Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a 2014 first-person shooter game made by Activision. It is the 11th main game in the Call of Duty series. Sledgehammer Games created the version for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. High Moon Studios made the versions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Raven Software made the multiplayer mode and the Exo-Zombies mode.
Advanced Warfare was the first Call of Duty game developed mainly by Sledgehammer Games. Before this, the studio helped create Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward in 2011. The game was released on November 4, 2014. A special version called the Day Zero Edition was released on November 3 for people who ordered the game early. It included extra in-game items.
Before working on Advanced Warfare, Sledgehammer Games was making a game set during the Vietnam War. Development for Advanced Warfare started in late 2011, just before Modern Warfare 3 was released. This game was the first in the Call of Duty series since Call of Duty 2 to use a completely new game engine. For the single-player campaign, Sledgehammer hired actors Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey. The story takes place in a futuristic world between the years 2054 and 2061. It follows Jack Mitchell, a United States Marine Corps soldier, and his work with Atlas, a private military company that sells its services to the highest bidder.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare received positive reviews from critics. It was considered better than its previous game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Many praised the game’s visuals, voice acting, single-player story, and fast gameplay. Some critics said the single-player story was predictable. Later reviews were mostly positive, and the game often ranked in the top 10 lists of the best Call of Duty games. It won several awards and was a commercial success.
Gameplay
Advanced Warfare, like other Call of Duty games, is shown from the player's perspective. The game includes major changes, such as not using a traditional heads-up display (HUD). Instead, all information is shown through holographic projections from the player's weapon. The basic way of playing with guns stays the same, but new features are added, like "Exo" movements. These movements are made possible by an Exoskeleton, which lets players boost, dash, and jump high into the air. This is the first Call of Duty game to allow players to choose between different types of weapons, such as regular firearms, lasers, or directed energy weapons, each with unique traits. The game also includes Exo abilities, such as "Exo Cloak," which makes players temporarily invisible for stealth purposes.
The single-player campaign follows one character, Jack Mitchell, unlike most previous Call of Duty games that used multiple characters. It uses pre-recorded movie scenes, similar to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, to help tell the story. After completing missions, players earn upgrade points to improve their Exo suit or weapons. These upgrades include detection, armor, resistance, tactical options, grenades, sprint speed, recoil control, flinch resistance, reload speed, quick aiming, and battery life. The number of points earned depends on how well the player performs in missions. Additional points can be earned by completing side objectives, such as collecting "Intel" items. Players can also switch between different grenades, each with unique abilities.
The multiplayer mode in Advanced Warfare shares similarities with earlier Call of Duty games. The "Pick 10" system from Black Ops II returns as "Pick 13," letting players choose weapons, attachments, perks, and score-streaks within 13 points. Score-streaks can be upgraded with modules that add new abilities or effects, but these upgrades cost extra points. The game introduces weapon variants, which have different stats compared to base weapons. This increases the total number of weapons in the game to over 350. Supply drops allow players to earn new gear by playing the game. Each supply drop has random items, such as weapon variants, customization options, or bonus experience points. Players can also complete daily challenges to earn supply drops.
Exo Survival is a cooperative game mode introduced in Advanced Warfare. It is a new version of the Survival Mode from Modern Warfare 3 and allows up to four players to fight against AI-controlled enemies in a wave-based match. Players can choose from four Exo classes, each with different abilities and score-streaks. Weapons and score-streaks can be upgraded during the match. After a set number of rounds, players must complete objectives, such as defending a location or collecting intel from enemies. Completing these objectives gives bonus upgrade points, while failing them results in penalties, such as temporarily disabling the Exo suit or activating hostile security turrets. Exo Survival is played on the game's multiplayer maps, which are divided into four tiers. Each tier can be unlocked by surviving a specific number of rounds in the previous tier.
Exo Zombies was first introduced at the end of the Exo Survival map "Riot" and officially released with the Havoc downloadable content (DLC) pack. This mode features zombies that wear Exo suits, giving them greater mobility. The game mode includes five new characters. Exo Zombies plays like the original Zombies mode from Treyarch's Call of Duty games, where up to four players must survive endless waves of undead enemies. Players can complete an optional story quest at any time. Points are earned by injuring or killing zombies and can be used to open doors, clear obstacles, or buy new weapons and perks to improve survival chances. Players can also acquire Exo suits in this mode, allowing them to use new movement abilities. Different zombie types appear, such as Charger zombies with faster movement and Electro-magnetic zombies (EMZs) that can disable players' Exo suits when nearby.
The first Exo Zombies map, "Outbreak," was released with the Havoc DLC. The second map, "Infection," came with the Ascendance DLC. The third map, "Carrier," was included in the Supremacy DLC. The final map, "Descent," was released with the Reckoning DLC.
Plot
In 2054, U.S. Marine Jack Mitchell and Will Irons helped stop a North Korean attack on Seoul under the leadership of Sergeant Cormack. During the battle, Will was killed, and Mitchell lost his arm, which led to him being sent home due to his injury. After Will's funeral, Mitchell accepted a job at the Atlas Corporation, a private military company, by its CEO, Jonathan Irons, who was Will's father. Mitchell was given a prosthetic arm to replace the one he lost.
