Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Reviews
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare offers a much more innovative take on the first-person shooter series than previous installments, but it's still shackled to the core recipe of forcing players to follow allies through set piece moments in the story campaign. The multiplayer offers a higher degree of innovation and it should certainly entertain quite a lot of fans who are open to trying the new mechanics.
To cap this all off, I'll address the "Exo Suit feels like Titanfall" thing mentioned at the start of the review. To the untrained eye, this may well be the case. Jumping up and boosting through a window to take down a player shooting from the other side of the room is possible in both of the games, but the key difference is this. Titanfall was designed like that from the ground up. Advanced Warfare has taken the core Call of Duty mechanics and enhanced them with these new fangled suits. They feel totally different, and frankly, who cares if they've taken an idea from another game and implemented it? That's what video games have been doing since day one, and although I doubt it's been ripped wholesale from Respawn's new baby, it's done more for Call of Duty than anything has done over the past 4 or 5 years. Considering how much I was down on the series as a whole, Advanced Warfare has turned me round on it. Maybe not quite to the level I used to, but it's done enough to get me back on side again.
Overall, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare lives up to the franchise's expectations. It looks, feels, and plays like a CoD game, and there's been quite a few additions to make Halo fans like me interested. They've done some work to make the game more welcoming to newcomers, and a lot of detail has gone into the single player campaign to make it as cinematic as a summer blockbuster. And despite a few hiccups, it plays a lot like one. If you already like Call of Duty, and you're a Halo fan to boot- you won't be disappointed by this installment in the series.
So that's my final opinion on Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The single-player is phenomenal, and the multiplayer is good but limited by its own unlock system. I personally think the story alone is worth a purchase, and I hope that this becomes the mark of Sledgehammer Call of Duty titles in the future. Personally, I have played enough Call of Duty multiplayer already, heck, I have played enough first person shooter multiplayer in general, to know what I am getting in a multiplayer suite like this. Robot suits and double jumps and future weapons are all decently cool additions to the multiplayer formula, but a studio that is willing to criticize the U.S. government, capitalism, and global war culture in its story is a true rarity worthy of praise.
Advanced Warfare is Call of Duty's true starting point for a new generation. The tech enhancements are an important evolution for the franchise, giving the online proceedings a necessary shot in the arm. The campaign is predictable but thrilling with enough exclusive tech tricks and set-pieces to make it a must-play. The co-op can sustain you for multiple hours, and it's hard to imagine playing Call of Duty multiplayer without an Exo-suit ever again. Sledgehammer has found fun in the future, and we can't wait to go back to it.
The single-player campaign in Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is more engaging but it still makes some mistakes in the end with characters making decision and choices I felt were rushed or simply did not make sense. Technically speaking the game is the best Call of Duty to date and even the story issues can't detract from that. Coupled with the new multiplayer modes, both co-op and PvP, Call of Duty Advanced Warfare delivers on its purchase price.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is worth your time. It delivers with its story, great acting, dialogue, the realistic facial animations, cool weapons of the future, and the welcome change in pacing from combat missions to stealth missions. I welcome the idea of using great actors like Spacey in a big-budget game, and I look forward to future versions of the game that marry Hollywood blockbuster actors with the blockbuster-style game play.
There is no question a big risk was taken with this year's game. Does this risk pay off? It sure does as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is about the most fun I have had playing a Call of Duty game in several years. Granted it remains very familiar but the leaps are significant and in the end pay off.
Sledgehammer Games does a great job with their first full go around of Call of Duty. Advanced Warfare features a campaign with an entertaining story, a deep multiplayer experience that is fast and on target, and a co-op experience that has small twists to keep it unique. They didn't reinvent the franchise with their first Call of Duty release, but they did produce something enjoyable.
If you're a fan of the series, I'd say this is worth picking up. If you're new to the series, this is a good place to start. On the other hand, if you're not into the competitive multiplayer and are coming for the single-player campaign, I'd say wait for a price-drop. If you prefer open-world shooters rather than action-movie, linear campaigns I'd say hold off entirely. Call of Duty is not for you.
Advanced Warfare creates the multiplayer shooter players have been craving for years. Inspired by the old guard and incorporating a host of new features, this is the new face and bright future of Call of Duty.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare provides much needed change and variety to revitalize the franchise for the future.
Sledgehammer's first full-time foray into a Call of Duty game is a success. Advanced Warfare has great ideas that were executed well that will leave the players pumping with adrenaline throughout the game.
Advanced Warfare is COD par excellence, a premiere example of the game that's almost a genre unto itself. Its singleplayer is better than most in the franchise, and the multiplayer is probably the best yet.
There are options all over the place -- asymmetrical multiplayer, open-world single-player, full narrative co-op, user-generated content, more use of vehicles off rails, grappling hooks in goddamned multiplayer... and so on. None of that is meant to lead you to believe this is a bad game -- it's the best Call of Duty since Modern Warfare and may in fact be better, but saying that isn't because it's changed the series' formula the way that game did, rather it's refined it. And maybe that's not the fault of any of the developers working on the game, and rests more squarely on the shoulders of the publisher who sets that beat I've talked so much about.
With gorgeous visuals and the best campaign seen in years, Advanced Warfare won't convince people that hate the franchise that it's good, but former fans should return to see how the franchise has progressed.
The culmination of changes in Advanced Warfare make it the freshest playing entry in the series, and the largest departure from its norm.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a glorious return to form. Now, that "form" still requires a bit of tweaking and honing but for the most part, this is a positive reemergence of a video game superpower. The production values are sky-high, the multiplayer will keep you coming back again and again, and above all else, this is Call of Duty with a twist.
Sledgehammer Games have taken a huge risk by sending the series so far into the future. Some fans may feel left behind, but the simple truth is should they choose to ignore the title, they will be missing out. This is one of the better Call of Duties in recent years. It's fresh enough to the point that it's alien, yet it's still Call of Duty underneath that futuristic surface.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare adds new life with movement and graphics, but falls short on sound design and story.