Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies has proven controversial for several reasons, ranging from its lack of easter eggs to its switch to objective-oriented gameplay. However, Call of Duty: Vanguard players also dislike the latest version of Dark Aether.
As was the case with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, players unlock Dark Aether for completing every other camo challenge in Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies. With this process requiring thousands of Pack-A-Punch kills and hundreds of headshots with every single weapon, it takes a massive amount of time to unlock Dark Aether - especially with Der Anfang seeing players kill less zombies in each match. Unfortunately, many feel that the reward is not worth the effort this year, which is a shame given how desirable Dark Aether was in the last Zombies mode.
Had Dark Aether been like the leaked Call of Duty: Vanguard mastery camo, with a fiery red design, it likely would have been much more popular. However, the design has drawn criticism for its strange color scheme. The camo features moving green and black stripes and carries the Dark Aether name, yet there is no logical reason for green to feature so prominently. This combined with the fact that players find the camo design unattractive has drawn a lot of criticism. As such, Redditor Pannox shared a redesign of Dark Aether.
I've edited Vanguard Dark Aether camo from green to red and this looks sooooo much better from CODZombies
Using the weapon inspect option in Call of Duty: Vanguard’s gunsmith, Pannox shows just how much better a color swap would make the camo. The color of choice, red, fits the aesthetic of the mode. With red portals used and red symbols shown on the undead, the color is prominent inside of Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies, and the camo signifies that. The red version gives off a much more Zombies-like feel, as the green looks like something that would be seen in multiplayer.
Seeing the camo move really drives home Pankox’s point that their design is an improvement, and it builds on the theme seen with the previous Dark Aether. With purple being so deeply tied to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies, it made sense that it was used for the mode’s rarest camo pattern. Red would make just as much sense for Call of Duty: Vanguard’s take on Zombies, as even the breakable crystals around Der Anfang are this color. Unsurprisingly, most comments praise the fan-made design, agreeing that it is better than the current iteration of Dark Aether.
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the mastery camo for Zombies will be changed. With the mode having bigger problems, like no Pack-A-Punch camo of any kind, players will likely be stuck with the strange green camo once all the others have been unlocked.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.