Call of Duty: Vanguard is out for PlayStation 5 and PS4 today, taking the popular FPS franchise back to World War II. It feels like this latest entry hasn't been quite as anticipated as much as usual, but what's important is the quality of the final product. Some outlets were treated to early review copies and have been allowed to post their thoughts, meaning we can gauge if Sledgehammer Games' latest is any good or not.
As for our own PS5 verdict, we've only just received review code. Expect our Call of Duty: Vanguard PS5 review to go live at some point next week, penned by yours truly. In the meantime, here's a selection of other reviews.
Game Informer - 8/10
Call of Duty: Vanguard’s campaign misses the mark, but multiplayer and Zombies do the heavy lifting to get the title to a good place. If you’re most invested in the single-player experience, you can pass on this year’s entry, but if you’re into the other modes, Call of Duty remains an excellent choice for some shooting, looting, and zombie executing.
Attack of the Fanboy - 8/10
All in all, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a solid yet unremarkable entry into the long-running franchise. On a technical level, it’s one of the most impressive games out there right now. On a gameplay level, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before. Still, whether you’re in it for the single-player campaign, multiplayer suite, Zombies mode, or Warzone, Call of Duty: Vanguard has a lot to offer. It’s a step in the right direction for Sledgehammer Games, but it feels like it’ll take a second entry for the studio to really knock it out of the park.
IGN - 7/10 (Single Player Review)
With a strong cast of characters used to varying effect throughout to tell a tale that puts just about enough of a spin on the stories it's paying homage to, Call of Duty: Vanguard’s single-player campaign is an impressively cinematic depiction of World War II. That said, aside from a few standout moments sprinkled over its fleeting five hours, for the most part it plays it a little too safe in regards to mission variety to feel like a standout in the series. It may look and sound spectacular, but it could’ve used more stylish sections like Petrova’s to distinguish its gameplay from the many battles we’ve fought before.
GameSpot - 7/10
The thing about Call of Duty games is that, with each yearly iteration, you pretty much know what you're getting--and that's largely the case here. It's both a blessing and a curse for Vanguard, however. Elements of Vanguard feel like good additions to the franchise, but its ideas also don't always mix well with the series' framework. That framework is still strong, and the solid gunplay, exciting multiplayer, and inventive moments of the campaign are worth seeking out. But forcing those two parts together exposes the seams in Call of Duty: Vanguard at times, weakening both parts of the game rather than pushing either one to the forefront.
Eurogamer - No Score
Vanguard, I suspect, will do well - Call of Duty does well! Its in-game store will sell silly outfits for its World War 2 operators. Pricey weapon skins will keep the money rolling in. As the Call of Duty menu screen swells, adding a new front to fight on even as we head into what's sure to be a difficult winter, Vanguard will do its bit for the war effort. But unlike the source material, Vanguard won't live long in the memory.
Are these review scores enough to convince you to pick up the game? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments 14
Still waiting on the postman to deliver mine
@lolwhatno He just dropped it through the door lol
No surprise - as "samey" as these games are, they've always been pretty good
@lolwhatno Can't play it til tonight. Looking forward to it
Got my copy early yesterday. So far I'm pretty satisfied, the campaign is really good and a classic Call of Duty experience.
The Multiplayer feels a bit different, so far I'm more excited with Cold War, but Vanguards Multiplayer is also good.
By the way, the game is way smaller than Cold War. Campaign is stealing only 20GBs from the SSD and the main game also isn't too big.
Game Informer once again handing out 9s like it's candy. It's disheartening to see CoD games consistently sit in the 80s on Metacritic and Opencritic, encouraging Acti to not really take any risks or evolve the series in any meaningful way.
I still think Infinite Warfare had the best campaign in a while.
@Nintendo4Sonic "Campaign is stealing only 20GBs from the SSD"
Well yeah but you need the 19TB of patches to come in the next three months yet.
On PS5 I’d give it a 9 out 10 for multiplayer, 8 of 10 for Zombies and nothing for campaign cos I haven’t played it. A graphical marvel as well. Guns feel great. Can’t wait for my new tv next week for all new 4K!
Played a round of zombies as preload didn’t have campaign downloaded. Looks good so far and for me at least who’s loved COD 1 the ww2 setting is how I always relate to COD so am excited for this years iteration.
And I love the patrol multiplayer mode in this years game!
Actually really liking the campaign thus far and not just because I'm a huge WWII junkie. It's actually really well paced so far and each mission offers up something new. Each mission is also longer than the typical 15 minute COD levels which I feel was the right direction.
Weird, I didn’t see a lot of praise on other reviews, mostly that it was solid and that the campaign and zombies were a let down.
Sounds good, I’ll rent it for the single player campaign.
Refusing to believe a game could be fun just because of the name on the box is crazy. Same thing with FarCry6.
You have to download the campaign as a seperate add on 🙈
*Edit 2 seperate add ons
First COD I have skipped in probably 10 years. I may still pick it up 2nd hand at some point down the line. I'm actually more excited for Battlefield 2042 then anything else this year on PC.
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