Before getting to the heart of the matter and showing us what Call of Duty Vanguard has in store for us at the end of the year, Sledgehammer Games wanted to return to certain past events within the studio, recalling that the latter entered what they internally call Decade 2, a subtle way of describing the new direction taken within it and of wiping out the departures that have taken place in recent years. It must be said that the sudden resignation of its founders in 2018, Michael Condrey and Glen Schofield, caused a lot of ink to flow, even causing an upheaval in the release schedule of Call of Duty, and pushing Treyarch to reduce their time of two-year production between Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and the Cold War episode to ensure the interim. It is therefore through Aaron Halon, studio head, that the solemn explanations were made, before engaging with Andy Wilson, Chief Operator Officer, disembarked from the Hangar 13 studio in 2019 and who took care of us. introduce the single player campaign to start. Call of Duty Vanguard therefore signals the return to World War II, four years after a WWII which brought the saga back to its first love, boots on the ground. Of course, talking about the Allies’ confrontation with the Hitler army in 2021 sounds a bit like warmth. So, how do you not go around in circles and offer something new? For the new team at Sledgehammer Games, the idea is to make the conflict global, that is to say to train us on all the fronts where the Second World War took place.
WORLD AT WAR
Certainly, previous episodes have already done so, but succinctly or rather lightly, with a main axis dedicated to a specific battle (Europe or the Pacific). For Vanguard, the objective is indeed to immerse ourselves in every conflict, whether in Europe, Africa, on the Eastern Front or in the Pacific, with this particularity: to follow a soldier with a backstory worked. Josh Bridge, Game Director of the game, let us know after the release of the trailer, Call of Duty Vanguard will certainly be an interactive fiction, but it must draw its inspiration from real facts. We will also experience the birth of special forces through a group of elite soldiers. First there is US Captain Wade Jackson, Russian Lieutenant Poline Petriva, British Sergeant Arthur Kingley and finally Australian Second Lieutenant Lucas Riggs. In order to illustrate this reinterpretation of World War II, we were treated to a gameplay sequence of the single player campaign. So here we are on June 5, 1944, in command of Arthur “King” Kingsley, who takes part in Operation Tonga and who is therefore preparing to be parachuted over Normandy.
Obviously, for the show, his free fall is not going to happen peacefully, and in addition to witnessing planes on fire, teammates falling into the flaming void and having problems with his parachute, our soldier will find himself unarmed once on dry land. Kingsley will have to make his way through a forest barely lit by explosions in the distance, or the rounds of Nazi guards who would have been called out by a noise in the distance. It is this approach that is interesting and unprecedented for Call of Duty, with a different atmosphere, closer, not to the horror game, but to a title with a heavy atmosphere, where the character we are leading is vulnerable since without any weapon. It is only a few minutes later, having a rather violent confrontation with a German soldier that we will be able to end up with a German assault rifle. But once the weapon is in the hands of Arthur Kingley, we do not immediately go into the shoot at all costs, since we must continue to evolve discreetly, recover ammunition without being detected by the enemy and especially try to escape him, because there are many of them. It’s a bit too early to be categorical, but Call of Duty Vanguard seems to be attempting a more realistic overall approach, pushing the player to flee instead of shooting at all costs, even if it means multiplying the scripted sequences. . Certainly, we can lose in freedom of action, but we gain terribly in immersion, with this narration that the developers of Sledgehammer Games seem to want to impose. It’s a bias, and nothing tells us if the whole single player campaign will be structurally of the same ilk …
ATMOSPHERE AND REALISM FIRST OF ALL
According to David Swenson, campaign creative director on Call of Duty Vanguard, Sledgehammer Games once again called on Marty Morgan, expert in World War II and who collaborated for the second time with the studio with Call of Duty WWII in 2017 With the latter, the idea was to focus on stories of men and women, and no longer just to evoke the conflict in its entirety. In this way, the series can attempt a more emotional approach with characters that are better written and more interesting to follow. Also, for emotion to be a new component of a Call of Duty game, the music and sound design in general must be even more up to date, and that’s why Sledgehammer Games made call on the services of Bear McCreary, to whom we owe the soundtrack of the last GOD OF WAR, but also the soundtrack of Godzilla 2 in the cinema. As much to say to you that it is about a size when it is question of “blockbusterizing” the sound of a game, especially when this last has to be warrior. However, with Call of Duty Vanguard, the American composer preferred to play it more minimalist, by dosing what is necessary to accurately accompany what is happening on the screen. For example, when Kingley jumps from his plane over Normandy, Bear McCreary preferred not to play any music and leave the atmosphere sufficiently anxiety-provoking (the sheet metal crumpling, planes crashing, the cries of other soldiers who die) gain the upper hand. Without any music during this sequence, the immersion was total. Likewise, for each soldier that we will embody, McCreary has composed specific themes so that we can identify them. It is this balance of epic music, ambient sounds and opportune silence that allows Call of Duty Vanguard to become more realistic.
