Jump on a mount and head for the hills or sky
Mounts
There are several mounts available in Vanguard Saga of Heroes. I was sick to death of travelling long distances on foot (despite the pretty scenery) so was delighted when I picked up my first horse , which provided a quick way of getting from A to B. Although I’m yet to see one, there will also be flying mounts, some of which will be called Wyrms, that allow you to explore the skies above the forest and mountains of the world.
Graphically, Vanguard Saga of Heroes looks radiant (the screenshots really don't do it justice). The water ripples, trees sway in the wind and creatures and characters are crisp in design and colour. The game uses a heavily modified version of the Unreal 2.5 engine which has helped immensely in creating the living, breathing world and thanks to Mystic's EMotion FX real-time technology the character animation is superb, with over 500 unique motions – just type in ‘/dance’ for a demonstration.
Click for larger imageThe stability of the servers is a big negative at the moment. I’ve lost count of the amount of times the game has crashed, frozen or my character glitched to another point on the map, but when I’ve had a consistent run on the game I’ve been totally immersed in the world and its quests. Providing Sigil can get Vanguard Saga of Heroes up to scratch before its launch date at the end of the month, than this virtual world will be extremely enticing and rewarding.
Click for larger imageThere’s so much more to Vanguard Saga of Heroes. I’ll be playing it over the coming weeks before a complete review shortly.
