Call of Duty: Vanguard is all but confirmed to take the series back to World War 2 this Fall. Developed by Sledgehammer Games, leaks have started to surface regarding the new military shooter, and many fans are hoping that the new game will feature its own Zombies mode similar to Sledgehammer Game's previous release, Call of Duty: World War 2. Zombies is a very popular game mode throughout the series, and with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War's growing focus on its new Outbreak mode, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a great opportunity to give players the classic Zombies experience they know and love.
Of course, the Zombies mode in Call of Duty: WW2 was met with a lukewarm reception by some fans who thought that it wasn't daring enough and played things a little too safe. This could be prevented in Call of Duty: Vanguard by taking more from what has made the Zombies mode more successful in its past iterations, which is more than just another version of Nuketown. Instead, Vanguard should look at Black Ops 3 and what made it unique. Namely, Call of Duty: Vanguard should bring back Gobblegum.
Gobblegum in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Zombies
Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and its Zombie Chronicles DLC created one of the largest and most beloved Zombies modes across the entire franchise, with many fans still opting to play it over the alternatives found in Black Ops 4 and Black Ops Cold War. A large part of this is the immense replayability offered by the mode thanks to the system known as Gobblegum. Gobblegum only made an appearance in Black Ops 3, but was fundamentally game-changing for Zombies players. Gobblegums were unlocked via finding a resource known as liquid divinium during rounds of Zombies. Players could then create loadouts of five Gobblegums that they can acquire throughout their matches.
Players can only carry one Gobblegum at a time, and they have to be randomly acquired through Gobblegum machines spread out across the maps. The first Gobblegum each round is free, but players can pay an increasingly high amount of points to get up to two more on every round. Each Gobblegum also does something entirely unique, with some of them being incredibly powerful. Gobblegums have powers like spawning all of the game's power-ups at once, skipping a round completely, reviving all of the downed players on the map, and even making the player invisible to zombies for a limited time. They are incredibly powerful pieces of equipment and are necessary to complete some of the game's various map easter eggs. Even when they aren't required, they help players as they work to complete objectives like blowing up the earth in the Zombies map Moon.
Why Gobblegum Worked So Well in Zombies
Gobblegums were successful in Black Ops 3 for a variety of reasons. A large part of their popularity with fans was that the system gave them more of a reason to continue investing in the mode. Even failed attempts to complete an easter egg or just simply seeing how long one could survive on a map could be beneficial, as they would still reward the player with liquid divinium to get more Gobblegums. The system also encouraged players to at least check in on the mode every day, as there was a daily rotation that would allow players to transform multiple less desirable Gobblegums into rarer ones.
This system also helped ensure that any Gobblegums players got potentially had value, even if the player never intended to use them because they had the possibility of eventually being traded in for much more powerful options. Making the Gobblegums so powerful was also key due to the increased difficulty of completing the easter eggs in Black Ops 3, as most players would require plenty of the powerful Gobblegums to help them complete the easter eggs and learn the secrets behind the story of Call of Duty Zombies.
The random element of which Gobblegum players were given at any point in a match also helped the system shake up typical Zombies matches so that players had to react and adapt to what powers they were given each round. This Gobblegum trait was also a big factor because it mixed up how players had to approach their matches. While most players had a fixed set of Call of Duty perks they preferred for each map, they could not be so picky with Gobblegums. This helped bring some more excitement to matches, as getting a very powerful Gobblegum during a dire situation was a lot of fun for players, and the crazy powers that some of them provided helped players feel much more empowered when killing the undead hordes.
How Gobblegum Could Help Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies
Of course, Call of Duty: Vanguard will likely bring a number of changes to the series, including Call of Duty: Warzone. However, bringing back Gobblegums for its Zombies mode, if it has one, could be huge and would be a great fit for the new seasonal structure the series has adopted. The seasonal structure would allow the developers to slowly add more Gobblegums each season alongside new weapons and maps, enticing Zombies players to jump back in and check out the mode. Adding Gobblegums would also help differentiate Vanguard's Zombies mode from Black Ops Cold War's while also giving players more of the classic Zombies experience that they originally fell in love with.
Gobblegums would also help entice Zombies players who normally are only interested in the mode if it is developed by Treyarch. Treyarch originally created the mode as a small easter egg in Call of Duty: World at War, but it quickly exploded in popularity from there until it became a pillar of the franchise. This has led some members of the mode's community to prefer only playing Treyarch's versions of Zombies. However, with Call of Duty: Vanguard returning to World War 2, it could attract those community members by offering an experience similar to the one they remember from World at War while also allowing them to spend more time with the Gobblegum system. Hopefully, fans will get some news on what to expect from Call of Duty: Vanguard's co-op offering sometime soon.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is currently in development.