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Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer alpha impressions

cormack12

Gold Member


This weekend, Call of Duty fans got a treat with the Call of Duty Vanguard alpha, and while that, in itself is good news, it did manage to bring up a major issue onto the table, and that’s the COD Vanguard player visibility problem.

Hopping online to test Champion Hill out, It was very noticetable that it was quite hard to discern players from the background. While I admit that I am quite colorblind, checking the game’s subreddit, and even asking other players, the player visbility issue was brought up. It was so bad that I even asked our own James Lara to see if it was a me problem, or if it was just really, really, hard to spot enemies. His verdict? It’s the game, and we even got screenshots to make our point.

Check whether you can see the enemy in this screenshot or not:

cpd-vanguard-alpha-shoot-1.png


Can’t see the enemy? Here’s them highlighted:
cod-vanguard-alpha-2.jpg

Outside of the color palette, and player outlines not easily discernible among the enviroments, is that players’ screen gets a greyscale effect when being shot at, which turns the screen darker, thus adding another layer of obstruction when trying to spot who’s shooting at you. Here’s a screenshot featuring what we mean:

cod-vanguard-alpha-5.png


dfc3d17d14370d7eff097a774c568b17.png
 
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Crew511A

Member
Hitler basically made this game

I understand the sentiment, but people need to realize if Activision takes a hit, they'll just lay people off, some of which may be people who were the victims of the same harassment everyone is upset about it. It's not like Bobby Kotick is going to take a pay cut.
 

Justin9mm

Member
There's so many things wrong with this Alpha. It sucks big time. Game is so bland. Alpha or not, unless the final version is literally nothing like this then it's a massive fail.

I think 2042 will outsell this one.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
I would like to say thank you for letting me play this. It’s just confirmed the fact I don’t like WW2 stuff and I won’t be buying it. I’ll skip this one just like I skipped the first WW game they released .

just boring guns in maps full of sand bags as covers . Yeah fk dat I am out
 

bajouras

Member
Jeesh I dont think is all that bad. To me it just feels like MW 2019 but with a ww2 setting. Too much like MW in some parts tho. They could at least tried to change the menu a bit more.
 

yansolo

Member
last cod i played properly was blops 3, every cod ive seen since then looks exactly the same with slightly better graphics/slightly different gimmick

i know this will never happen coz of money but cod needs to go away for 2-3 years, the engine has been thrashed
 

Shmunter

Member
In regard to enemy visibility, you guys are aware that camo is used in warfare right? Would you prefer they have red outlines ala Halo Infinite?
Based on many complaints about the grey/brown pallet I think people have become accustomed to fruity stuff like fortnite.

Good god I hope devs don’t heed such feedback and make everything look like a cartoon. Black Ops is already a step too far on the rainbow scale for me.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Man, this has to be some of the most negative impressions I've ever seen for an upcoming COD title. I'm curious to know how it'll end up. I'm not hyped about it, but I'll follow it loosely.

To each their own, but throwing shade at folks because they're choosing to buy Activision/Blizzard titles is shallow. Yeah, all that stuff they're accused of is a hot mess. But there's more to it, IMO.

There are a ton of talented and hardworking people that aren't associated with any of that. Other than being under the same roof. So, I personally think it wouldn't be fair to them to just totally neglect their work. But that's my opinion, don't be crappy about people having different opinions. That's ridiculous. You wanna boycott, or whatever, by all means.
 
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I think everyone is aware of that. I just don't remember this being an issue before MW2019. Something in the last 2 games is off, visually.

Right, but this game has actual uniforms that were designed to blend into the environments they exit in. MW2019 was a rebel army in street cloths and spec ops dude wearing black.
 

Perrott

Gold Member
Level design in this mode was terrible, its as if they made the maps with a third-person cover-based shooter in mind, not a WW2 era FPS. Uninstalled after one match.
 


This weekend, Call of Duty fans got a treat with the Call of Duty Vanguard alpha, and while that, in itself is good news, it did manage to bring up a major issue onto the table, and that’s the COD Vanguard player visibility problem.

