Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Review: EXO-Tastic

Game Reviewed: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Release Date: November 4th , 2014

Developer: Sledgehammer Games

Publisher: Activision

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox One], PlayStation 4

Genre: First Person Shooter

Rated: M for Mature

It’s an important year for Activision as Call of Duty looks to earn the respect of many gamers that felt that Ghosts just wasn’t enough to fill their appetite. Power changes everything, the motto for Advanced Warfare proves to be true as this year power is in the hands of Sledgehammer Games.

Sledgehammer Games is the original creators of Dead Space, so they know quite a bit of what they’re doing, taking gamers and the Call of Duty franchise to the next level of gaming. In addition they’ve partnered with Infinity Ward (Modern Warfare) and Raven Software (Singularity and X-Men: Wolverine Origins) to create Modern Warfare 3, waiting for their time to come. Finally, it has.

AW kicks off in South Korea as the KVA invasion is already in motion. You play as Jack Mitchell, a U.S. Marine that loses his friend, Private William Irons and his own left arm as they successfully complete the task of driving forces out of Seoul.

The story speeds up a bit taking you to the funeral of Private Irons where you meet Jonathan Irons, William’s father and CEO of Atlas Corporation, the world’s most powerful and private military corporation; called by the founder “advanced warfare.”

Iron replaces your arm and takes you under his care, recruiting you to the Atlas Corp. Alongside Gideon, a kick-ass Exoskeleton and a story that will leave you in awe, you’re looking at the best Call of Duty since the early days of Modern Warfare (one and two).

Advanced Warfare makes you feel a part of a movie and equally a part of the combat as gameplay is consistently fast paced, rarely letting down the momentum.

Your arsenal and abilities are determined through your preference as an Assault or Specialist. In campaign you can earn up to 22 additional abilities such as quick aim and increased battery time by completing EXO challenges.

Multiplayer equally delivers a high level of entertainment introducing EXO Survival. Imagine Spec Ops in Modern warfare where you would take on waves on enemies but in a more futuristic, drop-in/drop-out setting. As you play one of the thirteen maps, expect to start off with a normal wave of enemies and progress to nano swarms, drones and heavily armored mechs; and that’s just within the first 10 rounds.

As you choose between light, heavy or specialist (which can be changed throughout), weapons and EXO abilities can be upgraded as you clear through rounds. Supply drops are also essential to surviving as they grant access to aerial assault drones and a remote turret of your own. Communication is vital and teamwork will take you a long way.

To some EXO survival may not be your cup of tea, but if zombies are, it’s time to adjust your taste buds. As you unlock Riot, the 4^th Tier in EXO Survival there’s only 10 waves to clear before the streets become infested. Zombies exist! ..And shall continue to exist with the season pass.

Left is the traditional multiplayer experience. For ease the minds of some gamers, there is a classic mode to turn off the EXO abilities.  A few additions begin with the customization of your own character, male or female, from helmet to the Exoskeleton itself. As you move to the virtual lobby, you can visually see the entire team character’s load outs and more before each game. I enjoyed this feature as it gave me new ideas to tweak my own load outs and character; especially after you’ve seen a zombie themed character shooting you down.

But it’s all about the delivery of online. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is an extremely rich experience. Between supply drops that can upgrade weapons and gear, huge maps that’s lessened campers from lurking and new mechanics thanks to the Exoskeleton, it’s a genuine push forward for the entire franchise.

Creating one of the greatest Call of Duty story in years and matching it with Multiplayer, Sledgehammer has found a permanent home redefining the Call of Duty franchise. There’s still much more that can be done to truly make multiplayer more unique that no development has managed to topple, but we can all set Ghosts aside and embrace “Power.”

The Scores

Gameplay: 4.5/5

Visuals: 4.75/5

Audio: 4.25/5

Controls: 4.25/5

Replay Value: 4.5/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5