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https://giamping.com Phần mềm giảm ping chơi game tốt nhất Việt Nam Sun, 24 Apr 2022 03:47:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5 https://giamping.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-c42943a53b1290f25c6da0e4b9a330e1-32x32.png Activision – GIAMPING https://giamping.com 32 32 Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War https://giamping.com/call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-war/ Sun, 24 Apr 2022 03:47:19 +0000 https://hastega.net/?p=28865

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is a 2020 first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision. It was released worldwide on November 13, 2020, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It serves as the sixth installment in the Black Ops series and the seventeenth installment in the overall Call of Duty series. The game is the second Call of Duty title since 2011’s Modern Warfare 3 to be co-developed by two studios.

Black Ops Cold War‘s campaign is set during the early 1980s of the Cold War, taking place between Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) and Black Ops II (2012) chronologically. It is centered around a pursuit of the alleged Soviet spy Perseus, whose stated goal is to subvert the United States and tilt the balance of power toward the Soviet Union. For the campaign, the player takes control of “Bell”, who is recruited by CIA officer Russell Adler into a multinational task force created to hunt down Perseus. The campaign also sees the return of Black Ops characters Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson, with Mason also being the playable character in certain missions. The game’s multiplayer introduced new game modes as well as new map dynamics and elements, carrying over several design choices introduced in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It features a seasonal content system similar to Modern Warfare, which includes a battle pass as well as free maps and weapons added every season. Cold War also features narrative tie-ins to Modern Warfare via the campaign and multiplayer, establishing a shared universe across multiple Call of Duty sub-series.

The game was originally developed by Raven and Sledgehammer Games and not intended to be an entry in the Black Ops subseries. However, the development suffered from disagreements among the two teams, resulting in Activision placing Treyarch in charge of the game’s development in 2019, with Raven acting as a co-developer to them. Marketing for the game began in August 2020 and was done in different forms, including certain content creators receiving slide projectors, puzzles made to be solved online by fans, and a website showcasing historical Cold War events. A public multiplayer beta for the game was also made live in October 2020. Black Ops Cold War received generally favorable reviews from critics at release and became the best-selling game of 2020 in the US.

]]> World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Cinematic Trailer nonadult Call of Duty: Modern Warfare https://giamping.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare/ Mon, 14 Mar 2022 03:47:37 +0000 https://hastega.net/?p=28291

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a 2019 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. Serving as the sixteenth overall installment in the Call of Duty series, as well as a reboot of the Modern Warfare sub-series, it was released on October 25, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

The game takes place in a realistic and modern setting. The campaign follows a CIA officer and British SAS forces as they team up with rebels from the fictional country of Urzikstan, combating together against Russian forces who have invaded the country and the terrorist group Al-Qatala. The game’s Special Ops mode features cooperative play missions that follow on from the campaign. The multiplayer mode supports cross-platform multiplayer and cross-platform progression for the first time in the series. It has been reworked for gameplay to be more tactical and introduces new features, such as a Realism mode that removes the HUD as well as a form of the Ground War mode that now supports 64 players. A post-launch update introduces a free-to-play battle royale mode, Warzone, which was also marketed as a standalone title.

Infinity Ward began working on the game soon after the release of their 2016 title Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. They introduced an entirely new engine for the game, which allows for new performance enhancements such as more detailed environments and ray-tracing capabilities. For the campaign, they took influence from real-life conflicts, such as the Syrian Civil War and terrorist incidents that have occurred in London. For the multiplayer, they scrapped the franchise’s traditional season pass and removed loot boxes, enabling them to distribute free post-launch content to the playerbase in the form of “Seasons”.

Modern Warfare received praise for its gameplay, campaign, multiplayer, graphics, and dark and realistic tone compared to previous entries; criticism focused on the handling of the campaign’s subject matter, including the depiction of the Russian military, as well as balancing issues in the multiplayer. A sequel was announced by Activision and will be released in 2022.

Gameplay

Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter game. Its single-player campaign focuses on realism and features tactically-based moral choices whereupon the player is evaluated and assigned a score at the end of each level; players have to quickly ascertain whether NPCs are a threat or not, such as a civilian woman who is believed to be reaching for a gun, but then simply grabs her baby from a crib. This collateral damage score, referred to as a threat assessment, is based on how many civilians the player injures or kills and ranges from rank A to F. Rewards are introduced to those who score higher. Character dialogue will differ depending on the choices the player makes in the game. Tactical decisions are also included, such as the player using a sniper rifle in a large environment to approach objectives in a non-linear order, and choosing to shoot out lights in favor of using night-vision goggles during breaching and clearing.

