‘COD: Vanguard’ is the final shooter left standing

Last week, a trailer for Call of Duty: Vanguard, the latest title in the long-running series, revealed some new information about the upcoming game. Aside from some new gameplay elements like destructible environments and an increased selection of operators, not too much has been revealed. But, we do know that the game is releasing on November 5. The same cannot be said for Battlefield 2042, another entry to a blockbuster shooter franchise, which was supposed to release in late-October only to get delayed for about a month.

In an announcement yesterday, EA broke the news that 2042’s release date had been pushed back from October 22 to November 19. The delay seems to be par for the course when it comes to this year’s slate of the most popular shooting games on the market.

According to the update from the Battlefield team, the stop-and-go nature of our post-vaccine world made it more difficult to stick to the original release date than expected. With a good portion of the country refusing to get the poke for reasons that include the size of Nicki Minaj’s cousin’s testicles, it has become tricky to resume everything, which includes congregating in a workplace.

Speaking of delays — While the delay is disappointing, at least it’s relatively short compared to some other high-profile setbacks... which brings us to our next subject — Halo: Infinite. In what is probably one of the most anticipated games of the last half-decade or so, the latest entry to Xbox’s flagship series experienced a year-long delay. This speedbump however makes sense given Infinite was supposed to release in November 2020, only for the global pandemic to hit in the same year. Sometimes the timing just doesn’t work out.

Over the last few months, though, a steady stream of info about Infinite has come out, including a very clean-looking multiplayer beta, as well as a pre-load. However, two key elements in the series, the customizable Forge mode and co-op campaign will not be launching upon the game’s release. Both of these features are part of the bedrock of the franchise and are instrumental in Halo’s replay value. To make fans forget about these absences, an Infinite-themed Series X and accompanying controller are available.

Vanguard emerges — In a truly unexpected turn of events, Vanguard is the last shooter left standing. Despite sharing very little information about the product because of its own litany of problems, most notably a culture of sexual harassment, Activision seems poised to take advantage of the competition’s troubles. The whole thing feels like a strange, modern-day equivalent of the tortoise and the hare... but imagine the tortoise is a war-obsessed fantasy simulation while the hare keeps getting sidelined by a sickness that might never go away.