Game developer Sledgehammer Games has officially announced the newest installment of the Call of Duty franchise and that is Call of Duty: Vanguard. After a few mysterious teaser clips, it was revealed that it will be coming later this year and on multiple platforms too.
According to the developers, this new installment will be greatly inspired to the history of World War II with promises of breath-taking visuals, a world that is photo realistic, characters looking lifelike, and with performance optimized to the max via the next-generation Cal of Duty Engine.
COD: Vanguard will bring players to historical theatres of war during the World War II: Western Front, North Africa, the Eastern Front, and the Pacific. Expect one hell of a ride from makers of Call of Duty: WWII. This will tell the untold stories of multinational heroes that started the Task Force One, which changed the face of history and started the stage for Special Forces as we know it today.
So here is everything we currently know about this upcoming epic game, Call of Duty: Vanguard.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Release Date and Platforms
Call of Duty: Vanguard will be available in retail and digital stores on November 5, 2021. It will be released on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Fans and newcomers to the Call of Duty franchise can now pre-order the game ahead of release with three options to choose from.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Standard, Cross-Gen Bundle, and Ultimate Edition Details
The Standard Edition of the game will be available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC only for the price of $59.99. The next-gen consoles can play the game via backwards compatibility feature. It will also include the Night Raid Mastercraft Weapon Blueprint, and the Frontline Weapons Pack while the PS4 version has the Early Access to the Open Beta (check schedule below).
The Cross-Gen Bundle offers the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions in one whole package in their respective console families and costs $69.99. Aside from what the Standard Edition gets above, it will also have the perk of getting twice weapon experience for five hours.
The last and most jam-packed with content is the Ultimate Edition, which includes all of the content that the content that Cross-Gen Bundle offers plus exclusive ones like five hours of Player 2XP, Task Force One Pack, and the Battle Pass Bundle.
The Task Force One Pack includes three themed operator skins and three legendary weapon blueprints with tracer rounds. Lucas gets the Assault Rifle Breacher, Polina gets the Marksman Rifle Snowstorm, and Wade gets the Submachine Gun Thunderhead.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Pre-Order Bonus
The Night Raid Mastercraft Blueprint will be available in Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War and Warzone while the Frontline Weapons Pack when COD: Vanguard launches.
The Night Raid Mastercraft gun offers the following attachments: a 55 Round Drum for increased magazine capacity, 14.9″ Rifled Barrel for damage range, Muzzle Brake 7.62 for vertical recoil control, a Spetsnaz Stock for improved shooting and aim walking movement speeds, and a unique Quickdot LED Optic.
For the Frontline Weapons Pack, the first is the Shredder Submachine Gun. It will have seven attachments including a magazine attachment to increase the caliber of bullets for better damage at range, and a long barrel to improve accuracy and stability when maneuvering slowly.
The Second Frontline Weapon is the Wildwood Submachine Gun with eight attachments. It includes a barrel that changes the weapon from a fully automatic close-quarters gun to a burst-fire weapon and a magazine attachment with higher caliber ammunition.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer Beta
Fans of Call of Duty: Vanguard can try out the game before it launches on November 5, 2021. There are several beta test schedules to join. The ones that were already out are the early access for the media, which came out on August 24, 2021, with our representative winning the new Champion Hill game mode. The other one was the actual public alpha for PlayStation players from August 27 to 29, 2021.
The next schedule will be for the early access for the open beta for PlayStation players who pre-ordered the game. Weekend One will start on September 10 and will end on September 13, 2021. Players will be able to try out Champion Hill tournament mode, Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Kill Confirmed. There is also the new Multiplayer mode called Patrol where there is an objective that is constantly on the move. It will feature Multiplayer maps like Hotel Royal, Red Star, and Gavutu.
Weekend 2 will be the second Beta weekend and the first time for Xbox and PC players. It will start on Friday, September 16, 2021, at 10 AM PT and will end on Monday, September 20, 2021, at 10 AM PT.
Activision has recently shared the official schedules for Weekend 2. It has been revealed that on September 16 until September 17, 2021, Xbox and early access PlayStation consoles, and Battle.net PC will enjoy open beta for crossplay. On September 18 until September 20, 2021, open beta for crossplay will be available for all platforms.
Those who will join the second week of the open beta will still enjoy the same game modes. Those who will reach Level 20 can get a bonus Weapon Blueprint that can be used in Call of Duty: Vanguard when it launches and in COD: Warzone.
Here are the PC requirements in order to play the Open Beta later on. Minimum specifications need an OS of Windows 10 64 bit (1909 or later), Intel Core i5-2500k or AMD Ryzen 5 1600X, 8GB of RAM, at least Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 2GB/GTX 1050Ti 4GB or AMD Radeon R9 380, and 45GB HD Space.
Recommended specifications need Windows 10 64 Bit (latest Service Pack), Intel Core i7-4770k or AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 16GB of RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB/GTX 1660 6GB or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, and 45GB HD Space.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Reveal Trailer
The reveal trailer was revealed a few weeks ago, officially confirming the next installment for the Call of Duty franchise. It featured all of the theatres of war that was raging all over the world during World War II highlighting the main characters of the campaign: Task Force One.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Gameplay Will Be Blunt and Visceral
During the big reveal and a few announcements from Sledgehammer Games, the developers would always say that fans will be brought to the tide-turning battles of World War II. Fans of COD WW2 and enthusiasts will definitely see some familiar scenes from that era and expect more theatres of war to check out.
Game Director Josh Bridge stated that this game will not be about the diverse locations that World War II had, but also the people that were involved, especially Task Force One. Players will be going through their experiences in their eyes.
Both single and multiplayer gameplay will have a different feel this time around. Bridge describes it as blunt and visceral when it comes to combat and the gunplay would feel incredible.
In multiplayer, there is now a new gameplay mechanic called blind fire, which allows players to actually fire from behind them from cover without looking. It is literally, firing blindly.
Sledgehammer Games aims to have a “unified experience” across all Call of Duty games that were recently launched like Modern Warfare, Black Ops Cold War, and Vanguard. Warzone will be getting tons of content too from COD: Vanguard.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Campaign Features Task Force One
The main cast of this whole campaign in Call of Duty: Vanguard is Task Force One, the basis of the Special Forces that many armies around the world have currently. It will follow four characters namely Polina Petrova of the 138th Rifle Division, Red Army, Lieutenant Wade Jackson, Scouting Squadron Six, Unite States Navy, Private Lucas Riggs, 20th Battalion, Australian 9th Infantry Division, British Eighth Army, and Sergeant Arthur Kingsley of the 9th Parachute Battalion, British Army.
A new Stalingrad Demo Playthrough video was recently released by Sledgehammer Games featuring Polina Petrova. She is actually based on the real-life WW2 fighter Lyudmila Pavlichenko. She takes on a stealth mission in a newly Nazi-occupied Stalingrad.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies Mode Handled by Treyarch
There will be a Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Vanguard, but it will not be handled by Sledgehammer Games. Instead, this will be done by Treyarch since this Zombies mode will continue the story of the previous game, Black Ops Cold War. This is a first for the Call of Duty franchise.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Will Add Content to Warzone
Call of Duty: Warzone will be getting content after the launch of Call of Duty: Vanguard. Just like Black Ops Cold War, it will add new stuff for the popular online battle royale game like a new map. Raven Studios is currently developing this and should be making an announcement soon.
Sledgehammer Games has confirmed though that Vanguard and Warzone have the same game engine, which will make the integration seamless.