The game’s multiplayer has been revised from its predecessors to allow for a more tactical gameplay style, including a focus on map exploration, door breaching, and a Hardcore “Realism” mode that removes the HUD. The mini-map was originally removed in favor of a compass-style marker, with visual cues to detect friendlies and opponents. Following feedback from the multiplayer beta test, Infinity Ward re-implemented the mini-map but removed the appearance of red dots representing enemy players (except for when the UAV killstreak is used). Multiplayer also features the return of Killstreaks (rewards based on kills), with more recent Call of Duty titles having used Scorestreaks (rewards based on score) instead. Killstreaks can, however, be converted into Scorestreaks with the use of an in-game perk called “Pointman”. The online modes allow for a larger range of players within a map than previous installments, with a new mode called “Ground War” featuring over 100 players, while conversely another new mode, “Gunfight”, tasks two teams of two players against each other in small matches lasting forty seconds per round. The game includes an extensive weapons customization system, presenting most guns with a range of up to 60 attachments to choose from (five of which can be equipped at any one time). The introduction at the start of multiplayer matches has also been revamped; while in previous titles players would remain motionless on the map as a timer would countdown to zero, players will instead be transported into the battle zone as part of various animations.

Modern Warfare is the first game in the series since 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts not to feature a Zombies mode, instead featuring the cooperative “Special Ops” mode previously present in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Spec Ops shares its narrative with both the campaign and multiplayer. It includes a “Survival” mode, which is a timed exclusive to the PlayStation 4 release until October 2020. At launch, Special Ops features four Operations, which are multi-objective missions that take place in a large open map requiring mandatory 4-player cooperation; and Classic Special Ops, which features smaller scale missions, similar to the original Spec Ops mode.

The game also includes a battle royale game mode called Call of Duty: Warzone, introduced during Season 2. The mode features 150 players, battling either in teams of four, three, two, or solo. Warzone is released as a free standalone game which can be downloaded independently. The map combines several locations featured prominently in Multiplayer and Special Ops modes. Weapon balancing is maintained with parity to Multiplayer modes, with the exception of higher headshot damage to reward aiming. Similar to other battle royale games, Warzone also features looting as a core aspect, but weapon customization is limited as players can only pick up weapon variants with preset, unchangeable attachments. Looting is also simplified compared to other battle royale games in general, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 4′s Blackout mode in particular: instead of browsing via inventory, all loot items are situated across the map for players to view and pick up. Players can use armor plates to increase damage protection, and can carry up to five armor plates to swap out and repair at any given point. Upon being defeated, instead of dying permanently, players are taken to the “Gulag”, a prison area where defeated players can compete in 1v1 scenarios and gain a second chance to return to the main map. Players can also loot and stock up cash, which are used at buy stations to buy load out drops, killstreaks, equipment and revive tokens for downed teammates.

Plot

Campaign

In 2019, during a covert operation in Verdansk, Kastovia to recover shipments of dangerous chemical gas headed for Urzikstan, CIA SAC/SOG Officer “Alex” is intercepted by unknown hostiles who kill the Marine Raiders accompanying him, and escape with the gas. Alex’s handler, Station Chief Kate Laswell, requests the assistance of SAS Captain John Price in recovering the chemicals and de-escalating the situation with Russia. Twenty-four hours later, a group of suicide bombers, affiliated with the terrorist organization Al-Qatala, attack Piccadilly Circus in London. SAS Sergeant Kyle Garrick, who has been following the suspected terrorists with his team, is dispatched to contain the situation with the assistance of Price and local police forces. Afterwards, Alex is sent to Urzikstan to meet up with rebel leader Farah Karim. She agrees to join forces in tracking down the chemicals, in exchange for his aid in overthrowing Russian forces led by General Roman Barkov.

SAS forces led by Price and Garrick raid an Al-Qatala-occupied townhouse in London, where they learn the location of their leader, Omar “The Wolf” Sulaman. Alex, accompanied by Sergeant Marcus Griggs and his squad of Marines, move on Ramaza Hospital in Urzikstan and capture the Wolf. Later, the Wolf’s right-hand man, Jamal “The Butcher” Rahar, launches an attack on the United States Embassy in Urzikstan in an attempt to free the Wolf. Price, Garrick, Alex, Farah and the embassy’s defense forces work together to secure the Wolf, but ultimately fail. Farah later comes up with a plan to ambush the Wolf’s men in the “Highway of Death” in Urzikstan. Her plan goes awry when Barkov’s men attack both the rebel forces and Al-Qatala militants. Farah’s brother and second in command, Hadir, is revealed to be the thief who stole the chemical shipment; in an attempt to drive off the hostile forces, Hadir sets off the chemicals in the area, killing all of Barkov’s men and Al-Qatala forces, with Farah and Alex narrowly escaping death.

At this point, the motivations behind the Karim siblings’ animosity with Barkov are revealed. In 1999, the siblings were left orphaned during Barkov’s invasion. The two attempted to escape the country, but were captured by Barkov himself and imprisoned for the next ten years. While in captivity, Farah rose to the rank of Commander of the rebel forces, and eventually executed a breakout from Barkov’s prison camp with the help of a young Price. Back in the present day, Hadir has seemingly joined forces with Al-Qatala, forcing Farah and Price’s team to take action. They infiltrate the Wolf’s hidden base and manage to kill him, though fail to locate Hadir. With the gas still at large, the United States Government declares Farah’s liberation army a foreign terrorist threat. Disgusted with his government, Alex stays in Urzikstan to fight as part of Farah’s army.

