PlayStation 5 Critic Reviews

Call of Duty: Vanguard is a standout shooter experience. A globetrotting campaign that features some of the franchise’s best visuals features a core mystery that is over far too quickly but remains strong. I also wish the Zombies mode wasn’t impacted by a content drop that is expected a month from launch, meaning that players are given an engaging but sometimes toothless wave-based assault on the undead. Yet the multiplayer is an exceptional entry at the heart of Vanguard. It offers refinement on the standard set by Modern Warfare and gives players an incredible amount of challenges to complete to best show off their combat prowess. While a new Warzone map isn’t here yet, there’s plenty to look forward to in the months to come. Despite skipping a year, Sledgehammer Games is at its peak with Call of Duty: Vanguard, delivering a premium World War II shooter and an incredible Call of Duty game.

Call of Duty: Vanguard may be the best CoD installment to date with stunning graphics that shine on the new systems and finely tuned, balanced gun play. They bring a new and fresh approach to the WWII and D-Day scenario making the solo campaign just as enjoyable as the multiplayer.

This is a good installment, but the stutter in combat makes me wonder if it’s as polished as it should be. The game has crashed on me sometimes during Blitz modes in particular, with a lot of players. But overall it held up tremendously well in multiplayer as I fought my way to the first Prestige level and got through it with a 0.84 kill/death ratio. In fact, the more I played the more I enjoyed multiplayer.

The stars have aligned for Call of Duty: Vanguard. For the first time, this truly feels like a full package without any caveats. Sure, some parts are naturally stronger than others but there isn’t a weak link in sight. After back to back triumphs, Call of Duty is now on a killstreak.

Even failing at "showing World Wart Two like never before", Call of Duty Vanguard is a great FPS. Campaign is full of epic (and some dramatic) moments, multiplayer is fun and fast, and includes 16 maps (twice as the previous Call of Duty game) with plenty of modes and progression elements, and the new zombies mode is incredibly fun.

Sledgehammer Games is back after 4 years and they are coming back in great shape. Of course, the different multiplayer modes are still effective, but this year the single player campaign really makes the difference. It has more depth with interesting characters and a spectacular setting. We did not expect such a graphically beautiful game either.

Call of Duty: Vanguard brings us a great mixture of thrilling story campaign, fresh multiplayer modes and an innovative Zombie mode. It is a fantastic experience for fans of the series and the 1st person shooters as well.

As a complete package, from a Call of Duty developer that hasn’t yet established its own Modern Warfare or Black Ops sub-franchise, Vanguard feels like it could end up being Sledgehammer’s tentpole. Iconic characters, unique multiplayer and map design, and overall integration into the wider Call of Duty experience set the pace for not only the next year, but whatever comes next from Sledgehammer.

Vanguard is an incremental iteration for the Call of Duty franchise. It’s a solid entry in the series that does well what Call of Duty does well, but it doesn’t stand-out as a landmark release. If you enjoy Call of Duty, haven’t played for a few years, or are new to franchise, then by all means jump in. The water’s fine.

Aside from breath-taking visuals, the campaign mode of Vanguard doesn’t have much to say, as it’s the standard short and sweet Call of Duty campaign that we’ve known for years, but when it comes to multiplayer Vanguard is a beast, offering the most content than any other COD game before with some top notch map design and super smooth gameplay.