Call of Duty: Vanguard – Review
Our Score: 9/10
Call of Duty: Vanguard by Sledgehammer Games takes us back to World War II. It was only fitting since we got a modern-day Call of Duty followed by one set during the Cold War. Plus, with Battlefield taking the future route, the World War II setting was free real estate.
Call of Duty: Vanguard looks gorgeous, to no one’s surprise. And the multiple games modes that are available from the get-go are quite good as well. Not to mention, the various character stories in the game. So how much fun is Call of Duty: Vanguard? Well simply put, it’s a great time.
What is Call of Duty: Vanguard?
“The critically-acclaimed Call of Duty franchise returns with Call of Duty: Vanguard, in which players will experience global combat through the eyes of heroes of World War II and the fateful events that brought them together. Developed by Sledgehammer Games, Vanguard is a deeply engaging narrative, featuring a select group of soldiers from different countries and backgrounds who rise together to meet the world’s gravest threat, change the fortunes of the war and set the table for what we know today as special forces combat.
Through the remarkable journey of these steeled soldiers, players will experience influential battles of World War II as they fight for victory across multiple theatres of war – the Eastern and Western Fronts of Europe, the Pacific and North Africa.
This is their story. This is Call of Duty: Vanguard.”
Call of Duty: Vanguard tells the story of a handful of soldiers all across the globe. You’ve got the Eastern Front, the Western Front, North Africa, and The Pacific. In the campaign, which is one of the available game modes, you get to play as those aforementioned soldiers. You have a lot of big names playing the main characters in the story.
Cast of Call of Duty: Vanguard
First, you have Laura Bailey as Polina Petrova. And if you don’t know who Laura Bailey is, she’s the voice of Kait Diaz in Gears 5, MJ Watson in Spider-Man PS4 and for you DBZ fans, she used to voice kid Trunks. She also won a BAFTA for Abby in The Last of Us II so you know she’s going to be VERY good here as well.
You also have Richard Webb is played by Simon Quartermore( Westworld), Nikolai Nikolaeff (Daredevil) as Des, Christopher Rivas (NCIS:LA, Just Cause 4) as Meteo, Derek Philips (TLOU II, Friday Night Lights) as Wade Jackson. Furthermore, Steven Brand (Teen Wolf) plays Henry Baker, Dominic Monaghan (Quantum Break, LOTR) as Jannic Richter, Martin Copping (R6 Siege, NCIS) as Lucas Riggs, and Chiké Okonkwo (The Birth of a Nation, La Brea) as Arthur Kingsley.
And you can expect some fantastic performances from all these exceptional and talented artists. They suck you into this bleak and terrifying world with how human their characters feel.
Game Modes
Then you also have Multiplayer with 20 whooping maps from Day One. On top of that, Vanguard features “Combat Pacing” in its matchmaking. This way you can pick what type of multiplayer match you want to join. The Tactical mode gives you a traditional 6v6 lobby. Assault mode, is a 10v10 or 12v12 lobby with a more accomodating map. Finally, you have Blitz which is a 24v24 lobby with a much bigger map. All these modes can be played on each of Vanguard’s maps with the “playable” area increasing with each jump in player count.
Finally, Zombies also makes a return. Jump into co-op with some friends and shoot away the evil zombies raised by the Reich. Form pacts with mysterious entities and rid the world of demons in this game mode. You know exactly what to expect here if you’ve played previous Zombies game modes. And it’s just as fun.
Look and Feel
Call of Duty: Vanguard uses an upgraded version of the IW 8.0 engine that was used in Modern Warfare. This game looks so photorealistic at times, it is absurd. Especially since they’ve used photogrammetry alongside some magical volumetric lighting topped off with reactive environments. This game needs to be experienced in its full beauty because it will leave you spellbound.
The game also feels similar to Modern Warfare in terms of movement and gunplay. It’s more tuned for WWII of course. Nonetheless, it’s still fun and you’ll probably spend hours in this game.
Final Verdict
Call of Duty: Vanguard is an incredible World War II shooter that looks phenomenal and plays incredible. Thanks to the new Combat Pacing option, your multiplayer experience will be much better. Not to mention the phenomenal single-player campaign as well that you should play before you hop into multiplayer and zombies.