Following intel on a possible attack in Russia orchestrated by Hadir, Price and Garrick head to St. Petersburg and meet up with one of Price’s old contacts, Nikolai. They manage to intercept an Al-Qatala meeting and apprehend the Butcher. As the Butcher refuses to give in to interrogation, Price resorts to using his wife and son, forcing him to comply. Garrick is given the choice to either execute the Butcher or let him live. They learn that Hadir plans to attack Barkov at his estate in Baurci, Moldova, and proceed to intercept him. At the estate, the two learn from Hadir of the location of Barkov’s gas factory in Borjomi, Georgia, and narrowly escape. However, Laswell arrives, informing Price that Russia demands Hadir be handed over to them. Price begrudgingly complies, on the condition that they keep the intel on the gas factory. Price and Garrick meet up with Farah and Alex at Urzikstan, then plan their attack on the factory. Alongside assistance from Laswell, the team advances on the factory, and attempts to use explosives provided by Nikolai to demolish the facility. However, the detonator is damaged in the fight, and Alex volunteers to set up the explosives manually, seemingly sacrificing his own life. As Barkov attempts to escape the facility by helicopter, Farah ambushes and kills him. Farah’s forces and Price’s team evacuate as the factory is destroyed.

With Barkov dead and disowned by Russia, Price meets with Laswell to discuss the creation of Task Force 141 in preparation against the Russian terrorist Victor Zakhaev. Price reviews the files of potential recruits with Laswell: Garrick (revealed to be nicknamed “Gaz”), John “Soap” MacTavish, and Simon “Ghost” Riley.

Special Ops

Following the death of the Wolf, Al-Qatala re-emerges with a new leader, who poses a dangerous threat to Russian forces in Verdansk. Laswell, alongside Sergeant Kamarov of the FSB, authorizes a joint operation, enlisting many of the world’s best operators in fighting against the new unidentified threat. The joint faction, named the Armistice, takes on various Al-Qatala operations in Verdansk, taking out several key figures within the organization: Almalik, the Landlord; “El Traficanté”, the Smuggler; and AQ’s head of financial operations, the Banker. Following a hostage rescue operation, the Armistice learns that Al-Qatala has been dealing in arms trade with Zakhaev, who is revealed to have been the benefactor behind Al-Qatala’s recent resurgence, and their new leader is identified as Khaled Al-Asad.

Multiplayer/Warzone

Following the initial operations in Verdansk, the Armistice continues to dispatch agents on various missions against Al-Qatala forces. The alliance between Allegiance and Coalition factions begin to fracture when operators from both sides come into conflict while intercepting an Al-Qatala chemical shipment in Urzikstan. Some time later, Al-Qatala unleashes chemical attacks across Verdansk, causing the two factions to fight against each other, as well as among themselves, for survival as toxic gas surrounds the city. Amidst the chaos of Armistice’s fall and Verdansk’s destruction, Task Force 141 member Ghost requests Price to send in reliable reinforcements. Having survived the ordeal at General Barkov’s factory, Alex re-emerges and is sent to Verdansk to assist Ghost.

After intercepting a phone call between Al-Asad and Zakhaev, the Armistice leaders learn that Al-Qatala has been shipping armaments to various bunkers located throughout Verdansk, from experimental weapon prototypes to nuclear warheads. Price and Garrick are deployed to Verdansk to assist the ongoing war effort. However, frustrated with the lack of results from the Armistice, a private military company called Shadow Company sends forces to Verdansk to hunt down Zakhaev. An SC squad led by Marcus “Lerch” Ortega infiltrates the city’s stadium, where they believe Zakhaev is located, after Allegiance forces intercepted radio chatter coming from the stadium.

After learning that Zakhaev has been using Verdansk’s subway tunnels to move around undetected, Price sends Farah and Nikolai to infiltrate and reclaim the tunnels, restoring power to the metro system. Eventually, Task Force 141 hacks into Zakhaev’s comms locating him at a nuclear silo in Bunker 10. At the bunker, Zakhaev has armed the nuke and is preparing to launch but is shot by Price and then thrown down the silo, killing him. Price manages to terminate the missile launch just in time with Nikolai’s help. As the battle in Verdansk continues to rage on, Price is contacted by Soap, requesting backup “half a kilometer off the coast”.

Development

The game was developed by Infinity Ward, following their 2016 entry Infinite Warfare, and continuing in the “three year development cycle” tradition for the franchise. High Moon Studios, Beenox, Raven Software, and Sledgehammer Games all provided additional development. The game uses a brand-new engine for the series, allowing for the use of more detailed environments, advanced photogrammetry and rendering, better volumetric lighting, and the use of ray tracing. The new engine had been in development five years prior to the release of the game, and was a collaborative effort between the main Infinity Ward studio in California and the new studio in Poland. On May 30, the game’s official trailer and release date were unveiled. According to narrative director Taylor Kurosaki, Captain Price will be featured in a retconned narrative “where the events in the previous Modern Warfare timeline have not occurred.”

