We waited a while before we told you about Call of Duty: Vanguard. During our preview we were not fascinated by it and, unfortunately, even in our review we have not completely changed our mind. Unfortunately, in fact, we have not seen that spark strike. This does not mean that the game is to be thrown away, on the contrary, there are still several interesting aspects that are worth highlighting. The title, this year, is proposed with a more contained style than in the past, which does not leave too much room for choices of courage. The campaign remains interesting, but something is missing. Let’s go into detail on our Call of Duty Vanguard review.
Call of Duty Vanguard: Review – There is no shortage of content
Call of Duty Vanguard certainly has a great merit, that of variety. The title, in fact, is not limited to the content proposal, providing users with different ways, individually or online, to satisfy all palates. Starting from the multiplayer side, we see a combination of multiplayer-zombie mode, not exactly new in the series. The more classic part contains many modes already seen, such as confirmed kill, deathmatch and capture the flag. The different modes follow each other on about twenty maps, all different, but as always quite small in size. This is definitely typical of the series: tight spaces, lots of players, lots of kills.
To characterize this gameplay, we always find the frenzy that arises with Call of Duty. In fact, during the writing of our review, we tried to put together our gameplay experiences and, almost all of them gave the same result. Very fast matches, both in terms of time and in terms of movements. Everything is fast, frenetic, little room for strategy, a lot of action. Perhaps, compared to the previous chapter, we find some slight differences on the gunfight sector. Health restoration seems to have slowed down, while the time to kill goes up a bit. With this, therefore, we must be very careful, the frenzy is fine, but it is also necessary to act with the head. Too many reckless actions will lead us to death.
As for the weapons sector, however, we are quite satisfied from the point of view of the content, while we have some doubts about the balance. This is because some weapons are a little too opaque compared to others. We believe, however, that this is a detail that will have to be balanced over time. Adjusting the balance of weapons is always one of the most complex parts and has always been something that is fixed over time.
Let’s kill the zombies
Among the other modes proposed, there is also space linked to zombies, something that has always been a must in the series. It is an online mode, but in fact cooperative. The aim, in fact, is to create teams ready to face all the undead that will want to attack us. Although this mode has always made the title not very faithful to any reality, we find that it is among the most fun to deal with in company. The team is made up of four players and, horde after horde, our aim is to carry out a mission: to reach an agreement with “alien” entities opposed to the Nazis.
While it may not be the workhorse of the game, during our review, we believed it was. Among the many proposals, in fact, it is the one that has shown the best results. It is fun, structured and does not suffer from particular shortcomings.
Call of Duty: Vanguard review – A mid-war scenario
Let’s get to the part that disappointed us the most during our Call of Duty Vanguard review: the campaign. While this was a great opportunity for the series, we sadly didn’t see what we wanted. The developers, in fact, have come up with a campaign that works halfway. On the one hand, we have great ideas and interesting premises which, however, lead to a realization that is not up to par. There are moments of prominence, but others not very exciting and a conclusion that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
The story does not linearly follow a real or probable war event, as, instead, the competitors in the historical chapters had done. We have a group, the Avant-garde, which follows a destiny halfway between realism and imagination. What puzzles us most is the duration, as well as the development: in just four hours we are able to finish the story which, as you can imagine, does not go into much detail in the narrative. Of course, we are not dealing with a pure single palyer, but why do a campaign and then leave it halfway? A pity, we would have expected much more.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Review – Not the chapter we would have hoped for
Coming to the end of our Call of Duty: Vanguard review, we can’t say we approve it with flying colors. We do not feel like rejecting it totally, also because the contents are there and they are varied, but we have not seen what we hoped for. The countryside is one of the most disappointing parts found, which is built on ups and downs without leaving a mark at all. The multiplayer sector is always very varied and is certainly an appreciable detail, but even here the title does not excel. The balances still need to be fixed, but also the technical and visual side is not the best. Instead of a step forward, we witnessed a half step back. A somewhat dull chapter, which could have given more, but stopped at the bare minimum.