Call of Duty: Vanguard Reviews
The problem with Vanguard is that it’s difficult to recommend with multiplayer being its strongest asset, which is something Black Ops Cold War and the Modern Warfare reboot provided well enough, as there isn’t a big enough change in the gameplay formula to warrant a switch. In the end, Vanguard simply asks if you prefer the World War II setting enough to buy it at full price. If not, I think you’ll be good with whatever Call of Duty title you have right now.
Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s campaign isn’t going to redefine how war stories are told, nor does it reach the highest points of the series’ past triumphs. However, it manages to tell a personal story with a cast of likable characters and stays at a steady, even quality throughout. While excellent DualSense support does its job of subtly immersing the player, it serves a grander experience that brings the player into its world with its likable cast and intimate stories.
'Vanguard' might feel more complete after a few months of updates, but the current state is an unfortunate reminder that needlessly tight deadlines don’t benefit the people who make games or the people who play them.
Vanguard’s campaign recalls the same shooting galleries seen year after year, full of cliches and with somehow even less point to it all.
This year we have an approach devoid of interest in another Call of Duty. Here in Vanguard, the formula is obviously maintained with small additions to multiplayer that is currently chaotic and packed with cheaters on PC. The campaign contains no interest and is quickly placed in the corner of oblivion. We are left with zombies that are minimally acceptable and make everything else forget a little, but only for those who like this mode of play.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
All in all, Call of Duty Vanguard is an amazing singleplayer experience, with a more than decent multiplayer component. It plays and feels better than its competitors, especially Battlefield. The only other hard-hitting title out there right now is Halo: Infinite, but that’s offered for free for anyone and it’s really hard to compete with that. I would recommend you get it just for the story and maybe wait for a few weeks before jumping into multiplayer if you want to get the Battle Pass too.
Call of Duty Vanguard falls fully within the canons of expectation and offer of the series under almost every single point of view, resulting literally as a "another Call of Duty", which will entertain all those who have always found enjoyable and fun experience offered by the various chapters of the saga, but does not try for a moment to strive to offer something more.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Having spent several hours playing all three modes, I can safely say that it's definitely worth buying, specifically for the multiplayer which is surprisingly good for a change.
The story gets a little confusing at times, but overall Call of Duty: Vanguard is a solid game.
A surprisingly well-polished mix of the immersive campaign and engaging multiplayer. Enough starting content to keep you busy til the end of the year.
Once reinforcements do come for Zombies, it will be hard to argue against Vanguard as one of the best and most complete Call of Duty titles in the last decade, potentially of the franchise's entire history. This is one of the rare times Call of Duty has seriously dug into its past, learned from it, and delivered a new and improved experience. Vanguard sets a high bar for Call of Duty as the franchise moves into the next generation.
Call of Duty: Vanguard does everything except Zombies very well. The problem is, we’ve seen it all before. Over and over and over again. While WWII can still be enjoyable in CoD, it very much feels like Activision relies on the same bag of tricks.
There are a lot of aspects of the game that I’m sure we will see future updates fixing, however, there are some that are wired into the game, especially in the campaign and Zombies that an update cannot fix.
Call Of Duty: Vanguard is less enticing than its recent forebears and that's a real problem when it's facing its own competition with free-to-play battle royale CoD: Warzone riding high (not to mention rival Battlefield 2042 out later this month). But with a solid multiplayer mode on offer, there's enough here to keep fans occupied over Christmas at least.
Call of Duty: Vanguard offers us a mix of interesting stories, very fun group play phases and much-welcomed zombie innovations, already an experience not to be missed for fans of the series and first-perspective shooting games.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Call of Duty is back in World War II with good multiplayer but weak campaign.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Does Call of Duty: Vanguard advance the series in any meaningful way? Of course not, but that doesn’t stop it from being a fantastic package for Call of Duty fans, or a good entry point for those seeking a way in. The campaign here is brief but captivating, managing to make you feel for its band of heroes despite your short time with them. Zombies has some interesting twists that keep you on your toes. And multiplayer is more of the same but with tweaks that some will love and others will hate, as usual. All in all, this is one of the best Call of Duty releases to date, and we’d love to see more of Vanguard’s exploits in the future.
Aside from breath-taking visuals, the campaign mode of Vanguard doesn't have much to say, as it's the standard short and sweet Call of Duty campaign that we've known for years, but when it comes to multiplayer Vanguard is a beast, offering the most content than any other COD game before with some top notch map design and super smooth gameplay.
Review in Persian | Read full review
For the second year in a row, you can sense that the game was developed in a hurry, the menus copied from Modern Warfare and technical issues, the assignment of the Treyarch studio to develop zombies and its incomplete release, and the lack of different designs that distinguish each team from the other, are all indications that the game did not take enough time for development. Of course, the foundation of the series is always fun, the technical issues will be fixed with time, and it will be a good game until the next release. But the standard has become thinner than a mere "enjoyable foundation" and expected.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard is another part of a long-term series, which does not surprise at any point. Fans will have a lot of fun, but some could count on something else.
Review in Polish | Read full review