Call of Duty Vanguard Review for Campaign, Multiplayer, Zombies and Esports

Call of Duty: Vanguard takes a familiar step for the annual heavyweight series—back to World War II—in a mostly great way. 

Developer Sledgehammer Games delves into World War II once again with Vanguard to reveal some in-universe origin stories, steps back to analyze what makes competitive multiplayer tick to enhance the experience and Zombies mode, well, unfortunately just takes a big step back.

The three critical pillars of COD again return in the wake of last year's Black Ops Cold War, the odd smorgasbord of modes and features that stretched itself a bit thin. Vanguard doesn't do that—two of the three pillars are fantastic, while one is clearly a weak point that architects will want to address in the future. 

As far as annual COD games go, Vanguard has the multiplayer upside to be the best release in a long time. 

Graphics and Gameplay

Veterans of the series know what to expect—Vanguard is visually stunning. 

The game's campaign, especially, is a jaw-dropping experience in all facets. Character models look good, and the faces and their mannerisms are best-in-gaming material. An expected hodgepodge of different, memorable locales run the gamut of the color palette and offer an immersive experience. 

Vanguard doesn't pull any punches leaning into the next-generation technology of the new consoles. Rain patters on the wooden surface of a train in an early memorable setting. Fires off in the distance glimpsed only through trees during the night and much more showcase the game's superb lighting and shadow work. 

There are sure to be criticisms that multiplayer maps look bland with the same color tones, and that's fair. But the surrounding landscapes and details often feature borderline distracting beauties, such as trees realistically whipping around in the wind. 

But, and this is most unfortunate, this is another Call of Duty release where visibility can be difficult. This applies to campaign, where it's hard to tell who is a friendly and who isn't, even up close. 

But it's mostly a critique of multiplayer—it's extremely hard to see enemies against the muddied backdrops of most maps. And waiting around to see if there's a red name above their hands typically means the enemy has already gunned the player down. It doesn't help that there aren't "sides" to the multiplayer anymore, so both teams can run around with the same operators. Were there not red or blue identifies above each player's head in a lobby, it would be a hilarious mess of a game that just doesn't work. 

Sound design is a plus in most areas. This is another COD that's a pseudo-love letter to gun aficionados. They all have a distinct kick and recoil pattern to go with the superb sounds. Voice acting, especially in campaign, is top-notch. 

But, again, the exception is multiplayer. Directional sound is a mess and footsteps are nearly impossible to hear. The only saving grace there is these are two areas COD addressed in recent releases with post-launch patches, so hope remains. 

As hinted, Vanguard is back to being COD in gunplay. It takes elements from recent releases like mounting guns on surfaces or doorframes and implements it smoothly. Gunplay feels fantastic, and the recoil patterns for each weapon require mastery, though late-game perks might end up being a bit over-tuned. 

The feel of multiplayer is very strange. But this doesn't seem like a game housed in World War 2. The weapons fit the theme, but the movement, gunplay and more makes it like other modern-based shooters. It's almost a Hollywood production. 

That's not necessarily a bad thing. Past titles have produced a slower-paced game in a historical setting very well. This is a fun remix where the beloved older weapons persist, but modern gameplay keeps things fresh. Removing the arcade-like modes of the series for the sake of the setting would have left the game feeling like a different franchise. 

In multiplayer, Vanguard wants to be Overwatch with its player-of-the-game intros and MVP-voting system. These aren't bad additions; they are both natural progressions for the series and a way to encourage more grinding for cool skins and celebrations (or buying them). Maybe worst of all, it adds about another minute to the postgame experience instead of letting players get right back into the next match. 

Because that's the crux of the game—Vanguard looks and sounds great, but as with every release, it's about getting back into the fast-paced action that has carved out a space for itself atop the shooter mountain for good reason. 

Story, Multiplayer and More

Vanguard doesn't go in many unexpected directions while leaning into the well-trodden World War 2 theatre that it and others have used in the past, but the story is captivating. 

