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Fans of Halo Infinite were surprised with the early release of the game's multiplayer, which includes many things that Call of Duty: Vanguard could learn from. Halo Infinite was due to release on December 8 with a new campaign that continues the story of legendary protagonist Master Chief alongside the signature multiplayer mode. The earlier release of the multiplayer came as a part of Xbox's 20th-anniversary celebrations, allowing fans to start leveling up the new battle-pass and mastering the combat.
The release of Infinite's multiplayer comes at a time where FPS fans are spoiled for choice with the releases of Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 2042 both launching this November. So far Vanguard has proven to be one of the better WW2 Call of Duty games, with a fast-paced multiplayer mode and a brand new campaign that has some memorable moments. Vanguard is not without its flaws, however, with multiple bugs and a number of broken features that are frustrating players early on.
Due to the number of flaws and broken gameplay elements, CoD: Vanguard feels like it was rushed out to get ahead of the competition. Halo Infinite was a surprise release but feels far more of a complete package despite having less content and having some bugs of its own. Halo developer 343 Industries has said that the early release of the multiplayer is a beta version, but any progress players make will carry over into the full launch. There are things that need to be fixed when that time comes, but already Halo has delivered on things from day one that Vanguard should have done itself.
At launch, Halo Infinite's battle pass wasn't worth it. Fortunately, 343 have already changed how the battle pass leveling works, addressing one of the biggest complaints from fans. Regardless of the battle pass' early struggles, the fact Infinite launched with the battle pass ready from day one was a positive thing that recent Call of Duty games have not been able to do. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone are currently in the final days of their season six battle pass, but many players are not interested in leveling it up because they are playing Vanguard or avoiding Warzone because of the huge cheater issue in the game.
The result of this lingering battle pass system means Vanguard is in a preseason phase, meaning players are leveling a battle pass that has very little content. Vanguard's season one battle pass will drop on December 2, nearly a month after the release of the game. That is a long time for players to be earning XP on things that won't be used in the game, or on a battle pass they already completed in Black Ops Cold War. Call of Duty needs to fix its timing when it comes to battle passes and have the final one end when the new game releases. New entries need to have their first battle pass on day one to give players more content to unlock as well.
Both Halo and Call of Duty have storied histories in Esports, and competitive play lies at the heart of both games. Call of Duty players are constantly debating over the impact of skill-based matchmaking in normal multiplayer, and one solution that is always brought up is having a separate ranked mode with a proper ranking system. Black Ops Cold War's league play launched four months after the initial release, allowing players to play matches with the same ruleset and restrictions as the Call of Duty league has. This year, Vanguard league play will have Ranked Skill Divisions, visible Skill Ratings, and new competitive rewards but it is scheduled to arrive in 2022.
Halo Infinite launched with a crossplay ladder and two Solo/Duo ladders for ranked play, one for mouse and keyboard and one for controller players. This is a great thing to have as it allows players to jump in straight away to the classic competitive Halo mode and gives players the choice of the type of opponent they want to face. Many of Call of Duty: Vanguard's players are already frustrated with the SBMM in the game and are tired of the overpowered perk combinations and shotguns that would be banned in a ranked mode. Not having to wait until 2022 to play a balanced ranked mode is something Halo has over Vanguard.
Currently, Halo Infinite will have two modes available on December 8: the multiplayer and the campaign, with a co-op mode and Forge mode coming next year. This may not seem like a lot, but if the modes available are polished and fun then it will not be a big issue. The most recent Call of Duty, on the other hand, has three modes available at launch: the Vanguard campaign, which doesn't take long to beat; the multiplayer mode, which has its issues; and the zombies mode, which feels incomplete and under-developed.
With a short campaign and disappointing zombies mode, many of Vanguard's players will be focusing their time on the multiplayer, which has its own flaws. Halo players can only play multiplayer, but it is a more polished product and is free to play, so it is more enjoyable to play over and over. Rather than including three underbaked modes at launch, Vanguard could have kept the campaign the same length, given Treyarch more time to work on Zombies and spent more resources on making the multiplayer feel better. Currently, Halo offers just as good a product as Vanguard despite only being a free multiplayer beta.
Call of Duty: Vanguard can learn some things from Halo: Infinite, but neither games are perfect. Infinite has some network issues and bugs, and the battle pass needed adjusting quickly, but overall its early launch shows that having a battle pass and a ranked mode on day one is beneficial. If the next Call of Duty game can follow Halo's lead and do these things, then fans will look forward to a lot more content on day one rather than have to wait for months for the game to feel complete.
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