Call of Duty: Vanguard Campaign mode: Characters, gameplay, story & more

Sledgehammer Games is no stranger to captivating fans with the WW2 aesthetic, and within Call of Duty: Vanguard, they’re going to be implementing some new mechanics into the campaign.

When most of us think about Call of Duty, we don’t usually gravitate towards the campaign of these games, but back when Sledgehammer Games released CoD WW2, it featured one of the most enticing story modes we’ve seen in quite some time.

With in-game choices that directly affected the outcome of the story, along with brutal combat, it featured a lot of mechanics we’ve not seen before.

It appears Sledgehammer is once again going to be pulling out all the shots for Vanguard’s campaign, as they’ve revealed a flurry of details surrounding it.

 

Call of Duty: Vanguard first gameplay revealed at Gamescom

A new campaign mission titled “Stalingrad Summer” was revealed at Gamescom during their opening night livestream. The footage shows Petrova, a Russian sniper, stealthily take out enemies and parkour up ledges to find good positioning for sniping.

Call of Duty: Vanguard to take place in multiple regions

As opposed to Call of Duty: World War II, where the game was solely focused on the classic European front on the march to Berlin, for Vanguard, Sledgehammer Games spoke to multiple WW2 historians regarding certain battles that had drastic impacts on the war.

• Read more: Call of Duty: Vanguard will use same engine as Modern Warfare & Warzone

This is why within Vanguard, there will be multiple battles that we’ll get to experience and some of which are going to be brand new within the CoD franchise. Dave Swanson, the current Campaign Director within Sledgehammer Games has noted battles will be fought in the following regions.

• Europe
• North Africa
• Soviet Union
• Hawaii
• Coral Sea Islands

Vanguard’s campaign will not only focus on the “big battles”

This is an aspect that we’ve seen most WW2 titles lean towards in the past, as most of the time when we think about WW2, we think of large-scale battles between the Axis and Ally forces.

• Read more: Call of Duty: Vanguard adds 3 new ways to play: Blitz, Tactical and Standard

But, within Vanguard, they also want to shine a light on the tragedies that were felt within civilian cities during the war. This new take on the campaign is going to bring a narrative focus on certain characters, and we’ll truly be able to understand some of the backstories of characters they’ve developed.

Call of Duty: Vanguard’s campaign characters

They’ve also spotlighted some of the characters within the campaign, showing a range of different backgrounds and journeys to embark on.

• Arthur Kingsley
  • Lead character of the Special Forces Squad
  • British Paratrooper
  • 9th Parachute Battalion
  • Based on Sidney Cornell
• Polina Petrova
  • 138th Rifle Division
  • Based on Lyudmila Pavlichenko
  • Expert Sniper
  • Helps people fend of Germans
• Wade Jackson
  • Scouting Squadron Six (US Fighter Flight)
  • Based on Vernon Mike Micheel
  • Takes off the US Enterprise Aircraft Carrier – hero of the midway battle
  • Later becomes a pilot after crashing into a section of islands and gets rescued from the 93rd Infantry
• Lucas Riggs
  • 20th Battalion (Australia)
  • North Africa front
  • Based on Charles Upham
• Heinrich Freisinger – Main Antagonist
  • Director of Gestapo

The story will follow the first four characters throughout Vanguard, and it’ll be interesting to see how Sledgehammer develops these characters over the course of the game.

CoD: Vanguard campaign gameplay is brutal

The final insight into the campaign for Call of Duty Vanguard is the overall gameplay and how it’ll play out during your run. One of the missions, Operation Tonga, which is set the night before D-Day, was shown to Dexerto.

Some of the action and energy can be seen in the official reveal trailer:

During this mission, players will parachute off of a burning plane into the ocean and will have to sneakily navigate through a forest. But, over the course of the mission, you’ll have to eliminate hostile forces and the takedowns are rather brutal.

• Read more: Treyarch to develop Call of Duty Zombies in CoD: Vanguard

As well, there appears to be a sliding mechanic similar to Modern Warfare’s, and players will also be able to charge through doors, but the main takeaway from this mission was the extensive blood and gore displayed throughout. Sledgehammer Games are not holding back with this one.

Call of Duty: Vanguard will release on November 5, 2021, for PlayStation, Xbox and PC.