Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call of Duty Advanced Warfare once again proves why this series is so popular with its next-gen physics and flawless gameplay.

The exosuit launches the series to new, refreshing and necessary heights, giving both single- and multiplayer a major leg up. Let's also give a shout-out to Kevin Spacey, who truly amazes in the role of ultimate bad guy Jonathan Irons.

Jonathan Irons may scoff at the idea of dying for what you believe in, as it doesn't make that belief true, but at least so far as this game goes, it's entertaining, and that's more than enough.

Sledgehammer Games has given players a greater feeling of customization that goes beyond the cosmetic of an emblem and given way to random unlocks and a great number of modifications.

Based on the know-how of Dead Space's Sledgehammer Games, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is simply the best game of the IP thanks to a 4-star cast, and well scenarised solo. Add to the mix the best multiplayer we've seen in a long time, with a Modern Warfare 3 inspired co-op and a nervous versus, and you've got the best Call of Duty game we've seen in years.

With the addition of a new dimension and brand new weapon types, Advanced Warfare’s multiplayer feels great. It’s fast paced, it’s smooth, and it feels rather well balanced. Add to that a genuinely compelling single player, and Advanced Warfare does enough to reignite anyone’s interest in the series.

At the heart of Advanced Warfare is the exoskeleton and all of the possibilities it opens up, transforming the way that you get around amidst the futuristic setting. Yet it delivers on many more levels too, from a compelling story and cast of characters to the graphics and the vast array of options for multiplayer character and loadout customisation.

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.

Overall, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare lives up to the franchise's expectations.

The best Call of Duty release since Black Ops. [Issue#251, p.62]

While it's not the landmark first person shooter it aspired to be, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is nevertheless the best entry in the series since the original Modern Warfare.

Sledgehammer innovates, takes risks and finally hits the spot with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The addition of exoskeleton and its abilities are a breath of fresh air in the saga, whose multiplayer is once again really entertaining.

A return to pre-Ghosts form for the series, both in terms of solo and adversarial multiplayer. Held back by a lacklustre co-op offering, but otherwise a rock solid entry. [Christmas 2014]

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.

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. It retains its core the fans adore while offering a shifting paradigm that gives us a fresh perspective. It doesn’t work equally well in campaign and multiplayer and there are minor mechanical stumbling blocks, but the concept is sound.

While the changes here may sound minor to someone only casually interested, those small increments (in addition to the movement overhaul) mean the world to its returning fan base. The culmination of changes in Advanced Warfare make it the freshest playing entry in the series, and the largest departure from its norm.

Power doesn't always change everything. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare again has a great multiplayer and it is a really good CoD episode, but the single player campaign feels old.

Advanced Warfare gently shakes up the series’ conventional play with the new exoskeleton and enhances previous establishments, as is the case of the Pick 13 system. Overall, these are small steps in the right direction, despite its not becoming a tremendous evolution for Call of Duty.

The multiplayer maps need work, but otherwise this is the best Call of Duty game in years. [Jan 2015, p.66]

Despite a single player campaign that is too predictable, the fresh and fun multiplayer, with the addition of the boost mechanics, is reason good enough to go back for another ride.

A welcome outsider take on a consistent series, increasing the pace still further in online multiplayer to fantastic effect. However, solo play feels a bit safe in comparison. [Christmas 2014, p.79]

It refreshes the old formula sufficiently to keep it interesting – but doesn’t do enough to become something special in its own right. It’s a lot of fun to play, but with a short campaign, uneven story, and by playing things a little too safe, it’s not quite as advanced as it claims to be.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is not a revolution; it is rather an evolution that is what to be expected for a game that is renewed every year.

A potential new direction for the series and a decent start. However a shame that the single player is lacking somewhat.

Punchy, futuristic weapons, even faster gameplay, and additional agility make Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare a joy to play, both offline and online.

It's faster, more elegant and plays really diversely thanks to the depth the weapon, perk and upgrade systems bring.

The campaign doesn't have much to offer, and Kevin Spacey can only do so much. On the other hand, the multiplayer gameplay shows some courage, making this the best online COD experience since the first Black Ops.

Advanced Warfare is a really good CoD episode, with the Exo evolutions and a campaign supported by an excellent cast, but it doesn't revolutionize the series.

Despite a few pulled punches this is the best Call Of Duty has been in years, and the multiplayer in particular is the most innovative since Modern Warfare began.

As someone who has been drifting further and further away from Call of Duty for the past few years, I can certainly say that Advanced Warfare's mobility kept me interested much longer than Ghosts or Black Ops II has. It's the best multiplayer the game has seen in some time and the whole thing totals up to a satisfying, if familiar experience.

The huge change in player mobility is less of a paradigm shift and more of an overdue retooling for an 11-year-old FPS franchise, especially in a year of mobility-focused shooters. Yet for all its predictability, Advanced Warfare is a deluge of action-film bravado, and it's difficult to not be carried away by its tidal forces.

Advanced Warfare isn't the revolution Call of Duty needed. Exo movements are a lot of fun in multiplayer, but are underused during the campaign. Exo survival is not as strong as Zombie modes or Spec Ops. Yet this episode is the most original in recent years.

A superb overall package, one that has me interested in Call of Duty again. For a future warfare title with drones and jetpacks, Sledgehammer's success is partly to be found by looking to the series' past, and by combining its own ideas with COD's natural appeal it has reinvigorated the franchise.

There’s no way to take back what it has said in the past—its trivialization of history with Black Ops and shift toward jingoistic chest-thumping in Modern Warfare 2 and 3—but in Advanced Warfare’s recognition of death as a by-product of war there is a chance for a new way forward.

As solid as ever and the best it’s been in quite a while. I just won’t be holding out hope for next year.

But as someone who deeply cares about narrative in game, it's immensely frustrating to see the money that Activition is clearly throwing at the narrative not bearing fruit.

Advanced Warfare brings some new elements to the experience that make it stand out, but some of these changes only serve to remind us how rigid the Call of Duty box is, and how unwilling the franchise is to think outside it.