f Vanguard is any indication, EA is hoping that Medal of Honor has a little bit more nerd cred left that can be turned into dollars. Sure, the upcoming MoH: Airborne for next-gen consoles might revitalize this sagging series, but this entry in the franchise is a perfect example of what gaming purists hate about the EA/Activision publishing model. There is nothing at all here to recommend, unless you just can’t get enough of clearing bombed-out houses of Nazis and doing the old MG-42 fish-in-a-barrel dance.

Even this decrepit design wouldn’t be so bad if it came in better packaging. Unfortunately, Vanguard manages to tack crappy controls onto ancient concepts. The list of offenses in this arena is topped by the fact that your avatar stops moving when you go into the ironsights view. This basically means that you’re forced to shoot from the hip in anything but a very static combat situation, and it breaks the flow of the game to pieces. A large part of what makes a first-person shooter fun and intense is the pacing, and that moronic decision prevents Vanguard from building up much of either.

Though you can get used to the sub-par controls, there’s still no real reason to play Vanguard, from the uninspired level design to the tired subject matter. Sure, it works on a basic level in that you shoot Nazis and they fall down. Beyond that, there isn’t much here to enjoy.