TV and Movie crossovers are abundant in today's gaming space so no announcement is necessarily a surprise anymore. However, the execution of some crossovers will have fans of those franchises wishing that the idea was left on the concept room floor. The newest crossover between Call of Duty and Attack on Titan getting blasted on social media after it revealed the skin that is supposed to bring Levi Ackermann into both Vanguard and Warzone.
It was announced earlier today that the first piece of new content coming this year to Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone is inspired by Levi Ackerman, the most skilled fighter of the Survey Corps. The "Levi Edition" bundle is a 10-item pack that features the full Scout Uniform in Levi's signature style, the ODM dual blades, along with three new weapon blueprints based on characters and elements from the hit manga and anime series, and a finishing move and MVP Highlight featuring the Ultrasteel Blades will be included in the pack. The blueprints and weapon charms will be available to all Operators, but only Daniel Yatsu will be able to wear the Survey Corps uniform.
Fans are not impressed at the attempt of the crossover, though. The announcement was made on the PlayStation Twitter account, and the retweets and replies are filled with fans making fun of the attempt to recreate one of Attack on Titan's most popular characters into the game. First of all, the character model looks off, as they put the uniform and the hairstyle of Levi onto Call of Duty: Vanguard Operator Daniel Yatsu. The application of the skin onto a gruff WWII soldier looks awkward. The tweet featured the "Ultrasteel Blade" MVP Highlight which compounds the issues in the execution of the skin.
Fans are having a blast ripping on the skin and the MVP Highlight animation. The most popular reaction borders more along the lines of stunned disbelief at how the skin looks, rather than anger at the inclusion of the anime character into the game. Because of Call of Duty: Vanguard's penchant for realistic visuals, creating a skin from an anime makes the uniform look at best like a decent cosplay attempt and at worst a background extra from one of the Attack on Titan live-action movies. Some fans are taking the opportunity to keep the conversation of Activision's ongoing issues and Sony's supposed re-evaluation of its relationship with the publisher going.
The fanbase can joke and deride the including of the Levi Ackemann skin all they want, but the Levi Edition Bundle will still be coming to the game on January 20th. It will be up to the player base on whether or not they give their hearts or their money to buy the $19.99USD bundle. Depending on how effective or stylish any of the weapon blueprints are in-game will determine whether or not the bundle is worth it.
Call of Duty: Vanguard and Call of Duty: Warzone are now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.