Vanguard Review: The Old...

If you're reading this, you've probably played an MMORPG before, or at least have a good idea about the basics. In this regard, Vanguard doesn't dramatically change the formula - players create their character(s), complete quests, gain levels, group together, chat, explore, craft, buy, sell, trade and all those other things that players do. A dramatic twist on the formula, Vanguard is not.

Depending on your perspective, that could be bad news. The good news is that just about everything Vanguard does, it does well.

Players create their characters from a combination of 19 races and 15 classes. Not every race can be every class. One thing in particular I noticed was a very nice variety among the races, including player races that loosely mirror European, Asian, Arabic and African cultures in both style and appearance. Classes are similarly varied, with traditional Warriors, Rogues and Clerics, joined by less traditional Shaman, Monks and Psionicists. Taken together, it easily amounts to one of the largest varieties yet seen in an MMOG.

Combat follows the same pattern. As with most MMORPGs, characters have the standard auto-attack, as well as special abilities that can be triggered during battle for various results. Like in World of Warcraft, many classes in Vanguard have unique gameplay mechanics; Bards, for example, can compose their own songs using parts of songs they've learned, while Disciples build inner power through combat, unleashing it as special abilities.

Crafting, on the other hand, builds off the mini-game styled system of EverQuest II, though without the twitch-based aspects. Players start with a limited pool of points and spend it on actions that advance their progress, improve the product quality or counter random mishaps in the crafting process. If successful, players can create items as good as, or better than, anything else available.

And those are just a few examples. If you can think of major systems commonly seen in other MMORPGs, you'll probably find a version in Vanguard. This includes quests, guilds, housing, raids and a variety of server types flagged for roleplaying or several different flavors of PvP.