Call of Duty: Vanguard Reviews
A bet on popcorn, action and fun. An ode to explosions, gunshots and getting up screaming from the couch. A formula that, despite not being liked by the current critics, continues to work perfectly
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard is a first-person shooter set during World War II. The gameplay is exactly what you're used to from this series. Unfortunately, the multiplayer doesn't offer enough to keep everyone interested long enough. Zombies has the same problem: fun, but has less to offer than the previous versions.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s campaign, all told, is pretty much standard fare. It’s by no means the best nor worst, but while it strives to do something different, it inevitably continues to just play things safe.
Ultimately, Call of Duty: Vanguard has some qualities to make this an enjoyable game, this is not an improvement to the previous Call of Duty games, by any stretch.
Vanguard comes at an awkward time for Activision, and into a sea of competition. While the campaign is decent, it’s nothing to write home about, and the Zombies experience probably should have been delayed altogether. For Call of Duty, multiplayer is where it counts though and they’ve managed to put together a solid offering this year. Kudos to the teams at Sledgehammer Games and the other COD studios for managing to do so on such a tight deadline, in the midst of a global pandemic.
Now it's time for the final review and I'm extremely torn. I'll admit, I'm quite a fan of single player campaigns and I really liked this year's one. I thought the overall almost cinematic staging was great and it had some great moments. Being a sniper in Stalingrad reminded me of the great scenes in Call of Duty: World at War. But the other locations were great as well. Multiplayer is something I enjoy playing in phases. I liked Black Ops: Cold War quite a bit and found myself in battles there more often. The beta phase of Call of Duty: Vanguard put me off a bit, as I didn't really warm up to the multiplayer mode. Of course, what was shown was only an excerpt of the later scope. So this part could also win me over now in the weeks gradually more. In the end, the problem of Call of Duty is probably more and more the "egg-laying-willing-milk-sow" principle paired with the tight release procedure, which seems to be a challenge despite changing studios. With Call of Duty: Vanguard, Sledgehammer has shown some great ideas of how a good shooter can be presented.
Review in German | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard is a totally recommendable experience for fans of shooters and historical moments like World War II. The title establishes some new features that could have an interesting development in future installments, but fails in other modes such as zombies that remain in no man's land.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Vanguard is exactly what anyone thinking about picking it up will expect it to be: a competent shooter that doesn’t do much new.
I think that the inclusion of cross-play will be welcomed by all gamers. This certainly guarantees that the wait time for getting into any matches will be all but gone.
Save for some small changes to each of the individual game modes, it’s obvious that most the effort in Vanguard went into multiplayer, which makes sense. Zombies has been brushed almost entirely to the wayside, and while the campaign is fairly lengthy and has a story that actually makes sense, not involving brainwashing, it’s a big win for Call of Duty this year. The hope now is that the season updates, new maps, and hopefully some new Zombies content, can help to fully flesh the game out effectively.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is mostly more of the same, for better or worse. Sledgehammer Games has brought fresh ideas to a formula that desperately needs a shake-up, but the execution only leaves us desiring more. The inevitable Call of Duty: Vanguard 2 may further explore the designs seen in their infancy. And we sure hope it does because Vanguard could signal a notable change in the future. But for now, we have a relatively amusing installment that ticks the required boxes and little else for the annual series.
Keeping up with the recent trend in the series, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a solid and fun shooter. The thrilling campaign and the multiplayer with many options are some of its qualities, and the same can be said for the beautiful graphics and good gameplay. More than a competent game, it offers a solid base that can be amplified and improved upon constantly during its life cycle. Unfortunately, some things come up short and limit the finished product, such as the restricted Zombie mode and the lack of polishment in some elements of the game. The result, however, is a title filled with challenge and pleasant to play, especially with friends. If the integration with the Warzone mode goes well and the updates are good, Vanguard can become one of the best titles in the franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard's singleplayer campaign is simply too short to get a recommendation. The multiplayer fares better, however it doesn't really offer anything new. Unless you have to play every Call of Duty game ever released, feel free to skip this one.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Despite its ups and downs, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a genuine Call of Duty game from start to finish and that means shooting is enjoyable, campaign is eye candy, multiplayer is still addictive and offers that feeling you rarely find in a competitive online multiplayer game.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Call of Duty in its vast history has had ups and downs, but no installment has disappointed me as much as Vanguard.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard is a full CoD package with all the series' traditional modes, but with evident compromises made to release the game on-time. The campaign is short and not so memorable, the multiplayer has major balancing problems and several shortcomings compared to the other chapters, while the Zombie mode offers little bite. It's still a good shooter, but it lacks the punch and the breadth of content that distinguished the best episodes in the series.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard shows that this once great franchise is now a shell of its former self. But at least it doesn't crash consoles.
Despite its impressive characters, Call of Duty Vanguard has an extremely ordinary story. Multiplayer modes are fun, but they do not feel like a new game.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Call of Duty: Vanguard is not a bad game, but it feels halfhearted, with most of its heart poured into the campaign. It’s something that doesn’t live up to its potential, and could’ve been better. If you’re picking this one up, do it for the campaign and stay for the multiplayer to prepare for Warzone. The Zombies mode should be avoided until more content gets added to it in the coming months. We won’t know how Vanguard’s integration into Warzone will influence the battle royale until next month. As it stands, Call of Duty: Vanguard is good enough to get you through until next month where hopefully there’s a more to return for.
A content-starved Zombies mode aside, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a triumphant return for the series.