Call of Duty Advanced Warfare - Review

Call of Duty is one of those series that everyone expects to have spectacular moments and great experiences, but over the years that impact has waned some, which is not surprising the games have never been a beacon of change. But with this year’s entry in the franchise, Sledgehammer Games has brought along a few neat little tricks to help bolster their vision.

In the past the Call of Duty games have had mixed success with story, sometimes they were based around real live events, others all made up and for the most part it was ok. As you progressed through the single player campaign more of the story came to light and you were able to piece things together, sadly here the story, while cool is pretty predictable. I never thought for a moment anything would change were I was expecting it to go and I was right and while it is a shame that the story is not amazing, the actual performance of the actors in the game are.

Let’s not beat around the bush here, Kevin Spacey steals the show and rightly so, his delivery of lines and expressions in his face put so much weight behind everything he says and does, even to the end of the campaign. Troy Baker is here as the player character Jack Mitchell and delivers a solid performance, as you would expect but the stand out character in the game is Gideon as he is the character you have the most interaction with throughout the entire campaign. Each of the actors that has brought the characters to life has done an amazing job and if the series can keep this level of impact in its characters, then we are in for a treat moving forward.

As for the single player campaign, you are tasked with a variety of missions and while the end result in almost all of them is run forward and shoot bad guys, the Exo suit you wear helps change things up, really in a way that Call of Duty has never had before. When you start each mission you are shown which suit you are wearing, usually one of two types that grant you certain abilities in battle. I really loved the double jump, knowing that you did not have make your way around some cover to take a shot, but now just jump overhead, well it was strange at first, but now I love it. Adding in other cool elements like the Riot shield or sonics to help disorientate your enemies means that depending on the suit your play style and experience are going to change.

The new grenade styles also help change up the gameplay like never before. Now you can switch between two types of grenades, tactical and lethal and knowing when to use the right one can help or break you in battle. When you are being attacked by drones you can shoot them down, one by one, or you can switch to an emp grenade and take down them at once, but while you are cycling your grenade you can be attacked still, so it’s a risk you need to weigh up. The Tactical grenade also has a pretty cool mode called Threat, that when used will send out a sonar type pulse and allow you to track all nearby enemies for a short time. Each of the options that both types of grenades offer will provide you with choice, but you may end up, just like I did, using only a few of the available options.

Of course for almost everyone, Call of Duty is the multiplayer game of the year and rightly so, the multiplayer offers a lot of depth for anyone looking to invest a little bit of time. The same Exo suit that you have in single player also makes the jump over to the multiplayer as well, meaning you are no longer bound by the same rules as every other game before it. Learning to move around while avoiding other players can be tricky at first but as you learn to use the suit to your advantage you will quickly realise you can’t go back to how it was before. Being able to double jump, pull yourself up onto ledges, cloak and more means that your existing playstyles will have to change here. As you move around, you can dash in any direction at will, even while in the air, which will provide you that essential time to take down your assailant.

As you progress through the multiplayer experience you will unlock new weapons for you to take into battle. As you unlock a new gun though, you have to start with it as its most basic and in order to apply anything like a new scope or grip you need to play with that gun, meaning that after the third or fourth gun you level up you are likely to stick with that last one, regardless of how many more you unlock. However one of the more interesting elements with the player customisation is what exo suit ability you want to bring with you, the movement options are default, but things like camo mode or Mute device are one only, meaning you will need to choose the one that suits your playstyle. Even after a significant amount of time in the multiplayer I was still finding new items, gear and secrets to enjoy, something that past games have not done for me.

Advance Warfare is also a stunning title, the team behind the game have really done a spectacular job here and the world feels alive, with debris moving around and explosions having a real impact. Your character feels like you have significant weight to them, they are not super powered, even if the exo suits do give you that feeling sometimes. The sound is also much better here than in last year’s game, each of the guns, grenades and explosions sound as one would expect, but the new vehicles and gear have a slightly futuristic sound to them, but they are still grounded in what we expect them to be. Nothing here sounds like it is farfetched, but could be just around the corner.

Not all parts of the presentation are rosy though, in game when characters speak their mouth movements will not match the words they are saying, which results in them looking like they stepped out of a 1970’s dubbed hong kong action film. While you may not care, after seeing the detail and care that went into the cutscenes with the impressive facial details, seeing this is just a bit jarring.

Overall, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is not a huge leap forward, well not like it could have been. The Exo suit adds a heap of new options for players to get used to, but not being allowed to select what you want is a let down. The multiplayer has received the most attention here and whatever next year game has in store must be something special now, because we have been spoiled. This is really the next generation of Call of Duty and the future is looking pretty amazing. 

The Score

9.0

Review code provided by Activision

The Pros

+Best single player campaign in years

+The EXO Suit makes multiplayer a real blast to enjoy

The Cons

-The story is quite predictable

-The multiplayer has advanced so much, older games in the series feel less now