Call of Duty: Vanguard Open Beta Review

As many of you will know, whether you care or not, the Call of Duty Vanguard Open Beta was live this weekend, being extended until the 22nd of September. I’ve been playing a bit on PS5, and here are some thoughts on the trial run of the following installation to the Call of Duty franchise.

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Although the world war II era has been repeatedly created by multiple games companies, this game really gives off those Call of Duty World at War vibes, especially when you release the hounds once reaching a ten-kill streak. The MP40 is back and an overpowered juggernaut of an SMG, while the STG remains dominant in the assault rifle category.

It’s a Beta; there will be bugs; everybody knows this. There was no exception here. The sound is the worst of any FPS I’ve ever played and is as if enemies were constantly running on Dead Silence, which the developers have made clear through in-game notifications they know and will rectify for the main game, so they say. There are some visual issues now and then with a flickering of objects and walls. It was only a 9GB download after all.

The vision whilst firing weapons have been complained about by various streamers, and I must agree. The flash of some of the guns, along with the heavy recoil, makes it difficult to see where you’re aiming, which the developers stated they will look at. Again, proving the importance of Betas releasing with enough time for fixes.

Now for controller players, you’ll know what aim assist is, and for PC players, you may hate it for sound reasoning in this game. The aim assist is so strong it will track enemies through walls and pull your character around. Keyboard and mouse players may have an argument for the “legal aimbot” claim that controller players have because if this isn’t fixed for the launch, that’s what it’ll be! Although the strength of aim assist is adjustable, tracking such as this is going too far.

Most of the game modes were like the standard, apart from you can choose how intense you want the action, with how many players are on each team. The 18v18 player games are nothing short of hectic and fun. The main reasoning for playing a game in the first place, so that box is ticked. Running on an improved engine to what Modern Warfare runs on, it’s pretty smooth compared to the Cold War title as well.

The new mode, Champion Hill, is excellent!

A refreshing 2v2 game type that is highly tactical, campy at times, and intense. Each team starts with 12 lives to be whittled down, with buy rounds every few games to upgrade, buy perks, new weapons, UAVs, armour, even more lives and other items to improve your chances of taking the win.

The addition of a destructive environment is welcomed, but it’s not on a Battlefield scale. Mostly wooden plank walls to smash through like you’re the terminator, doors and windows to destroy, which can occasionally give you a tactical advantage. Creating small holes to fire through until an enemy gamer susses you out and flings a grenade you’re way. Should stop camping, I guess.

With some more fine-tuning, this will be a great game, which personally I’ll be buying. You can give your own feedback to Sledgehammer games if you’ve been playing over the weekend and Call of Duty through Twitter which, by the looks of their tweets, are listening to the community to make the game better. You can pre-order a copy here and jump into the action on the 5th of November. Let us know in the comments below you’re thoughts on the Beta.