There have been so many MMORPG’s out there in the market for quite a few years and it’s been quite a daunting task for new gamers to get into something that others have spent years playing and are now quite masterful at. What results is a lot of newbies going into these gameworlds and basically being wiped out and never returning. Which of course is not good news for those franchises. 

Vanguard is one of those titles that will please both the newcomer and experienced player. For one, being a new title everyone is essentially on an even playing field and the in depth tutorials should get you ready for all the action that you can handle. So it’s time to get in there and kick some butt. 

Installation of the title is fairly straight forward and does take a fair whack of time. One of the first things that I do have to tell you is that this game is one resource hungry pig of a title and you had best soup up your computer before even attempting to install it as it’s gonna suck every single thing your computer has to offer it and then still want more. Here are the system requirements: 

Required Specs:

Windows® 2000/XP

100% DirectX 9.0c compatible computer

100% DirectX 9.0c compatible keyboard or input device

Processor 2.4 GHz Intel processor or 2400+ or higher model AMD processor

512 MB RAM Vertex and Pixel Shader 2.0 compatible hardware with 128MB of texture memory

100% DirectX compatible sound card 56K + Internet Connection

16X Speed DVD-ROM

20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Space 

Recommended Specs:

Windows® 2000/XP/Vista

100% DirectX 9.0c compatible computer

100% DirectX 9.0c compatible keyboard or input device

Processor 3.0 GHz Intel or 3500+ AMD processor

2 GB RAM Vertex and Pixel Shader 2.0 compatible hardware with 256MB of texture memory

DirectX compatible audio hardware

Broadband Internet Connection

16X Speed DVD-ROM

20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Space 

So you can see from the very get go that you are in for a very intense setup with that massive chunk of 20 Gb of hard disk space being used up. Fortunately doing what we do, our test machine was up to the task and after about 45 minutes installing the game and fiddling about, we were ready to go. 

Telon is the name of the world that you are going to be playing in and it is massive. You will get to use a compass system to make your way around and believe me, you are going to need it every step of the way as it’s pretty darn easy to get lost otherwise. The world is packed with detail and you can see why such a good rig is required to play it. 

There are a multitude of characters that you can choose from the beginning to make your way through the game. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, so after a bit of playing you should be able to settle down with one that is right for you. This selection is essential for a few reasons, one of which is that this game takes itself quite seriously and actually features something I’ve not seen in these games before; you can parlay instead of fight given the right circumstances. 

This was a really neat addition to the game and it is very effective, so make sure that you assess situations with NPC’s when you come across them as you might get a tad more than you thought if you play your cards right. Vanguard is full of these kind of neat surprises. 

There are many reasons why diplomacy is king in this game, one thing is simply you are faced with a gameworld so massive that you will need to find some buddies to form a party as the landscape is so vast that a single player would have problems making their way through the hostile landscape as the monsters that spawn through the game are pretty powerful, too powerful to take on by yourself as a rule. 

This is a game that you best be prepared to put some serious time into as it’s not like a lot of games where you will just keep on powering up as soon as you play. To gain levels it’s going to take days of serious playing not just a few hours like you will find in other titles. In terms of value, this has it in spades with great interaction with other gamers and a landscape and scope of detail that will amaze you.  

If you have the beast of a machine that will run this game the way that it should be seen, then I think you are in for a pleasant surprise. A big bright world of interactivity and fantasy awaits you out there filled with interesting characters both NPC and gamers who will fight alongside you and against you. Get in there and give it a shot.