With a meaty 20 maps to play on at launch, there’s a great sense of variety as you learn the ropes. You’ll still occasionally get spawn-trapped and repeatedly destroyed by killstreaks you’ve never managed to earn yourself, of course, but that’s part and parcel of the experience at this stage. Vanguard iterates on Modern Warfare instead, making weapon mounting more versatile, reinstating doors and, in general, feels like an actual step forward.

An older game engine meant no weapon mounting and reduced mechanical complexity in multiplayer - dropping into Vanguard and being able to open and close doors again only underlines how silly that dumbing down was. While last year’s Black Ops Cold War was cheerful enough, we had a bone to pick with its simplicity. Where Vanguard shines most, though, is in its mechanics.

Not only did that title sound phenomenal, it had a realism to its lighting that was jaw-dropping at times, even despite older hardware. However, we’re still waiting for a game in the series to match and eclipse 2019’s Modern Warfare, in all honesty.

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