'Medal' receives discharge

Before I even put "Medal of Honor: Vanguard" into my PS2, I had to go through the motions of telling myself, "Hey this is PS2, not Xbox 360, so ignore the graphical differences and let the game speak for itself." My apologies, but I cannot ignore how disappointing the latest "MoH" installment is. \nAfter playing countless honors of "Call of Duty 2" and "Call of Duty 3," I think it is safe to say the WWII first-person-shooter (FPS) genre can't be topped. "Vanguard" touts itself as being a WWII FPS in which you play the American paratroopers who dropped into Europe and saved the continent from the Nazi war machine. So you think, "Hey, sweet! I get to jump out of planes!" Except all you get to do during those sequences is aim for a landing. The environments are drabber than the officer's uniforms and save for the occasional decent-looking aerial attack, they lack any immersive qualities.\nHit detection is way off in enemy AI. When you shoot someone three to four times in the head and they aren't dead, there's a problem. And the Nazi forces just scurry around each map waiting to be picked off. In "Call of Duty 3," they're waiting for you behind every corner, hiding behind walls lobbing grenades at you and the German snipers will give you a run for your money. And it only takes one bullet to get the job done in those games. \nIn an age where online multiplayer is key to the FPS genre, PS2's online service was practically a disaster, reducing "Vanguard" to the dinosaur days of split-screen two-player. Sure you can say the same thing about even the next-gen systems when it comes to people playing on the same console, but graphically it is superior, most FPS titles offer one- to four-player support, and in the case of the Xbox, system linking allows for multiple players on numerous televisions. \nThe "Medal of Honor" franchise used to be great back in the PSone days. I remember playing the first couple releases and loving them. But that was 1997 and now we're in 2007. "Vanguard" is also available on the Nintendo Wii. While I haven't played that version, one could assume it has better graphics but, given my unfortunate encounter with "Call of Duty 3" on the Wii, some of the worst controls possible. At least in that situation it would make sense that your bullets can't hit anything, but on the PS2 it seems downright inexcusable. \nIf you don't own a next-gen console and are looking for a new WWII FPS, I suppose "Vanguard" is really your only choice. I'm sure playing it will be a reminder for why you should save up your cash and invest in a new console.