It feels like a stop-gap year for Call of Duty. Developer Sledgehammer Games finds itself sandwiched in-between the mega sub-brands that are Modern Warfare and Black Ops, and has produced fun filler for fans to be getting on with. There's nothing wrong or bad or off-putting in this return to World War 2, but Vanguard does nothing exceptionally.
That return to World War 2 feels like a boring choice of setting. Sledgehammer's excellent Call of Duty: WW2 opened the door to the long-running shooter series for me, and after walking through I've spent thousands of hours in this new Call of Duty metaverse (sorry). But I struggle to get excited for another Call of Duty set in World War 2 - despite Sledgehammer's best effort to put a spin on storytelling.