Much Needed Advancement | Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Review

I’ve played pretty much every Call of Duty there is. I may have missed one or two, but from Modern Warfare and up, I’ve definitely played it. I don’t always buy them on release day, and lately I’ve been wondering if they are still worth picking up at all. In fact, I claimed Ghosts’ has the worst multiplayer in the series, and I got so frustrated with Ghosts I wasn’t even sure if I was going to play Advanced Warfare. I caved and decided to grab the latest installment, and I can honestly say I’m glad I did. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is probably the most fun I had in a Call of Duty game since either Modern Warfare II or the original Black Ops.

Advanced Warfare is already known for two things: Exo-suits that make you jump really high, and Kevin Spacey. I’ll tackle the Exo-suits later in the multiplayer section, but I’ll start with what I know everyone really wants to read about: the campaign. Advanced Warfare’s campaign is the most enjoyable single-player experience I’ve had since Modern Warfare II. Yes, it is still over-the-top, crazy-insane, and absolutely ridiculous, but it has more feeling and fun behind it than the previous few I’ve played.

What helps is how beautiful the game really is. The cinematic cut-scenes are incredible and easily the best in the series. The color spectrum, lighting effects, and scope of the levels truly impress. Personally, what I enjoyed most are the sound effects. The sound of a world is what really presents itself in a meaningful way, and Advanced Warfare went above and beyond. As sadistic as this makes me sound, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed the sound of weapons firing and bullets impacting into bodies as much as I have in Advanced Warfare. Some people have done an amazing job in the sound department and deserve the recognition for it.

The story starts in 2054, and North Korea has invaded South Korea. You play as Jack Mitchell, a marine that is flying into Seoul to help with the defense. Immediately the sci-fi setting is thrown in your face as you jump out of an airship in futuristic pods with Exo-suits equipped. The weapons and technology all help present the setting Advanced Warfare takes place in, but none of it is so crazy you lose complete immersion. I’m not saying we can make people invisible or have spider-tanks walking around shooting missiles, but the world seemed real enough for me to believe it.

Some events happen – nothing shocking mind you – to set up the main drive for your character. You end up joining Atlas, a private military company run by none other than Kevin Spacy. In terms of his performance, he is almost always spot on. He plays the intense, no-nonsense, down-to-business character he typically plays in movies. When he enters a room you can never be sure if he’s going to yell or praise you. He gives your character hope so you see his human side, but when his tone darkens you understand he shouldn’t be trifled with.

The campaign’s story isn’t anything out-of-this-world. There are twists that are so obvious I’m pretty sure Sledgehammer didn’t even consider them surprises. The story may not be creative or original enough to make you blitz through it to see the end, but I found it more enjoyable than the past games. There was some good banter between characters that made them feel human. That’s not to say there aren’t crazy stunts of jumping from car to car, or using grappling hooks to climb buildings. But the missions were fun. They weren’t all follow the leader either. Advanced Warfare did a better job of putting you in a big space and allowing you to beat the level with some agency instead of shooting enemies popping up and down in a hallway. Admittedly, there is plenty of that.

The campaign is short, and nothing too original, but I had a lot of fun experiencing it. I’ve already started a new campaign to experience it again on a harder difficulty. I know many people skip the single-player, but I urge you to try this one. It’s a lot of fun and some levels really hit you with the intensity we all love Call of Duty for.

Advanced Warfare’s campaign was my favorite since Modern Warfare 2, and the multiplayer is my favorite since the first Black Ops. This is the case for one very simple, but extremely important reason. Advanced Warfare does not support camping. Ghosts was terrible with campers. It gave them equipment, killstreaks, weapons, and even the maps were designed for camping. It rewarded campers, and because of that, everyone became a camper. Advanced Warfare does the exact opposite.

There is no C4 to throw and explode instantly with an over-powered blast radius. There are no claymores, I.E.D.s, bouncing-betties, or whatever else people throw in a room to sit in a corner. The maps are designed with sightlines that don’t cover the entire map from one position, and there are enough entrances so you cannot sit in a corner cutting off an entire lane of the map. For better or worse (better if I’m honest), grenades have been dramatically nurfed, and there are no over-powered perks like Amplify.

The main reason Advanced Warfare doesn’t cater to campers is the quick movements from the Exo-suits. The game encourages you to move about the environment. You aren’t supposed to sit still, if you do, you can be sure someone will be jumping over you in seconds to put some bullets in your back. You need to be ready to boost around corners, fly into windows, and slide to safety. Sitting still is one of the last things you want to do.

And I love it.

Best of all, it works. People move around the map constantly, and anyone that sits still for too long will get flanked quickly. The maps aren’t small exactly, but you can move fast enough to get across them in a few seconds. That doesn’t mean you can’t hunker down in a good sniper spot to lay down cover fire for your rushing teammates. It just means you need to understand people could be coming for you at any moment. No matter what game you play, if there is multiplayer, there will be campers, but so far Advanced Warfare has done a good job of preventing that from happening, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

There are multiple Exo-suits you can use that have different perks attached to them. Some will allow you to hover, some will give you more health for a brief amount of time, and other’s will even cloak you. Getting the right Exo-suit for your play-style is imperative. While they do help, they never feel overpowered or unbalanced. You don’t even need to have a perk equipped if you don’t want, and you can still decimate the battlefield. I do suggest you get comfortable with using it, because the best players are the one’s boosting around the map any chance they get.

