Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

E3 2006 First Look Preview

It has only been 2 ½ months since a trip to the Carlsbad, Calif., home of Sigil to see the massively multiplayer title the dev team has been diligently working on. But a lot can happen in development cycle in 2 ½ months.

Vanguard was on display at the Sony Online Entertainment booth during E3 (the Electronic Entertaintainment Expo) in Los Angeles and the game looked terrific. Most notable was the way the character customization was more indepth, allowing players to create an avatar from one of the numerous races that could – with a little work – resemble just about anyone they pleased. The use of shaders and texturing brought armor to glorious three-dimensional life, creating a vibrancy that was so immersive that those jumping into the game will surely be delighted.

A fly-over of Trengal Keep revealed a level 20 raid area. The keep was huge, with mutated creatures roaming about – caught when a meteor-type attack was thwarted in mid-cast. The meteors are still hanging above the keep, frozen in time, but the creatures caught in the deadly barrage have been warped by the magic and bound to the area, posing danger for all adventurers. And if the huge size of the keep was not enough, there are two dungeons attached.

Crafting is now in the game, as is the crafting class. Crafting is a turn-based affair, not requiring players to reflexively counter mishaps, but rather to think about the best way to add a counter as it depletes a point pool and once that it gone, the product downgrades rapidly.

Housing is also in, with detailed permission lists. If a player wished to open a pub, for example, the permission list can be set up to allow employees to enter between certain hours and move objects within the pub, as well as allowing general players entry permission.

From boats that players can steer to armored mounts and flying mounts, Vanguard has made some incredible leaps forward, and continues along the path toward becoming an amazing MMO. The move to co-publishing with SOE seems to sit right at home with the development company and Vanguard is edging closer to beta. In the meantime, though, the MMO can sit back and enjoy the latest giant leaps in development and salivate about the new look and content.
 

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