Ahead of Vanguard weapons coming to Modern Warfare 3, it's time for the CoD community to pick a lane
Call of Duty fans have hated Vanguard for a long time now - so why exactly are they celebrating its weapons coming to MW3? The answer is a complicated feedback loop, and it's all Call of Duty's design.
Joseph Kime
07th May 2024 21:50
Image via Sledgehammer Games | 20th Century Fox
Given how the internet has become a melting pot in recent years, it's been hard for Call of Duty fans to get a straight answer. Still, do us a favour and answer me something - what do you want?
It might be absurd to ask as Call of Duty games fly off of shelves (physical or otherwise), but it seems that halfway through each mainline title's life cycle, gamers decide that they never wanted what they were getting hyped for this time last year.
As we recently stated, franchise fans want newness, as long as it's old. It's a topsy-turvy logic, but it's nicely played into the hands of the game's dev teams.
Even when Call of Duty fans are furious, they'll always prefer the old over the new - and as more recognisable features come to the franchise, it's clearer than ever that we won't see the fuss needed to make a change.
Call of Duty is returning to an era that fans hate but (apparently) don't hate
As we reported on May 6, it appears that some classic weapons are making their return to Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone that fans will recognise. It's confusing because they might not be able to make sense of it due to the franchise's current setting.
Three Call of Duty: Vanguard guns are back, returning to the much-maligned WW2 shooter that failed to meet the mark in many ways. The expected Call of Duty-flavoured rage is squashing it further into the ground than any other franchise would feel online. And yet, as the STG44, Kar98k, and Spas-12 return to the game, fans are riveted. Were we on the same internet?
The Vanguard era was led by players wondering whether we needed another WW2 shooter, and maintaining this feeling through a multiplayer mode that worked, but didn't inspire, there was also a campaign that has been forgotten.
With fans apparently thrilled to see Vanguard return, it doesn't make sense on paper. It's further evidence that Call of Duty fans have been corralled into the cyclical system that the series wants them in. When players don’t know what to ask for, they don't know that they're getting fleeced.
Call of Duty isn't being exciting - it's being placating
We're caught in a feedback loop where players report that they're sick of seeing nothing but Modern Warfare, and when the implication of a sixth Black Ops game appears, they leap on it in hopes of something new. We hate to be the breakers of bad news, but that's not new. That's old.
Call of Duty fans have tricked themselves into thinking that 'returning' means 'good.' We were there during Vanguard's reign, and we remember just how furious franchise fans were when they were left with something they found to be perfectly middling.
This phenomenon has only been placated in Modern Warfare 3, with the arrival of plenty of throwback maps at launch. Players can't identify what it is they want because they firstly can't identify what they don't want.
We're stuck in a cycle that has been carefully manufactured, and it's only by looking at alternatives that you'll find what you don't know you want. Players say they're bored of Modern Warfare, but we expect that they're bored of the CoD churn.
Call of Duty was once a creative powerhouse that elevated the first-person shooter into an entirely new league, but now, it's simmering without knowing where to go. If you're sincerely bored, you know where to go if you're brave enough to take the leap. Go elsewhere. We promise it's not so bad in the wider FPS world.
About The Author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
