Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies Preview

To recap my experiences so far, my Campaign Review related that the variations of World War 2 scenarios felt fresh and familiar, but the story could have been longer and done more to differentiate the main characters, and my Multiplayer Review praised the innovative tweaks made to the already excellent Call of Duty formula that raise it to new heights. Those two modes alone would justify a purchase, but Call of Duty Vanguard has two more modes: Zombies and Warzone. Curiously, Call of Duty Vanguard has to wait for the current Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War/Warzone season to end before launching a new season, with season specific content that will update the new Zombies mode and Warzone.

DavPoint: Call of Duty Vanguard was developed by Sledgehammer Games with support for multiplayer modes from Beenox, Demonware, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai Studios, and Toys for Bob. Treyarch developed the Zombies mode and Raven Software assisted with the Warzone integration.

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Call of Duty Zombies is a cooperative game mode that faces 1-4 players against increasingly more difficult rounds of zombies, mostly to see how long they can survive. Developer Treyarch debuted the game mode as “Nazi Zombies” in Call of Duty: World at War, and iterations of “Zombies” have appeared in just about every other Call of Duty since then. Each iteration escalated how elaborate they were, often requiring players to hunt down and interact with “Easter eggs” or hidden objects to actually progress the “story” to some kind of conclusion. Some versions followed the adventures of the “original” characters, other versions featured characters performed by actors like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jeff Goldblum, Ray Liotta, and others, and one version forced the cooperation of John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, Richard Nixon, and Fidel Castro. Die hard fans have connected the shared narratives that span different locations, characters, and eras, which basically follows the efforts of various scientists, explorers, and zealots to harness otherworldly powers.

DavPoint: The history of Call of Duty Zombies includes “Nazi Zombies” in World at War (Treyarch, 2008), “Zombies” in Black Ops (Treyarch, 2010) and Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Treyarch, 2012), “Exo Zombies” in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software, 2014), “Zombies” in Call of Duty: Black Ops III (Treyarch, 2015), “Nazi Zombies” in Call of Duty WW2 (Sledgehammer Games, 2017), and “Zombies” in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (Treyarch, 2018) and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Treyarch, 2020). There are also two Call of Duty: Zombies games on iOS.

Call of Duty Zombies has been completely overhauled for Vanguard. Developer Treyarch has made substantial changes to the game mechanics, including its “rounds” structure, player upgrades, and objectives, and most changes are for the better. This is the most accessible “Zombies” has been since the beginning, though the absence of “Easter eggs” and “story progression” are only temporary.

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My Experience: In its current form, I enjoy the the narrative, the selection of special powers, and the clear objectives, pacing, and deliberate escalation of difficulty. It took a few tries, but I was eventually matched up with a group of three other (competent) players, and together we cleared all the available objectives and upgraded our weapons, health, armor, and abilities as much as (I believe) possible. Without the story content, there didn’t seem to be any reason to keep playing, so we “exfiltrated” (a difficult challenge in its own way) and ended the match.

DavPoint: After teleporting away to clear an objective, players will be teleported back to the main “home” area to find that more paths are available and more enemies have appeared. Players can use the various stations to upgrade their health, weapon damage, armor, and other abilities, or try their luck at the “Mystery Box,” but each require coins, scraps, or “hearts” that are collected from defeating enemies and clearing objectives. Players can choose to immediately start a new objective, but I recommend clearing the entire home area between each round to be able to afford as many upgrades as possible!

Even without an “ending,” I had a LOT of fun, and I can see how players could gravitate towards this mode. I especially love that objectives and player progression makes more sense. It’s also great that Operative, career, and weapon challenges are shared across modes! However, I am a little leery on what changes the new Season will bring. On one hand, I’m afraid that adding “Easter eggs” to progress the actual story might ruin the experience for me, but on the other hand, the game has a great story set up that needs an actual ending to reach. Hopefully, Treyarch knows what they are doing, and the “full” version of Call of Duty Zombies will be even better!

Watch me play Call of Duty Vanguard on the DavPoint!

• Developer: Sledgehammer Games
• Publisher: Activision
• Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Microsoft Windows
• Rating: M for Mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, and Use of Drugs
• Release Date: November 5, 2021