When a genre becomes over saturated, creativity and sense of wonder give way to a lack of creativity and overall sense that you have "been there" and "done that". If you take a look at the World War II first-person shooter you'll quickly realize that you have been there before, countless times in fact. From Brothers in Arms to Call of Duty, so many titles have come out that they tend to feel the same and have become redundant. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Medal of Honor: Vanguard.

Now, don't get me wrong. I used to love the Medal of Honor franchise. It may not have been the most polished or currently FPS on the market when it was released but it brought enough things to the table to warrant a serious look. Over the eight years or so since the original game was released over ten installments have hit store shelves. The latest, Vanguard, is the culmination of efforts from the franchise over the years but it is far from the cream of the crop.

You play through Vanguard's campaign as Corporal Frank Keegan from the 82nd Airborne Division. From start to finish the plot is as straight forward as you can get with little that will surprise you, especially if you have played a WWII FPS before. In fact, that's the biggest problem that I had with Vanguard. It feels so tired from the moment you fire up the game that you'll wonder why the franchise is still pumping out so many installments. Truly, the game isn't poorly crafted and depending on your saturation with the genre you may find it entertaining for a while. Unfortunately it's just that if you have played any game like this before (especially a Medal of Honor one) then you may wonder if it isn't time for EA to put this series on the shelf for a while.

Gameplay:

When you first start Vanguard you'll notice that the control layout is somewhat familiar to the FPS genre. Buttons are laid out on the Dual Shock in relatively the same manner as other titles but a few forced extra steps make this one feel a little less intuitive. When you're on the fly in an FPS you have to be able to react without thinking about what you're doing. While you can do that after some time with this game, at first it will feel a little clunky as you fumble through some things.

Of course the somewhat irritating interface doesn't mean you'll get lost in a sea of open-ended levels. The game is very linear and virtually negates exploring your environment while is a big no-no by today's standards. It's a throwback to the days of shooters on the PlayStation 1 and quite honestly dates the Medal of Honor franchise. Sure some of the trappings are larger than others but when you're basically shoved along from point a to b there isn't a lot of point in their size.

No matter the linearity of the game there are going to be plenty of Nazis to kill; this is a WWII game after all! The only problem is that while prior Medal of Honor games and the likes of its rival franchises have offered decent to smart AI, Vanguard brings a bunch of brain-dead, gun-toting soldiers to the table. These CPU opponents stick to their original design and never deviate from particular travel paths or targeting points. You can literally stand there and shoot an entire squadron of Nazis down and not one will turn to face you.

On the flip side the CPU can seem downright damning at times. Endless throngs of foes coupled with a weak (and again, dated) checkpoint system mean you'll be restarting missions over and over again. This extends the gameplay and challenge of Vanguard, but it's done so with incredibly frustrating fashion. How many times do you really want to cut through the same guards? See the same tree? Walk the same corridor?

To be fair, there are parts of Medal of Honor that truly do leave an impression. It's not the worst game on the market by far and though it is flawed, it's not a horrible game. The problem is given everything that comes into play here and the fact that there is no online support; you have an extremely dated experience. Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms have overtaken Medal of Honor in many ways. It makes this franchise feel kind of redundant and stubborn, but then again the market is saturated with WWII FPS games. If you're a fan of the series you may want to give it a rental but I can't really recommend this one for much more than that.

Graphics: Medal of Honor: Vanguard is not only disappointing in the gameplay department but the graphics leave a little to be desired as well. Even by PS2 standards this title looks a tad on the weaker side with limited textures, clipping, framerate issues, and an overall boring design. Characters tend to look identical and the environments are often muted with a murky appearance. Still, there are some impressive effects during firefights and the explosions are nice as always. Just don't expect something to rival Call of Duty 3 and you'll be moderately pleased.

Sound: A big step up in terms of presentation is the audio for Vanguard. The game truly does throw you into the thick of things and you'll feel it with a wonderful sense of immersion. Bullets whiz by, explosions deafen, and all the while a sweeping soundtrack keeps with the spirit of the game. The presentation is somewhat limited by the PS2's capabilities but it's very decent irregardless.

Conclusion: Like most FPS fans I consider myself a fickle gamer. I look for many things while playing a game and the biggest thing is innovation. Sure sometimes it's nice to take a step back and appreciate the simpler things but I enjoy intelligent AI, expansive environments, and a white-knuckled experience. Sadly Vanguard offers none of those things and in most cases it's probably the weakest entry into the franchise. The WWII genre is a tough nut to crack and it's a competitive genre. In that regard the latest Medal of Honor comes up in third place behind Brothers in Arms and Call of Duty.