Good day team,
I don’t know if CCP still reads this subforum in addition to Discord, but being a bit stubborn, I feel like I need to share my thoughts about Vanguard —even a month after finishing the alpha.
Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those “I don’t like the game…” posts. In fact, I’ve seen some real sparks of potential that make me think: This game rocks —or at least it really could! It just needs those extra touches to make it stand out.
That said, I’m still a bit concerned about some of the designs and gameplay elements that feel too close to Dust 514. Let’s be honest —Dust 514 got some pretty rough reviews from the press and general players back in the day.
Anyway, let’s get to the point —I’ll break down my feedback by sections:
Identity
- The presentation of being a clone needs to feel deeper and more immersive —something closer to Minority Report or a dystopian setting. It should make you feel like you’re just another generic clone owned by a corporation, a faction, or something much bigger, with only fragments of human memories left. The player should truly feel what it means to be a clone.
- Starting directly on the ground isn’t bad for an alpha, but in the final version I’d love to see a virtual training sequence —something like a Matrix-style simulation. It could teach movement and combat in various scenarios instead of dropping us straight into a map we’ll later play. After all, a clone wouldn’t know where it’s about to land! Helldivers 2 had a great approach: fun, lore-driven, and mechanically instructive.
- Please show us the drop pod and make us actually land on the ground. I didn’t like how, just before touching down, the pod opens and we simply fall like superhumans while the capsule disappears. It felt too generic —even cheap. Crashing into the ground would leave visible traces for others to find, making the world feel alive and gritty. Titanfall 2 did this perfectly —you could feel the excitement of every drop.
Weapons
- This is crucial for any shooter. While playing, I wasn’t sure what weapons were available —a machine gun, a shotgun, and a mining gun? I never got the chance to feel how the shotgun played, so I didn’t bother crafting one. There should be a way to test weapons in a virtual training mode or shooting range from the main menu. Also, grenades and medkits weren’t very clear —I couldn’t tell what affected shields, armor, or health.
- I remember a Dust 514 review that criticized the shooting feel —I had the same issue here. Weapons felt light and fake, not like powerful futuristic firearms. I’d expect them to feel more like a strong SMG, M14, or MP40 —something satisfying to shoot.
- Make the differences between weapons and their attachments more tangible —not just through stats or visuals, but through real gameplay impact.
Map
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The map design reminded me of Insurgency —open areas with little cover and sometimes extreme verticality that feels awkward in close combat. That could be improved. Those situations were a bit frustrating.
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Mission objectives like capturing control zones felt a bit off. For example, our task was to “capture” an anti-air control point to shoot down a ship. That’s fine in concept, but I wanted to do something —press buttons, interact with consoles, or actually take control of the cannon instead of just standing in a circle to gain control. If that’s not the intent, then maybe keep it simple like Battlefield’s close-quarters maps where the focus is just on territory control.
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Maybe I’m asking too much, but my focus is on the feeling —understanding who we are, where we are, and what our purpose is.
One of the main criticisms Dust 514 received was that players didn’t understand why they were fighting. It turned out their battles really mattered —they were shaping planetary control —but it never felt that way, and the game came across as just another generic F2P. This game shouldn’t repeat that mistake. Players need to feel absorbed by the lore and fall in love with both the world and the gameplay.