Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare Review

It helps too that many of the missions factor your Exo Suit heavily into the objectives, meaning you’ll be forced to move around in new and exciting ways that we really haven’t seen before in a Call of Duty game. One particular Stealth mission where you swing around using the grapple hook comes to mind as being a particular highlight. It’s an excellent example of the game’s more open structure as you’re able to use your hook to stealthily make your way through the enemy base as you see fit. There’s no one defined path; rather, you can sneak around however you wish, as long as you make it to your objective and don’t get caught.

In addition to the Titanfall-esque movement that you can now partake in, your Exo Suit also gives you access to several neat abilities that further aid you in combat. Again, these aren’t readily available all the time, but at various points in the game you can use your Exo Suit to camouflage, deploy a shield, slow down time, shoot a grappling hook and stun enemies with a sonic wave. Like with the added movement, these abilities, when available, really open up the battlefield and give you a lot more options when it comes to engaging in combat.

Throughout the 7-8 hour campaign, you’ll travel all around the world, visiting locations like Greece and Antarctica as you try to stop the KVA and find out who’s really behind all this chaos. In terms of structure, things feel as they should, with Advanced Warfare rushing you through a mostly on-rails campaign and throwing you into firefight after firefight with larger than life set pieces interspersed in between. There’s rarely a moment to catch your breath.

However, unlike its predecessors, Sledgehammer dares to experiment with non-scripted moments a bit more than in previous outings, giving us areas and missions that are slightly more open and situations where you have a bit more control. This is by no means Crysis, but it does give you more freedom than we’re used to seeing from the series, resulting in a single player campaign that keeps you on your toes at all times. Especially when it comes to those signature set pieces.

While the story itself may be lacklustre, the set pieces it places you in are amongst the best the series has ever seen. From a thrilling highway chase that has you jumping around on truck rooftops to taking down a plane in mid-air by planting a charge on its wings, there are truly some jaw-dropping moments here. Of course, it’s all incredibly far-fetched and completely unrealistic, but I’ll be damned if the cinematic sequences aren’t a ton of fun to play through.

Being set in the future, vehicles also get an overhaul and I must say, they handle pretty well. From a speedboat that can submerge underwater to avoid missiles to hoverbikes that are just too much fun to race around on, the vehicles in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare are all impressive. There’s quite a few sections of the campaign where you’ll be engaged in vehicular combat, too, so there will be plenty of chances to get behind the wheel and cause some destruction.

As for weapons, they don’t receive as much of an overhaul, but the grenades are certainly worth mentioning. Two particular types stand out: One is the Smart Grenade, which after throwing can be aimed towards a target of your choice. There’s also the Threat Grenade, which highlights all enemies in the area, making it easy to spot those who are behind cover or out of sight.

Again, there’s nothing revolutionary here, and a lot of this we’ve seen in other titles before, but still, Sledgehammer Games has done one hell of a good job of crafting a Call of Duty campaign that truly feels like a step forward. There’s a lot to like here, and the combat feels fast-paced, engaging and thrilling throughout. Rarely is there a dull moment or a poorly designed mission and though the fact that your Exo Suit abilities are limited, the single player portion of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is still miles ahead of the last few outings and is, for once, actually worth playing.

But let’s be honest here, none of you are reading this review for my thoughts on the single player campaign. Of course, you all just want to know how the multiplayer has been improved. On that note, I’m happy to say that like the campaign, the online portion of the game has received several significant upgrades as well and offers up one of the most robust and polished multiplayer offerings that the franchise has ever seen.

For one, the inclusion of the Exo Suit brings with it a whole new element, just like it does to single player. No longer are your fights constricted to the ground and due to this, the matches feel quicker and more frantic than ever before. Plus, you’ll also have an Exo Ability slot to customize, so you can give your suit powers like cloaking, a temporary speed or health boost, a device to silent your footsteps, etc. It adds even more into the mix and totally changes the multiplayer dynamic. The only issue with these abilities is that while they’re neat and fun to use, they run on a battery and once used, they only recharge after you die. It’s not a huge issue, but it would be nice if you could use them more than once since you never really know when you’re going to need them until it’s too late.

As for the maps, they’re all designed with the Exo Suit in mind. You’ll still come across corridors and close combat areas, but for the most part, these maps are large and open and definitely encourage you to put the game’s new mechanics to use. They’re also built in a way that allows for multiple points of entry into any area, meaning you always have to be watching your surroundings as enemies can ambush you from several directions. It almost feels like you’re never covered, as players can use their Exo Suits to reach just about anywhere and attack from almost any angle. Due to this, the battlefield becomes a more dangerous, but also more thrilling place to engage in combat.