You will never be able to put the remote down! Medal of Honor: Vanguard is the best game in it's series........
Jumping into the game, I was first struck by similarities with other first person shooters (FPS). From Halo for instance I recognised the proper orchestral score, the professional voice-work of fellow soldiers and the ability to recharge health by finding cover. Other FPS franchises such as Gears of War had also been brought to bear in Vanguard's cover system. A confident provision of 'stop and pop' game play, controlled via the analogy stick on the nun-chuck.
These aspects of the game were well executed and meant that I was happy to suspend my suspicion of other less impressive parts of the game, until I'd played through a few levels. The first of which introduced, what I understand to be a staple element from the upcoming Medal of Honor Airborne, parachuting into the mission arena. Again this was nicely executed with nun-chuck used to pull one cord and the Wii-mote to pull the other, you had a good degree of control of where you landed, although not to the extent promised by Airborne.
Before we cast a more critical eye over proceedings, let me cut to the chase. The key issue for any Wii FPS release is: do the controls work? The answer for Vanguard is mainly yes, but not without its faults. I was impressed by the feel of the main moving and aiming dynamic. The Wii-mote targeting provides excellent sniping control, although it is more clunky for close encounters. The most compelling argument here is that after 15 minutes or so the controls become second nature so that you become less aware of anything unusual and can just enjoy the game.
That said, there is still work to be done here. The mapping of actions such as running and melee to buttons at either end of the Wii-mote left me fumbling up and down trying to find the right one. The use of nun-chuck gestures also proved too sensitive and often introduced an unwanted crouch or jump when things got hectic. Luckily, the majority of these features were superfluous and could be ignored leaving a largely functional and satisfying sense of control.
My main gripe with Vanguard was the lack of any meaningful sense of human-like artificial intelligence (AI). Both allies and enemy troops are either obviously on rails, or simply repeating the same action over and over. This may be why there is also a lack of any computer players in the multiplayer modes. I would have been happy to forgive this limitation if there had been a co-op mode for the campaigns, but without either this turns into a solitary pursuit.