Call of Duty: Vanguard

15 Narrative games like Call of Duty: Vanguard that you should try

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Ranking compiled by Lluis Enric Mayans, Founder & Head of ContentUpdated May 19, 2026How this is calculatedOrdered by an attribute-similarity model, not editorial opinion.

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We filtered the 50 games similar to Call of Duty: Vanguard down to the 15 that fit the “Narrative” category. Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Ready or Not top the list, ranked by affinity and similarity score to Call of Duty: Vanguard.

iRank68/ 100

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GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

Tags

DarkNarrativeSoloMultiplayer

Year 2021Dev Sledgehammer Games

Stores

Steam ↗Xbox ↗PS ↗

Quick answer

Within the “Narrative” category, the closest game to Call of Duty: Vanguard is Call of Duty: Black Ops II — scoring 93/100 on our similarity scale. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Ready or Not follow close behind.

#1Call of Duty: Black Ops II93 #2Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War92 #3Ready or Not85 #4Call of Duty®: Black Ops III83 #5Call of Duty: WWII83

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The best narrative games like Call of Duty: Vanguard

15 similar games foundUpdated May 2026

Handpicked by our similarity algorithm, these are the titles with the highest gameplay match to Call of Duty: Vanguard. Each one has been evaluated across 17 real attributes — from combat style and progression mechanics to world structure and visual perspective — so every recommendation is based on how the game actually plays, not just its genre label.

#1Call of Duty: Black Ops IIClosest overall match

93

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

MultiplayerSoloCo-opOfflineOnlineMeleeTacticalNarrativeDarkHorrorHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 86%· 49KIGDB79· 17

Year 2012Dev Treyarch · ActivisionOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Fits the tactical first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and horror tension

≠ Where it differs: brings survival mechanics, adventure storytelling and setting scifi, while skipping ranged combat

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 9 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Tone100Visuals100Game mode92Combat88Setting78

#2Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold WarClosest on combat

92

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opOfflinePvPOnlineMeleeTacticalRangedDarkNarrativeHorrorHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 80%· 22KIGDB77· 9OC75· 161

Year 2020Dev Treyarch · ActivisionOn Xbox · PS4 · PC

✓ Nearly identical: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere.

≠ Missing: horror tension.

Genre100Combat100Game mode100Tone100Setting100Visuals100

85

Ready or Not

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opTacticalRangedMeleeDarkNarrativeHorrorFirst Person

Steam👍 78%· 329KRAWG👍 81%· 175IGDB84· 2OC82· 59

Year 2023Dev VOID InteractivePlaytime ~6hOn PC

✓ Both are tactical first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and horror tension

≠ Where it differs: brings adventure storytelling, deep simulation and setting modern, while skipping historical setting

Ready or Not is an intense, tactical, first-person shooter that depicts a modern-day world in which SWAT police units are called to defuse hostile and confronting situations. Please remember that the Beta build is still an incomplete version of the game.

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: setting.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Visuals100Game mode65Setting46

#4Call of Duty®: Black Ops III

83

Call of Duty®: Black Ops III

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

MultiplayerSoloCo-opOnlineMeleeRangedTacticalDarkNarrativeHorrorHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 91%· 42KRAWG👍 84%· 1.9KMC81OC79· 99

Year 2010Dev Raven Software · Square EnixPlaytime ~9hOn PC · PS · Xbox

✓ Nearly identical: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere.

≠ Missing: horror tension.

Wall-running and thrust jumps make it the most mobile campaign in the series, and the four-player co-op campaign is a genuine structural change. Zombies is at its most elaborate here. The story is close to incomprehensible, the campaign is the weakest part of the package, and the PC version's supply-drop economy drew heavy criticism.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 11 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Setting100Visuals100Game mode69

Steam Xbox Nintendo

#5Call of Duty: WWII

83

Call of Duty: WWII

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opOfflineTacticalMeleeDarkNarrativeHistoricalHorrorFirst Person

Steam👍 70%· 46KIGDB75· 18OC78· 155

Year 2017Dev Sledgehammer Games · ActivisionOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Nearly identical: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere.

≠ Missing: horror tension.

Same studio: Sledgehammer Games.

Genre100Tone100Setting100Visuals100Combat89Game mode85

81

NecroVision

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerMeleeRangedTacticalDarkNarrativeHorrorHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 68%· 1.9KRAWG👍 44%· 89MC63IGDB60· 1

Year 2009Dev The Farm 51 · 1C-SoftClubPlaytime ~1hOn PC

✓ Same family of tactical first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and horror tension

≠ Its own twist: fantasy world and setting scifi, while skipping co op

War is Hell. NecroVision is a first-person shooter that takes gamers across the frantic battlegrounds of World War I and into a dark underworld of vampires, demons and dark magic. Seeking adventure, young American Simon Bukner joins the British army in war-torn Europe of 1916.

