CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD?
HOW HISTORICALLY ACCURATE IS
By Matthew Byrd
Call of Duty: Vanguard will bring the franchise back to its World War 2 roots, but is the upcoming shooter historically accurate?
Call of Duty: Vanguard tells the story of an elite group of soldiers collectively called Task Force Vanguard who have been asked to stop a top-secret Nazi plot.
In real life, there was no Task Force Vanguard. The idea touches upon actual secret forces groups, but the concept of a ragtag global group of soldiers has long been a cinematic idea.
However, Task Force Vanguard's members are based on real WW2 soldiers. For instance, Vanguard soldier Lt. Polina Petrova is based on the famous Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko.
What about that secret Nazi plot (known as Project Phoenix)? Well, Vanguard suggests that in the final days of WW2, Nazi command conspired to find a successor to Adolf Hitler.
While the details are fictitious, the story isn't entirely inaccurate. In his will, Hitler asked that Admiral Karl Dönitz be named his successor. Obviously, that didn't go according to plan.
One area where Vanguard is dedicated to "getting it right" is in showing the scope of WW2. The game will take place across Europe, North America, the Soviet Union, Hawaii, and the Coral Sea Islands.
2nd Lt. Lucas Riggs fights in North Africa
While previous Call of Duty games have featured similar settings, many WW2 games tend to focus on European battles.Vanguard is looking to portray lesser-known WW2 conflicts.
Vanguard's blend of "what if?" storytelling and historical events may sound odd, but it's actually a continuation of one of Call of Duty's most fascinating recent trends.
For instance, 2020's Black Ops: Cold War combined real-life Cold War events and figures with alternate history storytelling. It seems like future Call of Duty games might follow that formula.
This recent shift in storytelling might have something to do with Warzone. Activision may be trying to find ways to tie Call of Duty games from different eras into the popular battle royale.
So while Vanguard will not be entirely historically accurate, the game will find ways to sneak fascinating historical tidbits into its largely fictional WW2 story.