Call of Duty: Vanguard Review friv game - Step Back

Call of Duty returns to the WWII era, but does it have anything to show in this setting? Yes and no: somewhere the shooter surprises in a good way, somewhere it feels like a step backwards compared to the previous parts of the series and the works of Friv2Online Games Studio site in particular. All the details are in our review.

Let's start with the single-player campaign: this is the part of the Call of Duty series that attracts fans of single-player shooters every year , who expect a thrilling attraction filled with action and non-stop gunfire.

In Call of Duty: Vanguard, the single is dedicated to a kind of "suicide squad": crazy fighters who, in the last days of the war, are sent on a mission to destroy the mysterious "Phoenix Project", the Nazi attempt to save the staggering Reich and revive it in the form of a new empire.

The characters and motivations of each of the heroes are revealed in personal missions, which periodically interrupt the main storyline, acting as flashbacks to the past. Having collected such different characters, the authors got the opportunity to show almost all the theaters of war of World War II.

Here the charismatic leader Arthur Kingsley takes part in the Allied landing in Normandy, the Soviet nurse Polina Petrova picks up a sniper rifle and opens the hunt for the Nazis in Stalingrad , the recalcitrant bomber Lucas Riggs becomes one of the key figures in the African campaign, and the ace pilot Wade Jackson literally sense descends from heaven to earth and fights the Japanese in the tropics full of traps.

Each fighter is endowed with unique features. Kingsley issues commands to his teammates, such as distracting a heavily armored enemy or suppressing a firing point. Petrova deftly climbs the walls (in specially designated places) and does not part with the faithful "sniper", which cannot be replaced with another weapon. Riggs accurately throws explosives, while Jackson briefly slows down time and shoots accurately at the heads.

The characters turned out to be very characteristic and attractive, but the duration of the campaign was not enough to reveal them. You easily become attached to the characters, you follow their skirmishes with interest, but the action flies by so quickly that you simply do not have time to feel the fate of the fighters. The campaign of Call of Duty: Vanguard is very short - even by the standards of the series. Some of the protagonists were given very little "screen time", and some even appear "in the frame" only in the second half of the campaign.

At the same time, Polina draws the lion's share of attention to herself. Her story will certainly be the most interesting for players from the post-Soviet countries, and Stalingrad before the bombing and after it is shown in a very authentic, detailed and reliable way.

In conditionally peacetime, while the enemies are somewhere far away, the girl rushes to the front, not wanting to put up with secondary roles, and when it comes time to act, she does not succumb to difficulties and, thanks to her dexterity and accuracy, quickly acquires a semi-legendary status, plunging the Fritz into horror and inspiring the inhabitants of the city to resolutely rebuff the invaders.

The brave bomber Riggs is also remembered, although, in a good way, for his willfulness and defiant behavior in wartime conditions, at best, a prison would have been waiting for him, and not a place in the detachment of heroes entrusted with the mission of saving the world. However, we have here not a documentary chronicle, but almost a superhero, so such liberties can be forgiven the scriptwriters.

The campaign should be praised for the traditionally well-directed spectacle, and for the graphics settings that have been twisted to the limit, and for the acting. Cut-scenes can be mounted into a separate game film - the animation of the faces turned out to be so convincing. Especially trying is the star of The Lord of the Rings and Quantum Break, Dominic Monaghan, who here acted as a Nazi officer - a staff rat , which begins to doubt the actions of his leadership. The main villain , in turn, is not that very intimidating - he frowns his eyebrows on duty, makes global plans, and dies at the end.

When it comes to shootouts, Call of Duty: Vanguard has a lot to offer, too. The feeling of shooting is pleasant, episodes with ordinary shootings are periodically replaced by something more interesting, like flying a bomber or a stealth mission. I only lacked a greater variety of weapons and smarter opponents - sometimes the AI ​​just gives out pearls of stupidity: when a patrol passes by a hidden partner, literally shining a flashlight in his face, the degree of tension somehow decreases.

