After just over a month with Call of Duty: Vanguard and, with the early arrival of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode, I have to admit that first-person-shooter games are beginning to feel a little uninspired. Still, there’s a lot to love about Vanguard, which comes from Sledgehammer Games and serves as the 18th instalment in the overall CoD series.
Unlike the majority of players, the first mode I like to jump headfirst into when it comes to CoD is the Campaign. I feel as though writers have in the past done well to deliver compelling, unique and intricately-designed stories, so it was a delight to see that this was the case once again here.
Vanguard’s campaign is told in a non-linear order, putting the player in the shoes of a handful of characters you instantly root for, allowing them a look into their backgrounds at various points in time and giving them an insight into why they’re fighting for their country against the emerging threat of enemies following the conclusion of the Second World War.
A nice new addition to the campaign sees the player allowed to blind-fire from behind a wall, which proved more helpful than it at first seemed when coming up against an onslaught of adversaries who can take you down in just a couple of seconds, given the opportunity.
There also seems to be more of a focus on tactical advancement throughout the majority of the set-pieces, rather than just allowing you to blast your way through with a shower of bullets. For those who preferred that skilful approach, this will be a welcome change.
As is often the case, the campaign feels completely cinematic, with stunning graphical design that allows for full immersion from start to finish. Combining this with masterful audio effects across six or seven hours makes for a memorable experience.
As for the multiplayer? There are 20 maps and a whole host of familiar modes that are sure to delight fans of the series, but don’t do much to inspire or revolutionise for this new era of gaming.
Perhaps the most interesting addition here is with the new mode Champion Hill, which can be played in Solos, Duos or Trios. It's a new take on Gunfight, elevating gameplay to a higher level to ensure that those taking part bring their A-game and combine strategy with their attack and defence, in a bid to survive.
This is the first time I’ve played CoD multiplayer on a PC, which delivered lower latency and more frames for a better competitive experience via my gaming laptop’s NVIDIA Reflex and DLSS. It made for my most enjoyable outing online yet; although those pesky heavy breathers and angry trolls still can’t quite be avoided if you’re choosing to delve into game chat!
Then came the Zombies mode. Developers have seen the success of recent roguelike releases and tried to apply it here but, it all falls a little flat. There’s no meat around the bones of the experience; instead it feels like a useless grind with no payoff whatsoever.
It’s easy to see why there’s been some backlash to this overhaul. A return to the simple basics of what this game mode so popular in the first place would be a welcome treat. Let us roll for weapons and board up windows in a small confined space, and do away with all of the bells and whistles that end up falling flat in any case.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A code for the game on PC was given to Female First in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The game was reviewed on an MSI GF65 Thin 10UE gaming laptop with NVIDIA RTX 3060 graphics card.
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Tagged in Call of Duty