The Call of Duty: Vanguard alpha has begun (August 27 at the time of writing). We’ll be providing full coverage over the weekend for those who are either on Xbox, PC or didn’t prepare an excuse for their loved ones. Let's tackle the key questions for any shooter, how do the guns feel? What's the TTK? And, which weapons are meta?
We'll admit upfront - these weapons are not historically accurate.
Okay we're being a bit harsh on Sledgehammer here. The weapons themselves are period correct and beautifully modelled. But the attachments to those weapons are wildly inaccurate. Seriously, as you can see in the image below, many of the optics in the game would be considered modern by 2021's standard.
Atachments like the one above do admittedly make the gunplay better. Plus, there were a lot of doubters online worried about WWII having a lack of variety and the devs knew they needed to use a bit of creative license. Giving us the right weapons with the wrong attachments seems like a reasonable middle ground. But let's get into the feel of the weapons, the TTK and the meta.
How Do The Weapons Feel In Vanguard?
Really good, this is one of the most positive parts of the alpha playtest. The MW engine, upgraded and improved, provides a breathakingly immersive backdrop to gameplay, and no where is this more obvious than with the weapons. You hear every shot so distinctly, and the muzzle flash on guns is genuinely alarming. Thats all thanks to visual fielty provided by volumetric lighting and excellent sound engineering. And the weapon animations? Really nice and crisp, they contribute to making the gunplay an absolute joy.
Like keeping up to speed with all things Call of Duty? Then you've come to the right place, here are some of our recent articles:
- CoD: Vanguard Is "One Of The Best-Looking Games On Current-Gen Consoles"
- Warzone Season 5 Details: Weapons, Operators, Release Date & More
- What's In & How To Get the Warzone Soap Bundle
What's The TTK In Vanguard?
The TTK is quite slow for a Call of Duty game, granted we were testing in a mode with plates, but without them the average TTK within close range feels to be about 220-230ms. We're talking World at War, Black Ops 3 kind of territory, though with a strong headshot multiplier it feels a little faster than those examples.
This is in keeping with peoples perceptions of WWII weaponry but of course the big test will come when the weapons are integrated into Warzone.
What's The 'Meta' In Vanguard?
The MG42 shone out as one of the strongest options quite quickly, as did the STG-44 to a lesser extent. The MG42 feels like the MG82 did on launch, it's just too easy to control for a weapon that has such a disgustingly high rate of fire and damage over range. The usual downside to an LMG - the sluggishness and slower ADS - wasn't too punishing either.
It also became clear quite quickly that you were wasting your money on many of the items in Champion Hill (the game mode we were playing in alpha) and should instead stick to spotter planes in the early game, get yourself ghost in the mid game, and buy armour and extra lives with the rest.
Good luck if you're still playing and remember the words above, especially the bit about the MG42!
What were your thoughts on the alpha? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter, and remember, you should consider joining MyEarlyGame today for exclusive tourneys and loads of great giveaways!