The cross generation transition is proving to be more extended than some may have initially imagined – so where does that leave an established franchise like Call of Duty? With Vanguard, Sledgehammer Games needs to wow owners with the new generation of consoles while ensuring that the new series entry still passes muster on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It’s a tricky proposition because the developers can’t institute the kind of 30fps/60fps split between the console generations seen in Halo Infinite (though 60fps did make it to One X in the latest test flight), and fundamentally there needs to be parity to a certain degree in the visual feature set – simply to ensure a level playing field online. Resolution, 120Hz support and minor visual flourishes appear to be the dividing line between consoles old and new.
Of course, it’s in campaign that the developers can really push the new consoles and thus far, we’ve not seen much in this area – and neither have we seen native next-gen app support for Warzone – so it’s important to view the multiplayer beta in context. But at the basic level, we are back to a COD title based on the Infinity Ward engine that worked so well for Modern Warfare 2019 (expect more details soon on how this technology has evolved over the last couple of years).
In terms of content, expect 20 multiplayer maps at launch, with the beta offering up a quartet for testing. We globe-trot from a snowed-over Stalingrad plaza, to a luxurious Parisian Hotel, a mountain-top reception house, and finally a Pacific military base. Beyond that, there’s a handy new filter called ‘combat pacing’ as you start matchmaking. Sledgehammer lets you adjust how player-saturated each map can be, and so, for anyone after a high-tempo game, just push that up to blitz level and you’ll fill a level with to its 48-player maximum.
In terms of PS5 and Series console enhancements, 120Hz is available on all three machines, albeit with a hit to resolution. Thus far, there’s no sign of the ray traced shadows seen in Black Ops Cold War and of the reflections seen in the beta, they’re very definitely of the screen-space variety – so it’ll be interesting to see if anything changes up in the final game. Another extra for next-gen consoles is on-demand texture streaming. This promises higher-grade texture assets on PS5 and Series X, downloaded as you play, to boost points of detail across each map. How far-reaching its effects are isn’t exactly clear. But, on top of the resolution boost and smoother 60fps update it stands to improve select points in the map.