How Combat Pacing works in Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer

One of the most exciting features coming to Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer is Combat Pacing. Sledgehammer Games went into more detail about the feature during Tuesday’s reveal show.

Essentially, Combat Pacing is a new way to play core multiplayer. It allows players to experience the game’s 16 maps the way they want. This is done by players determining how many other players are on the map with them. There’s a standard option, a more sped-up version and an all-out chaotic mode that “turns every map into Shipment.”

Combat Pacing options in Vanguard

To start, players can select what Combat Pacing option they want to play through the Quick Play filter menu. This is found on the screen when players select Quick Play from the main lobby. Four options are then presented to players.

• Tactical: The traditional way to play Call of Duty multiplayer. It’s always 6v6 and utilizes more strategy on each map to take down enemies.
• Assault: A more sped-up version of standard multiplayer gameplay. In the past, this option has been called Ground War, which sees 10-14 players per team. This mode is more fast-paced than Tactical but not too chaotic.
• Blitz: For players who want to blindly fire at enemies and enjoy dying more than usual. This option varies between 28-48 players, which means there could be as many as 24 players on a single team. There’s not much strategy on this map other than shoot at anything that moves.
• All: This option selects all of the Combat Pacing choices, giving players a mix of what they play.

As of now, it’s unclear how Sledgehammer plans to implement these options with specific maps. For example, will Blitz be playable on an extremely small map in Vanguard? It seems likely that the player count will have to be reduced or increased depending on what map is played. So a small map will feature 28 total players and a bigger map will feature 48 total players. Either way, Sledgehammer should reveal more information closer to launch.