Vanguard: Nine Stunning New Shots of Vanguard from Sigil - by Raya

The great news is that Sigil has released nine new screenshots showing various aspects of the continent of Thestra. The even better news is that they are planning on doing this fairly frequently...well, they say not too often at first, but, as they gather steam, more shots will be released. And, they say, you can't just go to the official site all the time to find them...you have to come to fan sites like *cough cough* Vanguard Warcry (and others), as well as the large gaming sites and in-game magazines.

I was in awe of these magnificent pieces of art when I saw them. My hubby looked over my shoulder as I was putting them up in the Warcry gallery, and he literally drooled. His words were, "Honey, we've just GOT to upgrade our comps for this game to see it all. Look at that detail!" I agreed. Not only that, but the shots are, according to Sigil, strictly in-game shots and unenhanced. Now that was amazing enough, but I was stunned when I read the disclaimer from Sigil:

"...please keep in mind that, relatively speaking, Vanguard is still fairly early on - we've been working on the game only about 18 months or so. That means the tech has a long way to go too, so images should only improve going forward."

This means *gasp* that we are going to get even better examples of beautiful, lush art from this great team of artists. I just can't wait to get into that game and bask in the beauty of the scenery.

The shots have been released in the nature of a celebration by Sigil. They explain what they are celebrating:

"...we are releasing these shots in celebration of reaching our most recent major milestone, in which we delivered a 'playable alpha' of sorts. Both Microsoft and Sigil employees can log in to Vanguard, create characters, level up, trade, buy, sell, fight monsters, craft, and hone their skills (and, really more - the list goes on and on).

"So, in that sense, it's only fair that we share a little bit of the game with all of you - enjoy!"