Originally introduced as a hidden unlockable mode in 2008's Call of Duty: World at War, the series' zombies mode has evolved into an integral aspect of the Call of Duty experience. While attempts to shake up the formula in Black Ops 4 or to return to the second World War in Call of Duty WWII were divisive, the mode remained as popular as ever, and its implementation in 2020's Black Ops: Cold War was received positively by fans.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about Vanguard's new horde mode; with many longstanding standards now drastically changed, some fans are struggling to come to grips with the radically new look of the 2021 series installment.
10 Dark Aether Demons
Rather than introduce a new cast of playable characters, Black Ops: Cold War instead allowed players to use operators from the title's multiplayer mode. This was likely a bid to increase interest in the game's battle pass system, but it sapped the zombies' installment of much of its personality.
Treyarch has attempted to circumvent this issue by placing the focus on five new Dark Aether demons. Saraxis, Inviktor, Norticus, Bellekar, and Kortifex help to return some charisma to the mode, and they'll likely be crucial to the story as it unfolds throughout the game's lifecycle.
9 Shifting Focus From Round-Based Gameplay
The core gameplay loop of Call of Duty's zombies mode has always been simple; zombies come in large waves, and players fight to see how long they can hold out against the hordes. Other games have toyed with this concept, and Black Ops: Cold War made huge changes with the inclusion of its Outbreak mode, but the formula has always stayed largely the same.
Vanguard, however, completely foregoes the traditional round-based system in favor of implementing the mechanics seen in the aforementioned Outbreak mode. It's an innovative take on a mode some consider to have gone stale, but many hardcore zombies fans are still pining for a regular round-based map.
8 Covenant System
An all-new system in Call of Duty's zombies mode, Covenants allow players to trade corrupted hearts for permanent upgrades and benefits of varying rarity. From the ever-reliable brain rot ability to a buff to melee attacks and the power to make zombies explode on death, there's a total of eleven covenant abilities that can be earned by players, each coming in three levels of rarity.
Each player earns a single corrupted heart after completing an objective, but, as a player may only have three covenant abilities equipped at a time, it likely won't take long until they've been granted all of the powers they need.
7 Upgradeable Perks
Black Ops: Cold War allowed players to permanently upgrade perks, weapons, and equipment in between matches via materials earned in-game. This system offered a sense of progression, and heavily-upgraded players did have a noticeable advantage when compared to newcomers. However, this also meant that veteran players who've unlocked all the upgrades scarcely needed to lift a finger in order to eliminate huge hordes of zombies.
Vanguard has reworked this system by removing permanent upgrades. Now, each perk must be purchased a total of four times in each game, with small benefits allocated to the player upon each purchase. This means that players won't be overpowered almost immediately, but it also adds a great deal of tedium to proceedings.
6 Removal of Wall Weapons
In previous Call of Duty zombies outings, weapons and ammunition could be purchased via chalk outlines. While more effective firepower could be found in the mystery box, these chalk outlines were often vital in the early game.
Strangely enough, there are no wall weapons available in Vanguard's Der Anfang map, and firearms can only be found in the mystery box or occasionally collected from defeated boss zombies. This was likely part of a bid to increase the mode's difficulty, but it feels like a major departure from the established conventions with which fans were familiar.
5 Removal of Scorestreaks
One of Cold War's most obvious innovations was the inclusion of craftable scorestreaks in the zombies mode. It's true that death machines and flamethrowers had been a part of the zombies experience for some time, but the inclusion of weapons like napalm strikes and chopper gunners totally changed the meta of the mode.
Unfortunately, scorestreaks seem to be completely absent from Vanguard zombies. This makes some sense, as the mode's much smaller maps would make the use of high-powered ordinance difficult to use. That said, tearing apart waves of undead from the safety of a helo was a highlight of Cold War, and it's completely absent in Vanguard.
4 No Pack-a-Punch Camo
At launch, Vanguard's zombies mode is a very barebones experience. While the basic structure of what may eventually develop into a very compelling game is there, the mode lacks both variety and polish.
One of the most obvious omissions, the Pack-a-Punch machine no longer embroiders weapons in a special camo. Instead, it upgrades the rarity of the weapon. This may help to streamline the admittedly-convoluted weapon upgrade system seen in Cold War, but, in the eyes of many veterans of the series, it comes across as a staggeringly-blatant cut corner.
3 New Boss Zombies
First seen in World at War's Shi no Numa, boss zombies have long been a staple of Treyarch's horde mode, and, from weapon-stealing zombies in the Pentagon to Lovecraftian horrors in Shadows of Evil, boss zombies play a key role in diversifying gameplay and keeping players on their toes.
Vanguard's Der Anfang map may be lacking in many areas, but it has delivered two unique boss zombies. The Boom-Schrier, a nimble enemy which explodes when killed, and the SturmKreiger, a heavily-armored zombie wielding a minigun, can wreak havoc in close-quarters environments and contribute to the difficulty level of the mode.
2 No Wonderweapon
Wonderweapons have always been a major part of the Call of Duty zombies experience. First appearing in the mode's debut map, players have been clamoring for special armaments like the Ray Gun and the Apothicon Servant for over a decade. Black Ops: Cold War even included a suite of memorable wonder weapons like the RAI-K 84 and the Chrysalax.
Shockingly, Der Anfang was released without any sort of special munitions. While it could be argued that any of the game's four ultra-powerful shotguns may suffice, they don't carry the same gravitas as a traditional wonder weapon.
1 No Easter Egg
The concept of Easter Egg quests was first included in World at War's Der Riese map and was later fully implemented in Black Ops' Ascension map. Long, cryptic quests which require either supreme sleuthing skills or a detailed guide, Call of Duty's famous Easter eggs served as a major draw for many players.
However, at launch, Vanguard zombies are completely without anything resembling a main quest or Easter egg. As per GamesRadar, Treyarch has confirmed that a full Easter egg quest will be added to the map at a later date, but it's one of the most disheartening dis-inclusions in the mode at launch.
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