Players join Task Force One, a hodgepodge of characters from around the globe that form a team that eventually becomes spec ops in modern times. The backdrop to the entire story is interesting—it's the very end of the war, the Nazis are scattering and desperate, and the team stumbles upon a secret plan to help the Third Reich endure into the future. 

Flashbacks dominate the campaign, serving as origin stories of sorts for each hero in the squad. These range from silly to some of the best brief experiences in COD campaign history. Overall, it's not a long experience, but that means it doesn't outstay its welcome. It makes the most of its short time by carving out memorable characters and moments players won't soon forget. 

The game works hard on the characters of its cast right from the beginning. In one fun example, the shoot first, ask questions later guy in the group gets frustrated with the player for waiting to strike and starts blasting, forcing the player into action (this is scripted, but players can actually miss this). 

Maybe the biggest problem with the campaign is that it appears quite unoriginal. There's a sniper segment; a stealth segment; a blow-something-up segment. It's like a greatest hits of what COD has to offer, which is great for players new to the series but maybe not so much for veterans. 

It doesn't help that the campaign exposes the brutal performance of friendly A.I. again. While the surrounding presentation is stunning, turning around to see a friendly stuck on a wall or shouting like they're fighting for their life while just standing still and not contributing at all is immersion-shattering. 

There are also immersion-breaking instances of players not playing the game the way it seems to be intended or going off the linear track. One early instance features the player escaping alerted enemies into a cellar and they just don't follow him through the open door. 

But to its credit, Vanguard at least funnels the player from one battle to the next. Instead of the old-school COD idea of getting to a point and hunkering down to survive a wave of enemy spawns, players consistently push forward, and the sense of momentum is a nice change. 

In multiplayer, the biggest talking point of all is Combat Pacing. 

This feature lets players choose the pacing they would prefer to their experience. It's a great feature. Players who slide it all the way to the right will be thrown into 12 vs. 12 and 16 vs. 16 chaos. It's like playing the classic COD Shipment map on every map. That's fun in bursts, as bad spawns, spawn camping and strain on the maps themselves shows quickly. 

Players can also adjust the slider for a slower, more tactical-based experience. Instead of a 16-player-per-team deathmatch, it can halve the player count for both teams. It feels better that way, as the slower pace doesn't show the flaws in the spawns as much. 

Regardless of a player's disposition, we'd never bash giving players the option to play how they want, when they want. While it doesn't always appear to work, picking something as simple as team deathmatch and not being unwillingly thrown into a massive player count or vice versa is fantastic. 

Map design is great, making for maybe the best-flowing COD in a long time. And there are 16 of them, so it's not like past games where players can complain about a lack of variety. There doesn't appear to be as many lanes as older releases, but the flow of the maps makes for fun rotations. 

That design gets a boost by destructible bits of the map, a newer option for the series that can create additional sightlines and routes. This isn't limited to doors, but walls and otherwise.  

It wouldn't be a new COD without new experimental multiplayer modes and two of the most notable might become hits that make it into every game. 

Patrol takes control and moves it around, tasking players with capturing and holding a moving zone. It's such a small wrinkle to a tried-and-true mode, but it's a blast and solves some of the camping issues that come with normal control-point modes. 

And then there's Champion Hill, an odd mashup between battle royales and gunfights. Eight squads of two or eight squads of three compete to be the last team standing. After a buy-round, using an allotted amount of money to buy perks, bonuses or weapons, two squads randomly face off while the rest of the squads do the same in other barred-off sections of the map. 

It's brilliant—while a player goes into a tactical battle with their teammates, they can hear the gunfights between other squads on the next map over. And when there's an odd number of teams left, a team left out for a round can climb up in the buy-area and watch the other squads fighting it out from on high. 

Each team only has a certain number of lives before being removed from the running. As eight teams becomes four, three and then two, it captures the tension a full-fledged battle royale does pretty well. 

