Keegan and one other soldier are the only surviving soldiers. They fight their way to another group, where they proceed to blow up key bridges across the Normandy landscape. Afterwards, Keegan crosses a swamp, cuts down paratroopers and destroys a halftrack. Keegan proceeds to destroy one other bridge and makes his way to the chateau where the Germans are headquartered. They fight their way through, only to discover it's a trap and they're fenced in by four Panzer Mk. V tank. After defeating the tanks, they discover that their Sergeant has been killed, and Keegan becomes their Sergeant. This is the first level where you can use the MP44 gun.
The third mission is Operation Market Garden. During the operation, Keegan's squad fights their way through the countryside until they reach the Dutch town of Nijmegen, where they encounter heavy fire from MG42 machine gun emplacements throughout the town. The mission ends when Keegan destroys a Tiger tank in the town square.
The fourth and final mission in the game is Operation Varsity. The mission starts when Keegan lands in the bank of the Rhine River, where they take heavy fire from Wehrmacht forces. They make their way to a German farm, where they fight off terrible attacks before continuing on to a German trench system. After neutralizing the trenches and the bunkers surrounding them, Keegan makes his way through a factory held by German snipers. The final battle of the game takes place outside of the factory.
Players are able to customize their weapons, such as adding a telescopic sight to a M1 Garand rifle and a drum magazine for a Thompson submachine gun, although these upgrades are only available on certain levels.
At the start of each of the operations, players parachute onto a battlefield (with the exception of a glider insertion at the start of the Invasion of Normandy) and can roughly designate where they land. Players who land at certain points in a level will be able to pick up weapon upgrades and ammunition. Missions can be played out in different ways depending on where the player lands and which weapons he or she obtains.
Content-wise, both versions of the game are the same. However, the Wii version implements the Wii Remote to accomplish such movements as crouching, jumping, making quick turns, weapon strikes, reloading, and shooting. These actions are accomplished with a standard video game interface (buttons and joysticks) on the PS2 version and are also an option on the Wii.
Multiplayer has been included in the game in the form of a 2-4 player split-screen mode with both the Wii and PS2 versions. (The PS2 version requires a multitap to support more than two players.) This is currently the last Medal of Honor game to feature split screen mode. There are five modes:
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| GameSpot | 5.5/10 (Wii) 5.5/10 (PS2)[1] |
| IGN | 7/10 (Wii) 7.2/10 (PS2)[2] |
Overall Vanguard received "average or mixed" reviews. IGN gave Vanguard for the Wii a 7 out of 10, while the PS2 version received a 7.2 out of 10. GameSpot gave the game a 5.5 out of 10 for both the Wii and PS2 versions. Most criticism for the game focused the poor graphics engine, lack of online play, and poor enemy intelligence. Also criticized was the fact that many of the game elements were already featured in the series or by other WWII shooters (with the exception of the parachute drop). Aaron Thomas of GameSpot stated that "There's really no reason to pick it up on the PlayStation 2, and thanks to a higher price tag for the Wii version, there's very little reason to buy it for the Wii, either".[1] United Kingdom-based Website Mansized scored Vanguard a mere 2/5, claiming "Vanguard is a pretty shocking game".[3]
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