Impressions from playing Beta Call of Duty: Vanguard

Call of Duty, now the iconic FPS series, does not need to be introduced. In the last 18 years, she has found so many fans that, thanks to this, she ranks among the top of sales with each new work. Currently the most played iteration – Warzone, will be complemented on November 5 by another full-fledged part with the subtitle Vanguard, which will take us to the diverse battlefield of World War II. An open beta version was launched over the weekend and will run until Wednesday, September 22nd. We didn’t hesitate in the newsroom, and after the bitter aftertaste that stuck in our tongue after last year’s multiplayer Black Ops Cold War, we threw ourselves into the turmoil of battle.

I really like the Call of Duty series, but with the exception of Modern Warfare from 2019, it seems to me that it is falling sharply. Last year’s episode had a successful campaign, but multiplayer didn’t appeal to me much. Both classic and Zombies mode. Of course, here it is true – a hundred people, a hundred tastes, but I expected significantly more (review here). That’s why I approached Vanguard with an absolutely cold head. Good thing I did. Even when I first started the game, I was struck by the visual. The new Call of Duty looks all sorts of things, but definitely not like from 2021 (played on RTX 3070 Ti). The graphics are outdated, the models of players and weapons are non-greasy, unsalted. But I could bite that if it was replaced by gameplay.

The new Call of Duty looks all sorts of things.

Both classic modes and a few new features are available in beta. Team Deathmatch, Search & Destroy, Domination and Kill Confirmed expand two new modes – Patrol and Champion Hill. While in Patrol you get points for occupying a zone that moves across the map, in Champion Hill you will compete either solo, or in pairs or triples. It occurred to me that this mode largely takes over elements from Counter Strike (you get money for killing and then buy weapons and equipment for each round before each round). Everything takes place in smaller arenas, so you have to be really careful. But to be honest, nothing revolutionary is happening.

While playing, you will come across four maps: Hotel Royal, set in the liberation of Paris during 1944, the Japanese island of Gavutu, the Red Star, set during the Battle of Stalingrad, and Eagle’s Nest – a fortress located high in the mountains. None of the maps enchanted me. It is a small map, classically divided into three lines. Maybe with the exception of the Royal Hotel, where he fights on the roofs. If we add to this the fact that the creators came up with new options for filtering matches, which are rather harmful, we have a problem.

While playing, you will come across four maps.

The new filtering is called Combat Pacing and determines the number of players on the map. Associated with this is the degree of need to tactic or witness utter chaos. Combat Pacing is divided into All (you can meet any other option), Tactical (6v6), Assault (20-28 players) and Blitz (28-48 players). So if you shoot Blitz on a small map, for example, you will constantly swear at the spawning algorithm, which again did not make much sense. I see another negative in the fact that you can’t choose different modes together with Combat Pacing, so you only rely on one filter setting. But that shouldn’t be a problem to edit until the release, and I hope the creators will.

On the contrary, what I can praise is the traditionally well-developed system of adjusting weapons and perks. Everyone will really be eliminated and it is not a problem to tailor a weapon. Unfortunately, this is perhaps the only positive I came across while playing the open beta Call of Duty: Vanguard. The sounds of the weapons are absolutely appalling. Everything sounds almost the same metal and the sound often even goes out completely. Do you have bombardment chosen as one of the perks and do you play the keyboard and mouse? Bad luck. Navigating a bomb without a controller is completely unrealistic, even ridiculous.

I can praise the excellent weapon modification system.

Maps are boring, lifeless, ugly. And there are no factions! You are simply divided into Team A and B. No Axis, no Allies. I don’t understand why change something that works. And so I could go on. But since this is a test build of the game, I don’t make premature conclusions (maybe a little yes). Less than two months remain until the release and technical errors can be corrected. For example, the authors will serve us a good portion of elaborate maps ala genius Toujane from the second, still my favorite work. I must also not forget the single-player campaign, which is, with a few exceptions, a short but very successful action ride, and even though it is probably a minority, there will certainly be those among you who buy Call of Duty precisely because of the story aspect.

Even after such a wide list of negative impressions, I can’t say that I didn’t really enjoy the open beta of Vanguard. I shot myself a few evenings and relaxed. However, it all seemed to me as if I were playing free to play FPS, which after a week will fall into oblivion and not even a dog will bark at it. I think the new part will only serve as a crutch for Warzone. In Vanguard multiplayer, you heap up your weapons and have fun going to Verdansk, then to the upcoming second map, which should be released now in the fall, probably close to the fifth of November. I didn’t expect anything and I got even less than that. An ordinary recycled paper full of mistakes and unfinished work. I pray the card turns, but I don’t believe it much. Perhaps at least we will get a proper campaign with unforgettable moments, which we see, for example, in film blockbusters. Either way, my eyes are now on the delayed Battlefield 2042, which I trust much more.

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