Call of Duty: Vanguard is a 2021 first-person shooter game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. As the 18th main installment in the Call of Duty series, Vanguard takes players back to World War II for the first time since 2017’s Call of Duty: WWII. It was released on a variety of platforms, including PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
The game was Sledgehammer Games’ third solo outing in the franchise, after Advanced Warfare and WWII. Despite this, Call of Duty: Vanguard received mixed reviews, garnering a 73 on Metacritic. This varied reception was reflected in the sales figures, which, while Activision never revealed, did confirm that the game failed to meet its sales expectations.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Premise
Call of Duty: Vanguard follows the standard formula established across the entire series. The Campaign mode gives players a traditional story experience, taking players to different times and places during World War II. While Call of Duty Campaigns may not be as popular as they once were, no one can accuse Sledgehammer Games of a lack of effort here.
The Zombies game mode makes a return here too. It’s usually featured in Treyarch Call of Duty games, and interestingly, it was Treyarch who took the reins for this iteration of Zombies. Call of Duty: Vanguard‘s Zombies mode was released with just one map – Der Angang, although its scale meant players had more than enough content to play again and again. It even saw the return of Shi No Numa, a Zombies map that first debuted in 2008’s Call of Duty: World at War. For many players, this iteration was quite a big departure from the standard Zombies experience, with boss fights and side quests.
The main event in Call of Duty: Vanguard is the multiplayer. Here, Sledgehammer Games opted not to rock the boat, offering a more traditional Call of Duty multiplayer experience. Despite risking being branded generic, it still remains the most popular mode in the entire game, helped by the 20 launch multiplayer maps. Many of these were remakes from games gone by, which helped to draw in long-time fans of the franchise.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Main Characters
Even when Call of Duty multiplayer isn’t at its best, the series always offers a thrilling single-player campaign. Call of Duty: Vanguard is no different, placing players in the European theater in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II. The game jumps in time between 1941 and 1945, putting you in the boots of five different soldiers in this game.
Multi-protagonist stories are nothing new for Call of Duty, but five is a jam-packed cast. Here are the main characters you’ll get to know throughout Call of Duty: Vanguard:
- Sergeant Arthur Kingsley: Kingsley is the leader of the game’s Task Force Vanguard and a proud soldier of the British Army. He serves with distinction due to his strong sense of duty.
- Lieutenant Polina Petrova: Petrova is Stalingrad born and bred. First of the Red Army and later Task Force Vanguard, she is as direct with her words as she is with her sniper rifle.
- Private Lucas Riggs: Riggs starts Call of Duty: Vanguard as green but eager, developing into a hardened soldier over the course of the story. He’s very much a man of action, preferring to do instead of say.
- Lieutenant 1st Class Wade Jackson: Jackson is the pilot of Task Force Vanguard. A crack shot in the skies, his contributions to the team are not to be underestimated.
- Milos Novak: Novak is only playable during the mission “Phoenix” and is a minor character compared to the others. His time with Task Force Vanguard is short-lived, to say the least.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Titles in the Series
The Call of Duty franchise is arguably the most popular FPS series ever. It redefined the casual shooter, with its fast-paced gameplay and unique gunplay. Back in 2007, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare implemented the multiplayer formula that became known as a base for the rest of the series, and many elements of that game can still be found in recent releases.
The revolving door of developers in Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and Sledgehammer Games has ensured that Activision released at least one Call of Duty game annually for almost two decades now. This keeps the series relevant in the gaming industry, even if not every release has been a fan favorite.
Here’s every Call of Duty game released since the series debuted in 2003:
- Call of Duty (2003)
- Call of Duty 2 (2005)
- Call of Duty 3 (2006)
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
- Call of Duty: World at War (2008)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
- Call of Duty: Online (2012)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012)
- Call of Duty: Ghosts (2013)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015)
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016)
- Call of Duty: WWII (2017)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (2018)
- Call of Duty: Mobile (2019)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
- Call of Duty: Warzone (2020)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020)
- Call of Duty: Vanguard (2021)
- Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 (2022)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
Call of Duty: Vanguard Cheat Codes
Unfortunately, Call of Duty: Vanguard has no cheat codes to speak of in the traditional sense. As a series, Call of Duty shies away from cheat codes for the most part. We’re not going to show you how to download cheats such as wallhack for Call of Duty: Vanguard, either. Sorry. There’s every chance that leads to a permanent ban online, which isn’t worth it for a two-year-old game.
Normally for most games, there would even be a Cheat Engine table that you can download to activate cheats in the single-player modes. However, as a more recent release in the franchise, Call of Duty: Vanguard doesn’t even have that available! It’s absolutely one of the hardest iterations to cheat in, and we can’t recommend you do it. It’s a shame, as the Campaign and Zombies modes could really have benefitted from traditional cheat codes, but that’s the gaming environment that we find ourselves in at the moment.
Hopefully, future Call of Duty releases give us a little more in the way of cheats that don’t ruin the multiplayer fun for everyone.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Cheat Code FAQs
Do People Cheat in Call of Duty: Vanguard?
Unfortunately, yes, people do cheat in the online portion of Call of Duty: Vanguard. It’s not quite every lobby, but there are definitely players out there who use wallhack cheats to get an unfair advantage in-game.
These aren’t the type of cheats – these are the ruin-the-game-for-everyone-type cheats.
What is Aimbot and Wallhack in Call of Duty: Vanguard?
Aimbots and wallhacks are two different types of cheats in Call of Duty: Vanguard. Both give an unfair advantage in different ways. Aimbot does the hard work for you, locking onto enemies automatically before killing them. This removes any element of skill from the game.
Wallhack simply allows you to see where the enemies are at all times. You still have to hit them, but being able to see them beforehand makes that job much easier.
How Do You Spot a Cheater in Call of Duty: Vanguard?
If you’re sure that there’s a cheater in your Call of Duty: Vanguard lobby, the best thing to do is to watch the killcams. If they’re using an aimbot, that’ll become obvious immediately. Wallhacks are harder to spot, but there’s usually enough in each killcam to determine whether one is in use.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Activision.