CoD Vanguard Beta: 5 things Sledgehammer Games desperately need to fix

Joe Craven
Call of Duty Vanguard Beta Sledgehammer

With the Call of Duty: Vanguard Beta winding down, we take a look at 5 aspects of the game that developers Sledgehammer need to adjust before the full title drops on November 5. 

The Call of Duty: Vanguard Beta has dropped, receiving a warm response from players. Many have likened it to 2019’s Modern Warfare in terms of feel and TTK, but some maps (namely Red Star) have come in for criticism.

There have also been a few more general gameplay points that players want to see adjusted so, ahead of the game’s full release in November, we’re running through five things developers Sledgehammer should look to adjust (or straight-up fix).

1. The Sun

Believe it or not, the sun’s glare in Vanguard has caused some pretty big complaints. At particular angles its glare has been majorly impeding players’ POV, to the point of requesting changes from Sledgehammer.

There is currently a work around which involves adjusting in game visual settings, but here’s hoping that won’t be necessary when the full game drops.

2. Packet Bursts

This is a new one for Vanguard. When playing multiplayer matches, players have noticed that their game will lag out and skip for a few seconds at a time, with a small red “Packet Burst” notice appearing on the left of the screen.

While Packet Loss and internet is usually related to individual players, this issue has been occurring worryingly frequently, and to players whose internet is otherwise fine. It’s probably just teething issues given Vanguard’s newness, but we hope to see them eliminated as much as possible by November.

3. Hackers

That’s right. The Vanguard Beta has been live for roughly 6 days, and players are already encountering cheaters.

While Sledgehammer are limited as to what they can do to solve this one, we (and 99% of the community) hope it is addressed when Activision drop the long-awaited Warzone anti-cheat system.

4. Audio

Another that is fairly specific to Vanguard is in-game audio. While in-game sounds have to be balanced, the current cacophony makes distinguishing enemy footsteps near inaudible.

Scorestreaks and weapons appear far too loud, with it nearly impossible to identify an enemy’s location, even when they’re stomping around directly above you. Improvements shouldn’t be too difficult for Sledgehammer to implement.

5. Spawns

CoD Vanguard
Spawns are notoriously difficult for game devs to perfect.

This one is no surprise. Almost every CoD game takes a while to perfect their spawn system, and a beta is bound to have improvements necessary.

While it is expected, there have still been major concerns surrounding the game’s system, including the return of ‘squad spawns’.

Everyone who has played the beta will have undoubtedly spawn into near-instant death. That’s the clearest sign in any respawn-FPS that there is work to be done.

About The Author

Joe is a former writer for Dexerto, who focused on Call of Duty, FIFA, Apex Legends and Rainbow Six Siege.