Lady Nightingale could have saved Call of Duty: Vanguard from mediocrity

Opinion: Polina Petrova is what Vanguard should have been about, as the Russian sniper is the most interesting character Call of Duty has offered in years.

Every bit the 19th game in the principal Call of Duty series, information technology's safe to say that we're all very familiar with the franchise at this betoken. A vast bulk of the Call of Duty games follow the same formula and utilize the same gameplay mechanics, with the main difference each year usually focusing around the advancements in graphics.

This time around, Call of Duty: Vanguard tried to mix it up a picayune; you play as iv allied heroes, including an American pilot, a blackness British Sergeant, an Australian demolitions expert and a female person Russian sniper. The game tries to put us in the shoes of these outcasts throughout the game, with most of the focus going towards the racism that Sergeant Kingsley has to deal with.

But I would fence that the more interesting – and better handled – character in this roster is actually the sniper Polina Petrova. She is one of the very few playable female person characters in the CoD franchise, and her wasted potential is particularly noticeable.

Petrova is based on a real-life female sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper for the Red Army during the 2d earth state of war and she is credited with 309 official kills, which makes her the most successful and mortiferous female person sniper in globe history.

Lady Nightingale is also a clear reference to Pavlichenko, whose own nickname was Lady Decease. In my opinion, that is already interesting enough to warrant a bigger storyline. Combined with the storyline that Petrova is given regarding her family unit and Steiner, she hands could have taken centre stage in Vanguard.

Not only would this be a very appreciated moment for all the female fans of the franchise, just if Sledgehammer kept her original gameplay mechanics from this game, it would be one of the virtually refreshing revamps for the Telephone call of Duty franchise yet.

Since playing Vanguard, I tin safely say that her missions were the most memorable. Her commencement mission opens up with her talking to her father and brother, as you lot're given the gamble to wander through Stalingrad and chat to neighbours.

While I wasn't too thrilled with the comparatively slow and small-scale start to her story, if built upward over a whole campaign instead of two levels, it would be 1 of the more emotional Call of Duty stories, as we would have time to actually understand why Petrova wants to save Russia and her family.

Non but was her story a lot more impactful than the others – Australian demolition expert Lucas Riggs' unabridged storyline was essentially based on him antisocial all of his superiors – only her gameplay mechanics offered a lot more variety to missions. Petrova can climb upwardly walls and can motility swiftly while crouching, significant that all of her missions offer the player freedom for how yous could assail. Will y'all snipe your enemy from the rooftops, or will y'all creep through the grates and takedown your enemy without anyone noticing?

And while Vanguard attempted to develop deeper themes effectually race regarding Sergeant Kingsley, the lack of resolution and confusing tone made it feel like Sledgehammer wasn't ready to commit to this type of storyline, and instead just wanted to insinuate to information technology so it could say it tried. The theming around Kingsley roughshod flat because everyone's overly racist attitudes no matter which side they were on.

With Petrova, however, her storyline regarding gender reaches a much more satisfying determination. Her start mission starts with everyone reminding her that she is in fact a woman, and thus won't exist fighting aslope her brother, even if she is a more talented marksman. But as the mission progresses she comes into her ain, with her and other characters acknowledging that she was the but person who could take saved everyone.

Again, if washed over a full-length campaign, this storyline could have been fleshed out even more than, and it feels like Sledgehammer was just more comfortable talking about gender rather than race, which calls into question why her character wasn't pushed more into the spotlight.

If Call of Duty wants to apply the well-worn backdrop of real-life wars like WW2, I don't see why information technology can't utilise the well-nigh interesting historical figures, and to half-use such a fascinating woman like Pavlichenko is such a waste.

If Activision wants to reinvigorate a series that is arguably becoming dried, it needs to mix things up and have some risks, and information technology will never do that if it keeps pushing some of history'due south deadliest female heroes into the groundwork.

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Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/lady-nightingale-could-have-saved-call-of-duty-vanguard-from-mediocrity-4180058

Posted by: rankinsnichat.blogspot.com

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