I bought this game on August 3rd 2015 at 11:07 AM
I think the main issue in this game is the fact that Kevin Spacey provides the voice for one of the main characters in the game. Actors Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey nail their roles as player character Mitchell and Atlas Corporation President Jonathan Irons, respectively. Mitchell is gruff and reserved after a personal loss, but unquestionably dangerous and loyal to those who remain. Irons speaks with unwavering confidence; he’s the kind of charismatic bad guy you can’t help but like. These characters, and the rest of the cast, are brought to life with some of the best character models and facial animations. Pores, hair, and creases in skin are all rendered in great detail, to the point where you know, just by seeing how a character’s face displayed shock and horror, that bad news was coming.
The biggest hindrance to Advanced Warfare’s story is the way it fails to establish its characters’ human relationships. For instance, the earliest interaction we see is Mitchell and a fellow Marine; we’re told the two are inseparable brothers in arms who’ve served together for months, but some of their conversations seem as though they’ve just met, and come off as artificial exposition. The same thing happens when Irons gives Mitchell a tour of Atlas headquarters -- there’s no way Mitchell wouldn’t already know all about the world’s biggest mercenary army. And, like most Call of Duty campaigns, this one ends about six hours later with a confusing, cheesy moment that doesn’t quite tie off Advanced Warfare’s story threads.
Between those story bookends, Advanced Warfare admirably takes some risks with how its campaign plays, and on nearly all fronts, it succeeds. This is still a Call of Duty game, which means you can expect a handful of the tired, stereotypical missions where the guy in front of you has a big “follow me” symbol above his head. Most level designs are as tightly linear as they’ve ever been, however almost all come with a unique gadget that changes how you take on the somewhat repetitive human and drone enemies and keeps them feeling fresh. If you’re given a sonic emitter to stun enemies, you’ll be able to take on larger groups. If you’re given a grappling hook, you can play cat and mouse by darting around corners and on rooftops. One level lets you drive a hover tank, and one level takes place beneath a crumbling glacier.
A few powerful missions open up and give you some real freedom in a way that’ll surprise Call of Duty campaign veterans. In Advanced Warfare’s stealth level, for example, I grappled onto ledges, sneaked through bushes, and scouted to find unguarded paths through heavily patrolled areas. The stealth mechanics are just nuanced enough to be tough, but not so finicky that I didn’t know know why I’d failed. For once, Call of Duty made you feel like a badass without needing to blow anything up. Its main failing is that being spotted causes an automatic trip back to your checkpoint, because Call of Duty doesn’t know how to handle a transition from stealth to combat.
Your arsenal is impressive, too, with a variety of mostly typical but great-sounding weapons, grenades, and, gadgets to get the job done. A few stand out, like the Threat Grenades that highlight enemies through walls, directed energy weapons (or “lasers,” if you will) that burn through armor, and a wide variety of weapon attachments that can turn your conventional shotgun into a fast-firing monster of death.
The Exo suit is the kind of change I was looking for in Call of Duty multiplayer. It’s intuitive, fun, and it affects everything you do. From the first moments I was boosting and dodging in firefights to make myself a harder target. After just a few matches, I started using my mobility to my advantage before the next fight even started. If I saw a ledge, roof, or open window, I knew I could probably leap to it quickly and get the jump on enemies below. If someone started shooting me first, I was able to “creatively retreat” in ways that weren’t possible in a Call of Duty game until now. And that’s just in the context of killing. Modes like Capture the Flag feel way more intense now that the carrier can boost 10 meters in the air and disappear with a flash.
Since Modern Warfare, Call of Duty has excelled at giving you rewards to earn in multiplayer. Advanced Warfare follows that tradition, but greatly accelerates the pace. I quickly earned supply drops full of cosmetic items, new weapons, and temporary perks, like a double XP boost. Finding a gun I liked was great; finding another version of that gun with better stats and a cool weapon skin is even better. There are also more attachments than ever before, and each one I unlocked did distinct things that changed how I played. One weapon sight highlights enemies through walls, essentially enabling a wall hack. These unlocks complement the traditional XP system and challenges for each specific weapon, which offer new camo patterns as you score more kills and headshots. Despite the wealth of items and skins to earn, it never feels overwhelming, and I never felt compelled to use anything I didn’t want to.
The third mode in Advanced Warfare is a wave-based cooperative mode called “Exo Survival,” where the fun comes from never knowing what’s going to happen next. One moment you’re fighting attack dogs, then you’re collecting intel, then you’re fending off giant robots, then you’re shooting invisible enemies. It’s a nice mixture of defensive and offensive objectives, and working together with up to three friends and picking complementary Exos is crucial as the waves become more difficult. The difficulty doesn’t ramp up quite as quickly as it should, though, so after you spend your unlock points on upgraded suits and weapons within a round, you’ll do a fair bit of waiting for the challenge to kick in.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare excels in online multiplayer, with brand new mechanics and a complex, loot-filled progression system that hooks you in. But the surprises stop there. With a by-the-numbers campaign structure and unimaginative co-op mode, the competitive multiplayer mode stands as Advanced Warfare's strongest asset.