In lieu of the yearly COD review here’s some thoughts on Call of Duty: Vanguard and why you probably shouldn’t buy it.
How is Vanguard?
Sledgehammer’s successor to 2017s WW2, Vanguard focuses on an elite team of soldiers tasked with retrieving Nazi secrets and I’ve already forgotten most of the Campaign. The Multiplayer borrows heavily from Modern Warfare (2019), utilising the same movement, but in my opinion does everything else worse, and is less innovative than the studio’s last Call of Duty title.
That game (WW2) had new modes like War, in which stories unfolded during gameplay, as well as a Divisions system that tried to do something new. There was also a pretty cool Headquarters where players could gather in parties, access a shooting range, open loot crates (they were actually done well here), and put contracts on, among other things like seasonal events. It’s baffling that with the introduction of the battle pass and Operator skins/weapon blueprints this hasn’t returned since, as it would make sense, even from a business point of view, as players would essentially be showing off what they have either unlocked or bought with other players.
Oh and the Zombies was actually good. WW2’s Zombies mode followed the tried and tested formula, but made finding objectives easier and debuted a darker, more sinister plot. I enjoyed this, especially the first map The Final Reich, but the same can’t be said for Der Anfang which was even developed by Treyarch as a continuation of the ‘Dark Aether’ story line. The disappointing result in Vanguard is quite simply the worst Call of Duty Zombies map I have ever played, and I hesitate to even call it that as there are no classic rounds to progress, no Easter egg content, and it just feels soulless. Hopefully more is added in the upcoming new season or some round-based maps make it into the game, but do not buy Vanguard for the Zombies, it’s a far cry from any of Treyarch’s previous work.
Back to Multiplayer. The one positive is that there are 20 total maps at launch, which doubles Cold War’s offering, but the bugs let it down. The spawn system is truly shocking, weapon balance is off, the game can error at any time during a match, and the grind is real. That last part stands out as with most guns in the game, the very last attachment you unlock (at around level 70) is easily the best, which opens up the inevitability of weapon bundles in the shop featuring over-powered builds that players can buy to skip the grind and dominate with straight away. I honestly think that going forward shop bundles should be purely cosmetic as those that purchase them will have an advantage as it stands, due to them coming preloaded with attachments. This then highlights what Call of Duty is becoming; a weapon levelling platform for Warzone.
The setting isn’t the strongest in Multiplayer either this year. Factions have given way to ‘My Team vs. Enemy Team’ due to the use of Operators, but you just end up fighting people who look identical (until more skins are brought out). This dilutes the World War Two theme almost to the point that, if not for the weapons, you wouldn’t really know what time period it was. The Campaign is a bit more immersive in this regard, but as previously mentioned it is forgettable (though it’s nice to have at least). Even though the game has its fair share of problems, Vanguard isn’t necessarily bad and there’s potential here, but it’s not what some people on Twitter are making it out to be. It’s no “top 5 COD game”, and the people saying that it is either started playing the series late, or are lying.
Vanguard (Multiplayer) can be fun when it works, combat pacing keeps maps fresh, though not all of them are designed for classic 6v6, and some weapons are fun to use. However, the game is only for those who love WW2 FPS titles or are huge fans of the series. This is simply because the game feels like it is still running on an early build, which is concerning as the studio should have had four years to work on the Campaign and Multiplayer.
More casual players should just stick to Warzone, and with the new Caldera map coming out soon, you wouldn’t be missing much by skipping Vanguard and just playing that for free. With all that said the new Warzone Pacific map does look really interesting, and if recent information is to be believed, will feature much need changes to perks and loadouts. Although I’m a massive fan, and still enjoy Multiplayer, Zombies and Warzone, Vanguard feels like it’s still in beta, and I feel like I’ve paid to test it. If you can pass on the Campaign and don’t mind not having the new weapons at max level, I would honestly just wait until December 9th when the new battle royale map drops and play Warzone for free, or get Vanguard when it becomes heavily discounted.
The Blizzard consuming Activision
I like Call of Duty. I play it a lot. It’s probably my number one go to shooter when I want to play a multiplayer game. Vanguard is okay, hell it’s even fun when it works right. The publisher behind it is not. Like many publishers in the gaming industry, Activision is currently having its shady business practices shone under a microscope, to the point where even Xbox and PlayStation are noticing, and it deserves it. Forget crunch, micro-transactions, laying staff off to then boast about record profits, and CEOs taking millions in bonuses, the recent allegations are disturbing, and should shake the industry to its core.
The gaming industry is guilty of taking young, passionate talent, chewing them up and either spitting them out, or draining away all of their creativity so that AAA companies can churn out the same incomplete, buggy messes we’ve been seeing for years. Recent games such as WWE 2K20, Cyberpunk 2077, Battlefield 2042 and the GTA Definitive Trilogy have launched in questionable states, though there may be more to it then people realise. This includes multiple studios being revealed to have ‘frat boy’ like working conditions and treating staff unfairly.
It has been revealed that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick knew about the recent allegations (detailed here), some of which are extremely distressful, and highlight a toxic working environment which seems to promote harassment. Even as I write this Activision can seemingly not stop being in the headlines for the wrong reasons, and have apparently let their Raven QA staff go despite promising pay increases. Sounds about right.
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