Vanguard - Review @ GameSpy

Describing Vanguard as a "buggy, premature release", the score in GameSpy's review is still a reasonable 3/5.  Here's a sample:

 If you were a fan of the original EverQuest, or find World of Warcraft to be unchallenging to the point of boredom, then Vanguard was made with you in mind. It's a game for those who don't mind or even crave punishment when things don't go according to plan, for those to whom mishaps must be disastrous for victories to have meaning. You will be penalized harshly for character death. Many times in your adventuring career, you will find it difficult and time-consuming to fully recover from these deaths, having to trek back to your tombstone and then make up lost experience. Your level progression will take time, and it's slow going past the initial levels if you're not the type that plays well with others. While you can play Vanguard on your own, it's far more efficient to level in a group.