Hopping online to test Champion Hill out, It was very noticetable that it was quite hard to discern players from the background. While I admit that I am quite colorblind, checking the game’s subreddit, and even asking other players, the player visbility issue was brought up. It was so bad that I even asked our own James Lara to see if it was a me problem, or if it was just really, really, hard to spot enemies. His verdict? It’s the game, and we even got screenshots to make our point.

Check whether you can see the enemy in this screenshot or not:

cpd-vanguard-alpha-shoot-1.png


Can’t see the enemy? Here’s them highlighted:
cod-vanguard-alpha-2.jpg

Outside of the color palette, and player outlines not easily discernible among the enviroments, is that players’ screen gets a greyscale effect when being shot at, which turns the screen darker, thus adding another layer of obstruction when trying to spot who’s shooting at you. Here’s a screenshot featuring what we mean:

cod-vanguard-alpha-5.png


dfc3d17d14370d7eff097a774c568b17.png
this is every COD for me

i can never see anything
 
Check whether you can see the enemy in this screenshot or not:

cpd-vanguard-alpha-shoot-1.png
Visibility is in fact so terrible in this game that I can't even read the names in the killfeed.

Like, shit, I would probably see that guy since I wouldn't be sprinting with my reticle pointed at the ground and the game pops up a bright red icon and player name when you are pointing anywhere near them. Also he's on a fucking spy plane so why is this idiot sprinting right at him in the open?

dfc3d17d14370d7eff097a774c568b17.png


Point 3 -- you always win if ya have da plehts!!!
Point 4 -- waahhhhh I got turned on and headshot why didn't he shoot meh in muh plehts?!?!

Okay that's about all the direct replying to that wall of reddit vomit that I can muster.

I'm not sure I love the maps either but playing all of one game before uninstalling and probably getting eliminated before you even rotate through all the maps maybe doesn't give you the proper perspective as to whether the maps are well designed or not. There are lots of random bits of cover, jump up spots, not to mention the destructible walls.

The one map where you can just shoot straight ahead of you at spawn and get hits is indeed a problem. I know when an MW2019 Gunfight DLC map had something like that they eventually fixed it.

I don't know that I love these faux TDM modes... ooooh you're not playing up to a kill count... nooooo.... you have a shared life pool that ticks down! Basically the same thing until you're down to the very end where maybe your partner can't respawn innit? I didn't buy this sort of thing as a 'competitive' mode in other games and I'm not buying it here.

And the tick down lives with one teammate game mode is just torture when playing with a random. In Gunfight you can actually carry, and play off of a bad teammate, even it's not ideal. But you can win rounds. A brainless potato feeding the other team in this mode though? You got no chance.

I'm not sure how much there is to the buy meta either... so obviously you have to buy a spy plane in the first round. I can't tell what my randoms are buying so I'm not sure how stacked spy planes work. Maybe you should double buy them. It seems like they last for the whole round? Maybe someone who played this in a party has some insight. But anyway, you play the spy plane round and win a bunch of cash. If the other team didn't buy a spy plane then it's just the easiest round ever. Otherwise you're just playing COD UAV wars and hopefully get the better of them. Then you probably upgrade your SMG a level or two for rounds 2-3. Next buy you want Ghost, a sniper, and another spy plane... $3k for an extra life doesn't seem worth it. At least not at the second buy. Might be worth doing during the endgame buy especially if the final teams are low on lives. The biggest factor in how far you go is going to be whether you get matched up against a good team or bad team in round one. You'll either be ahead the whole game or behind. When I initially heard that it was a 'round robin' type mode that's not what I expected. This is more random and less competitive.

As to whether it's fun? I'd say so. In almost every shooter you're having fun when you're winning, and not having fun when you're getting clapped. The middle ground where I was either eking out a tight victory or falling just short was pretty enjoyable.

Hopefully this same mode is in the all platforms beta so I can try it on PC with my preferred controls and can team with a friend that I can actually coordinate with.
 
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