Since we are talking about atmosphere, it is also impossible not to mention the aesthetic aspect and graphics. To achieve a certain level of quality, the Sledghammer Games team has decided to use the same graphics engine as that of Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) and therefore that of Warzone. The studio has approached Infinity Ward to achieve this photo-realistic rendering that it wants to achieve. Obviously, the competition opposite (Battlefield and its Frosatbite Engine) pushes Activision to always go further and the gameplay sequence that has been shown to us marks clear changes in the aesthetic rendering of the game. The version that was running was not specified, but given the effects in all directions, including Ray-Tracing, we imagine that it was a PC rendering. Where Call of Duty has made progress with this Vanguard demo is in the lighting, with a more restricted atmosphere. The phase in the forest clearly marks this desire to play on all the graphic aspects, while this mill on fire in the distance and towards which our Private Kingsley is approaching as we go along amazed us. We retained the reflections on the weapon, but also this volumetric smoke which gives the show an imposing character. But that’s not all, because Sledgehammer wanted to evolve the graphics engine of Infinity Ward, by integrating an even more advanced destruction management, even ultra realistic. This possibility of destroying elements of the scenery is not only aesthetic and will even participate in the gameplay, allowing for example to create unexpected entries and exits. This is valid in the single player campaign, but it will also be reused in the multiplayer mode. An element that recalls this comparative video which dragged on the social networks at the end of July and which showed us how Halo Infinite manage the explosion of fruits in its multi mode… Call of Duty Vanguard will push the stopper of the interaction even further. Will that make it a better game? Response next fall.
MULTI, ZOMBIES & WARZONE: TASTE
Over the 1h30 of presentation, the other half was devoted to multiplayer mode, the Zombies part and of course the impact on Warzone. Only here, for timing needs in its communication, Activision preferred to keep the elements concerning all these aspects for next time. We are therefore obliged to keep our information for a few more weeks, but be aware that 20 maps will be available at launch. In detail, we already know that 16 maps will be dedicated to 6v6 while the other four maps have been designed for 1v1 and 2v2. A figure in clear increase compared to Call of Duty WWII which had disappointed a frank of players vis-a-vis a glaring lack of maps at launch. Another detail that can be mentioned today, the Gunsmith system which allows you to customize your weapons will be back, with the possibility of modifying the ballistics, especially as some ammunition will undoubtedly make it possible to make more holes in the walls. and therefore create your own paths on the map. In the process, Sledghammer Games immediately confirmed the presence of Zombies mode, managed by the Treyarch studio, specialists in the field since they are the creators, while Raven Software will be responsible for integrating the Vanguard lore in Warzone , with the added bonus of anti-cheat systems that will promote online play. Of course, we have other crispy information to share with you, but for the moment, it’s secret-defense. We will meet you very soon for the continuation of the multi-side reveal of the coup.
