Here we go again – the annual entry from C_all Of Duty_, a series that is now not so much stuck in a rut as it is desperately scrambling between three different ruts, but not trying especially hard to escape any of them. This year, we’re back in World War II, giving modern or near-future combat a skip year. Please, contain your surprise.

To its credit, Vanguard’s campaign does try to mix things up compared to previous WWII-set entries (and even many of its rival shooters that have used the period), with a non-chronological story that dives in and out of different theatres of war. It also impresses by using some lesser-seen locations, such as Libya and Stalingrad, and features characters from multiple Allied countries, rather than the usual array of Yanks and Brits. It’s all ultimately centered on the foundation of a new special ops squad named Task Force One, a forerunner of black ops – or perhaps that should be Black Ops – squads of the present day.

It’s also nice to see both more diversity in the cast, with women and non-white characters getting some spotlight, and that the playable soldiers are all based on real historical figures. Russian sniper Polina Petrova is based on the real-life Lyudmila Pavlichenko, for instance, while black British paratrooper Arthur Kingsley is based on Sidney Cornell. Although Vanguard’s story is entirely fictional, there’s enough accuracy here – especially in its depiction of the racism that Kingsley experiences, and how the British treated servicemen from its colonial territories – to perhaps inspire anyone interested into looking into the influences. Hopefully, its leaning into historical accuracy and the diversity of people who fought will also be enough to silence a certain online contingent who gripe about women or POC in their shooty-bang games.

An interesting cast and narrative hook to match can’t help Vanguard escape the fact that it packs essentially zero surprises. A few ostensibly new mechanics – being able to blind fire from cover or destructible environments that open up new paths through maps, especially in multiplayer – do little to liven up the proceedings, especially since plenty of other first-person shooters have used the tricks. They’re so well-used, in fact, we’re not even sure they actually are new to Vanguard or if Activision is relying on each entry in the series blurring into each other so much that it’s impossible to remember what’s been done already.

Aside from that, players can look forward to essentially running along glorified – although, it has to be said, visually glorious – pathways, hopping from set piece to set piece, shooting at anything that moves. Occasionally, you’ll be in a vehicle – a Battle of Midway mission in a fighter plane, for instance. It all feels recycled though, if not from COD past directly then from any number of the seemingly infinite number of shooters that wax nostalgic on WWII. Weapons do feel good in the ‘hand’ at least, especially on the PS5’s DualSense controller (version tested) which relays a satisfying sense of heft and recoil appropriate to each weapon type.

One undeniable high point for Vanguard is the returning Zombies mode. With its own nonsense story to kick things off – although even this is derivative of past entries, with another Nazi plot to extend dominion through arcane pacts and unholy objects – the central ‘Der Anfang’ mode casts players into a central hub of a ruined village, completing objectives to open up new areas. With each new area unlocked, the variety and toughness of the undead enemies increases, but sacrificial altars let you boost health, damage, and other attributes, while making the mode half horde survival, half roguelike.

Zombies can bring some intra-player conflict, as teammates must vote on which task to tackle next, but contrasted against the recent Back 4 Blood and its overly complex approach to team-based corpse-culling, COD’s effort this year stands up especially well. It offers the sort of turn-brain-off-now, shoot-first-ask-questions-never cathartic carnage that the genre demands. It’s stupid, in the best way.

Multiplayer gets a bit more love – Champions Hill is a new mode with four dedicated maps, designed for players to work together in groups of two or three in last-one-standing matches, while a new ‘Combat Pacing’ feature allows more control over the number of players in a match. Yet even with these additions, there are no great surprises, just more content to feed the undying beast that is COD multiplayer. Like the single player campaign, it’s ultimately more of the same.

At best, Vanguard is competent. At worst, it is… competent. It neither delights nor offends, it simply is. It won’t win over anyone not already invested in the franchise, nor will it drive any diehards away. Unfortunately, as a whole, it’s simply not interested in doing anything more than exist. It’s November, there’s a new Call Of Duty out. As you were, soldier.