Call of Duty: Vanguard's first trailer focused almost entirely on the game's explosive campaign: Revealing its World War 2 setting, that it was designed on the same engine as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and showed off the multiple theaters of war that its campaign would take players across. Of course, the Call of Duty series is also very well known for its multiplayer mode, which Call of Duty: Vanguard has now revealed with its own trailer and details as well.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's multiplayer reveal showed off a lot about the game's multiplayer mode, with a trailer filled with shots of frantic action. The trailer also showed off some of the hallmarks of recent Call of Duty titles like operatives, melee kill animations, and gunplay that looks similar to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. However, there is still a lot that is new about the title's multiplayer offerings that the developers at Sledgehammer Games were more than happy to start detailing for excited fans of the series. The game is also planning on integrating with Call of Duty: Warzone as well as having a Zombies mode developed by Treyarch, but fans will just have to wait to learn more about those aspects of the game.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's Multiplayer Features
There are many game modes that fans of the Call of Duty series expect from a new title, and Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature those as well as two high-profile new additions. The first of these is Call of Duty: Vanguard's new Champion Hill mode: Teams of up to three face off in a tournament until only one of the teams is left standing. In between matches, players are given money based on their performance to purchase gear and equipment for the next match. The other new game mode is Patrol. It has two teams fighting over control for a zone to gain points like Domination, but the zone constantly moves around the map to force players to adapt and stay mobile.
Another new feature that Call of Duty: Vanguard is bringing to the series' multiplayer is known as Combat Pacing. Combat Pacing gives players three options to choose from that help determine what type of experience they want. The first is Tactical, which includes matches with two teams of six for the more traditional Call of Duty experience. The second is Assault, which offers a more frenzied experience with a lobby size of 20 to 28 modes. The final option, Blitz, is much more chaotic and lets players jump into lobbies with 28 to 48 players. It has also been announced that Call of Duty: Vanguard will launch with a sizable pool of 20 maps, some of which will be remastered versions of classic maps from the series.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's Multiplayer Details
Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer will also see the return of Call of Duty's popular Create-a-Class and Gunsmith features. The Gunsmith feature is an expansion of the one present in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and is expanded for certain guns to have a whopping ten slots for different attachments that can not include alternative ammunition types or attachments that alter a gun's caliber. The developers have also revealed that riot shields will be returning to the series, as well as akimbo and bayonets.
The developers have also revealed that the leaked environmental destruction is coming to Call of Duty: Vanguard, allowing players to tear through doors and walls to create new sightlines and angles to engage the enemy. The mode will also see the return of weapon mounting, while also introducing blind fire options that allow players to shoot less accurately while remaining behind cover.
The multiplayer mode will also see the return of perks and features Operator Perks, Weapon Perks, and Field Upgrades for players to further customize their loadouts and gameplay. The developers provided examples of perks that allow players to sprint faster or even fire their weapon while sprinting. The only Field Upgrade mentioned so far is Dead Silence with the added note that its active time will be added to by players earning kills.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's Multiplayer Beta
The beta for Call of Duty: Vanguard is being released in three different waves. The first wave just recently ended on September 13 and was only available to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 players who pre-ordered the game. The beta featured three brand-new maps, the new Champion Hill and Patrol game modes, and the game modes Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed. Call of Duty: Vanguard's beta has been pretty well received, and players who reached level 20 in the beta have unlocked a Weapon Blueprint when the game fully launches later this year.
For players on PC, Xbox One, or Xbox Series X/S who pre-ordered Call of Duty: Vanguard, as well as PlayStation players who haven't pre-ordered, will get access to the second weekend of the beta starting on September 16. The full open beta across all platforms then starts on the 18 and runs until the 20. There have been no other announcements about betas for the new shooter, but the team has said that it will reveal more about Call of Duty: Vanguard's Zombies mode closer to Halloween later this year. The schedule for how to get access to the beta is a bit convoluted, but there is a lot of content to check out in Call of Duty: Vanguard's beta for any players that are interested.
It will be very interesting to see how well Call of Duty: Vanguard's multiplayer mode is received when it releases later this year. Fans will also likely want to watch how the game is integrated into Call of Duty: Warzone, which will hopefully go a bit more smoothly than Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's integration. The team has announced that Call of Duty: Warzone will receive a new map set on a tropical Pacific Island for the game's integration but they have not revealed a timeframe for its release. Hopefully, Call of Duty fans will get some more news on the game soon.
Call of Duty: Vanguard releases on November 5 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
