Skip to main content

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s take on World War II can’t outdo a decade-old game

Call of Duty: Vanguard changes up the franchise’s usual formula in a lot of ways. When I reviewed the game, I couldn’t help but notice how its story, set in World War II, wasn’t being told through bombastic action sequences. Instead, cutscenes dominate the game, along with its characters. In so many Call of Duty titles, you’re a nameless soldier taking part in one conflict or another. The conflict is what usually takes precedent, not the person fighting in it.

But for Vanguardit’s the opposite. It uses World War II as a backdrop, shining the spotlight on its cast of characters while still trying to tell a Marvel-ized World War II story. The resulting game is one of Call of Duty’s worst uses of World War II, one that doesn’t hold a candle to its best story using it: World at War.

Setting makes the story

Vanguard and World at War are opposed in nearly every way. World at War is based on real events — but naturally adds its own Call of Duty spin — while Vanguard is largely a work of fiction. Funny enough, the two do share one point in common: A Russian sniper. Vanguard‘s Polina picks up her father’s old rifle after he’s killed by Nazis in the bombing of Stalingrad. Although the idea seems to have come from World at War‘s mission, Vendetta, which has players snipe enemies through the streets of a similarly bombed-out Stalingrad with the help of Sergent Reznov.

Soldiers running in Call of Duty: Vanguard promo.

In both missions, the strengths and weaknesses of each game’s story are put on full display. World at War‘s mission emphasizes the destruction and death caused by the Nazis, with Reznov even taking the player through an old bar and commenting on how it used to be filled with laughter. It makes the city feel like something that was alive at some point. Polina’s story in Vanguard, however, doesn’t care for its setting. Instead, Polina and her family are the stars of the show, and the story that ends up being told is less gripping. Naturally, the stakes are high for Polina, but while I was playing as her, they weren’t. I simply couldn’t connect.

Those strengths in World at War persist through its entire campaign. The game is able to sink players into the environments they’re battling in by making them the vehicles for storytelling. Going through World at War‘s campaign again, it’s a steady progression. The Russian campaign starts in Stalingrad and ends with players planting the Soviet flag atop the ruins of the Reichstag. The U.S campaign similarly takes players through the Pacific theater, all the way from Peleliu to Okinawa.

Taking the Reichstag in Call of Duty: World at War

Vanguard doesn’t have that same sense of presence. Its settings, although gorgeous thanks to modern graphics tech aren’t as gripping as what players will shoot their way through in World at War. Again, for Vanguard, World War II is nothing more than a backdrop, something for its characters to barrel through as they establish themselves as wartime legends.

That discounts World at War‘s greatest strength — that its story is, first and foremost, about its settings, and therefore, about World War II. The game is horrific, gruesome, and violent because World War II was. Vanguard on the other hand has its characters quip off snarky lines at any opportunity as they traipse through history, carving out a story that is entirely self-centered and has no time for outward reflection.

Even as far as Call of Duty stories go, which regularly discount or twist history to fit an America-centric point of view, Vanguard‘s use of World War II is poor. Against a game like World at War that places its emphasis on the war’s conflicts themselves while delivering players the action they expect, Vanguard‘s weak cast and scant use of the War itself mean it really could have been set at any time.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC.

Editors' Recommendations

The 7 biggest differences between Call of Duty: Warzone and Warzone 2.0
Character calling in killstreak in Warzone 2.0.

With the highly anticipated launch of Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, players have started dropping into the new battle royale experience. The original Warzone was complex enough on its own, and its sequel continues that trend, with new mechanics that will likely confuse even the most dedicated players -- at least at first. While Warzone 2.0 is fundamentally very similar to its predecessor, it comes with a host of changes you should be aware of.

The list of differences feels practically endless, but here, we'll highlight the most notable changes between Warzone and Warzone 2.0.
Loadouts
Much to the relief of the community, Loadouts remain in Warzone 2.0, but they work differently than before. We'll dive into more specifics in a separate guide, but the main thing you need to know is that you cannot simply purchase a Loadout Drop from a Buy Station anymore.

Read more
8 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II weapons you should level up before Warzone 2.0
Characters running in Modern Warfare II.

Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 is nearly here, and players have spent a considerable amount of time playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II to prepare. Both games share progression systems, so all the weapons you've unlocked and leveled in Modern Warfare II will carry over to Warzone 2.0.

But which weapons should you prioritize leveling first? You'll want to have some weapons at max level right when you start so you can hit the ground running in Warzone 2.0, and in this guide, we'll show you which ones are the best. Keep in mind, it's best to have a diverse set of weapons available as soon as you begin, since Warzone 2.0 will throw you into a variety of situations.

Read more
Every action game should take notes from God of War Ragnarok’s skill tree
Kratos looks at the Leviathan Axe.

Not every piece of God of War Ragnarok is a step up from its 2018 predecessor, but there's one area where it's an undeniable improvement: action. Like his last adventure, Kratos uses his heavy Leviathan Axe to chop up enemies and his Blades of Chaos to rain hellfire down. Both tools feel the same in the sequel but have been altered with the addition of elemental abilities that bring an extra set of moves and decisions to combat.

What stands out to me most about the game's evolved combat though is something a little less flashy. God of War Ragnarok features a handful of skill trees that let players unlock more combos. That's a bit run of the mill, as it's become a staple of Sony's first-party exclusives in recent years. However, Ragnarok's skill tree goes one step further than most games with a new customization system that encourages players to actually use those skills once they've been unlocked. The feature is so effective that I hope every character-based action game takes notes from it from here on out.
Use your skills
The skill trees in God of War Ragnarok function about the same as any game that includes them. Kratos earns experience points when he slays monsters and those points can be spent to unlock new skills. Both the Leviathan Axe and the Blades of Chaos have their own three-pronged skill tree, as does Atreus. Every time Kratos levels up a weapon using resources, more skills become available to purchase. By the end of the game, players have access to a fairly wide range of moves that'll have them holding down buttons, comboing moves together, and more.

Read more