Studio art director Joel Emslie described the game’s narrative as “much more grown-up mature”, designed to elicit a more intimate and emotional response from players through a depiction of conflict based on contemporary events (such as terror attacks in London and the Syrian Civil War) rather than the original trilogy’s reliance on bombastic set pieces. Campaign gameplay director Jacob Minkoff expressed his desire for video games to go further in exploring otherwise traditionally taboo topics in the medium, noting that television series and films such as Homeland, American Sniper, and Sicario told “relatable, realistic, relevant, and provocative stories that really touch people.” In avoiding telling such stories insensitively, consultants were brought in from multiple cultures; for example, conflict related to the Middle East in the game is located in the fictional country Urzikstan rather than based on any specific real-life location. Half of the game has been described as having morally complex choices, and the narrative has resulted in making several playtesters cry.

The story is inspired by real events and conflicts, such as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iraq War, the Arab Spring, and the Syrian Civil War. Some controversial aspects of the game were removed prior to its release as the developers were unsure of how much potential emotional discomfort they wanted to effect; this included a line in which a Russian soldier ponders handing over a captured girl to his commanding officer, implying pedophilia. Retired U.S. Navy SEALs Mitch Hall and Steve Sanders served as consultants for the game.

Post-launch content

For the first time in the franchise history, Modern Warfare ditches the previous downloadable content model of paid map packs and season passes. Instead, all post-launch maps and modes are added for free, while Activision focuses on the distribution of microtransactions. The in-game Store sells a variety of bundles, containing cosmetic items such as Operator characters, outfits, weapon blueprints, and more. All items and bundles are bought using the COD Points currency, featured in previous Call of Duty titles.

Similar to Black Ops 4′s Operations, the game’s content packs are released in “Seasons”, each lasting roughly eight weeks. The game features the battle pass model, which grants 100 tiers of cosmetic items that unlock just by playing the game. New weapons are introduced via the Battle Pass, as well as through in-game challenges and Store bundles.

In preparation for Halloween and part of Season 6, new content dropped featuring the “Haunting of Verdansk”. New game modes and operator bundles were released based on the theatrical films Saw and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The event included an in game opportunity to earn personalization rewards through a “Trick or Treat” loot system. The event lasted from October 20 to November 3.

Reception

Pre-release

Following previews at E3 2019, the game was subject to some controversy in response to it tackling realistic and mature subject matter, such as presenting child soldiers and the ability to shoot civilians (including infants). Escapist Magazine‘s Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw described the gameplay demonstration as “fifteen minutes of cold intense ruthless killing” and IGN felt it was the most divisive game of the event.

Other critics also gave mixed opinions. Recalling the past successes of video games as a medium to provide social commentary on war and conflict, such as Spec Ops: The Line, This War of Mine, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Emma Kent of Eurogamer criticized a level in which the player apparently controls a child soldier, which she felt inappropriately merged sensitive subject matter and over-dramatized violence into a boss fight, creating “a Frankensteinian, dissonant mess.” Kent described another level involving a stealth operation inside a building as having a “heavy-handed” emphasis on avoiding civilian collateral damage, although praised it as “a good exploration of the way terrorists are embedded within civilian communities.” Cade Onder of GameZone similarly commented on the civilian collateral damage and child soldier level, opining that the former lacked tension because there was only one civilian present, thereby only granting the illusion of choice, and the latter turning “an otherwise very real and grounded moment into a very video game-y moment.” Also comparing it to Spec Ops: The Line, Onder reflected on whether killing too many civilians would merely result in a game over, causing ludonarrative dissonance, and how the linearity of the game may prevent it from reaching its narrative ambitions.

The game’s multiplayer beta in September 2019 was withdrawn for unknown reasons from the PlayStation Store in Russia. A prominent theory posits that this is because the Russian media had been critical of the game’s campaign’s reportedly favorable portrayal of the White Helmets, a volunteer organisation that operates in parts of opposition-controlled and Turkish-occupied Syria. In October 2019, Sony announced that Modern Warfare would not be sold on the PlayStation Store in Russia.

Post-release

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare received “generally favorable reviews” on all platforms according to review aggregator site Metacritic. The game was praised for its gameplay, campaign (being considered by critics as one of the best in the franchise), multiplayer, graphics, and overall improvements to the Call of Duty formula. However, the campaign received some criticism for aspects in the handling of its subject matter, as well as minor balancing issues with some of the online modes.

Sales

Modern Warfare earned over $600 million within its first three days of release, making it the highest-selling game in the franchise during the current console generation and breaking several sales records, including the best digital opening in Activision’s history, the most digital copies sold for a game in three days on PlayStation 4, and the best Call of Duty launch on PC. In Japan, it was released in the top 20 video games chart with 117,670 copies sold in the first week. On December 18, 2019, Activision confirmed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare had earned over $1 billion in revenue.

]]> World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Cinematic Trailer nonadult Call of Duty: Vanguard https://giamping.com/call-of-duty-vanguard/ Mon, 14 Mar 2022 03:34:50 +0000 https://hastega.net/?p=28270

Call of Duty: Vanguard is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It was released on November 5 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. It serves as the 18th installment in the overall Call of Duty series. Vanguard establishes a storyline featuring the birth of the special forces to face an emerging threat at the end of the war during various theatres of World War II.

The game received mixed reviews from critics, with praise towards the campaign and multiplayer, but criticism for its Zombies mode and lack of innovation.

