Let’s be real for a second. Mentioning Call of Duty Vanguard zombies maps in a crowded room of Treyarch fans is basically asking for a heated debate. It was a weird time for the franchise. Sledgehammer Games and Treyarch were trying to pivot the formula, moving away from the round-based comfort zone we'd lived in since World War II. People were mad. Like, actually furious. But now that the dust has settled and the "Vanguard cycle" is long gone, looking back at these maps reveals a much more nuanced picture of an experimental era in CoD history.
Whether you loved the rogue-like shift or absolutely loathed the lack of a traditional "Easter Egg" hunt at launch, these maps represent a specific moment when the developers tried to break the mold. It didn't always work. Honestly, sometimes it failed spectacularly. Yet, there’s a strange charm to the maps if you stop comparing them to Der Eisendrache or Origins for five minutes.
The Identity Crisis of Der Anfang
When Vanguard launched, everyone jumped into Der Anfang. It wasn't a map in the way we usually think about them. It was more of a "hub." You’re in Stalingrad, it’s snowy, it’s depressing, and there’s a big red portal staring you in the face.
Instead of opening doors with points and buying perks in a linear fashion, you were forced into these bite-sized objectives: Blitz, Transmit, and Harvest. If you wanted to see more of the environment, you had to complete a task. This was a massive departure. For the hardcore community that spent a decade perfecting "training" zombies in a circle, this felt like a slap in the face. It felt like Outbreak from Black Ops Cold War but shrunk down into a tiny, claustrophobic box.
But here’s the thing—the atmosphere was actually top-tier. The occult, demon-focused aesthetic with the Dark Aether entities like Kortifex the Deathless gave it a gritty, "hell on earth" vibe that Cold War arguably lacked. The problem wasn't the art; it was the loop. You’d do a mission, come back to the hub, and realize you were just doing the same three things over and over. It lacked the "soul" of a classic map. You couldn't just sit back and slay for two hours. You had to engage with the mechanics.
Why the Objective Gameplay Failed (and Succeeded)
The "Altar of Covenants" was the saving grace here. By giving players randomized buffs—like a chance to keep your ammo or turn a zombie into an ally—it turned the game into a mini rogue-lite. Some people hated the RNG. Others found it refreshing because every game felt slightly different. It was a gamble. Sometimes you felt like a god by round 10, and other times the game just refused to give you "Brain Rot," and you struggled.
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Terra Maledicta and the Egyptian Sands
Then came Terra Maledicta. Set in Egypt's Eastern Desert, this map was supposed to be the "fix" for everything people hated about Stalingrad. It added a Wonder Weapon—the Decimator Shield—and a bit more story.
Visually, it’s a striking map. The contrast between the sun-bleached sand and the glowing green Dark Aether portals is genuinely beautiful. But it suffered from the same structural "hub-and-spoke" design as Der Anfang. You were still tied to those portals. You were still doing Harvest. You were still doing Transmit.
The Decimator Shield was cool, sure, but it had a massive cooldown that made it feel less like a "Wonder Weapon" and more like a tactical equipment piece you forgot you had. It felt like Treyarch was handcuffed by the engine or the development timeline. You could see the flashes of brilliance—the lore was getting deeper, and the voice acting for the demons was genuinely fun—but the gameplay loop was wearing thin for the community. People wanted rounds. They wanted to see a number go up at the bottom of their screen.
The Return to Form: Shi No Numa Reborn
Everything changed with the mid-season update that brought back Shi No Numa. This is arguably the most important of all Call of Duty Vanguard zombies maps because it was a total surrender to fan feedback.
They took a classic map from World at War, rebuilt it in the Vanguard engine, and—most importantly—brought back round-based gameplay. It was like a giant sigh of relief from the community. Finally, we could just buy a door, grab a Type 100 off the wall, and survive.
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- The Flogger returned: One of the most iconic traps in history was back and as lethal as ever.
- The Wunderwaffe DG-2: You had to actually build it through a quest, which felt like "real" zombies again.
- Dig Sites: A nice callback to Origins that kept the mid-rounds interesting.
Shi No Numa in Vanguard is actually the definitive version of that map. I’ll stand by that. The added swamp areas, the improved lighting, and the way the Vanguard movement system (sliding and mounting) worked in those tight corridors made it feel frantic and modern. It proved that the Vanguard mechanics weren't the problem; the objective-based map design was.
The Final Stand in The Archon
By the time The Archon arrived, the community was already looking toward the next game. It’s a bit of a tragedy, honestly. The Archon was another round-based map, but it used the layout of Terra Maledicta.
Imagine taking a map you already played and just changing the lighting to green and making it round-based. That’s The Archon. While it offered a proper boss fight against Kortifex—which was actually quite challenging and spectacle-heavy—it felt like a "re-skin."
Still, for those who stuck around, it provided a sense of closure. It tied up the Vanguard Dark Aether lore and gave players a high-round grind that felt rewarding. The "Pack-a-Punch" tiers and the way the Covenants integrated into a round-based setting actually worked surprisingly well. It made you wonder: if the game had launched with this style of map, would the reputation of Vanguard Zombies be different? Probably.
The Technical Reality of Vanguard's Development
We have to talk about why these maps ended up the way they did. Call of Duty development is a meat grinder. Treyarch was pulled in to do the Zombies mode for a Sledgehammer game while also working on their own future projects. They were building on the Modern Warfare (2019) engine, which wasn't originally designed for the way Zombies handles AI pathing and massive hoards.
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That’s why the early Call of Duty Vanguard zombies maps felt so restricted. The developers weren't "lazy"—they were fighting an engine and a clock. They tried to innovate with objectives because it was easier to stabilize than a massive, open, round-based map with 40 zombies on screen at once in a new engine environment.
What You Should Do If You Play Now
If you're going back to play these maps in 2026, don't go in expecting Black Ops 3. You’ll be disappointed. Instead, treat it like a different genre of game.
- Start with Shi No Numa. It’s the best experience in the game, hands down. It feels the most like "classic" CoD and lets you level up your weapons the fastest.
- Experiment with the Altar of Covenants. Don't just pick the same ones every time. The "Unholy Ground" and "Dead Accuracy" combo can make certain LMGs absolutely broken in the best way possible.
- Don't sleep on the lore. The radio snippets and the banter between the Dark Aether entities are actually some of the best writing in the series. It sets up a lot of the "Why" behind the events we see in later games.
The legacy of Call of Duty Vanguard zombies maps is one of experimentation. It taught the developers that while fans appreciate new ideas, the "soul" of the mode—the simple, addictive loop of surviving one more round—is something you can’t just swap out for objectives. It was a polarizing year, but those maps still hold a weird, dark corner of history that is worth visiting at least once if you’re a completionist.
To get the most out of these maps today, focus on the camo grind. Vanguard's weapon leveling is notorious, but the Zombies maps provide a much more relaxed environment for grinding out those atomic challenges than the chaotic multiplayer playlists. Stick to the round-based versions of Shi No Numa or The Archon for maximum efficiency. Use the "Harvest" objectives in the earlier maps if you want an infinite spawn of zombies to farm kills without the round counter increasing the difficulty. This utility is perhaps the greatest hidden value left in the Vanguard ecosystem.