Vanguard: Saga of Heroes

By Daniel Needham

For a game that, according to some rumors, is the second most expensive massively multiplayer online game made to date, the interest surrounding Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is justified. After all, the game is the brainchild of the same people behind the highly influential EverQuest franchise, and with the progress made in the genre by the likes of Blizzard, you'd expect grand ambitions from developer Sigil and publisher Sony Online Entertainment.

The setting for Vanguard is the world of Telon, which has three distinct parts. Thestra is a more traditional setting for a fantasy story, while Qalia and Kojan have more of an Arabian and Asian feel to them. To populate these regions, there are 19 races of playable characters, split roughly evenly between the continents. While the usual creatures turn up, such as gnomes, elves, dwarves, and humans, there are a number of interesting, more original races included too. For example, the vulmane, raki, and kurashasa are races derived from wolves, foxes, and leopard-like creatures.

Choosing just how to start your life in Vanguard can be pretty daunting in itself. Although not all of the races can play as all of the classes, there are still nearly 50 combinations to select from. If you do know which class you want to play, clicking the relevant icon lets you easily see which races are able to take on that role. Classes are handily split into four basic types: the offensive fighter, protective fighter, healer, and caster. What's more, even if you're a little overwhelmed by the amount of choices, Sigil's game design lets you get a pretty clear idea of what your character will be capable of over the course of the game quite early on. Most of the different types of spells or abilities that your class can learn will be available from just a few levels in, but they will, of course, grow more powerful and varied as you progress.

In general, the quests revolve around the standard fare of killing monsters, delivering packages, collecting items, and so on. Most of them are fairly straightforward, and while you shouldn't have too much trouble understanding what's required, it's sometimes a little unclear as to the exact location of your objectives. Certain other quests require a slightly different approach to the standard kill or collect method, and Vanguard's diplomacy module is a prime example of this.

Another aspect that Vanguard sports, aside from adventuring and diplomacy, is the extensive and in-depth crafting experience. There are a variety of different types of harvesting that your character can learn, including mining ore, harvesting plants, and gathering wood. Those items will form the basis of the more advanced construction professions, which will let players make all kinds of objects, although players can only take a primary and secondary profession during the course of the game.

With the MMO game market booming at the moment, largely due to World of Warcraft’s popularity, games like Vanguard are coming on to the market frequently, and some are totally flawed and a proverbial pain in the backside to play. However, from what I’ve seen of Vanguard: Saga Of Heroes, this game looks like it will buck the trend and prove to be very popular. So for all you PC nuts out there, this could be the title for you in the first half of 2007 - and it’s out on our shores come February 8.

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