Gameplay

Campaign

Vanguard‘s campaign features similar gameplay mechanics previously introduced in Modern Warfare, such as the player being able to mount wielded weapons to flat surfaces, interact with doors and execute takedowns. New gameplay features allow the player the ability to use a more advanced tactical approach in combat such as blind firing from behind cover, breaking through destructible environmental elements or creating new paths to complete objectives by climbing walls.

Multiplayer

Vanguard‘s multiplayer mode has 20 total maps, 16 of which are featured for core game modes, while the other 4 are for a new game mode titled “Champion Hill”, stated to be the next iteration of Gunfight, a 2v2 arena mode previously featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. The main goal of Champion Hill is, whether you play Solos (1v1), Duos (2v2) or Trios (3v3), is to survive as long as it takes to be the last man standing in a squad-based deathmatch, round-robin tournament where players combine strategy and tactics in a close-quarter, fast-paced gunplay. All eight squads share a pool of 12 lives (or 18 in Trios) between squadmates one by one, while simultaneously battling with each other across 4 maps specifically designed for this game mode. Once the lives are expended, the game is over and the last squad with remaining lives wins the tournament. Although every player starts with the same loadout and equipment, Buy Rounds “make the combat preparation more exciting” as during these rounds, in order to accommodate different playstyles, players can purchase more effective weapons, lethal, tactical gear and also perks with the available in-game currency acquired throughout the matches.

For the first time in the Call of Duty franchise, the feature “Combat Pacing” is introduced to Vanguard‘s multiplayer matchmaking, which allows the player to have more control over the intensity and density of core multiplayer game modes. Players can choose from three pre-defined pacing filters (Tactical, Assault and Blitz) favoring different playstyles in order to tailor the multiplayer gameplay experience. These preferences can also be mixed by selecting the “All” pacing option in the Quick Play menu. “Tactical” pacing offers a classic Call of Duty experience with traditional combat timing in a 6v6 lobby. “Assault” pacing on the other hand slightly increases the lobby player count with a balanced, more action-packed combat throughout the maps. Lastly, the “Blitz” pacing offers the highest lobby player count, providing high-action lobbies with similar combat experience like Modern Warfare‘s Ground War mode. Every combat pacing variations can be played on each of Vanguard‘s multiplayer maps.

As an addition to the Gunsmith system, Vanguard multiplayer features a “Caliber system” which brings immersive elements of destructible and reactive environment to its maps by allowing different ammo types, each with its own pros and cons. The blind fire gameplay mechanic is also featured in the multiplayer mode, in addition to strafing movement while mounting weapons on horizontal walls. Vanguard is also the first premium Call of Duty title to feature Ricochet Anti-Cheat, a proprietary anti-cheat system using a combination of server-side protection and a kernel-level driver (the latter of which was first introduced in Call of Duty: Warzone). As with Cold War, Vanguard was also integrated with Warzone, allowing players to progress and use weapons, operators and other cosmetics items across both titles, in addition to the existing Modern Warfare and Cold War items in Warzone. Like the previous main installments of the Call of Duty franchise since 2019, Vanguard‘s multiplayer is also fully cross-platform play compatible with a support for cross-generation gaming regarding eighth and ninth generation home video game consoles.

Zombies

The cooperative Zombies mode returns in Vanguard, developed by Treyarch in collaboration with Sledgehammer Games. The mode is considered an expansion of the Dark Aether story, and acts as a prologue to Black Ops Cold War‘s story. At launch, the game features a new map titled “Der Anfang”, which combines aspects of round-based survival gameplay with the objective-based gameplay of Outbreak and Onslaught, both new gamemodes introduced in Cold War. Gameplay elements from Cold War return in Vanguard, such as Essence and Salvage currencies, and Dark Aether-powered field upgrades, in addition to classic Zombies gameplay items like perks and the Pack-a-Punch machine. A new gameplay feature, the Altar of Covenants, allows players to purchase randomized buffs every round, allowing a variety in combat builds. Post-launch updates for Zombies feature additional objectives for Der Anfang, including a main quest for story progression, as well as new Covenants and field upgrades. New hub maps were also added to the game, in a similar fashion to previous games’ traditional round-based map releases.

Plot

Campaign

Characters and setting

Vanguard takes place in 1945 near the end of World War II’s European theater, with various flashbacks ranging from 1941 to 1944. The flashbacks portray various major battles such as the Battle of Stalingrad and Midway through the eyes of the main protagonists. The game portrays the rise of special forces, with the first tasked to uncover a secret Nazi project and thwart it.

