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Call of Duty: Vanguard brings the franchise back to the Second World War after four years away, but the new customization options undermine the classic setting. Vanguard is developed by Sledgehammer Games, developers of 2017’s WWII and 2014’s Advanced Warfare. The game gives players a new multi-perspective campaign set during WW2, a new zombies mode co-developed by Treyarch, as well as the classic CoD multiplayer mode.
Vanguard is the 19th main entry in the series and the fifth Call of Duty game set in WW2. The World War Two setting has produced some of the most popular games in the franchise’s history, with Call of Duty 2 having a critically acclaimed campaign and introducing the first online multiplayer mode in the series. Recent fans of the franchise might be shocked looking at Call of Duty 2’s multiplayer, as its weapons were divided up by faction and there wasn’t a create-a-class system.
Vanguard, on the other hand, has one of the largest and most complex create-a-class systems ever seen in Call of Duty. Weapons can now have up to ten separate attachments on them, without the use of a perk or wildcard. In addition to this players can also use three perks and two pieces of equipment. Compare this to 2012 and Black Ops II’s much-loved pick-ten system, where players only had ten points to use on guns, attachments, perks, and equipment. Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s gunsmith customization options show just how far the series has come, but reaching this scale in a WW2-era game doesn’t feel right.
Vanguard’s Weapon Customization Contrasts With Its Environment
If players were expecting Vanguard to deliver a throwback to previous CoD games, then they are likely disappointed. Vanguard has so many customization options that it can be almost overwhelming at times, which is a contrast to the environments players will play in. Vanguard‘s maps are straightforward, often have a three-lane layout, and the returning destructible environments from Call of Duty: Ghosts work well to add an extra element to the gameplay. The maps do an excellent job of recreating the chaotic feel of a WW2 combat zone and have enough variety between them so they don’t get boring.
Having so many weapon attachment options in CoD: Vanguard pulls players out of that setting very quickly, though, especially if the guns start to look ridiculous. It doesn’t make sense to be able to equip an MP40 or a Type-100 with six different barrel-changing attachments and put a long-range scope on it or change them all to have incendiary bullets. In CoD‘s defense, players want a good degree of customization, but the levels of customization in Vanguard are more fictitious than anything that’s been in a futuristic CoD like Advanced Warfare. There needs to be a balance between realism and customization options in a Call of Duty game, and that balance wasn’t struck this time. As a result, Vanguard‘s weapons take forever to level up and undermine the game’s setting.
Vanguard’s Perks Should Be Era-Appropriate
Vanguard‘s gameplay succeeds in capturing the explosive chaos of World War Two, but the perk and field upgrade choices further undermine the setting. The sounds and visuals of the game are impressive, guns really boom and there is constant yelling from player characters and voiceover, which rewards players who are able to cut through the noise and use it to their advantage. However, the perk selection in the game doesn’t match up with what the gameplay should be achieving. Perks like High Alert and Piercing Vision, which allow players to know where they are being shot from and see enemies through walls, begin to remove the chaotic nature of the gunplay.
The same issue is prevalent with the field upgrade section in Vanguard, which also highlights how the developers have been caught in two minds with the gameplay elements. The field upgrades are mainly recycled elements from the past two games, a recurring thing in Vanguard that makes it feel rushed overall, that don’t make a lot of sense being in a WW2 shooter. A deployable mini-jammer is too high-tech for a WW2 game, but the developers have not added the trophy system field upgrade using that logic. Sledgehammer either needed to strip down the field upgrades to WW2-appropriate options or just re-use them entirely from previous games and ignore historical authenticity in multiplayer.
Call Of Duty Should Have Learned From Battlefield V
The customization options in a World War Two-era shooter can make or break the game if not done correctly, and there are examples both good and bad that Vanguard could have learned from. Battlefield 5 was a stream of disappointment since it launched back in 2018 – fans were instantly frustrated with the game’s lack of authenticity, the drastic changes to time-to-kill, and making the weapons more complicated than they should be. Battlefield 5 played like arcade FPS set in WW2, and not a proper WW2 shooter.
Compare Battlefield 5 and Vanguard to a game like Hell Let Loose, developed by Black Matter and published by Team17, which launched on consoles in October 2021. The game has very realistic weapons, maps that are to-scale and highly detailed, and realistic roles to play in the multiplayer. These things make Hell Let Loose‘s multiplayer more immersive than CoD or Battlefield, as intel is limited and players have to rely on their teammates to perform specific functions. Hell Let Loose won’t get as many players as Vanguard, but it’s been able to carve out a successful niche as a historically-authentic WW2 shooter.
The customization options in Vanguard don’t make sense with its World War Two setting and have hurt the game’s success overall. The game feels stuck between trying to be a WW2 shooter and being a modern Call of Duty game that works with Warzone. As a result, there is little to set the game apart from the previous titles and gamers haven’t been buying Vanguard as a result, possibly because they are tired of World War Two shooters. Call of Duty: Vanguard should have taken its WW2 setting more seriously, or not have been a WW2 shooter at all.
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