Back in the day,Call of Dutyused to be synonymous with dramatic retellings of the events of WW2, a far cry from most games in the franchise post-2006. Granted it’s not a bad thing; all long-lasting game franchises likeCall of Dutyare ever-changing, and the WW2 setting can only be tapped into for so long before fans start feeling fatigue. That was best evidenced byCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which eschewed the WW2 setting for the first time with its titular modern setting. Every now and then the franchise has returned to a WW2 setting, but the recently leakedCall of Duty: Vanguardmarks a very different return to WW2.
To be fair, all of the known information for 2021’sCall of Dutyis solely based on leaks, so this may note necessarily hold true for the campaign at the very least. However, based on the datamined material (and the seeming confirmation from the officialCall of DutyTwitter account),Call of Duty: Vanguardis taking a more fantastical approach to WW2. While leakers have talked about a “historically accurate” singleplayer mode, the multiplayer is clearly taking cues fromModern WarfareandBlack Ops Cold War’s battle pass customizations. Based on images ofVanguard’s battle pass, that same historical accuracy may be entirely eschewed for fun factor in multiplayer.
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Call of Duty: Vanguard’s Leaked Images and Details
ObviouslyCall of Dutyhas never been entirely historically accurate; in fact, in a few examples,Call of Dutyhas had a problematic propensity for being historically inaccurateto a problematic degree. However, multiplayer has never really been the place where history was even a remotely important factor, at least on a surface level. Multiplayer has always been about honing and refining gunplay, loadout, killstreak/scorestreak, and equipment balance to create an enjoyable and satisfying experience.Modern Warfare’s release back in 2019 had tons of bombastic operators and absurd skins, andBlack Ops Cold Warfollowed suit to an even higher degree.
Based on the leaked images datamined from aBlack Ops Cold Warupdate (which have since been issued copyright takedowns in multiple examples by Activision) seem to depict fantastical weapon blueprints and operator skins are comingto the long-rumoredVanguard. These images depicted skins for “Lucas,” “Polina,” and “Wade” operators, as well as custom weapon blueprints for what appear to be versions of a STG 44, a Type 100, and some kind of M1 Carbine-esque scoped rifle. Additionally, there was a Mastercraft “Night Raid” weapon blueprint for what appears to be a PPSh-41.
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Vanguard’s Depiction of WW2 in Multiplayer May Be Very Different
In all fairness, the last WW2-set gameCall of Duty: WW2was not exactly holistically faithful to the setting either.Call of Dutyhas always featured golden guns, absurd and stylistic decals and weapon colors, among other fancy visual changes to guns, andCall of Duty: WW2was no exception. However,Modern Warfareand subsequentlyBlack Ops Cold Warstarted taking things a step further with highly stylized skins that significantly change the shape and stats of weapons.Vanguardseems to be borrowing this same approach to weapon blueprints, alongside more operators and different skins for them, which willpresumably carry over intoWarzoneas well.
The gunspictured in theCall of Duty: Vanguardleaksare particularly noticeable because of additional leaks that had specifically mentioned howVanguardwas going for a “historically accurate” depiction, which may not necessarily be true. Of course, with that quote being mentioned alongside leaked guns like the Night Raid, that have shark teeth decals on a period-inaccurate rifle barrel, many were quick to make jokes. Silliness aside, it’s certainly different fromCall of Dutygames in the past that largely limited customization to guns alone. With operator, vehicle, and structurally different gun skins,Vanguard’s multiplayer will be aesthetically more bombastic than before.
Games likeCall of Duty: WW2,Call of Duty: World at War, and the classicCall of Dutygames before always retained the sort-of drab color scheme that a lot of WW2 media uses to depict that time in history. Alongside that visual style, basically any weapons largely remained as original as possible in structure, and multiplayer only really allowed for certain camouflage skins (with the exception of golden guns and such) for visual customization. However, given the experimentation of visualcustomization and aesthetic withBlack Ops Cold War,Call of Duty: Vanguard’s depiction of WW2 could have a more vibrant aesthetic compared to previous depictions of the war.
Call of Duty: Vanguardis rumored to be in development.
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