The player takes control of various members of Task Force Vanguard, a team formed by the Special Operations Executive to uncover Phoenix, a secret Nazi project. Members include team leader British Army Lieutenant Arthur Kingsley (Chiké Okonkwo), his right-hand man Richard Webb (Simon Quarterman), Red Army sniper Polina Petrova (Laura Bailey), American pilot Wade Jackson (Derek Phillips), Australian demolitionist Lucas Riggs (Martin Copping), and Milos Novak, a Czech partisan fighter. Supporting characters appear in flashbacks, including British Army Corporal Thomas Jones (Max Deacon), Polina’s brother Misha Petrov (Mark Ivanir), Aviation Machinist Mate 3rd Class Mateo Hernandez (Christopher Rivas), Private Desmond “Des” Wilmot (Nikolai Nikolaeff), and Robert Jacobs (Jack Hawkins). Opposing Task Force Vanguard is Project Phoenix, a secret Nazi project led by Untersturmführer Hermann Freisinger (Dan Donohue) aiming to take the party underground. Other antagonists include Hauptsturmführer Jannick Richter (Dominic Monaghan), the interrogator of Task Force Vanguard while they are captured, SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer Leo Steiner (Ray Proscia), the commander in charge of invading Stalingrad, and British Army Major Henry Hamms (James Frain), who frequently antagonizes the Australians in North Africa.

Synopsis

NOTE: The story of Vanguard is told throughout various points in time in a non-chronological order.

In August 1941, 2nd Lieutenant Lucas Riggs is stationed at Tobruk, Libya as part of the Australian-led Rats of Tobruk garrison. After a failed ambush attempt against a German convoy, Riggs is assigned to recover supplies for the British Army, alongside fellow Rat Private Desmond “Des” Wilmot and British Lieutenant Richard Jacobs. Riggs, Des and Jacobs manage to find intelligence relating to General Erwin Rommel, and destroy a German depot in the process, but they were detained by Major Henry Hamms for insubordination. In October 1942, during the Second Battle of El Alamein, Riggs and the Rats are ordered by Hamms to form a defensive line, but Riggs disobeys the command and tries to retake a hill and call in bomber support with Des supporting him. The two of them succeed, though Des is killed in action. Angered by the disregard for the Rats’ contribution to the fight, Riggs punches Hamms out of frustration, resulting in him facing prison time.

In June 1942, United States Navy pilot Lieutenant Wade Jackson participates in the Battle of Midway with his tail gunner, Aviation Machinist’s Mate Mateo Hernandez. In November 1943, while assaulting the Imperial Japanese Army in Bougainville, Jackson and Hernandez’s plane is shot down, and the two are captured by IJA soldiers. They are rescued by the 93rd Infantry Division, who later help them acquire an Imperial Japanese Navy Aichi D3A to assist the division in reclaiming the island.

In August 1942, Red Army nurse Polina Petrova witnesses the Germans invade Stalingrad. She fails to save her father Boris from being executed by enemy troops, but is able to escape with her brother Misha and several Soviet partisans. Petrova eventually acquires the nickname “Lady Nightingale” as she pursues Leo Steiner, the Wehrmacht commander responsible for the invasion. In January 1943, Petrova and Misha attempt to assassinate Steiner in Stalingrad, but Misha is severely wounded. He sacrifices himself to buy Petrova time to escape. Petrova eventually confronts Steiner and kills him and his personal army, inspiring the citizens of Stalingrad to reclaim the city from the Nazis. She then sets her sight on Steiner’s superior, Hermann Freisinger.

In June 1944, British paratrooper Sergeant Arthur Kingsley takes part in Operation Tonga, where he and the Parachute Regiment help destroy the Merville Gun Battery and several other bridges to assist the Allied forces in invading Normandy. Kingsley befriends fellow paratrooper Sergeant Richard Webb, who would later become Kingsley’s right-hand man.

Kingsley, Webb, Petrova, Jackson and Riggs, alongside a sixth soldier named Milos Novak, would eventually be recruited by Captain Carver Butcher to form the first special operations task force, callsign Vanguard. Kingsley is appointed as the leader of the task force. In April 1945, Task Force Vanguard hijacks a train to Hamburg, Germany, in search of intelligence regarding Project Phoenix, a secret Nazi program run by Freisinger. While infiltrating a Kriegsmarine submarine, the squad is captured by Freisinger’s men, minus Jackson who evaded them, and Novak who is bludgeoned to death by Freisinger. Vanguard is delivered to the Gestapo headquarters in Berlin, where Freisinger appoints Schutzstaffel officer Jannick Richter to interrogate them. Jackson is also captured after attempting to steal a plane; Richter demoralizes the squad by executing Webb.

Being unaware of Project Phoenix’s purpose and Freisinger’s involvement, Richter attempts to learn more by interrogating Petrova and Riggs about Steiner and Rommel’s connection to Freisinger. He deduces that the project was a coup attempt, in order to appoint Freisinger as the new Führer of the Fourth Reich. As Berlin falls under siege by the Red Army following Adolf Hitler’s suicide, Riggs breaks out of interrogation and frees the squad, while Kingsley kills Richter to avenge Webb. Vanguard pursues Freisinger to the Berlin Tempelhof Airport, where they finally apprehend him and burn him alive. The four then board Freisinger’s Luftwaffe plane, discovering numerous German documents and assets, revealing global Nazi covert operations. Kingsley decides to follow up on Project Aggregat, a secret V2 rocket facility, and orders Jackson to fly there in pursuit.

