Call of Duty fans praise Vanguard ahead of Sledgehammer’s return

Sledgehammer Games is back at the wheel for Call of Duty's next instalment, but they will be hoping not to take their foot off the gas too early this year, just as they did in Vanguard.

Sledgehammer's last drive on the franchise's tricky live-service circuit didn't get off to a good start, with a range of bugs and flimsy walls allowing for cross-map wall bangs and game-breaking glitches.

But just as the developers look to start life on Modern Warfare 3, fans have now been going back and praising their previous game.

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Modern Warfare 3 hopefuls praise Vanguard

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In anticipation of Vanguard's owners' return, fans have now been taking to social media to say "nice things" about the game.

"The game was genuinely one of the best MP experiences in the whole franchise. It was only let down by lack of support and gun balancing," said one on Twitter (X).

Another fan went in much deeper, starting by saying, "[Vanguard had] The fastest, smoothest gunplay and movement we had on the MW engine (prior to MWIII). Incredibly quick base movement, mantling, sliding/cancelling, and ADS."

They continued to compliment the gunplay, combat pacings, progression systems, and, of course, Sledgehammer's renowned habits of listening to community feedback.

These sentiments continued in the replies, with many saying that despite its rough start, Vanguard actually blossomed into a good game.

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Fans debate if Sledgehammer Games can make MW3 better than Vanguard

As with any niceties though, comes the doubters, and a handful of fans have now been contemplating whether a failed launch of MW3 would be enough to kill the franchise and its players' tried-and-tested devotion.

One fan said that the only good thing about Vanguard was that it "released on time," while another added that the best thing about the game is that "IT'S OVER!"

For most, Vanguard is remembered as a title which struggled at launch but was drawn back to a middle-of-the-pack multiplayer experience, which, in the case of MW3, breathes as a positive if the game stands on its own two feet in the first two weeks.