Call of Duty: Vanguard Review

Initial release date: September 10, 2021

Developer: Sledgehammer Games

Composer: Bear McCreary

Engine: IW

Publisher: Activision

Mode: Multiplayer video game

Platforms: Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows

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"Review Copy Provided By Activision"

“Another year, another Call of Duty” is a statement that you will often hear many gamers say and that’s often not in a positive way. The annual releases of games like CoD, Madden, and 2K sports titles have many gamers feeling like they are nothing but simple rehashes adding nothing more to the experience. While that may be true of some franchises like the Madden and 2K sports titles which offer mainly roster updates, the Call of Duty series is often very different from the previous years’ entry because each title was previously helmed by a different team every year giving you a very different feel between titles. With the release of Call of Duty Vanguard and with all the Call of Duty teams contributing to this game; Vanguard is set to offer you the best Call of Duty yet. Does it live up to the claim or is it just another yearly romp? Let’s find out!

Story

Vanguard’s campaign occurs during World War II and has you stepping into the shoes of Lt. Arthur Kingsley of the British Army and leader of the Task Force Vanguard along with Lt Polina Petrova, Lt. Wade Jackson, 2nd Lt. Lucas Riggs, Sgt. Richard Webb, and Novak as you travel across various continents to turn the tides of war on a global scale.

Gameplay

There’s a saying when it comes to the COD series that if you’ve played one Call of Duty then you’ve played them all due to them all have the general same controls scheme; while there is truth in that, Vanguard feels noticeably different from last year’s Black Ops: Cold War. You have all the same button layouts and controls as your typical COD or shooter game with the difference between this one and the last entry being that your movements feel a lot heavier in a way. Sprinting feels a lot slower than in Black Ops: Cold War as does your sliding to crouch after sprinting feels much slower and, in many ways, clunkier which can be frustrating in multiplayer matches.

You have multiple options to get in you into the fray of the CoD world with Campaign mode following a WWII story of the Vanguard, Multiplayer giving you various match types to jump into online, and Zombies mode which allows you to scratch that Left 4 Dead zombie shooter itch.

The campaign is about the average length of a Call of Duty campaign lasting anywhere from 5-6 hours on standard difficulty with about 8 missions total. The missions will see you engaging in many of the key battles of the real-world World War II. It’s one of the more exhilarating and spectacle campaigns you’ll experience and will have you wanting to replay it because it’s just that fun. The online multiplayer component is where the fun is really at as you’ll have access to a plethora of match types to dive into such as your standard Free-for-all, Team Deathmatch, Capture-the-flag, Kill-Confirmed, and more.

New additions to this game are the Tactical Tuesdays which give you a variety of smaller scale close encounter battles in a rotating fashion. Tactical Tuesdays are 6v6 matches that have smaller maps which force you into tighter spaces for constant encounters which harken back to the classic Call of Duty type of feel. or if you prefer large-scale battles, then you can jump right into Blitz matches.

Like all recent CoD, Vanguard offers you various operator skins and weapons along with perks and more to unlock (or buy) as you continue to play the game.

Graphics

This is honestly one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen this console generation. Fire up the campaign mode and you will see how everything in this game is just jaw droppingly stunning especially when you fire up the campaign and see the opening act. The level of detail in the characters from their clothes, hair, facial features, muscle reactions and inflections is unlike anything this generation and then you factor in the environments and the weather effects from the rain, fog, and wind, of the first level to the individual drops of rain and the trails they leave to the ragdoll physics and how enemies and allies react is all so life like.

Every character in the campaign that is of importance looks incredibly realistic to the point you wouldn’t be able to at times tell that they are a video game character. Seeing this game run on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC allows the game to showcase the high level of graphical fidelity and detail that we should’ve been able to experience when the current generation of consoles launched.

The game runs on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC at 4K 120fps (with PC being able to go to a higher framerate), while on PS4 and Xbox Series S/One the game runs at 1080p 60fps (The Xbox Series S can run the game at 1440p 60fps and 1080p 120fps). NPCs all look incredibly detailed although not to the level of the main characters which is fine, and all look distinctly different from one another. Th environments are all incredibly diverse and range from various set pieces such as enemy compounds to forest areas to warzone battlefields and more; no two locations look the same.

In multiplayer online and in Zombies mode the game looks good but not at all as good as the main campaign which I assume is done because there are no scripted events happening in the environment and because of the higher number of characters on the screen due to both NPCs in Zombies mode and the large scale battles of the online multiplayer.

If you own Black Ops: Cold War or Modern Warfare, then you can dive right into their campaigns and multiplayer modes; the same applies to Warzone as well as you can access any of the recent 3 CoD games and it from the main menu for a universal one stop selection.

Audio

When it comes to the sound, Call of Duty has always been one of the top tier shooters with amazing audio fidelity. Everything from gunshots, explosions, bullets whirling past your head, soldier grunts and quips, all the way down to the change of weapons and reloading all sound incredibly authentic. The voice acting is stupendous in this entry and really showcasing a diversity of characters and accents that draw you into the experience. The OST is also really good as it feels like you’re listening to the soundtrack of an epic war movie and perfectly fits with every situation and scenario that you’re in.

Downsides

I don’t really have any criticisms for the game as it feels like one of the best Call of Duty experiences I’ve played in some time. Sure, I could complain about the fact that when you respawn in multiplayer skirmishes that you get placed in some of the worst respawn points and I could also complain about the slower and heavier feel of the combat but, I just chalk that up to it going for a slower and more methodical pacing.

All in all, it’s a pretty solid overall experience.

The Wrapup

Call of Duty games often earn a negative reputation for being a yearly iteration with what many feel are very minor changes to the overall formula. That complaint and thought process reminds me of people who claim the same about fighting games and typically this comes from people who only play at a casual surface level and don’t really dig into the core of the game, because if they did, they would that each entry is different on a mechanical level than the previous and to those who pick up the annual releases; that is what matters. Call of Duty: Vanguard is an incredible shooter with an engaging campaign set in WWII, an absolute buffet in multiplayer goodness, an insanely fun Zombies mode, and some of the best graphics of the current generation making this one of the best shooters and games of the year!