Call of Duty: The Vanguard is upon us and with it comes one of the most intriguing Call of Duty games in years. Not only are we returning to the super-popular, even well-worn landscapes of WWII, but we're getting an all-new destructive environment system that will make maps more interactive and editable than ever before. The graphical style also seems to get grainier and the visuals look absolutely amazing on next-gen systems. The darker tone and more serious graphical style go well with the themes we see so far from the game, so there's plenty of hope that this will be the best Call of Duty game in years. Here's everything you need to know about Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Call of Duty: Vanguard release time, release date, platforms and price
We're days away from the release of Call of Duty: Vanguard and here's what you need to know to know when and where to buy your copy of the game.
Call of Duty: Vanguard will be released on Friday, November 5 at 00:00 local time. This means that you will be able to play the game the minute the clock strikes midnight. It's currently available for pre-order with three different versions available at different price points.
- La version standard, which includes Call of Duty: Vanguard, the Mastercraft Blueprint in Black Ops: Cold War and Warzone, Operator Arthur Kingsley in Black Ops: Cold War and Warzone, and the Frontline Weapons Pack. It is available for $59,99
- La version Cross Gen, which lets you access both the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game while also allowing you to access the PS5 and Xbox Series S/X versions. The Cross Gen version includes everything in the standard edition with 5 hours of Double Weapon XP. It is available for $69,99
- The Ultimate Edition of Call of Duty: Vanguard has a ton of extras included with its slightly steep price tag. This includes everything you get in the Standard and Cross Gen Editions, plus 5 hours of Double XP, the Task Force One Bundle and the Vanguard Battle Pass Bundle which will give you access to all additional DLC released throughout the take. in charge of Call of Duty: Vanguard. It is available for $99,99
If you pre-order any of the aforementioned editions, you will automatically gain access to the Multiplayer Open Beta.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Leaks
So far, we have little information on how Story Mode will work, but recent teasers released have given us some clues as to what to expect. In the trailer, you will see that there are 4 playable soldiers in the campaign mode. Whether that means you play each in a separate mode and choose between them per mission remains to be seen, but the variety is certainly an exciting development.
At the end of the trailer, we see all the soldiers fighting together, so we're guessing that at some point all four are together to fight at some point. It's unclear when this will happen in the story mode at this time. The playable characters confirmed at this point are as follows.
- Private Lucas Riggs, 20th Battalion, 9th Australian Infantry Division, British 8th Army
- Sergeant Arthur Kingsley of the British Army's 9th Parachute Battalion
- Lieutenant Wade Jackson, United States Navy Scout Squadron Six
- Lieutenant Polina Petrova of the Red Army's 138th Rifle Division
This eclectic mix means we see soldiers from around the world teaming up for this one in what should be a very exciting take on WWII.
Vanguard Warzone Integration
Of course, these days we can't have a Call of Duty release without some sort of Warzone integration, and this time it's going to be the biggest integration yet. Not only are we getting a brand new map that will replace Verdansk called Pacific Caldera, but we're also getting a heavy weapon integration from Call of Duty: Vanguard that would seemingly allow for different advantages than ever before.
The new map is going to completely replace Verdansk and that means it will have a lot to do considering that Verdansk is widely considered the GOAT when it comes to battle royale maps. True to the idea of the island, Pacific Caldera will add a more jungle atmosphere to Warzone and use boats of various sizes to get you around the island. This should be a big change of pace for players who have been getting tired of the same card for almost two years now.
As for how this will work in the Warzone setup, it's hard to say as the perks and attachments there are mostly static, so we might see a whole new UI introduced to account for all those potential changes.
New combat mechanics
This year's edition of Call of Duty arrives with a ton of new tricks up its sleeve and the classic "it's the same game every year". affirmation cannot be repeated because the mechanics are improving more than ever.
Most notably, you can now blind fire while crouching in cover, saving you time when taking cover in a firefight. You'll also be able to aim down sights while doing this, which will likely allow for much more accurate blind fire than what's found in most games.
Destructible environments
When your franchise moves to the next generation of gaming consoles, you need to have something special to go with it, and with Call of Duty: Vanguard, that special something is destructible environments. This completely changes combat as you can no longer hide behind random objects for cover, as these can now be destroyed with a grenade or other explosives.
It's not just cover as each map will have destructible parts. Maps also slowly degrade over the course of a battle, and it'll be really cool to see a battlefield start blank and end as a bullet-riddled hellscape.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer
At the heart of any good Call of Duty game is a strong multiplayer component and so far here are the modes we know have been confirmed for Call of Duty: Vanguard.
- Free for all
- Team Deathmatch
- Domination
- kill confirmed
- seek and destroy
- Patrouille
- Hard point
This is a solid collection to start the game with and there will surely be updates and limited time modes added in the coming months as well. These modes will be playable in 16 of the 20 maps that come with the game.
Call of Duty: The Vanguard is available on November 5 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
