Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies

After finishing the Campaign mode, I figured I'd jump into Zombies mode next on Call of Duty Vanguard. You can read about my thoughts of the Campaign mode by clicking here.

I've been a fan of the Zombies mode ever since it began life in World at War back in 2008 when it was just a couple of rooms and you simply killed zombies. Admittedly I'm so far out of what is happening with the story now I tend to just kill zombies and don't really bother with the story "Easter Eggs". That said, I did get carried through the Call of Duty Cold War one by a friend, my role was to distract Zombies whilst he got on with it 😭.

I've seen the mode mature over the years into what it currently is. I remember trying to escape a prison on a plane you build with items in the prison, I remember trying to not get stood on by those giant robots, I even remember giving a friendly giant called Leroy, sweets in exchange for him destroying walls for me. I've played hundreds and hundreds of games and killed tens of thousands of those damn Zombies, I'm still pretty rubbish though.

I was excited to give Zombies mode a try in Vanguard, the mode was developed by Treyarch, whilst Sledgehammer Games focused on Campaign and Multiplayer.

The Zombies "experience" is called Der Anfang and is the beginning of a new story-arc. Der Anfang has you go through portals to; Stalingrad, Japan, Paris and Normandy and complete Elder God objectives in each one. I thought that the objectives for each portal would be the same each time you played, but whilst it was the same set of objectives, which one you got and which portal you chose were completely random.

There's 4 different types of objective you could get. My favourite is one called Harvest which has you killing Zombies to collect Runestones (randomly dropped). You then plant the stones in the Sin Eater so the Elder God can, well, eat the sins!

The other 3 objectives you can get are:

• Blitz - This one is pretty simple. You have to hold out for a certain amount of time and fight off Zombies
• Transmit - This one is also quite simple, you have to escort a floating Zombie head around the map whilst fighting off Zombies. This one is the quickest to complete
• Purge - This one is my least favourite. You're tasked with securing Runes around the map by standing in them for 5-10 seconds, whilst fighting Zombies. If you don't secure them all in the 2 minutes you're given, the objective then changes to spawn a ton of Zombies you have to eliminate instead.

Once you've completed all objectives, you have the choice of Exfil or completing a random objective again. So far, I've only ever Exfilled so I'm not sure if doing an objective at this point is any different.

Perk-a-Colas make a return of course, however this time they're called Demonic Fountains, as you drink from a fountain. There's 5 in total and they have multiple tiers, the first tier is free which means you can get fully "Perked(?)" up for free with base Fountains! Another cool thing about these is if you get downed, you don't lose the free tier, if you end up buying higher tiers, you do lose 1 level for each down though.

Some of the classic perks make a return

• Aethereal Haste (Stamin-Up)
• Demonic Frenzy (Speed Cola)
• Diabolical Damage (Deadshot Daiquiri)
• Fiendish Fortitude (Juggernog)
• Venemous Vigor (Quick Revive)

I don't think the normal names would've quite worked for this map, these new names sound much better given the theme of everything!

There's also some new Zombie types, which is always good. I wasn't expecting the first one at all, suddenly I started getting shot at by a Zombie with a Death machine!

• Sturmkrieger - These are a new type of "Elite" zombie. Much more powerful than your average Zombie and they come with armour and a Death Machine. One lower rounds these aren't too bad to kill, especially if you aim for the head. I imagine as the rounds get higher though, these guys become a lot more tricky. The left image of the first gallery of images on this post is what a Sturmkrieger looks like.
• Boom Schreier - These are suicide bomber zombies so they run at you and then explode. The advantage here though is if one runs at you and you're surrounded, the explosion causes damage to normal Zombies and Sturmkrieger. At the moment, these Zombies have got into the Christmas spirit as they are covered in Christmas lights, so it looks like a Christmas tree is running towards you. Usually, they look like the left most image in the gallery above.

The mystery box makes a reappearance too! I only used it once but I did get what sounded like a Pack-a-Punched pistol, I'm not sure if any weapon now from the box is automatically Pack-a-Punched to tier one? That would be cool if it's the case.

Of course, you can also Pack-a-Punch your weapons too. There's 3 tiers of Pack-a-Punch available and unlike some maps, the machine is super easy to get to, it's in the very same area you start the map in and go back to after each objective completion so Pack-a-Punching shouldn't be a hard task this time round!

When you complete an objective, you get given a heart. Hearts can be sacrificed in the starting/main area for Covenants. Covenants are abilities you can equip to help you out in the game, some of my favourites I've used are:

• Brain Rot - A random chance to turn enemies to your side, this is actually really useful and the turned Zombie does kill a lot!
• Unholy Ground - Do more damage when stood still. This is useful when doing the Purge objective as you have to stand in a circle until you've secured a Rune, so the extra damage comes in useful
• Splatterfest - If you kill an enemy with an explosion, that enemy could then explode which can then set off this really cool explosion chain!

There's 11 Covenants in total at the moment but I'm going to assume more will be added over time. You can have 3 equipped at any time.

Field Upgrades from Call of Duty: Cold War also make an appearance although this time round they are called Artifacts. The same ones that were in Cold War appear in Vanguard; Aether Shroud, Energy Mine, Frost Blast and Ring of Fire. I've so far only used Frost Blast but I realised it does a lot of damage against Sturmkriegers!

Overall, I love Vanguard Zombies so far! I will try and keep up with the story but based on how that's gone in past games, I wouldn't be surprised if I get lost and end up just defaulting back to killing Zombies.

One criticism I do have though is you can't pause the game! Well you can, put it doesn't actually pause the game. I check a few places online and it sounds like something to do with how Zombies games are now hosted, you can't even pause solo matches, which seems stupid, especially on long games!

At the time of writing, they've still got the map looking Christmasy, so there's presents lying around, the Boom Schreier zombies are covered in Christmas lights and more! Whilst it looks cool, I am looking forward to seeing what it usually looks like.