Activision has just revealed the latest installment in the CoD Franchise – Call of Duty: Vanguard, and it is a return to World War 2 by studio Sledgehammer games, the developer of Call of Duty: WW2.
As the first CoD game from Sledgehammer Games in nearly 4 years (not counting their assistance in Modern Warfare and Black Ops Cold War), Vanguard promises to bring exciting new single and multiplayer features, including a cinematic campaign, as well as a new game mode.
A New Campaign Spanning Four Major Theaters of WWII
For its campaign, Vanguard will take place in four major theaters of World War 2: the Eastern Front, the Western Front, North Africa, and the Pacific. The campaign’s story follows a multinational group of soldiers who form Task Force One, the original Special Forces operators.
According to Sledgehammer games, the campaign will have a large scale, and it will feature a deeply engaging narrative about the main group of four soldiers, all of whom have diverse backgrounds.
On top of this, the campaign also promises to be a cinematic experience with a “filmic blockbuster feel” and a lot of “big wow moments.” Helping the studio achieve this is the next generation Call of Duty engine which was introduced with Modern Warfare (2019). This engine promises to deliver a photo realistic world, lifelike characters, and optimized performance on PC, as well as the current and previous gen versions. In fact, Sledgehammer shared that the game targets 60FPS on all consoles, much like the previous games in the series.
New Multiplayer Offerings
Aside from the campaign, Sledgehammer also promises a big multiplayer offering for Vanguard, with the game having 20 multiplayer maps at launch, including 16 for core multiplayer. The game’s multiplayer also features the return of Gunsmith, new custom ballistics, and reactive environments which allow for some level of destruction.
Vanguard will also introduce the Champion Hill mode. This multiplayer mode features a series of tournament-style head-to-head matches where player scan play 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 in an arena consisting of four maps. The last squad standing wins the match.
Zombies Mode
Usually reserved for Treyarch-ledtitles, Vanguard will also feature a Zombies mode. Developed by Treyarch, the Zombies mode in Vanguard will connect with the Black Ops Cold War storyline. While not a lot of details have been shared, this Zombies mode promises to bring some innovations to the core gameplay loop.
Warzone Integration
Finally, Raven Studios is developing a brand-new Warzon map that will connect to Vanguard. This map, releasing later this year, will share the same tech as Vanguard for seamless weapons and operator integration.
Call of Duty: Vanguard will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on November 5, 2021.