The plot component of Vanguard was a success. Though short, it's enjoyable if you're willing to accept some of its conventions and just enjoy the attraction. The ending leaves room for a possible sequel - perhaps we will meet the four heroes again.

With the multiplayer part, alas, everything is not so simple.

In 2017, Friv2Online Games Studio released the Call of Duty: WWII shooter, which, like Call of Duty: Vanguard, was dedicated to the theme of World War II. The game is still popular: on PlayStation consoles, the servers are always full, and I have spent more than a dozen hours in it. So, the novelty loses to the previous work of the Americans in almost all respects.

For example, the readability of opponents here is simply disgusting. More often you notice not the silhouette of the enemy, but a mark with his nickname, which generally negatively affects immersion in the friv game. Of course, it's great that in multiplayer , good penetration of shelters and partitions is implemented, the maps are detailed and full of effects (although the graphics here are more modest than in the single-campaign), but this is rather a minus for the gameplay.

And when you see an opponent, try to hit him. The barrel "walks", the bullets fly anywhere, but not into the carcass of the enemy. It gets a little better when you upgrade your weapons a little: your favorite machine guns are overgrown with modules, which in the end can be up to ten: from sights to types of cartridges. Modules give certain bonuses and penalties, so you need to carefully choose a body kit so as not to make it even worse - sometimes it's better not to install a module at all than to upset the delicate balance of your "swallow".

Playing with different weapon assemblies is interesting, and the behavior of the “trunks” changes. However, either the low TTK or the problematic network code interfere with enjoying this. I never managed to figure out how many bullets you need to fire at the enemy in order to kill him. Sometimes at all - you shoot, but the damage does not pass. Add to this frequent respawns in enemy positions, and you get a chaotic action, where the success of the players depends not on personal skill, but on randomness.

In the same Call of Duty: WWII from the same Friv2Online Games Studio, the gameplay is much more honest and comfortable, better readability, more understandable TTK.

But in Call of Duty: Vanguard, the possibilities for pumping are wider - both weapons and characters, which are called "performers" here. Each of them is a class in itself: someone is more confident with a sniper rifle, the other prefers an assault rifle. The more tests of the selected performer you complete, the more content you will open for him - unique skins, replicas, finishing moves.

But the series of murders and field modifications are the same for everyone. The former are activated after a chain of kills without death and allow, for example, to call a reconnaissance aircraft, drop a dive bomb, or call on shepherd dogs that one-shot the enemy. Mechanics familiar to the Call of Duty series. The second is an ability with a certain cooldown: it can be an ammo box, a remote-controlled mini-tank, and so on. In addition, perks can be attached to fighters - passive skills like silent walking.

Another positive side of multiplayer is the ability to choose modes according to the pace of gameplay. There are three of them here: tactical, assault and blitz, and if relatively few players participate in the first, and the respawn distance is quite large to give a reason to run around the map in search of rivals, then the latter, on the contrary, is designed for close contact and incessant "meat". In my opinion, the assault pace turned out to be the most balanced, which allows you to play thoughtfully, but also maintains a fairly high density of events. Blitz also motivates you to press the fire button immediately after respawn - the battles are fast, but very chaotic.

Already two dozen maps were delivered at the release, there are also quite a few modes, from the usual ones, such as team battle or confrontation, to new products, including battles of "twos" and "triples" for elimination and control of the area moving around the location.

And in general, the Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer cannot be called a complete failure, but polishing it, oh, how it would not hurt. Especially after several stages of testing, where participants noted the above problems. It is encouraging that the game will develop over the coming months, and therefore the developers will certainly take into account criticism, make changes to the gameplay and balance.

Finally, the cooperative zombie mode offers to jump through portals and exterminate zombies - nothing fundamentally new, and there is not enough variety of opponents. Perhaps the most boring part of the friv game with a small amount of content and monotonous gameplay.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is by no means the best part of the series: the campaign is too fleeting, the multiplayer is full of problems, and there is almost nothing to say about the zombie mode. It's a good game, but it could be a lot better - at least as good as previous Friv2Online Games Studio titles.