Is Call of Duty: Vanguard a reboot? The Call of Duty timeline is a notoriously confusing concept, with several different continuities ongoing. Vanguard takes place during World War 2, but is that alongside previous games during that conflict, like WW2 and World at War? Fear not, as we get to the bottom of the Call of Duty: Vanguard timeline and whether it’s a reboot, sequel, or prequel.
Where is Call of Duty: Vanguard on the CoD timeline?
As far as we know, no — Call of Duty: Vanguard is not part of the CoD timeline, with it presenting a new series of events. As such, it’s a reboot of the franchise’s World War 2 storyline.
Yes, Call of Duty: Vanguard’s single-player campaign doesn’t cross over with other WWII CoD games. No characters from World at War, or WWII, return for Vanguard. Equally, there are no references to the events of these campaigns. Therefore, it stands alone as its own Call of Duty story within this historical time period.
While Call of Duty: Vanguard’s single-player campaign is certainly a reboot for the timeline, there are some links within its other game modes. That’s because Vanguard’s Zombies mode directly continues the story last seen in Black Ops Cold War. In fact, developers Treyarch, best known for the Black Ops series, took over the development of Zombies for this entry. It’s a follow-on of the Dark Aether storyline last seen in Black Ops Cold War, with the same characters returning. As such, Vanguard does tie into the existing Call of Duty timeline in this sense – but only through the Zombies mode.
Equally, some multiplayer maps in Vanguard have previously appeared in other Call of Duty games. Two maps, Dome and Castle, first appeared in World at War back in 2008. Of course, the multiplayer component doesn’t have a storyline, and as such cannot really count towards continuity, but it’s proof of Vanguard acknowledging the series’ past.
As such, Call of Duty: Vanguard is a reboot – in the single-player sense, at least. Both Zombies and multiplayer link with previous games, meaning this new entry both continues, and changes, the CoD timeline.
For more on CoD: Vanguard, check out our best MP-40 class, as well as our voice actors list.
