The Call of Duty franchise was beginning to become slightly stale. Somewhere between Call of Duty: Ghosts and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 something happened… I would not call it something great, but it was something that made me lose interest in the COD franchise.
As a COD player, After many sessions, I did not feel the need to jump online and play Ghosts after a few months after the game’s release, nor did I want to venture back into the world of Black Ops 2. The reason for this was I felt the franchise needed something more… something different… something exciting. While Ghosts was great, it became tiresome very quickly. Fast forward to 2014, and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has finally captured my attention as well as brought back my passion for competitive and non-competitive gaming.
Sledgehammer Games has gone to great lengths to improve the overall Call of Duty experience, especially when it comes to Advanced Warfare. Not only is the single player something to actually look forward to, but the multiplayer side of the game is probably the best we have seen to date. Not to mention players can now take advantage the newly added Exo Suit.
As stated above, Advanced Warfare’s campaign and storyline is actually worth playing. Advanced Warfare follows the story of Private Jack Mitchell, voiced by Troy Baker. During the first few minutes of the campaign Mitchell and fellow squadmates Will Irons and Sergeant Cormack attempt to take on a group of North Koreans who have invaded Seoul. During the firefight, Mitchell and Irons are tasked to take down a Havoc Launcher; however, things go wrong when Irons gets his arm stuck in the door of the Havoc Launcher. With seconds to go before the explosives detonate, Mitchel tries to free Irons, but they both realise it’s too late. Irons pushes Mitchel off the Havoc Launcher and perishes in the explosion. Mitchell lands on his back, which he does quite often in the campaign, and has his left arm severed by the aftermath of the explosion.
With his left arm severed, Mitchell is discharged from active duty; however, during Irons’ funeral he is approached by Jonathan Irons, played by Kevin Spacey, who is the CEO of the Atlas Corporation. Irons offers Mitchell an advanced prosthetic arm, which gives him the opportunity to get back into the fight. Overall, when it comes to storyline, Advanced Warfare is quite honestly one hell of a ride especially when you start the assault against the latest terrorist organisation to grace Call of Duty, the KVA. While the campaign only last between 6-8 hours it is possibly the best best 6-8 that you will currently experience, especially when it comes to a Call of Duty Campaign. To add to this Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey, as well as the supporting cast, portray their roles with class and perfection.
While the storyline is fantastic, there are a few moments when the cast seem disjointed from one another as well as the world around them. This can be seen when Mitchell explains how he and Irons were always brothers in arms; however, when they spoke it felt like they just met. In addition to this, Mitchell seems unaware of the Atlas Corporation and what the company actually does. Meanwhile it is one of the largest companies to produce weaponised equipment. This makes the rather spectacular campaign feel slightly inconsistent at times.
When it comes to presentation, Advanced Warfare is by far one of the best looking Call of Duty titles to date. The character models look superb and the set pieces featured throughout the campaign as well as multiplayer maps are a pleasure to view. The same can be said about the audio presentation of this title. Each character has been voiced in a professional manner that far exceeds any title in the franchise. Think of it as essentially watching a movie while playing the lead character.
Call of Duty’s main drive has always been its multiplayer mode, and this is one multiplayer spectacle that should not be missed. Combat is intense, fast-paced, and familiar. Players can now take advantage of a variety of Exo abilities as well as bounce around the map in style and glory with the newly added boost ability. While the multiplayer is indeed a massive improvement over the last few titles, it does seem to face various issues such as matchmaking issues as well as issues with lag. Hopefully this will be ironed out soon.
To be honest, the Exo suit is exactly what Call of Duty needed. With the addition of the Exo Suit new weaponry has also been introduced. This includes the threat grenade, which highlights enemies even behind cover. as well as a rather impressive laser cutter styled gun. Much like Call of Duty: Black Ops 2’s Pick 10 loadout system there is now the option to pick 13. Players can now customise their loadout in a variety of ways… so if you are not the kind of player who gains crazy killstreaks you can still replace each killstreak with a variety of other options.
One thing that really caught my attention, when it came to the game’s multiplayer mode, was the fact that you can now unlock weapons and attachments faster than ever. Furthermore, you get rewarded with new weapons, XP boosts, supply drop crates as well as new skins and other equipment that really intensifies the multiplayer experience.
Conclusion:
With new maps, new abilities and new weaponry, Call of Duty has most definitely made a change for the better. I certainly cannot wait to see what the developers have in store when it comes DLC for this phenomenal title. When it comes to the campaign the team at Sledgehammer have really outdone themselves. For once there is actually a campaign that is enjoyable to the point of being replayable.
Graphically, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is most quite certainly the best looking title out of the lot. To add to this, the game features a killer voice cast that really sets the mood. Overall, if you are a fan of Call of Duty you best pick up a copy of Advanced Warfare as it should not be missed.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was reviewed on the PlayStation 4 by Darryl Linington. Connect with the author on Twitter here.
