Game Review: Call Of Duty – Advanced Warfare (Playstation 4)
The Story:
The art of war may be thousands of years old, but on the battlegrounds of the future combat has become a big business. Where men and women once stood in defense of their nation the employees of Private Military Corporations (PMCs) are deployed, armed with the latest technologies and an arsenal of advanced weapons. Soldiers no longer need to specialize in any area of combat — equipped with powerful exoskeletons, they become the masters of all battlefield skills. In this new age of privatized combat, one PMC stands at the forefront of the industry, the juggernaut Atlas Corporation. Founded and led by Jonathan Irons, perhaps the most powerful man in the world, Atlas Corporation represents the evolution of modern combat. Under the oversight of Irons and men like him, the rules of warfare have been completely rewritten, and national borders change with the demands of the highest bidders.
I really liked the fact that we’re experiencing a story that is pushing the Call Of Duty franchise into new territory. I think the fact that it’s a story that is less about actual government military forces and making it more about PMC’s which in my opinion takes it to a place that is technologically advanced yet very much plausible. The storyline itself gains a lot more credibility and sense of urgency with the performances of Kevin Spacey and Troy Baker. Spacey has this charismatic playfulness about his character that makes for some really great monologue moments and Baker gives off believability with every character he plays and this one was no different. On top of great performances there were some fantastic twists and turns in the story that kept me invested in what was going on and really had me wanting to unravel everything.
The Graphics:
Everything about this game looks gorgeous. From the very first scene to the final one it’s absolutely astonishing how great it looks and shows just how far the Call Of Duty brand has improved. The character texture are some of the best I’ve seen with them practically looking live action. Spacey is the perfect example of this. They did such a great job at creating his exact likeness in the game that in close ups you could see the pores and lines in his face. They were able to even get his mannerisms down perfectly thanks to the evolution of motion capture. Gone are the day of just having an A List actor provide voice over work for a character. We now have the actor himself actually in the game and they couldn’t have gotten a better person to do it. The environments look like they were ripped right out of a big budget action film and the crazy part is that you can barely tell that it looks like a game. Sledgehammer Games has contributed an advancement in the Call Of Duty franchise that’s impressive and really does put the “Advanced” in Advanced Warfare.
The Gameplay:
The controls aren’t too different than any other Call Of Duty game so you’ll have comfort in knowing that you’ll be able to pick it up without having to learn everything all over again. With the familiar comes the new as well. There are exo-skeletons that have features that are available for different situations such as a boost jump, a kinetic shield, cloaking, wall climbing and much more. Unfortunately it’s strictly on an as needed basis depending on what kind of exo-skeleton you may be using for a certain mission. I do wish that the game was a bit more “open” so that way those features could be used anytime though. Even with that small qualm on my end I still think that the added features are great and really do add a lot of depth and when playing through for the first time it just makes you feel like you’re a kid playing with a new, shiny toy. Multiplayer is now better than ever with the new inclusions in the game but every novice to online play complains about the same thing: “I keep being dominated by everyone”. Now there’s something included that can help with that, it’s called the Combat Readiness Program and what it does is basically gives you bots to practice on while navigating the multiplayer maps but that’s not to say that I still don’t get my ass handed to me. The other thing that I really dug was the customization aspect of your character. Not only can you gain perks and abilities for your exo-seleton but you can also change things like boots, helmets and fatigues which gives the player a unique look rather than just every player looking the exact same.
Bottom Line: This game is definitely a HUGE improvement over the last two entries of the Call Of Duty franchise and I think now that they have experimented a bit with some new things we can look forward to some really great advancements. Basically, if you love COD then you’re going to really like what they’ve done with it and if you don’t like COD then you may just become a new fan.
