Alongside the launch of Season 1, Call of Duty: Vanguard has received a marketplace full of bundles with unique cosmetics. Unfortunately, one Call of Duty: Vanguard bundle has caused a lot of frustration amongst fans, and for good reason.
This is not the first time that players have been frustrated with the in-game appearance of a Call of Duty cosmetic. While Knight’s Magma Fury Ultra skin was full of color in the marketplace preview, and retained that color in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the skin was far less flashy inside of Call of Duty: Warzone. Much like players were disappointed with their Call of Duty: Warzone purchase because of that, Call of Duty: Vanguard fans feel let down by Bioluminescence.
Like its name suggests, the blueprint is supposed to give players a shining blue version of Call of Duty: Vanguard’s MP-40. In the first image of the weapon shown off by Twitter user @Testyment, which shows the weapon being customized in the gunsmith, different shades of blue are used to make the weapon stand out - with the camo’s overall color scheme being reminiscent of the Pack-A-Punch camo from the Zombies map Origins. Small stars can be seen on the weapon too, and while it looks great in the gunsmith, its in-game appearance is a different story.
In Call of Duty: Warzone, the weapon looks nothing like it did in the Gunsmith. While fans have pointed out that camos like Dark Aether do look worse in Call of Duty: Warzone than they do in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the fact that a paid weapon blueprint looks this bad is unsurprisingly controversial. The various shades of blue are gone, with a single flat blue seen. Likewise, the stars do not shine or stand out in a meaningful way. Based on the radical change, the Call of Duty: Vanguard player dubs the blueprint a “scam,” and it seems like they are not the only person that feels this way.
Sadly, Redditor Zinqahh showed that the weapon is lacking in Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer as well. While the texture work is certainly not as good, the blue is still flat, with the different shades not seen. Further, as pointed out in the post’s title, the tracer rounds are not working at all. The weapon looks no different from a plain MP-40 when it is being fired, meaning that the colorful ammo promised in the gun’s description is unnoticeable. Given that tracer fire is a big draw for some players who buy special blueprints, the weapon seems to be a letdown in several areas.
A £20 blueprint (with tracers) bundle & the gun looks NOTHING like it’s supposed to. It practically glows in the store and in pre game lobbies, but looks like this in game? Tracers are also non existent. from CODVanguard
Hopefully, Sledgehammer Games addresses the complaints about the weapon. Until it does, more and more buyers will likely complain about the product they received.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.