Yes, this report is a bit tardy.
CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE was released last week, but life (and the receipt of my review copy late on launch day) slowed down this posts’ trek to the site.
Nonetheless, since we’ve been discussing COD: AW a bit over the last year, thought I’d share a few very quick thoughts on this latest entry in the divisive and high-profile franchise.
There’s been much kerfuffle lately regarding the ‘health’ of COD on the whole: “Has it repeated itself too much?” “Has it failed to address the gameplay trends being engineered by its competition?” “Are they churning these games out too fast?” Etc.
ADVANCED WARFARE is a pointed effort to arrest the potential freefall of COD, and to re-invigorate the franchise in the eyes of the public and players alike. And, on the whole the effort works quite well.
If you’re one of the folks who’ve never really liked CALL OF DUTY from the outset? This game is not likely to entice you into the fold. Despite all the tweaks and enhancements brought to concept and gameplay here, ADVANCED WARFARE is still very much a COD game - period.
However, if you’re like many folks who’ve simply drifted from COD over the last few (admittedly) repetitive and sometimes frustrating) years, consider giving AW a go. As I Tweeted over the weekend, I… ‘Wouldn’t say COD: AW redefines the franchise, but it certainly freshens it nicely.’
The game is set in a near future. CGI Kevin Spacey’s Atlas Corporation - a high-tech, militarized, multinational enterprise - can and does do what governments can’t or won’t do. It’s rising to prominence and influence, but not always in ways which seem ‘right.’ Think our real-world’s Halliburton, or ROBOCOP’s OCP - but on an vast, James Bondian scale. Your character, Mitchell (Troy Baker), falls in with the Atlas team and runs ops with them under the direction of Spacey’s Jonathon Irons. But you KNOW it can’t be that clear-cut, right?
COD: AW’s verse feels ‘inspired by’ a variety of highly Geeky Science Fiction sources. There’s Neill Blomkamp grit and decay (and a ‘Goliath’ battle suit…
…which sure looks like that rig from DISTRICT 9).
There’s Joseph Kosinsky-level slickness and sheen, and no shortage of Wachowski-esque repulser technology (you know how MATRIX vehicles had those disc-shaped, lighty-uppy propulsion/suspension systems? Stuff like that is here…)
Derivative? I could see that argument, although in this context it comes together in a way which feels relatively fresh. Less ‘rip off’ and more ‘homage’? At least that’s the vibe I’ve gotten so far.
Gameplay is, as alluded above, quintessentially COD, with a few notable tweaks to liven up matters. ‘Threat’ grenades can be tossed into an area to illuminate enemies in a eerie red color for “X” time. Making them easy to spot, and bringing a touch of surreality to the proceedings. An “Overdrive” feature brings perceptual wonderment as the gameplay world around you distorts into slow motion, allowing one to get a necessary (or desperate) bead on targets for the briefest of moments. Very cool, almost hypnotic.
The much-publicized Exo gear allows for short thrusts of movement (lungeing to either side), jumping (rather high), speed bursts, etc. Punching an enemy, for example, is now a far more impactful and super-powered affair - and it is agreeably addictive.
In multiplayer, unlocks will ultimately bring you to a grenade which has multiple settings and capabilities - a damn nifty conceit, but one which presents a challenge if constantly on the run in multiplayer (if you ever see a guy scampering around like a confused squirrel in multi-player, that’s probably me). Individually and traditionally flavored grenades (frag, EMP, stun etc.) are also available. However, I’ve personally found grenades in this game to be underpowered and almost ineffective at times. In a vast majority of the online matches I’ve played, grenades simply weren’t used at all, by anyone. I’m wondering if their puniness is a factor in this? Perhaps The Powers That Be should boost their strength in upcoming updates…
All of this high-tech whizbangery and madness is held together with abundant and nuanced atmosphere, and the transcendent work of Spacey.
Truthfully, the ‘uncanny valley’ is far from being bridged here - yet mo-cap animation is easily strong enough, and Spacey’s deliverry potent enough, to make his Irons character utterly compelling and fully believable as a critically driving force within this universe. Shades of HOUSE OF CARDS Frank Underwood? Sure. But (and I haven’t finished the campaign yet, so I may be talking out of my ass), I see COD’s Irons as being what Underwood would become if he had limitless resources, and few checks and balances. Watching Irons do his thing is fun, amazing, and a little scary at times.
CALL OF DUTY: ADVANCED WARFARE is tremendously entertaining, sometimes dazzling spectacle, which brings welcomed pop to time-tested franchise conceits while still honoring them. It’s available in multiple editions (Atlas Pro, Limited Edition, Day Zero) across multiple platforms. I received the PS4 version and found it to, overall, posses more visual depth, detail, and ‘oomph’ than the XBOX ONE version - despite recent technical breakdowns to the contrary. There have been multiple reports of PlayStation Network users experiencing lag, broken matches, etc. I’ve encountered none of this over the past week. Multiplayer match assembly has been remarkably speedy for me, matches have been invariably stable, and on only one day (launch day) did I detect any lag at all - for whatever its worth.
This is a strong step in the right direction for CALL OF DUTY on the whole, but the history nut in me can’t help but yearn for a trip backwards in chronology now. I’d love, love, LOVE to see, for example, another World War II title in this series - created with the power and energy now being put into these games. A COD 2 on steroids, or a WORLD AT WAR (drivable vehicles in multiplayer)! Or a carrier based COD (maybe they could be part of an invasion force to uphold the ground war tradition) . I doubt my yearnings would have much commercial appeal these days, but who knows? Anything is possible. And, after all this time, perhaps the ‘everything old is new again’ rule might apple?
This said, ADVANCED WARFARE does have freakin’ ray guns, and they’re bad ass. But that’s a different story…
————
Glen Oliver
“Merrick”
