So here it is, the one we’ve been waiting for, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare!
First off, let’s check out the campaign. As soon as you start the campaign you are struck by the awesomeness of the games graphics. Sledgehammer have made some amazing progress in making the characters look lifelike. Usually the characters can tend to move awkwardly and just don't seem human. But in this game the characters look so lifelike, a move fluidly and freely, but the biggest improvement for me is the eyes of the characters. They look so real that you find yourself relating to the character as if it were a real person, rather than an animation/CGI. Add the great story line and video-like cinematics of the cut-scenes to the reality of the characters and you find yourself immersed in the game.
The story begins with a dramatic fight scene, resulting in the loss of your close friend… and your arm. At your friends funeral you’re approached by “Irons”, your friend’s father. He owns a company (Well… it’s an army really) specialising in advanced weaponry, surveillance, armour and prosthetics. He offers you an advanced prosthetic arm as a “second chance”. You take up the offer but I will let you discover the rest of the story for yourself. The storyline has some great twists in the plot leaving you hooked for more.
Some of the missions in this game are stunning. Personally my favourite was “Traffic” – Using the exo-skeleton you find yourself boost-jumping from the roofs of lorries and buses while travelling down a busy highway at high speed with the KVA chasing you down trying to shoot you. As you would expect, you leave complete carnage in your trail... I love it!
The theme through the game is the future of weapons technology. You’re presented with an exo-skeleton which will make you jump higher, move faster and become stronger than the average human. My first thought was “This is a bit unrealistic”, but after using and studying the exo-skeleton it does seem like this could actually be feasible… I would certainly buy one! The advanced weaponry in the game is very futuristic, but believable. There are still the classic weapons and attachments that we all love like the MP5, but there’s a whole heap of new ones! Including laser based weapons and grenades that can be changed during use from EMP, to Stun or Smoke. Very handy to have!
Now, let’s get down to the serious stuff…. Online Multiplayer! There’s still a few idiots running around quick scoping but to be honest they don’t last long because everything is so fast paced that nobody lasts very long. It’s full on, fast-paced, chaos… which is what we all love! There doesn’t seem to be much variety of maps on multiplayer but I’m sure more will be released. I found this multiplayer a lot harder than previous multiplayers and it soon dawned on me why. You’re not just looking around corners for enemies… now that they have their pesky boost-jump ability they can be up in the air when you turn a corner, or on a ledge halfway up a wall! So you need to look up a lot more! This was annoying at first, but once you start playing them at their own game you’ve got it in the bag. Ooh-rah!
Not only are the weapons fully customisable, but so is the exo-skeleton suit and the character. You can upgrade clothes and accessories on your character to look cool or a fool, but that’s just cosmetic. The upgrades on the exo-skeleton and weapons are where the real game winning tweaks lie. The classes you create are pretty much the same setup as the past, but you've got your new equipment to choose! As you would expect it's pretty difficult at first but you can rank up pretty quickly and gain access to some awesome weapons!
The multiplayer game types are the usual, but still no hardcore free for all which I've been longing for since it was removed from Black Ops 2. Xbox..... PLEEEEEASE bring it back!!!!! Anyway, i'm digressing so back to the review. There's also a really good survival mode. It's the usual waves of enemies coming at you with small timed breaks between each wave, but with a twist! In each wave you get challenges, some could be as simple as survive the wave, others can be survive the wave but disarm bombs or protect locations in the process. You also gain points for kills which can be converted into weapons and exo-skeleton upgrades. This game mode will keep you playing for hours, if not days or months!
Overall this game is fast, loud, challenging, action-packed, chaotic fun! OOH-RAH!!!
I would like to give a massive thank you to Xbox for the opportunity to review this game.
