The next version of Call of Duty is called Advanced Warfare and will be released in November 2014.
In recent years, the Call of Duty franchise has been widely criticized for its lack of innovation and continued replication of the same system.
Will that change with Advanced Warfare? Is Call of Duty ever going to use a new engine? Should you bother with this game in any way, shape, or form?
Here are 5 important things to know about Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that will help you make up your mind.
5) It’s being developed by Sledgehammer Games
Back in 2011, Activision announced a new three year development cycle for its Call of Duty games. That development cycle would see three different studios release different versions of Call of Duty every year.
So, while Call of Duty games continue to be released every year, the game you’re playing is actually the result of three years’ worth of work.
Here’s what you need to know about Sledgehammer Games:
-It was founded in 2009
-It co-developed Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward
-The co-founders of Sledgehammer Games have previously worked on Dead Space
-After Infinity Ward parted ways with its co-founders, West and Zampella, the company was in a bind and had only 20 months to complete the next Call of Duty game (it was prepared for a 3 to 5 year development cycle). Infinity Ward partnered with Sledgehammer Games to create Modern Warfare 3.
Sledgehammer Games is a studio filled with capable game executives. Although the company doesn’t have a long track record, it’s proven capable at creating Call of Duty games and performing well under pressure – especially after the risk it took when developing Modern Warfare 3.
-Sledgehammer Games has 200 employees and just a 1% turnover rate, which is remarkable in the gaming industry.
4) Advanced Warfare will take place in the year 2054 with futuristic technology
Call of Duty began its life as a World War II shooter. Since that first Call of Duty, we’ve gone to all of the theaters of World War II, Vietnam, the Cold War, modern warfare, Iraq, Afghanistan, random fictional middle eastern countries, and many more interesting locales.
With Advanced Warfare, the creators apparently thought that they had covered every possible real war, which is why they’ve bumped the series up by 4 decades.
That’s right: Advanced Warfare takes place 40 years from now in the year 2054. In 2054, soldiers are outfitted with advanced exoskeletons and can fly using energy thrusters.
3) Kevin Spacey has a starring role
Today, Kevin Spacey is well-known for his role in House of Cards (and of course, he was an accomplished actor beforehand). In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Spacey plays a starring role.
Spacey provides the likeness, voice, and movements for Jonathan Irons, the antagonist in the upcoming game. Spacey’s acting was captured using the same performance-capture system used by Avatar. Ultimately, this means a more engaging experience for fans with an actor who truly brings his character to life.
2) Mercenaries are the world’s driving military forces, not national armies
In most Call of Duty games thus far, you’ve been a member of an official or unofficial military organization affiliated with a particular country. Whether it’s the U.S. army or the 101st paratrooper division, Call of Duty players have always worn some type of flag on their proverbial sleeve.
With Advanced Warfare, that will apparently change. In 2054, countries no longer maintain large armies. Instead, they hire mercenary groups called Private Military Corporations (PMCs) to fight on their behalf.
The protagonist in Advanced Warfare is a member of a PMC. Your goal is to take down Jonathan Irons (Kevin Spacey) as he fights the United States government.
1) Almost everything we know about Advanced Warfare is from one trailer
Advanced Warfare was announced in May 2014. The announcement was accompanied with a cinematic trailer featuring Kevin Spacey:
From the trailer, we can surmise a few things:
-Advanced Warfare appears to use the exact same engine as previous Call of Duty titles
-The gameplay in Advanced Warfare looks very similar to previous Call of Duty titles
-The only real changes so far appear to be from new technologies like vertical thrusters, stealth helicopters, etc.
Ultimately, the future doesn’t look that advanced for 2054. If a Call of Duty game took place in 1974 I think we’d notice a few more differences.
The trailer has split fans. So far, the trailer has attracted 19 million views but its dislike bar is dangerously large.
Personally, I stopped buying Call of Duty titles after Modern Warfare 2. I had spent at least 100 hours in every previous game in the series. For fans like me, there wasn’t enough new material in the newer games to make an upgrade worthwhile.
We’ll see what fans think of Advanced Warfare when it comes out in November 2014.
