Call Of Duty: Vanguard Review – A Tumultuous Trinity

Call of Duty: Vanguard tells the story of three different games. As is sometimes the case, several of the pillars lift up the package – and one brings it down. Vanguard’s campaign is weak, but multiplayer and zombies carry the title to victory. Let’s break down each experience.

We’ll get the rough bit out of the way first; The campaign is ambitious and beautiful in scope, taking players to multiple key locations, including Stalingrad, the Pacific, and even North Africa. The campaign is full of environmental beauty and the beat-beat soundtrack will get your blood pumping. But everything else around them remains in the dark. None of these characters have any weight because they are constantly moving from scene to scene. These cardboard pieces are lifeless and unable to even reach the top tier of action movies.

The boring sections are made up of characters who are so formulaic and dull that they don’t have any chance to stand out. Call of Duty has long been known for its large arenas with many opponents. However, the segments outside of an arena are more tedious and frustrating. You won’t be able to find any cool subterfuge missions to get out of the monotony. Only tasks will make you want to clean another kill room. It’s a shame, because some of these scenarios and characters feel like they should have been slam dunks. 

Vanguard comes with all the necessities of a pre-made product Enemy at The Gates sniper vs. sniper scenario. The sniper dream is not realized when it delivers trash after trash in every arena. As you climb up walls and rocks, you must race under desks. Surprisingly, the trial-and-error stealth sections are juxtaposed with explosive action sequences. The fact that one of the main characters actually has superhuman powers which allows them to see their enemies through obstructions in sight and can auto-aim at-will with both god-sight or bullet-time was a bit puzzling. The multitude of scenarios and segments look gorgeous, but the good looks can’t save this journey. 

This narrative isn’t able to decide if it will stay true to the brutal realities of World War II. Or if they want to go for the fun of absurd comic-book villains and sniveling villains. The lifeblood of this experience is its dissonance, which runs deep and is bizarre. Call of Duty campaigns tend to run from strange to spectacular to emotionally resonant – this one is none of those and easy to skip. It was amazing to see how this campaign transformed a badass, revenge-fueled sniper situation into something that I could stay stuck in traffic for many years.

Multiplayer works well, but that is not due to any super-slide gun or jetpack mechanic. Online offers are a wealth of highly effective decision tools that complement the best-in-class customization and shooting. Combat Pacing is the most powerful device for the core systems. Combat Pacing allows you to influence all of the activity’s player counts and engagement times. This probably seems like a small thing, but it’s great because you can select exactly the kind of multiplayer matches you want, on top of the core game modes like Kill Confirmed, Hardpoint, or Domination. Blitz mode allows for instant action and a quick time to engage. The tactical pacing mode was ideal for me when I needed something that I could not see immediately but had enough time to aim and fire a gun before I got shot. Even if you don’t want to turn dials, Assault is a great standby for the standard-issue Call of Duty multiplayer. 

Combat Pacing, while subtle and not as important as any other multiplayer options, is a significant feature. Vanguard does have a few new modes. Patrol offers a moving Hardpoint to protect, but it “patrols” around a map, and Champion Hill gives players some small-scale shenanigans to engage in. Champion Hill is a variation of Gunfight, offering more players and multiple teams playing tournament-style. You can choose the path that will lead you to victory by purchasing in the hub. Then, take on other players for money and lives. This is a new way of doing small-scale skirmishing. Of course, the gunsmith provides a host of options to explore for multiplayer, allowing you to tweak every weapon to your heart’s content, up to and including ammunition types for a little extra bang.

Zombies is Treyarch’s final design. The studio’s undead intuition rarely misses the mark, and Call of Duty: Vanguard is poised to take zombies down a fantastic road. This iteration is a bit like a roguelike zombie dungeon crawl, and that’s pretty awesome. This mode hints at Outbreak. The players must take down the demonic entity, while also having otherworldly powers, such as rings and fire, icy doom, or summoning a blizzard. In a hub-like setting, Zombies’ fun Zombies-themed trappings, such as Mystery Box, Pack-A-Punch and Mystery Box, are available for players to enjoy between missions. Don’t be fooled thinking you’ll get a break in town; Zombies mode is as fast-paced as ever with a neon arcade-action glow and streamlined upgrades that keep you in the action. 

With your team, pick from a selection of classic shooter activities where you’ll escort a magic object, survive until the clock runs out, or slaughter enemies for drops. Many of these elements we’ve seen before, but they’re arranged in an incredibly potent way. For instance, I appreciated the lack of tedious travel time found in Outbreak – click on a portal, and you’re on to the next task. Portals can give you special abilities that allow you to upgrade your skills and make your life easier. Vanguard basically distills the most important information about Zombies and puts it in a small package. Then, he spreads some cool dialogue and quips throughout. You can still use monkey bombs. The story was not as good as the Easter egg version; Season 1 will have them.

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s campaign misses the mark, but multiplayer and Zombies do the heavy lifting to get the title to a good place. If you’re most invested in the single-player experience, you can pass on this year’s entry, but if you’re into the other modes, Call of Duty remains an excellent choice for some shooting, looting, and zombie executing.