You may be afraid the gameplay is too different with the Exo-suits and all the vertical combat, but don’t be. I admit I was worried by this new style and I figured it would be too much like Halo or Destiny. There is a lot of jumping and blasting around, but it works. The levels are designed well so the gameplay is fluent and not frustrating. People jumping on top of buildings may have a sight advantaged, but they will most likely be picked off in seconds. Running on the ground will also get you shot from above. You have to be flexible, and use all the terrain to your advantage. It felt balanced, and I have yet to discover one particular weapon that is completely over-powered and ruins the game. Sledgehammer managed to make Call of Duty faster than ever without it being too out of control.

The gameplay feels like Call of Duty in all the best ways. You can take just enough bullets where you are able to turn around and fight back if someone got the jump on you—unlike some previous entries where you die in half a second. The aiming is tight, the flinching isn’t out of control, the submachine guns can’t shoot across the map, the assault rifles feel heavier but have noticeably more impact, the hit-detection seems to be more accurate so far, and a million small things that make Advanced Warfare feel like the Call of Duty I’ve been waiting to play again. It feels like Sledgehammer listened to all the complaints from the community from past installments and factored them into the game. They even made a lobby for people with low Kill/Death Ratio’s only.

On that note, one of my favorite things about Advanced Warfare is how they stopped everyone’s KDR from being blasted in your face. People who are worried about their KDR tend to hide in corners afraid to die, instead of letting loose and having fun. While Advanced Warfare doesn’t get rid of KDR’s, they don’t throw them in your face, and I’ve already forgotten to check mine. I couldn’t tell you what it is, and I’m happy not knowing. I can play without being afraid mine might fall below 1.00. I think KDR’s ruin multiplayer gaming as people get hang up on the wrong stats, and while I’m sure players still care, I’m not getting that sense from people in Advanced Warfare so far.

Furthermore, in my argument that Advanced Warfare is against all forms of camping, they went back to score streaks. Instead of counting your kills, you need a certain amount of points to unlock a special attack. Once again, this makes hiding in a corner not the efficient way of unlocking Streaks. If killing someone only gives you 50 points, but capturing an objective gives you 150, you are far more likely to play the actual game mode, and not just sit in one spot trying to kill people without caring if your team wins or loses.

The downside to the score streaks is how the point system makes even the lower-end score streaks hard to earn. 400 points for a UAV means if you get 4 kills in any mode that isn’t entirely focused on killing, you will only get half of what you need. 8 kills to get a UAV is a little much, but like I said, it forces you to play the objective.

My real problem with Advanced Warfare’s score streaks in particular, is none appeal to me. I haven’t found any that really get me excited, but I am still experimenting. For the first time in a Call of Duty game, you can adjust your score streak. You can add missiles to a Paladin, or make your UAV last twice as long. Doing so will increase the amount of points it takes to unlock, but you can make some pretty beastly Scorestreaks by tweaking them. This extra customization on top of everything else makes Advanced Warfare feel more original and will cause you to really take time to analyze every Streak possible.

That’s not the only customization within Advanced Warfare. You also can change your class in any way you want like Black Ops II with the Pick-13 system. You have 13 slots to fill with guns, attachments, perks, grenades, exo suit, and score streaks. This gives you ultimate control over your play style. For instance, I never use a secondary weapon. So I drop that and tack on an extra perk instead. I’m not even a fan of the Exo-suits all that much, so I can stop using an Exo-suit perk and get another slot for something I need more. The possibilities allow you to have some truly unique classes, instead of being forced into a predetermined soldier.

This carries over to how your character is dressed. This can range from futuristic battle armor, to an old-school pilot helmet. You earn this items from performing various tasks. For example, to get the pilot helmet you need to shoot another player in the air while you are also in the air—earning a Dogfight medal. The twist is you only carry the items for 30 minutes before they disappear. This is depressing when you earn something really awesome that you like, but it means you have to prove you can constantly win it. Proving it wasn’t a mistake you earned it, but something you are skilled enough to accomplish repeatedly.

I do have an issue with the spawning. No matter how you create spawn points on the map, they can be abused. I’ve been in a couple games where I couldn’t move from my position without being shot at because the entire enemy team sat outside the spawn point. That tends to happen in games with sides like Capture The Flag. I have had a few inexcusable spawns where I appear and get shot in my back, and the opposite has happened, where I appear and don’t even have to move to shoot an enemy. A little tweaking on the spawns would be great, but they are good enough where I don’t consider them broken.

Exo Survival mode feels like Modern Warfare III’s survival mode. You need to survive different rounds of enemies while unlocking better weapons and perks. It isn’t just surviving, there are various missions that involve collecting, defending, or killing certain enemies. The various objectives stops the mode from being completely repetitive. I’ve already spent a lot of times with friends in failed coordination attempts to reach the end, and being able to play online with three other people makes for some intense squad-play.

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is officially one of my favorite Call of Duty’s, and I’ve only had it for a couple weeks. I know I will have days logged on it, and that’s putting it lightly. Even though Advanced Warfare is breaking away from what we may call the traditional Call of Duty game, it reminds me of what made Call of Duty great in the first place. Intense, fast-paced, and fair gameplay that is just downright fun and addicting. If you weren’t a fan of Ghosts, I can say pretty confidently you will enjoy Advanced Warfare. It feels nothing like it, and I was shocked by how much fun I had the first time playing it. It is still Call of Duty, but it felt like a new experience and I can’t stress that enough. Whatever number Advanced Warfare is in the long series of Call of Duty games–it feels new. I’ve played at least eight different Call of Duty’s, and this is in my top three (fighting for possibly my favorite). Advanced Warfare did what was thought impossible, they gave the Call of Duty series a breath of fresh air. I commend Sledgehammer Games and I look forward to what they bring next in 2017. Who knows, maybe we’ll have Exo-suits then.

This is based off a retail copy of the Playstation 4 version of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare developed by Sledgehammer Games and distributed by Activision.