Sledgehammer Games and PlayStation have allowed a preloading option for the upcoming Technical Test or Alpha version of Call of Duty: Vanguard. As we have noted earlier on the forums, the preload option is currently available. This will allow players to jump straight into the game without downtime once the Alpha preview goes live over this weekend.
The playable Alpha for Call of Duty Vanguard will start on August 27 at 10 am PT and last until August 29 at 10 AM PT. Sony also noted that the PlayStation-exclusive Alpha isn’t the first chance at playing the newest Multiplayer mode in the Call of Duty franchise.
The game mode that will be available during this Alpha preview is called Champion Hill, which allows 2v2 and 3v3 Gunfights. According to the official press release:
Champion Hill is a multi-arena survival tournament where tactics and strategy combine with quick-action, close-quarter gunplay. The mode is all about impactful gameplay, from the intense periods of combat to the decisions made in-between.
In Champion Hill, your squad — which during the Alpha will be either a Duo (2v2) or Trio (3v3)— will compete in a round-robin tournament against seven other squads, with each squad having a set number of lives to start with. The mission is to reduce all other squads’ life count to zero in a series of timed Combat rounds, before the same happens to you. Do that, and claim victory on Champion Hill.
In this mode, everyone starts with the same Loadout, but you will collect cash by taking enemy lives and picking up drops scattered around the map. This cash will allow you to upgrade your starting weapons and purchase new armaments, equipment, Perks, and Killstreaks during Buy Rounds that happen between Combat Rounds.
It’s in the Buy Rounds that the real strategy comes in (more on that below). No two matches will be the same, since the way that you use cash throughout each match (e.g. held for bigger upgrades as the Rounds go on, or used on smaller, more incremental upgrades along the way) will greatly change how you and your squad counter every other squad. It’s a chess-match, and one that has a ton of opportunity to dynamically evolve as each match progresses.
Lock and load! Pre-download the Call of Duty: Vanguard Alpha today, kicking off on PS5 and PS4 August 27: https://t.co/VwVVtrydLF pic.twitter.com/3EMWGwWFqo
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 23, 2021
PC players will get a playable client a bit later, which is unofficially estimated for the weekend after the official Multiplayer Gameplay reveal.
Call of Duty: Vanguard releases on November 5 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.