Call of Duty Advanced Warfare Review
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Every fall the winds get colder, the trees shed their leaves, and the Call of Duty can be heard across LAN lines and through headsets across the world. The latest chapter, Advanced Warfare, aims to recover from last years moderately-received Ghosts, and directly compete with new IPs like Titanfall and Destiny. The story and technology are both set 40 years in the future, but are the new gadgets enough to make this franchise feel like its not delivering more of the same?

During the 6 to 8 hour campaign you play as Jack Mitchell, portrayed by the omnipresent Troy Baker, but the real star of the show is ATLAS President and CEO Jonathan Irons, played by Kevin Spacey. The academy-award-winning-actor consumes the screen whenever he makes an appearance, and has been given some delicious dialogue. Its one of the more fluid and cohesive storylines from a Call of Duty game in recent memory. Instead of juggling roles, you only play as Mitchell, so youre able to follow one continuous thread, and the pre-mission cut-scenes make the narrative much more accessible.

What makes less sense are some arbitrary limitations on what tech youre allowed to use and when. You bring 3 to 4 pre-assigned Exo-suit abilities with you on each mission, and your objectives are tied to this loadout. You may sense the perfect ability to use in a situation, only to remember the game wont let you equip it in that specific area. The new Exo-powers can make traditional Call of Duty maps feel completely different, but only when you have access to them. You level up your Exo suit between missions with points gained from gathering regular kills, grenade kills, headshots, and intel hidden in each level.

The Exo ability youll use most frequently is a burst of speed in any direction, including an indispensable forward-dash in mid-air. This combined with a boost jump and ledge grab will let you scramble over almost any obstacle in single-player and multiplayer. Other favorite tools include new threat grenades that scan for targets and temporarily reveal them with bright red outlines, and a grappling hook that turns a few later levels of the campaign into a stage from Arkham Asylum.

The advanced arsenal makes levels that would otherwise be standard Call of Duty fare suddenly unique and exciting, but there are still some rough moments. AI movement can appear off at times, and your teammates can be ten feet from a target and miss every shot. These hiccups arent enough to spoil what is one of the best Call of Duty campaigns in the series thanks to constantly evolving environments and Exo-tech. The ending doesnt make much sense, but youll have a good time getting to it.

Lifelike facial performances serve as the graphical centerpiece, but at times theyre more eerie than exciting. When a characters lips dont match their speech it can be hard to stay attached, but there are also moments that are very impressive. Overall its a better looking game than Call of Duty: Ghosts, at least on the Xbox One. Set so far in the future, the environments house lots of fun technical touches that simulate what our world might be like then.

Our favorite map is Terrace, a swinging nightclub straight out of Vice City, but others have fun hazards you can trigger. Riots prison will label targets on the opposing team, Ascend deploys turrets, and both Biolab and Recovery will open up new parts of the map over time. Maps in high places with perilous falls can keep things interesting given everyones added air time, and each environment feels adjusted for the increased movement speed.




Score: 8.7

Reviewed on Xbox One.

Written by Brandon Jones.