A start with a bang! In the true sense of the word! These words enclose the initial stages of Call of Duty Vanguard, the latest effort by Sledgehammer Games and published, as usual, by Activision.
Hamburg, 1945, no one - apart from the player - knows that the war is about to end.
A train whizzes along the rails of the burning city with a handful of soldiers on board chosen to carry out a single mission: to collect information and take possession of the project Phoenix.
Task Force 1 thus finds itself having to repel dozens of Nazi soldiers, jumping from one carriage to another until arriving at a submarine base where, in all probability, the object of the Allied army's desire is hidden.
A noteworthy opening with a very respectable cinematic cut, for a game that does not hide its ambition of wanting to resemble a War Blockbuster (which is noticeable in all the cutscenes).
Like all the best action movies, however, the twists are not lacking and so the team is captured by the men of the terrible Hermann Friesinger, chief interrogator of the Gestapo, and incarcerated awaiting interrogation by Jannick Richter.
From here unfold all the parallel stories that led the members of Task Force 1 to be chosen for this mission of vital importance, and which converge in what could be told as a reinterpretation of the former "Inglourious Basterds" by Quentin Tarantino. Too bad that, unlike the cinematic masterpiece, everything is resolved in a series of rather monotonous firefights with a few truly memorable points.
It's the bad guys who make history, said the grandmother
Every self-respecting story is often and willingly, for better or for worse, directed towards the right canons by the counterparts of its protagonists. We had an example of this in Far Cry 6 - in which Giancarlo Esposito masterfully plays El Presidente Antòn Castillo - and Call of Duty Vanguard is no exception: without the characters of Hermann Friesinger - played by Dan Donohue, former voice actor of Zakhaev in Black Ops Cold War - and Jannick Friesinger - Dominic Monaghan, the "little" Merry from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - it would all make less sense. The first boasts a chilling, almost self-centered stage presence, which perfectly encapsulates and represents the true Nazi spirit of the war period. The second, however, despite his shorter stature, is represented as a sneaky individual, from whom a treacherous stab in the back is always expected.
It is thanks to these two figures that the new chapter of the most famous shooter in the world manages to give its best, in the cutscenes as well as in the in-game sequences.
The first special forces unit in history, the Vanguard, is made up of four elite operators from allied countries: Great Britain, Australia, the United States and the Soviet Union. All well interpreted, perhaps only little characterized. Arthur Kingsley - narrator of the game - represents the classic and stoic British leader, the Australian Riggs is the stereotype of the non-conformism of the 40s and has spent more days in the cool than on the battlefield, Wade Jackson he presses on the accelerator and takes all the American braggart with him and finally Polina Petrova, played by Laura Bailey, offers by far the most compelling character in the whole story and no wonder she is at the heart of Vanguard's best moments.
Task Force 1
The Call of Duty Vanguard storyline unfolds on 9 missions and develops in a way asynchronous. In a nutshell, the “actual” story of the game lasts about 2 hours, that is the time that Task Force 1 spends in the Reich cells between interrogations; all the rest of the gameplay is represented by Flashbacks focused on the members of the elite team and who “should” explain their personalities in depth and help the player to better understand the reasons that led them to accept the Hamburg mission.
While allowing us to visit numerous historically important locations, such as El Alamein, Stalingrad, Bouganville, these "throwbacks" break what could have been a synchronous and galloping progression to catapult the player onto new maps always with the same, monotonous, purpose : follow the drawn line and get to the end by killing Nazis.
The missions that give that quid in addition they are those starring the sniper Polina, because they return the true emotions of the Second World War and add that touch of Assassin's Creed that never hurts.
Set during the battle of Stalingrad, shooter Polina Petrova's two solo excursions allow us to briefly savor Russian family life before the German invasion. Perhaps this is precisely why we become more familiar with her: we are shown all her love for her family and how the Third Reich has trampled and ruined everything about her.
These gameplay sections also showcase the best parts of Vanguard with a great emphasis placed on mobility of the character: like any self-respecting shooter, Polina too must find the right point from which to shoot and have a tactical advantage over the enemy; here, therefore, we are offered the possibility of move vertically along the rubble of a Stalingrad devastated by bombs simply by climbing up certain walls and slipping into narrow tunnels, and then silently ending up that German soldier who remained guarding the door, just like the good Ezio Auditore.
