Call of Duty: Vanguard

Call of Duty: Vanguard featured image

Call of Duty: Vanguard is the eighteenth entry to the main Call of Duty series of first person shooter games. In COD: Vanguard, the franchise revisits World War 2, showing the rise of the Special Forces to face new threats at the end of the war in various locations during that era of global conflict.

COD: Vanguard was developed by Sledgehammer Games for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows. Vanguard's campaign mode features gameplay mechanics similar to those previously introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Players can use mounted weapons to deploy on flat surfaces, interact with doors, and perform enemy takedowns under the right conditions.

Plot and location

Call of Duty: Vanguard's single-player campaign takes place in 1945 towards the end of the European theater of World War II. This includes various flashback scenes from 1941-1944, which results in a non-linear and non-chronological progression during the course of the campaign.

Players take on the role of various members of Task Force Vanguard. This elite team was formed by the Special Operations Executives of the Allied forces to discover the Phoenix, a top secret Nazi project that could change the outcome of the war.

In the course of the story, players will play as four key soldiers from Task Force Vanguard. The story will cover the Eastern, Western, Pacific, and North African Fronts of the war. By the end of the campaign, Task Force Vanguard will uncover numerous German documents and assets, revealing global Nazi covert operations.

Call of Duty: Vanguard also has a seasonal multiplayer story that takes place post-campaign across multiple eras and features Captain Carver Butcher, the founder of Task Force Vanguard. Captain Butcher leads a team of other special forces on a covert mission to quell a global Nazi operation.

call-of-duty-vanguard-GAMEPLAY

Vanguard also has a storyline for the Zombies mode. The Zombie story takes place in early 1944 and features a team of Special Forces operatives drafted into battle against an army of undead led by the commander of SS Unit The Truth, Overführer Wolfram von Lisz). Note that this is a non-canon and alternate storyline within the Call of Duty franchise.

Gameplay

New gameplay features in Call of Duty: Vanguard allow players to take a more advanced tactical approach to combat, including new ways to blind fire and shooting from cover, breaking destructible elements in the environment, or by climbing walls to reach objectives.

A new variation of Gunfight mode is introduced in Vanguard called Champion Hill. Champion Hill consists of four maps joined together at Champion Hill Arena. Among other things, there is a central shopping station and four maps for battle arenas: Airstrip, Trainyard, Market, and Courtyard.

All players in the Champion Hill mode will start with the same loadout. But during matches, players can collect cash on the map to upgrade their weapons and buy new weapons, gear, perks, and killstreaks at the available Buy Stations.

Of course, the popular Zombie mode returns in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Developed by Treyarch, this Zombie mode serves as a prequel to the events of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War set in the Dark Aether storyline. However, there is less content than previous versions of this mode in other games.

Visuals and other features

With the IW 8.0 engine, COD: Vanguard featured impressive graphics, with some of the highest details and photorealism for any Call of Duty game.

Call of Duty: Vanguard shares content with COD: Warzone, including progress sharing and the inventory system. With the release of Season 1 comes a new Pacific map, Caldera, with new anti-cheat options.

Vanguard has had 5 seasons so far, with the Last Stand being the final season. Last Stand ran from August 24 to November 15 2022, just prior to the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.

Release Date

Nov 05, 2021

Metacritic Score

73

Rating

Achievements Count

170

Play Time

6 hours

Games in Series

28

ESRB

Mature 17+: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs

System Requirements

Minimum:

  • CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 or AMD Radeon RX 470
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • HDD: 36GB at Launch (Multiplayer and Zombies Only), 177 GB all game modes

Recommended:

  • CPU: Intel Core i3-4340 or AMD FX-6300
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon RX 580
  • RAM: 12 GB
  • HDD:177 GB

Interesting Facts

  • Jackson refuses to tell Mateo what he named their plane. Mateo’s reply of “Fine, keep your secrets” is a nod to The Lord of the Rings.
  • Sledgehammer Games worked with World War II historian Marty Morgan for Vanguard. Morgan was also consulted for Call of Duty: WWII, for historical accuracy of the general storyline and setting.
  • Vanguard’s campaign features similar gameplay mechanics previously introduced in Modern Warfare.
  • The game have 20 multiplayer maps at launch, which 16 of them are built for classic 6v6 modes.
  • During the Numanuma trail mission, the player is rescued by the 93rd Infantry Division. One of the soldiers in the 93rd Regiment is named Lewis Howard. Lewis’ brother, Major Howard, appears in Call of Duty: WWII, thus connecting the events of the two games.

Cheats support

Yes

Contains Game/Battle Pass

Yes

LGBTQ Inclusive

Yes

Cross-Play

Yes

Split-Screen

Yes

Number of maps

20

Third/First Person

First person

Platforms

PC PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Xbox One Xbox Series S Xbox Series X

Genres

Action HorrorFirst-person shooterHistorical

Game Engine

IW Engine 8.0

Protagonist sex

Male

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