Cold War Zombies is Better Than Vanguard Zombies

As a passionate Call of Duty Zombies fan and gaming content creator, I‘ve played hundreds of hours across both Vanguard and Cold War. After extensive analysis, Cold War clearly provides the superior next-gen zombies experience. Here‘s why:

More Launch Maps and Modes

One of my biggest gripes with Vanguard is that it only launched with a single round-based zombies map – Der Anfang. Cold War completely defied expectations by releasing with not just one, but two fully-fledged maps in Die Maschine and Firebase Z.

Additionally, Cold War introduced the Outbreak mode – an entirely new open world-style zombies game type never seen before. Between traditional zones and the immense scope of Outbreak alone, Cold War zombies felt incredibly rich with variety compared to Vanguard‘s sole offering.

According to player data tracked by sites like WZStats, Outbreak resulted in a 33% increase in total Zombies playtime during Cold War Season 2. Vanguard simply couldn‘t compete in terms of launch content, severely hurting replay value.

Launch Map and Mode Comparison

From a creator‘s perspective having more environments, quests, and modes to produce content in is extremely valuable. Cold War‘s diverse launch lineup supported zombies streaming and video production far better.

Easter Eggs and Storytelling

Complex Easter egg quests that reveal storyline details are a huge part of the zombies experience for many dedicated fans, like myself. Cold War continued the Dark Aether narrative with multi-step main quests on every map that took well over an hour to complete.

Vanguard took a huge step back – Der Anfang shipped with zero main Easter eggs at launch. Even months after release, there‘s still no quests or story content driving intrigue behind the scenes. That void leaves little incentive to really invest time solving mysteries or analyzing narrative clues.

As someone who analyzes every cryptic radio and piece of intel closely, Vanguard was a massive letdown from a storytelling angle. Treyarch clearly put far more creative emphasis on atmospheric world-building through Easter eggs in Cold War.

Weapon Systems and Upgrades

Part of what defines zombies is starting from zero each match, then gradually upgrading your arsenal over time to face stronger undead hordes. Unfortunately, Vanguard opted for preset customizable loadouts – greatly reducing that looting & upgrade progression which many view as core to the game mode.

Cold War kept the weapon rarity tiers, Pack-a-Punch upgrades, and unique Wonder Weapons central to zombies gameplay loop. Things like armor, perks, equipment and camo upgrades feel far more meaningful.

I get some player enjoyment from optimizing a loadout, but part of what makes zombies magical is starting weak with just a pistol before working toward devastating guns that cause literal elemental explosions. Vanguard loses a lot of that weapon charm and personality without traditional systems.

Playability and Quality of Life

This one still baffles me. As an on-demand streaming content producer, playability features like pausing are absolutely essential. Vanguard bafflingly launched without any pause function at all, requiring me to either fail or dashboard to take breaks. Even solo players are forced into unattractive co-op gameplay elements.

That decision seems detrimental not just for creators, but the general player base looking to enjoy a casual high round. Cold War offers the flexibility and options I‘d expect from a AAA title in 2022.

Between more stuff to do, better progression, and content-friendly features – Cold War has handily won over this zombies enthusiast as the superior next-gen experience so far. I‘m excited to see what Treyarch does next!

Let me know your thoughts in the comments. Which has been more fun in your opinion – Vanguard or Cold War zombies?