Multiplayer/Warzone

In 1944, Captain Butcher begins to oversee Operation Vulcan, a top-secret Special Operations Executive mission to hunt down Axis soldiers and scientists who fled to the South Pacific. In December 1944, Butcher deploys with Task Force Trident to Caldera Island, but their plane is shot down by anti-air, leaving the three Trident members stranded from Butcher. As the task force attempts to navigate the island, Butcher stumbles upon the entrance to a Nazi bunker at the beach where he crash-landed.

The intel recovered from the bunker in Caldera reveals that the Nazis were working on a new chemical weapon, dubbed “Nebula V”. Butcher travels to the Swiss Alps with Task Force Yeti, intending to recover Nebula V from a nearby Nazi fortress. The Yeti members storm the fortress, but are unable to stop the Nazi commander from releasing the Nebula V gas. They barely manage to escape as the gas engulfs the fortress.

Zombies

In March 1944, following the activation of the cyclotron in Projekt Endstation by the Nazis in Morasko, Poland, various ancient artifacts recovered by the SS unit Die Wahrheit are activated, allowing several entities from the Dark Aether dimension to reach out to the real world. One such entity, Kortifex the Deathless, forms a symbiotic bond with Oberführer Wolfram Von List, Die Wahrheit’s commander, and bestows him the power to resurrect the dead. A team of Special Forces operators responds to an emergency broadcast from Professor Gabriel Krafft, a demonologist forced to work for Von List, and is drafted into a new battle against Von List and Kortifex’s undead army. Krafft assists the operators in battling the undead, by also supplying them with Dark Aether artifacts which allow them to form bonds with four other Dark Aether entities: Saraxis the Shadow, Inviktor the Destroyer, Norticus the Conqueror and Bellekar the Warlock, all of whom wish to thwart Kortifex’s plan.

The Special Forces operators eventually discover a Dark Aether portal in Von List’s office in Stalingrad, where they find a sealed page from the Tome of Rituals, an ancient spell book that was used to summon the Dark Aether entities. While the four allied entities devise a plan to recover the missing page, they also learn that another entity, Vercanna the Last, has responded to Bellekar’s call for help, and is willing to join the fight against Kortifex. Using a portal opened by Vercanna, the operators travel to Egypt, where they continue their fight against Von List’s forces and attempt to recover the sealed Tome page. Kortifex sends one of his underlings, Zaballa the Deceiver, to stop the operators from completing their mission. Vercanna guides the operators in recovering the Decimator Shield, a living weapon once belonged to a warrior of Kortifex’s Night Legions. Using the shield, they destroy energy orbs chained to the missing Tome page in the Void, allowing them to recover it. Both Krafft and Bellekar conclude that the missing page may have clues as to how they can separate Kortifex’s artifact from Von List, severing their connection.

Development

Vanguard is the third title developed by Sledgehammer Games in the Call of Duty franchise after 2014’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII.

After WWII was released, the studio went through a rebuilding process regarding the organisational structure following the departure of the studio co-founders and directors Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey. In an interview made by VentureBeat about the rebuilding and the path leading Sledgehammer Games to develop Vanguard, Studio Head Aaron Halon highlighted that ” we love our legacy and what we’ve created, but we also wanted to think about the future of the studio and how we could set ourselves up to be even stronger. we’re proud of the decisions we’ve made along the way that have led us to where we’re at today with Call of Duty: Vanguard.“

Originally the three-year primary developer rotation cycle between Infinity Ward, Treyarch and Sledgehammer Games, in which the model was first introduced in 2012, it was expected to be continued in 2020 with Sledgehammer taking the lead to create a new Call of Duty entry alongside Raven Software. Due to conflicts of interest between the two, responsibilities were shifted to Treyarch as they took control over the project, which resulted in developing Black Ops Cold War in 2020.

During Activision Q1 earnings call in May 2021, it was confirmed that the development of a new Call of Duty game is being led by Sledgehammer Games due for release in Q4 2021. The developer also confirmed this on its official Twitter account. Activision Blizzard President and Chief Operating Officer Daniel Alegre said: “We are very excited for this year’s premium Call of Duty release. Development is being led by Sledgehammer Games. And the game is looking great and on track for its fall release. This is a built-for-next-generation experience with stunning visuals across campaign, multiplayer and cooperative modes of play designed to both integrate with and enhance the existing COD ecosystem. We look forward to sharing more details with the community soon.”

Vanguard is built on an upgraded version of the IW 8.0 engine, that powered Modern Warfare. The game’s visuals are developed in part using photogrammetry and new volumetric lighting techniques while also introducing reactive and destructible environmental graphical details and textures with a damage layer system which reacts to bullet impacts hitting different surfaces.

Marketing and release

Reveal

In August 2021, some insider sources began to leak information about Vanguard prior to its official reveal, including its editions and reveal trailer content. Official social media accounts for Call of Duty acknowledged this leak in a “humorous” fashion, and proceeded to tease the game’s reveal. Around the same time, the first teaser for Vanguard went live within Call of Duty: Warzone, where winning players in any given Battle Royale matches may be sniped from afar by Vanguard protagonist Polina Petrova during the extraction cutscene. A week after, the title of the game was announced, alongside a reveal event taking place in Warzone. Players got to participate in a limited-time game mode titled “The Battle of Verdansk” where every player works together to take down a train, before attempting to escape as WW2-era planes drop bombs on them. The reveal trailer was played at the end of the event, before being posted publicly on YouTube and other social media websites.

