Call of Duty: Vanguard will find itself in unfamiliar territory later this year when it faces off against a couple of heavy-hitters making their comeback after years of absence. With its return to a WWII setting, Vanguard aims to take players back to some gritty boots-on-the-ground action carried by superb gunplay that the franchise has been known for.

Following the Champion Hill Preview, we recently got a chance to take a look at the upcoming Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer modes along with a number of outfits from the Southeast Asian region, and needless to say, it was a couple of hours of fun but still mostly the game you’ve come to know over the years. Whether that is a good or bad thing, we’ll leave it completely up to you.

Go as fast as you can take it

Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer is divided into 3 “Combat Pacing” categories – Tactical, Assault, and Blitz. Tactical is the usual 6v6 lobby size for which strategy and communication will be a necessity over individual skills. Assault favors a larger group, focusing on 20-28 player matches, while Blitz offers mayhem in as much as 28-48 players in a match.

Game Modes, on the other hand, consists of some returnees from Black Ops Cold War like Team Deathmatch, Domination, Kill Confirmed, and a “new” addition in Patrol (basically Hardpoint).

Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer works as players get to choose a combination of these 2 conditions, resulting in matches like “Tactical Patrol” or “Blitz Team Deathmatch”. Each game mode can be played across varying lobby sizes, depending on your preference.

Sledgehammer puts the burden of choice on the players and the game is all the better for it because now you can have your FPS itch scratched in a variety of ways. When you include Warzone, you’ve got pretty much every lobby size covered from 2v2 to 100 (or more) players.

In particular, Patrol is fantastic best because it offers crazy action as the control point constantly moves around the map, ensuring that there is always some sort of shootout going on and grenade kills that can take out 2 or more at the same time because multiple players are clumped together by the control point at any given time.

Multiple ways to kill or be killed

My experience during the preview was a mixed bag mainly because I kept dying (cue git gud chants) due to weird enemy spawn placements. Majority of the times that I kissed the ground was because I got fragged by a newly-spawned opponent right behind me. Spawning feels too random, especially during the Patrol game mode, that you’ll need to constantly check your six to see if you’re being tailed.

You’ll also be able to customize your loadout with up to 10 attachments via the gunsmith, with offers multiple ways to slay opponents. Each attachment has a tradeoff, and how you choose to outfit your weapon will reflect your style of play, even down to the ammo type which can affect weapon damage, range, and others.

Overall, Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer brings something that we’ve come to know and love from the franchise, for better or for worse. Built on strong gunplay and fast-paced action, Multiplayer is still a lot of fun and still offers in-depth progression for your character that will surely result in countless hours of play.

There’s very little to fault about it, but the concern lies in the fact that it hasn’t evolved too much from its previous installment and will surely be seeing very tough competition over the next few months.

Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer Alpha Schedule

The Call of Duty: Vanguard Multiplayer Alpha Test will take place on September 10 at 10 AM PT (September 11 at 1 AM Philippines) – September 13 at 10 AM PT (September 14 at 1 AM Philippines) for PlayStation early access. The next round will happen on September 16-17 for PlayStation Open Beta along with Xbox and PC preorders, and September 18-20 for the general public at the same time slots.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is now available for pre-order and will launch on November 5 for the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and PC.