MeinMMO author Maik Schneider has completed his first hours in the multiplayer of Call of Duty: Vanguard and feels right at home. He believes the new CoD returns to the franchise’s strengths and is excited for the coming year in the game.
The CoD games of the last two years have always managed to create a pleasant hype for me before their release. Even before the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard, I felt that familiar buzz building up, and when I finally got to play my first rounds in the completed multiplayer, that buzz turned into goosebumps at times.
Because the first hours were pure fun – unlike the previous two installments Black Ops Cold War and Modern Warfare. Vanguard plays like a true CoD from the first moment and delivers exactly what I expect from the series: fast skirmishes, many great 6vs6 maps, and an exhilarating feeling when taking down opponents.
Vanguard gives me what I wanted
This is how I define a “true” CoD: The Call of Duty community is huge and has grown over many years. This leads to each of us perceiving the franchise a little differently. For example, if your first CoD was one with jetpack gameplay, that might be your thing. It was never mine. I have different standards:
- Well-structured maps for thoughtful tactics
- Fast movement
- Many 6vs6 maps at launch
- Fun assault rifles
- No futuristic setting
- Many skirmishes
- Killstreak mechanics
Aside from the CoDs with jetpack gameplay, he has spent a significant amount of time in the multiplayer after each release, amassing several thousand hours of playtime. Maik is motivated by the ambition to play even better in the next match.
His defining experience was especially the time of Modern Warfare 2, the CoD from 2009. Many strong assault rifles, intricate map design, grounded setting. That was a CoD to his taste, and Vanguard has the right elements to become another hit for him.
To put it briefly and with the excitement after a few MVP matches: Vanguard does almost everything right for me. The developers adjusted the general movement to be significantly faster after beta testing and together with the field of view settings on consoles, Vanguard plays very spryly, without the time-to-kill being too low.
I’m almost flying over the map, sliding around the corners, shredding enemies with headshots, and I already feel very powerful when I start. Every double kill pushes me further ahead, and my kills cast a dark veil over the mood of the opposing team. The movement feels seamless, I quickly got the hang of it, and I already racked up my first 10 kills.
Moreover, Vanguard utilizes an upgraded version of the graphics engine from Warzone. I only needed to invert my controller settings and was immediately warmed up. Okay, I did adjust a few more settings, but I was fully engaged from the first moment.
But also, the maps. Oh yes, what maps! On none of the maps I have tried so far have I felt uncomfortable or faced excessive disadvantages. Here and there, perhaps a bit more color could be in play, as Vanguard’s setting in World War II is evident – the colors are not saturated and rather pale.
But the layout and gameplay quickly drew me in. Vanguard relies again on more structured maps with mostly clear paths, an action-packed center, and many flanking opportunities. Thoughtful approaches are rewarded, and so far, I could hardly identify power positions that dominate the entire map.
Also, some classics from CoD: World at War are in the game, on which I completed my first multiplayer matches back then.
The familiar controls, strong movement, and the good first impression of the maps have made me feel like I’m experiencing a “true” CoD. Something I missed upon release of the last installments.
From the first moment, I was sliding, shooting, and jumping around corners as if Vanguard had been a gift for my 18th birthday. And that was quite some time ago, back then the first Call of Duty was current.
CoD MW and Cold War were not my thing at launch
The CoD from 2019 was a bit sluggish at launch. In the map layout, the developers tried something new, bringing in a lot of verticality to the maps and skipping the typical three-lane structure. However, the lanes ensured that there was something for every play style: close and long-range fighters.
The maps, some mechanics, and the fast time-to-kill favored more stationary gameplay and thus campers.
Additionally, I found many maps too large, and at times I traveled a whole minute without seeing an enemy – that may sound little, but it’s a lot in Call of Duty terms! In contrast, Vanguard offers with the Combat Pacing the option to approach 6vs6 maps with more players. Even on the larger maps, I regularly encountered enemies in my crosshairs.
In Modern Warfare, I had the most fun on the chaos map “Shipment”, and the gameplay there was not necessarily the usual feeling of CoD MW.
With Cold War, I also had the problem with the large maps. The Combat Pacing is one of the best new features in Vanguard for me – perhaps even the best new feature.
However, the 2020 CoD failed to convince me with its overall gameplay. Everything felt so static, the movement felt sluggish, and there was no sense of constant action.
Also, the scorestreaks soured Cold War for me a bit. I believe killstreaks are the perfect reward system that can create incredible motivation in matches.
In a killstreak system, only the kills you collect without dying count toward a streak. In the scorestreak system of Cold War, you collected points for a streak over multiple lives, but here too, more kills in succession resulted in a better score, hence more points for your streaks.
Although many kills without dying were also important for high streaks in Cold War – nothing beats the feeling of achieving a 10 killstreak in a sweat lobby after intense skirmishes. And Vanguard has the dog squad back, with which I unleash a pack of dangerous attack dogs on opponents.
The new CoD not only picks me up, it takes me to the party, doesn’t drink anything, and brings me home again. Possibly a very good friend in the coming year.
My first impression is very positive because Vanguard gives me much of what I expect from a CoD. For me, it is a “true” CoD that impresses with strong maps and plenty of content at launch, while the gameplay gives me a sense of strength.
This feeling of power that settles in immediately after the first killstreak and pushes me to perform even better. That’s precisely what Vanguard conveys to me from the very first second, and that’s what I want from a Call of Duty.
However, I’m also curious about your opinion on this topic, as for some of you, a “true” CoD perhaps means something different. Do you also feel reminded of other CoD times when playing Vanguard, or does my opinion perhaps rub you the wrong way? Feel free to leave me a comment.
If you prefer to read more about the initial reactions to the multiplayer, check this out: Initial reactions to CoD Vanguard: What is well-received and what doesn’t go so smoothly.