On August 25, during Gamescom, Sledgehammer Games revealed the first extended playthrough of Vanguard‘s campaign missions set in the Eastern Front called “Stalingrad Summer”. This mission gives an insight regarding the initial invasion of Stalingrad in 1942 from the perspective of Petrova (voiced by Laura Bailey) as she tries to find a way home after an aerial attack while eliminating hostile German infantry search crews.

On September 7, during a nearly 30-minute live broadcast on YouTube, led by the members of Sledgehammer Games development team, creative director Greg Reisdorf, lead designer Zach Hodson, and associate art director Matt Abbott, in-depth details of Vanguard‘s multiplayer had been revealed, showcasing some components of tactical gameplay, the variations of competitive gamemodes, while emphasizing the details of the newly introduced environmental destruction gameplay features.

Absence of Activision branding

Following the announcement of Vanguard, viewers observed that any promiment reference to Activision was conspicuously absent from the reveal trailer. This included the first use of “Call of Duty presents…” rather than “Activision presents”, and the only mention of Activision being in small print for copyright purposes. Publications attributed the publisher’s decision with an attempt to distance itself from Vanguard due to the California lawsuit filed against them, following incidents of sexual harassment within the company. In response to gaming journalist Stephen Totilo, an Activision spokeman said that the change was “a creative choice that reflects how Vanguard represents the next major installment in the franchise”.

Multiplayer beta

An open beta version of the multiplayer was also made available for all platforms in September 2021, presenting a selection of five maps and some multiplayer playlists, such as Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed and Search and Destroy, with the newly introduced Patrol and Champion Hill game modes. Those players who reach Level 20 in beta will receive a weapon blueprint available to use in Vanguard at launch and in Warzone at a later date.

Tie-in comic

A tie-in comic series had been announced for Vanguard with the official reveal taking place on October 10, 2021, at the New York Comic Con. Attendees at the panel were given a free copy of the first issue, featuring one of the protagonists, Polina Petrova. On November 4, 2021, Activision announced the comic series would be released for free on the official Vanguard website, with the first issue going live the same day.

Release

The game released worldwide on November 5, 2021. Pre-orders of all editions grant “early” access to the open multiplayer beta, a cosmetic weapons pack for use in Vanguard, as well as a Mastercraft cosmetic blueprint and the Vanguard character Arthur Kingsley as an operator, both for use in Cold War and Warzone. The Ultimate Edition grants access to three additional cosmetic skin packs, plus access to the Battle Pass of a Season for Vanguard (dependent on the time of purchase), and double XP tokens. The Cross-gen Bundle and Ultimate Edition grant console players two versions of the game for use on the previous console generation (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) and the later generation (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S or Xbox Series X).

Post-launch content

As with Modern Warfare and Cold War, Vanguard‘s post-launch content is provided free-of-charge, including new maps, game modes and seasonal events, while the game continues to monetize via the battle pass system and cosmetic bundles featured in the in-game store.

In January 2022, Activision announced a collaboration with the anime series Attack on Titan, to commemorate the release of its final season. A cosmetic bundle was released in Vanguard and Warzone, featuring themed weapon blueprints and a skin for operator Daniel based on the character Levi Ackerman. In February 2022, on Season Two’s launch, another bundle was discovered for operator Roland, this time based on Reiner Braun’s Armored Titan form.

Reception

Call of Duty: Vanguard received “mixed or average reviews”, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

IGN‘s Simon Cardy awarded the game a 7 out of 10, summarizing their review by saying, “Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s highly polished campaign provides a healthy amount of fun, even if its brief length and lack of variety lead it to fall short of the classic pieces of war cinema it’s trying to emulate.” Clement Goh of CG Magazine wrote that “Call of Duty: Vanguard falls in the predictable traps of an annual release, but pulls through with a fun campaign and multiplayer at the cost of duller Zombies”, also giving the game a 7 out of 10.

John Walker of Kotaku and Yussef Cole of Polygon criticized Vanguard‘s handling of progressivism in the story and characters, feeling it suffered from tokenism and that its attempt to “wokewash” history and avoid controversy was disingenuous and cowardly.

Vanguard‘s Zombies mode was negatively received by many in the community and critics alike, with complaints about the lack of content compared to past iterations of the mode. Luke Winkie of IGN gave Zombies a 5 out of 10, writing it had “little imagination beyond bigger damage numbers sparking out of the heads of its undead”. Writing for GameRant, Richard Warren felt that Zombies fell short in numerous areas, including usage of multiplayer assets, absence of Wonder Weapons and its lack of Easter eggs that they considered the “biggest thing that makes Zombies unique”.

Quran pages controversy

Following Vanguard‘s release, players discovered that the Zombies map “Der Anfang” contained scattered pages of the Quran on the floor, some being bloodstained. In response to criticism from players, Activision removed the pages from the game and issued an apology on Twitter, saying “There was content insensitive to Muslims included in the game, and it has been removed. It was not supposed to exist as it appeared in the game. We deeply apologise.”

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