Spawns have had a couple mentions already so let's bring the elephant into the limelight—they're a problem again. It's something every COD game seems to struggle with at launch, and this is no exception. It's not always because of high player counts—the game drops the player in behind or right in front of enemies sometimes, sending them right back to the killcam again. 

While on the topic of struggles, those mentioned problems with visibility and sound design can lead to some serious frustration. It's a bad problem only saved by player nametags above heads, and it feels like said nametags are a copout for the series, which would be better served figuring out how to fix the issue.

Latency and/or packet loss, at least at launch, leads to frustration too. While the time-to-kill is high and makes for a well-paced game, the time-to-death for players feels instant. 

Most of the big launch-day complaints for multiplayer are those easily addressed through patches. Vanguard wouldn't be the first COD of the last few years to get an upgrade right after launch once it's obvious how bad some of these problems can be.

And yes, "operator" characters are back again with cheesy intro cutscenes and unlockable quips they can throw out in battle. It's another Overwatch-ism that isn't terrible, but COD also can't be a hero shooter like that—every player has to have similar abilities. So the differences are mostly cosmetic and ignorable. 

The gunsmith makes a return in all its glory, as does the grind for perk and attachment unlocks. One interesting tidbit is just how strong the first two guns are, which means it will be interesting to see if that has a detrimental effect on a player's desire to grind for unlocks. Probably not—good guns for everyone means an even playing field, never mind a fun one. 

Zombies won't get a ton of mention here because it feels like a letdown. Players operate out of a central base where they spend points to upgrade before diving through a portal to any number of WW2 areas in an effort to accomplish a goal before teleporting back. 

It sounds bland and mostly is because it isn't aided by innovation. There are only three objectives to accomplish in the gameplay loop. One is escorting a zombie head to a destination, one is surviving until a time limit expires and the other is grinding for pickups. There are seemingly only three different zombie types too; a regular undead character, one that explodes and a big one with a huge gun. 

The central hub, at least, is interesting and changes in slight ways upon a player's return. They'll run through the gamut of expected unlockable skills (like faster revives) and have to decide what to actually bring on a mission. But the positives are all derailed by the lack of modes and varied enemies. 

As expected, Vanguard runs well, where other recent releases have stumbled at launch lately. It's a very well-polished game right out of the box.  

Esports

Call of Duty League started two years ago alongside the launch of Modern Warfare and has predictably thrived ever since. 

Vanguard should be no exception as the 2021 season gets underway. As always, Call of Duty Challengers offers a path to the pro circuit, too. 

Interestingly, Vanguard launches with 16 maps, double the size of last year's offering. And while there aren't always the traditional lanes that pros seem to love, the sheer number of maps should at least make for a greater challenge—and viewing experience for onlookers. 

Even better, Patrol might have some serious potential to be a standout esports mode on its own. It's one thing to watch pros throw down in deathmatch-styled games or otherwise, but the moving capture zone could be a fun tactical-minded mode that stresses teamwork and communication from the best players on the planet. 

Either way, this is the annual reset the pro side of COD gets each year and thanks to a superb release for the multiplayer side of things, it might end up being the best season of the new league to date.

Conclusion

Zooming out a bit, Vanguard is a bit of a strange annual release for COD. The campaign is very short, albeit good, and Zombies feels barebones, especially compared to what might be the best multiplayer offering from the series in two-plus years. 

So what to make of it as a whole? Vanguard isn't going to change the minds of players who don't like the usual feel of COD multiplayer. But for those who do or have a curiosity about it, this is a fantastic, deep offering—with Warzone lurking in the background, of course. 

There isn't as much meat on the bone for players who strictly want a solo campaign and/or co-op experience. But, last year's Black Ops Cold War was the total opposite. 

As such, this doesn't feel like a down year for COD, not with the great state of the game upon release, superb multiplayer maps and some innovations in terms of matchmaking and game modes that should be a staple of the series for a long time.