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It’s almost time for another main series Call of Duty instalment. To us, it seems like only yesterday that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War graced our consoles, but it’s been almost a year, and so a new Call of Duty is nearly upon us. The new game’s name is now official: Call of Duty: Vanguard is the next Call of Duty experience, and it will move the series’ high-octane first-person shooter action to World War II once again. With EA’s Battlefield 2042 incoming, there is plenty to be excited about for FPS fans. Here’s everything we know about Call of Duty: Vanguard right now.
We’re in World War II again
Call of Duty is once again returning to its roots. Although last week’s Call of Duty: Vanguard trailer was purely cinematic and didn’t show us any gameplay, it did reveal the setting for the game, or perhaps we should say “settings”. Developer Sledgehammer says Vanguard will take players once again into WWII and will revolve around four major theatres of war, each of which will focus on a different protagonist. The single-player campaign looks like it’s back in a big way for Vanguard. Speaking of which…
There will be an in-depth single-player campaign
If the lack of a single-player mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII still rankles with you, don’t worry – Sledgehammer is including a story mode in Vanguard. It’ll feature four different characters, each of whom will be fighting in a different WWII theatre. Here are our four heroes.
- Pvt. Lucas Riggs – Australian 9th Infantry Division, British Eighth Army
- Sgt. Arthur Kingsley – 9th Parachute Battalion, British Army
- Lt. Wade Jackson – Scouting Squadron Six, US Navy
- Lt. Polina Petrova – 138th Rifle Division, Soviet Red Army
Right now, we’re not sure exactly what specialisations or gameplay differences each of these protagonists will bring to the experience. It’s safe to assume they will all play in subtly different ways, but will retain the Call of Duty gameplay experience we’ve come to know and love. What we do know is that these four will set the stage for the Special Forces, each of them becoming an Operative and laying the groundwork for the future of the military in Call of Duty’s world.
There will be 20 multiplayer maps at launch
Lest you think that there won’t be enough multiplayer content when you pick the game up, think again. Activision and Sledgehammer are promising a whopping 20 multiplayer maps at launch, with 16 of those maps “built for core gameplay”. It’s likely we’ll be getting even more maps in the future, too, thanks to content updates. While we don’t yet know what these maps will be, a glance at the Call of Duty: Vanguard trailer shows us that we’ll probably be fighting across several major theatres of war in World War II, just like the campaign setting.
New multiplayer modes and additions are coming
In addition to the huge map roster, Activision and Sledgehammer are promising advanced versions of the Gunsmith and Caliber systems in order to bring the game’s “immersive and reactive environments to a new level”. We’re also getting Champion Hill, an evolution of Modern Warfare’s 2v2 Gunfight mode. The devs describe this one as “quick-action, close-quarters, small-squad combat” in which eight teams compete against one another. We’ll get more info on this in the coming weeks and months.
The Zombies mode is being developed by Treyarch
Intriguingly, Call of Duty: Vanguard will feature the first cross-developed Zombies mode. Rather than developing everything itself in-house, Sledgehammer is handing off Zombies development duty to Black Ops Cold War studio Treyarch. This experience will continue that game’s Dark Aether storyline and will act as a prologue to Black Ops Cold War, allowing players to discover “the unspeakable horrors of the precursor to Black Ops Cold War Zombies”.
There’s a new Warzone map coming
As part of the Call of Duty: Vanguard launch, we’re also expecting a new Call of Duty: Warzone map to launch. This new main map will completely revamp the geography of Verdansk, allowing players to get to grips with an entirely fresh environment. We’ll likely learn more about the new map as time goes on, as it’s likely Raven and Activision aren’t quite ready to unveil it yet.
In addition to the new map, Warzone is also getting a couple of other significant new additions: a brand new anti-cheat system and continuing cross-progression with Call of Duty: Vanguard. The new anti-cheat setup is designed to stop players using exploits or hacks to achieve victory in Warzone, while cross-progression continues Activision’s recent tradition of allowing players to obtain new weapons and content for both Warzone and the flagship Call of Duty title.
It’s launching on November 5th
We’ll be able to get our hands on Activision and Sledgehammer’s brand new Call of Duty game when it launches on November 5th. When the game does come out, it’ll also feature full cross-play support, so no matter whether you’re on PC, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X|S – or, indeed, last-gen consoles – you’ll be able to partner up with your buddies and enjoy the game together. Activision has also promised a raft of post-launch content, some of which will be free, so there will be plenty of excuses to keep playing Call of Duty: Vanguard for the foreseeable future.
That’s everything we know about Call of Duty: Vanguard right now! Are you excited for the game? Will you still be playing Warzone or any of the previous Call of Duty flagship games?