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: game mode.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 12 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Visuals100Setting70Game mode42

#7Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

81

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerOfflineCo-opMeleeTacticalDarkNarrativeHorrorHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 61%· 30KIGDB77· 25OC75· 111

Year 2016Dev Infinity Ward · ActivisionOn PS4 · PC · Xbox

✓ Same family of tactical first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and dark, oppressive atmosphere

≠ Its own twist: adventure storytelling, setting space and setting scifi, while skipping horror tension

Genre100Tone100Visuals100Combat88Game mode85Setting56

#8Battlefield 3

78

Battlefield 3

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opPvPMeleeTacticalNarrativeDarkHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 72%· 18KIGDB85· 10

Year 2011Dev EA Digital Illusions CE · Electronic ArtsOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Fits the tactical first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Its own twist: stealth mechanics, visual isometric and visual third person, while skipping horror tension

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 10 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Tone100Game mode79Combat71Setting60Visuals55

#9Half-Life: Opposing Force

77

Half-Life: Opposing Force

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerPvPRangedTacticalMeleeNarrativeDarkHorrorFirst Person

Steam👍 95%· 28KRAWG👍 80%· 750IGDB70· 1

Year 1999Dev Gearbox Software · ValvePlaytime ~3hOn PC · Apple Macintosh · Linux

✓ Fits the tactical first-person shooters cluster, with shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Stands apart with puzzle design, precision platforming and adventure storytelling, while skipping horror tension

Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for the original first-person shooter Half-Life. The game setting is the same as the one in the original game: the story takes place in the science laboratory called Black Mesa Research Facility in New Mexico at the same time.

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: setting.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 22 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Combat100Tone100Visuals100Game mode58Setting44

75

Half-Life

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerPvPRangedMeleeTacticalNarrativeDarkHorrorFirst Person

Steam👍 97%· 161KRAWG👍 89%· 2.4KMC96IGDB80· 1

Year 1998Dev Valve Software · ValvePlaytime ~3hOn PC · PS · Apple Macintosh

✓ Same family of tactical first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Its own twist: adventure storytelling, puzzle design and punishing difficulty, while skipping horror tension

Half-Life is the original game in the series. Being a revolutionary at the time, we follow the story of Gordon Freeman - a silent scientist at the facility called Black Mesa. Arriving late at work and hastily doing his routine he runs into the experiment field.

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: setting.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 23 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Tone69Game mode62Setting46

#11Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

66

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerTacticalMeleeNarrativeDarkHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 91%· 2.4KIGDB78· 5

Year 2008Dev Gearbox Software · Ubisoft EntertainmentOn PlayStation 3 · PC

✓ Both are tactical first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Its own twist: deep simulation, while skipping horror tension

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: game mode.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 13 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Tone100Visuals100Combat89Setting74Game mode41

#12Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

80

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opOfflineOnlinePvPMeleeTacticalNarrativeHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 93%· 60KIGDB85· 10

Year 2009Dev Infinity Ward · ActivisionOn PlayStation 3 · PC · Mac

✓ Both are tactical first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Where it differs: brings stealth mechanics, while skipping horror tension

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: tone.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 12 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Game mode100Visuals100Combat70Setting64Tone32

78

Hired Ops

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

MultiplayerOnlineSoloCo-opPvPRangedTacticalMeleeNarrativeHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 68%· 16KRAWG👍 28%· 32

Year 2016Dev Absolut SoftPlaytime ~2hOn PC

✓ Both are tactical first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Where it differs: brings deep RPG systems, setting modern and free to play, while skipping horror tension

Hired Ops is a session-based online shooter dedicated to fierce conflicts between rival mercenary groups battling on a global scale from Russian developer AbsolutSoft.

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: tone and setting.

Genre100Combat100Visuals100Game mode83Setting39Tone31

#14Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

78

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opOfflineOnlineMeleeTacticalNarrativeHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 89%· 39KIGDB81· 9

Year 2011Dev Sledgehammer Games · ActivisionOn PlayStation 3 · PC · Mac

✓ Same family of tactical first-person shooters: shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Stands apart with adventure storytelling and vibe casual, while skipping horror tension

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: tone.

Same studio: Sledgehammer Games.

Genre100Visuals100Game mode92Combat89Setting63Tone26

#15Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

77

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

GenreShooterSubgenreFPSSub-subgenreTactical FPS

SoloMultiplayerCo-opOfflinePvPMeleeTacticalNarrativeHistoricalFirst Person

Steam👍 94%· 27KIGDB88· 7

Year 2007Dev Infinity Ward · ActivisionOn PlayStation 3 · PC · Mac

✓ Both are tactical first-person shooters — sharing shooter, first-person shooting and strong narrative focus

≠ Its own twist: deep simulation, linear, story-driven structure and stealth mechanics, while skipping horror tension

Where it drifts furthest from Call of Duty: Vanguard: tone.

It predates Call of Duty: Vanguard by 14 years, with what that implies technically.

Genre100Visuals100Game mode94Combat70Setting52Tone34

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