Let me be 100 percent honest - I was fully onboard for playing EA’s Battlefield 2042 this week - from the mounted anticipation, my endless hours of playing Battlefield V over the summer and getting the ridiculously non-stop promotions across my PlayStation 5/Xbox Series S home screens plus YouTube. And then I played Call of Duty: Vanguard.

To be fair, I knew it was probably over when I first played the beta version of the multiplayer weeks ago. Huge shout-out to the legendary Big T for always holding me down with the early access and perks of the newest Call of Duty games and thus having the luxury of playing the multiplayer on the early side through the beta let me know this had two key factors I really missed and wished for in Cold War - busting through doors and oh yeah, BUSTING THROUGH DOORS.

There was no better feeling in my previously all-time favorite Call of Duty title - Modern Warfare - than enjoying those initially great graphics, explosions and bursting through doors to either be greeted by endless gunfire and bombs or getting the jump on some folks lacking very badly. This absence in last year’s edition hurt my soul beyond belief and likely contributed to me realizing how much fun I could have in Battlefield V.

But possibly based on some feedback or a need to deliver a few notches of awesomeness beyond what we received from Cold War - Activision came correct on Vanguard and it doesn’t even pain me to say this but…

I never want to play Battlefield 2042.

Not in all honesty, when it eventually makes its way to EA Play I might get my hands on it because why not but on an even more realistic note, I actually think I might not. I have not experienced this much fun in a shooting game as I have with Vanguard.

From the busting through doors - did I mention this already - to the quirky ESPN-style of ‘Play of the Game’ and even the voting mechanism where you can show your support for who performed the best a.k.a. The MVP from the match you just experienced, Vanguard has outdone itself.

I love it. I love it. I freaking love it.

I contemplated making this ‘review’ more along the lines of the technical side and graphics and blah-blah-blah and a little yada-yada-yada but I believe the best and only thing to do is give this game the biggest co-sign possible:

This is the best Call of Duty video game I have played dating back to my PlayStation 3 days with Modern Warfare 2.

Period.

Stay tuned for a more detailed rundown on the game but having played Call of Duty: Vanguard daily since Monday, November 8, I can tell you in all honesty this game does not suffer from any dull moments, maps or load outs.

Well done, Activision. Well done.