Each of the four protagonists has their own advantages, such as Arthur Kingsley who can give orders to his teammates to better deploy the offensive forces on the battlefield, or Wade Jackson who is able to highlight the enemies in front of him and activate a sort of Bullet Time to finish them in Max Payne style. Unfortunately, none of the other members of Task Force 1 manages to catalyze the gameplay on itself like Polina who, in full cinematic trend, in my opinion deserves her personal Spin-Off.
Shoot, fall, stand up, repeat
Analyzing the list of missions in its entirety, we are faced with a sector that is in any case rather solid. The asynchronous progression doesn't help - mind you, very personal opinion - but there are a couple of highlights like the aerial combat during the Battle of Midway and Arthur Kingsley's "origin story" set the day before D-Day during the operation Tonga that not only are visually noteworthy but, especially the latter, pay homage to both war cinema and the history of Call of Duty: Tonga indeed plays a key role in the original game of the 2003 series.
All in all, as I wrote above, there is not a great variety in the design of the missions - especially if a comparison is made with the two previous chapters: Modern Warfare and Black Ops.
The duration of the main campaign does not help; you'll find yourself for most of the about 6 ore necessary to get to the credits, to run from one side of the battlefield to the other trying to make the enemies beat a retreat, no ifs and buts.
Call of duty vanguard it offers opportunities which, unfortunately, has not been taken advantage of such as vehicles on which you never get on and I mean never or "special" weapons to be used one-off to get rid of incoming waves of enemies. It is astounding that you can play an entire mission as one of the Desert Rats during the Battle of El Alamein (one of the most famous tank battles of the Great War) without ever mounting a crawler.
That being said, the gun play of the new Call of Duty is of a very high and bubbly grade, as one would expect from a new chapter in the saga. You are guided through the levels with emphasis and with the intention of winning the war. The weapons, also thanks to the DualSense support, offer a different recoil from each other and all the "sounds of war" are faithfully reported: from the bullets whizzing to the explosions nearby.
Good dubbing in Español, always punctual and that returns a good dose of emotional fidelity during the cutscenes, even if sometimes it happened to me that, inexplicably, the speech of my companions felt muffled, as far away during the phases of "exploration" of the map.
Vanguard is likewise impressive visually: whether it's El Alamein, the Solomon Islands or the flashes of grenades and mortars that illuminate the silhouettes of the enemies in the night fog in Normandy, the facial animations are nothing short of perfect, confirming the impressions of the direction film undertaken by Activision. Currently, few games are able to compete with Call of Duty when it comes to cutscenes.
No one can win a war alone
I dedicated a couple of days during the trial period of the game to multiplayer only and I admit I'm glad I did. For heaven's sake, I've been having fun with friends for years on Call of Duty precisely because I play in company, so I wouldn't necessarily define this new chapter as an excellent point compared to the past, rather I could describe it as unambitious: Vanguard does well what it does, but it doesn't add anything new compared to Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War.
Yet it is fun.
It would have been nice to see a proven and now "Standard" formula being shaken up at least a little, but Vanguard is very linear like its predecessors: play, level up to unlock weapons, use them to unlock accessories, do challenges to unlock skins . End.
What makes Vanguard almost special, as well as fun and varied are his maps. Heck, this might be the best selection of maps at recent launch for Call of Duty.
You know that feeling when loading a map that leads you to say "oh no, please not this"? Well, until now I've never said it: of course there are maps that can be liked more - such as the settings Numa Numa and Demyansk - and maps that can be liked less, but none are literally hated.
The size and layout of each map are so well structured to make it necessary to rethink the approach to the game with each new game and this helps to dispel the monotony. The "secret" hiding places scattered around the maps are a great addition. And here I address all the so-called "campers": I already know that you have accumulated kills galore among the bent palms of Numa Numa.
