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Skip ‘Vanguard’ — deploy with ‘Airborne’ instead

Oh, how we hate the long pause between virtual conflicts.

If you’re a first-person shooter fan, the question you need to ask yourself this summer is: Do you wait for “Medal of Honor Airborne” for your next World War II fix, or do you go ahead and drop the cash now on “Medal of Honor Vanguard”?

The answer: Depends on whether you’ve got the Wii or you’re still standing strong with your PlayStation 2.

If you’re gaming with a Wii, you’ve got a game that gives your motion-sensitive Wii controller a serious workout. If you’re gaming with a PS2, you’ve got a game that feels like an afterthought.

“Vanguard” puts you in the jump boots of Cpl. Frank Keegan, an 82nd Airborne Division trooper in the European Theater, for four all-too-short campaigns — operations Husky (Sicily), Neptune (Normandy), Market Garden (Holland) and Varsity (Germany). Each campaign features no more than three individual battles; even novice first-person shooter gamers will blaze through the single-player missions like a belt of 7.62mm ammo.

With no major difference between “Vanguard” and the other titles in the Medal of Honor console series — Frontline, Rising Sun and European Assault — there’s not a lot there for solo PS2 gamers.

It’s not a lost cause for the PS2, though; if you play online, five different multiplayer modes may keep you entertained for a while.

But with a Wii controller as your weapon of choice, things get a little more interesting. It’s the first title in the Medal of Honor series to be released on the new Nintendo platform and clearly was designed with that console’s unique controller in mind.

Throwing a grenade; jumping, standing and going prone; and zooming in or out with a scoped rifle — all happen with a simple motion of the Wii controller. (We tested a preliminary build of the game, so specific controls may differ slightly from the version now available in stores.)

Still, this version is a far cry from what you can expect from “Airborne,” set to drop Aug. 28 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, along with the PS2 and PC.

In Airborne, you’ll rejoin the 82nd, this time as a lowly private first class. As in Vanguard, you’ll fight your way from Sicily to Germany, but the fight promises to be a lot more interesting. We haven’t gotten our hands on this one yet, but we’re told that the missions will be free-roaming, the weapons will be customizable and the place you land after parachuting into a fight will change how the mission plays out.

PS2 gamers again are getting leftovers with Airborne — with the next-gen console titles finally starting to roll out a bit more quickly, you’ll have to get used to that until you’re ready to pony up the dough for the new standard in console gaming. (It’s worth noting that Medal of Honor is standing behind the PC gamer with Airborne; “Call of Duty” abandoned PC gamers on the battlefield when “Call of Duty 3” debuted.)

Mostly, though, Vanguard only works for the Wii — and even then, really only for die-hard fans. Our advice? Wait for Airborne. The drought between wars can be frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating as jumping into a war that’s not worth fighting.

Medal of Honor Vanguard. 2 stars. PS2, Wii. $49.99 (Wii), $39.99 (PS2). Rated “T” for Teen.