Call of Duty fans have already gotten a taste of what Call of Duty: Vanguard's multiplayer has to offer thanks to the Champion Hill Alpha, and soon they will get another crack at the game. The Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer beta kicks off this weekend for PlayStation gamers that have pre-ordered the game, and it will let fans battle it out on a handful of multiplayer maps in more traditional modes. Fans will have to wait for Call of Duty: Vanguard's launch in November to check out all of the maps, which will include two returning classics from Call of Duty: World at War.
Sledgehammer games has confirmed that the fan favorite Castle and Dome maps from Call of Duty: World at War are making a comeback in Call of Duty: Vanguard. There will be some noticeable changes to the Call of Duty: Vanguard versions of Castle and Dome, as both maps will take advantage of Vanguard's new features. Specifically, both maps will feature "reactive environments," allowing them to change over the course of a map.
Reactive environments are essentially Call of Duty's way of introducing more destructible environments to its multiplayer matches. Sledgehammer has given the example of the Castle map, which will now let players destroy shoji screens. Both the Castle and Dome Call of Duty: Vanguard maps can be changed in other ways as well, which players will notice as multiplayer matches march on.
It should be reiterated that neither the Castle nor the Dome maps from World at War will be featured in the upcoming Call of Duty: Vanguard beta, so fans won't get to see them in action until the game's launch on November 5. The first week of the Call of Duty: Vanguard beta will feature Champion Hill, Gavutu, Hotel Royal, and Red Star maps, whereas the second week will add Eagle's Nest to the mix.
Come launch, there will be a total of 20 Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer maps for fans to check out, with 16 of those being traditional maps and four of those being for modes like Champion Hill and Gunfight. This is quite the improvement from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which infamously launched with a low number of maps compared to other games in the Call of Duty series, and it's worth pointing out that Vanguard's map selection will likely grow with time.
Call of Duty: Vanguard will have significant post-launch support, if any of the other recent Call of Duty games are any indication, and that will undoubtedly include more maps. Before Call of Duty fans worry about that, though, they can focus on the upcoming beta tests as well as the Vanguard release date in November.
Call of Duty: Vanguard launches November 5 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.