Coming to the point, in addition to the "classic" modes typical of the series - so team deathmatch, domination, confirmed kill, search and destroy ... - the addition of this chapter is definitely the mode Hill of Champions (which he had performed well during Activision's unveiling event and during the game's Alpha): a sort of Royal Rumble ad 8 squadre made up of two or three players. A game played in this mode with two other friends in tow is something exceptional, I assure you.
Definitely
Call of Duty Vanguard's Multiplayer mode amused me, especially when I played Hill of Champions mode with longtime friends. As usual the gunplay is top notch and all the maps are fast, fun and varied in layout and in the way they are tackled. And here the stick on the hands of Activision: nothing sensational or really "wow" was done, we preferred to leave a perfectly refined and reliable formula that even if it adds nothing compared to the previous chapters is in any case fun until, after the first two seasons, most of the players leave the servers. Password for the next chapter: dare!
I hate Nazizombies
Since its first appearance in Call of Duty World at War (dated 2008, damn old age) the Zombie mode is one of the most played and exciting of any CoD that implements it. Vanguard is no exception and restores new life to one of the flagships della IP Activision.
The starting points are always the same, and they are solid: a team of 4 operators is (tele) transported into a hellish alternate universe made of red skies, cursed talismans and divinities, very far from the solid realism of the main game, which allows Call of Duty to extend more towards games like Doom than towards true war reality between gore waves of undead ready to bite and devour the unfortunate protagonists of the nightmare. One goal: survival.
Very marginal - because yes, in the end we play Zombie mode for the sheer fun of shooting Nazizombies - even a bit of melodrama: the Germans went a little too far in their obsession with the occult and unleashed a gigantic catastrophe in the ruins of Stalingrad and through audio logs you can discover all the secrets behind the man's rebirth project.
The novelty of this year is therandomness element added to each run.
It will no longer be enough to coordinate with friends and keep an eye on windows and doors until the last enemy wave, but rather with shots of special abilities - such as a devastating energy mine, an invisibility field, a damage buff for the whole group and a vortex that slows down enemies - divine portals and totems, players will be able to expand their arsenal and elevate the gameplay of each match to new points.
I also loved the introduction of portals to the map, each of which transports the group to new play areas with different objectives such as resisting a certain number of waves or killing undead until you accumulate a precise number of hearts to be sacrificed at an altar. in exchange for the return to Stalingrad.
As usual, there are also the classic crates of weapons that allow you to buy new ones or upgrade those available in exchange for in-game currency earned with kills, while among the enemies there are the evergreen standard zombies, the explosive ones and the armored ones that appear in the most advanced and excited phases of the battle.
The final result is an ensemble of classic call of duty elements combined with Roguelite mechanics, and that represents the right degree of challenge for most players on the globe.
There will be occasions when it will be possible to go with shotguns leveled and clean up every enemy and others, instead, in which it will be necessary to make decisions in a hurry, revive one's companions and cover each other's backs during the phases of reloading the weapon. .
All while being hunted by dozens and dozens of Nazi zombies: an element that never hurts.
Zombieverdetto
Call of Duty Vanguard rethinks Zombie Mode as a roguelike-inspired, frenzy-based cooperative shooter. With materials to collect, a hub to develop and the sword of damocles that all of this can be obliterated by an attack from behind unseen by a comrade-in-arms. The promise is that over time new modes will be added to those present at the launch of the game, we'll see if the undead will actually come back to life.
Final considerations
With first-rate cinematic cutscenes and classic, no-tipping gameplay, Call of Duty Vanguard is an insidious title to review. An impressive depiction of the Second World War with a parallel story and a cast of well-chosen, but poorly characterized characters, could and should have been better exploited. Apart from a few highlights, during the 6 hours the campaign navigates in safe waters without daring and without aiming to be a new peak for Activision's FPS series.
Vanguard shines with its own light in the sections dedicated to Polina Petrova, redefining and distinguishing its gameplay from that of the usual, many, battles faced so far and the hope is that it has chosen to take a new direction in the field of shooting, taking advantage of the verticality of the maps and the emotions of the protagonists.
Multiplayer and Zombies are welcome additions to Activision's offer and which, if properly improved, will in all likelihood attract the attention of gamers, ensuring the "usual" longevity typical of Call of Duty.
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