Shortly after the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard it is clear which maps the community particularly likes. A highlight: The House. MeinMMO tells you 3 reasons why the new map The House is better than CoD classics like Shipment.
Whether Shipment, Dome, Nuketown, Rust or Hijacked: The smallest maps in Call of Duty history are among the most popular in the community. These maps promise the fastest action in multiplayer. And that in every game mode.
The House is the newest map to be added to this list. It is also one of the best maps in the franchise. Now that The House has its own 24/7 playlist, it is clear to us: The House is better than Shipment – we show you 3 reasons for this.
Reason 1: The setting is more exciting
If the layout of The House seems familiar, there is a reason for that: the map is a shabby replica of the White House, the presidential palace of the USA.
Why is this special? In very few shooters are real places used as templates for multiplayer maps. Especially not as famous places as the White House. Shipment, on the other hand, consists only of a collection of containers.
The setting is an interesting Nuketown: Nuketown was still a replica of something commonplace like a typical small town. The House, on the other hand, is a replica of something that is known to the whole world. This creates an exciting and unique atmosphere in the matches, especially if you know the story of the map.
How does The House fit into the story of Vanguard? On the map, blueprints and targets are scattered around, showing that in the world of CoD Vanguard the Nazis prepared for an invasion of Washington DC.
Thus, The House is the place where the Nazis prepare their planned assault on the White House. If you look closely, you can also see that construction is still ongoing. Therefore, the walls are crumbling in many places, which players can take advantage of.
Reason 2: Maximum action through minimal map design
All small maps in the history of Call of Duty have played out on multiple levels:
- In Shipment, there are containers to climb on. While this provides little cover, you can surprise opponents from this position.
- The tall oil tower in Rust is a strategically important position that the entire server fights over.
- Dome has the balconies along the edge of the map.
- The bedrooms on the 1st floor of the houses on Nuketown are a strong nest for snipers.
- The buildings on both sides of Hijacked each have 3 stories.
The House is the exception. Apart from a small staircase with a few steps, the map is completely flat.
What does this mean for gameplay? The House follows the proven and popular three-lane map design of Call of Duty. However, since the map consists of only one level, it drives the principles of the design to the limit. These principles are:
- The maps have 3 primary paths – an open middle and narrow, winding paths on the sides.
- There are clearly defined sight lines where you have to expect opponents.
- The map has several tight passages where the paths intersect.
Since opponents cannot retreat to an upper or lower floor in The House, all firefights take place in these 3 paths.
How do I use this to my advantage? The best players in The House are those who can recognize which side the fight has mostly shifted to. Because when you have this information, you have many options:
- If you join the fight, you can rack up multi-kills with grenades or suppressive fire from LMGs.
- You can deal massive damage with killstreaks or the Goliath.
- If you avoid the fight and sneak up from the other direction, you can surprise several opponents at once. You don’t have to worry about being spotted by a sniper from above.
- Snipers can drop multiple opponents at once with a targeted shot into a tight spot.
Reason 3: The map gets more chaotic by the minute
A new feature makes the map more dynamic: A heavily advertised feature of CoD Vanguard was the destructible objects like doors and walls. This innovation has not convinced most fans – as our survey shows.
However, The House is perhaps the best proof that this feature does have a right to exist. Thanks to the many crumbling walls, the map becomes more open over time. And thus also more chaotic.
What does this change in gameplay? All the tactics we mentioned in Reason 2 become significantly stronger due to the broken doors and walls. However, their counters do too.
To give a few examples:
- Broken doors can no longer block grenades.
- Flanking players have more routes available.
- Shot players can dash around a corner faster and thus survive.
- The fields of vision are more open and numerous, especially for snipers.
- Mission objects are harder to defend.
A match on a map like Shipment plays out the same way, regardless of whether it is the first or last minute: The positions, the routes, the tactics do not change significantly.
Depending on when and how players break the walls of The House, the map plays out more straightforward – or more chaotically.
By the way: If you still think Shipment is better, look forward to November 17. Because the Chaos map is also coming to Vanguard.
Small maps help unlock camos and levels
Why are small maps so popular? The smallest maps in CoD traditionally offer the fastest action. The House is no exception – at every combat pacing. Since you can get more kills per match than on other maps, you also level up your account and weapons faster.
So, you not only have quicker access to the many weapons in the game, but you can also unlock the best attachment in the game early, which is absurdly good for 3 weapons.
What about weapon camos? The challenges for weapon camos, which can be very difficult in this game, are easiest on a map like The House. Especially for the challenges where you need multi-kills or a lot of close-range kills, The House is suitable.
You should take advantage of this. Especially now that you can play the map around the clock with the “The House” playlist. These 3 beginner loadouts can help you with that.
What do you think of The House? Can it rival Shipment or Nuketown? And what do you think of the other new maps from Vanguard? Let us know in the comments.
