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The first reviews for Call of Duty: Vanguard are now live, and it appears that Activision's annual first-person shooter is a solid yet unremarkable entry in the series.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It's the next mainline entry in the Call of Duty series and is set during World War 2. The game is currently sitting on a Metacritic score of 79 on PS5 after 10 critic reviews, which means the game has received "generally favorable" scores.
You'll have to wait a little longer for TechRadar's verdict, but here's what the rest of the gaming press wrote about the latest Call of Duty.
GameSpot's Phil Hornshaw awarded the game a 7 out of 10 and said: "Tweaks in multiplayer and Zombies advance the Call of Duty franchise overall, and an emphasis on distinct characters makes Vanguard's story fun, but it doesn't always mix well with the series' gameplay."
Tweaks in multiplayer and Zombies advance the Call of Duty franchise overall, and an emphasis on distinct characters makes Vanguard's story fun, but it doesn't always mix well with the series' gameplay.Our full review: https://t.co/LX3f0y44f1 pic.twitter.com/wdwFoadakaNovember 5, 2021
Eurogamer's Wesley Yin-Poole thought that Call of Duty: Vanguard was "fun filler that won't live long in the memory" but conceded that the game will undoubtedly do well regardless.
Call of Duty: Vanguard - the Eurogamer review https://t.co/w00suuMXlUNovember 5, 2021
Ian Boudreau at PCGamesN awarded Call of Duty: Vanguard an 8 out of 10 in his review and said: "Opting for pulp fantasy over Spielbergian reverence for the era, Vanguard reinvigorates the World War II setting and charts a new path forward."
#CallofDutyVanguard is the 6th game in the series to be set in WWII, but it’s the first that feels like it’s doing its own thingOur review:https://t.co/B0U39bONnw pic.twitter.com/TlHNIG7bi2November 5, 2021
In PC Gamer's early review of Call of Duty: Vanguard, Shaun Prescott said that the game "doesn't sound like a standout COD game", and that it appears to have "good multiplayer but a lacklustre campaign."
Sounds like this year's Call of Duty campaign is "just ok". https://t.co/XQ5fWNPuwRNovember 5, 2021
IGN, whose review is in progress, describes the game's campaign as "fun" and "truly cinematic" but notes that it "lacks variety". In regards to the game's multiplayer, IGN says Vanguard's competitive modes are multiplayer are "fast, fun, and more than anything, familiar."
Call of Duty Vanguard's highly polished campaign provides a healthy amount of fun, even if its brief length and lack of variety lead it to fall short of the classic pieces of war cinema it's trying to emulate. pic.twitter.com/QuH4pubamXNovember 5, 2021
Jordan Middler said: "Call of Duty Vanguard feels like a solid step-up from Black Ops Cold War, but falls short of the benchmark that was Modern Warfare 2019" in VGC's review.
Review: #CallofDutyVanguard is a solid step up from Cold War, but falls short of the benchmark that was Modern Warfare 2019. ⭐⭐⭐https://t.co/Pl1dabLGJe pic.twitter.com/J1aPFSiwX7November 5, 2021
War never changes
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The overall consensus on Call of Duty: Vanguard, then, seems to be that it's the same Call of Duty experience that many crave every year, but there's little to get excited about overall.
For some, that will be more than enough, but with Battlefield 2042 and Halo Infinite dropping on November 19 and December 8 respectively, competition for Call of Duty's crown has never been more fierce.
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