A terrorist group named the KVA, made up of former Chechen separatists led by Joseph "Hades" Chkheidze, began attacking targets. In 2055, Mitchell, Gideon, and other Atlas soldiers rescued the Nigerian Prime Minister and captured a KVA scientist in Lagos during an international meeting. However, they could not stop a more advanced KVA attack that caused a nuclear reactor to melt down on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. The KVA attacked nuclear plants worldwide, causing radiation to spread across many cities and killing 50,000 people. Over the next four years, Atlas became the world's strongest military force by helping displaced people and fighting the KVA.
In 2059, Mitchell and Gideon were sent to Detroit to capture Dr. Pierre Danois, the KVA's second-in-command. Danois told them that Hades was in Santorini, Greece, where the KVA was holding a meeting. In Greece, Mitchell killed Hades, who warned them about Irons and gave Mitchell a data chip before dying. Atlas agent Ilona studied the chip and found that Irons had killed the KVA scientist after learning about the planned attacks and allowed them to happen to increase Atlas's power and profit. Irons tried to arrest Mitchell and Ilona, but they escaped from Atlas's headquarters in New Baghdad with help from an unknown soldier. The soldier revealed himself to be Cormack, now a member of the Sentinels, a top U.S.-led global team created to investigate the KVA but now working to stop Atlas.
In 2060, Mitchell, Cormack, Ilona, and Knox infiltrated Irons' home in Bangkok. They discovered that Danois was working with Irons to create a bioweapon called "Manticore." The team stopped a plane carrying Manticore to Argentina, which crashed in Antarctica. Gideon helped the Sentinels defeat Atlas soldiers and retrieve a sample of Manticore. They learned that the weapon targets specific DNA, but does not harm Atlas members. The Sentinels and Gideon destroyed an Atlas laboratory in Bulgaria, destroying many Manticore samples. When Irons' plan was exposed, he declared war on the United Nations, blaming them for his son's death and claiming Atlas should control the world. The team found Irons planning to attack the United States with an Atlas strike in San Francisco. Atlas destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge, trapping the U.S. Navy in the Bay Area, but was stopped by Sentinel forces. The United States and other countries declared war on Atlas, forcing Irons to retreat to his base in New Baghdad.
In 2061, the Sentinels attacked New Baghdad to capture Irons. Atlas used Manticore, killing Knox and most of the troops. Mitchell, Ilona, and Gideon, who were former Atlas soldiers, were not harmed. They and Cormack were captured and taken to an Atlas prison camp where Manticore experiments were conducted on prisoners. The team escaped, but Irons shot Cormack and damaged Mitchell's prosthetic arm. After Cormack died, the team learned Irons was preparing to launch missiles filled with Manticore at military bases worldwide. Using armored suits, Mitchell and Gideon attacked Atlas' headquarters and destroyed the missiles. They found Irons as other Sentinels prepared to attack the building, but Irons disabled their equipment. Mitchell chased Irons to the edge of the building, where Irons grabbed Mitchell's prosthetic arm. Mitchell cut the arm off, causing Irons to fall to his death. Gideon pulled Mitchell to safety, and Mitchell said the war against Atlas was not yet finished.
Development
Before becoming co-developers of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Sledgehammer Games was working on another Call of Duty game called Call of Duty: Fog of War. Fog of War was announced after the Black Ops game and before Modern Warfare 3. It was planned to take place during the Vietnam War and would be an action-adventure third-person shooter video game. A Call of Duty massively multiplayer online game was also being developed. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg later said that Modern Warfare 3 was not the same game as Sledgehammer Games' action-adventure Call of Duty game. When asked if the action-adventure game was still being developed, Hirshberg stated that the Sledgehammer team was focused only on Modern Warfare 3, and their own game had been paused.
Director Michael Condrey said most of the game engine was created from scratch. He explained that while some old code remained, new systems for rendering, animation, physics, and audio were added. With the improved engine, the audio was completely redesigned from the beginning. Don Veca, who worked on Advanced Warfare, said the game’s audio is very advanced, giving it a realistic and high-quality feel. Glen Schofield noted that audio is now treated as equally important as other elements, and Don Veca was involved from the start of the project.
Another goal Sledgehammer Games achieved with Advanced Warfare was improving animations. The facial animation system used in the game is the same as the one used in James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. Activision stated that the new three-year development cycle for Call of Duty allowed Sledgehammer Games to create a "near photorealistic" world, unlike any previous Call of Duty game. Michael Condrey confirmed in a tweet that Advanced Warfare would include female soldiers in multiplayer.
On June 6, 2014, MCVOnline Magazine reported that High Moon Studios, known for the Deadpool and Transformers video games, was working on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Advanced Warfare. Sledgehammer Games was focused on the PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One versions of the game. Activision confirmed that Advanced Warfare would not be released on the Wii U, making it the first main Call of Duty game not available on a Nintendo platform since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in 2009.
Harry Gregson-Williams, who composed the main theme for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, returned for Advanced Warfare. The game’s overall score was composed by audiomachine. The score for the Exo Zombies downloadable content pack was composed by Chris Vrenna.
Marketing and release
Advanced Warfare was made available one day earlier to customers who bought the Day Zero Edition. This version included double experience points for the first day, two exclusive guns, and access to special weapons and an Exo Skeleton suit.
Microsoft released a bundle containing a 1-terabyte Xbox One console with a Sentinel Task Force-inspired design and a digital copy of the Day Zero Edition as a related product.
In May 2014, the official Call of Duty website showed a scrambled image that was meant to be revealed on May 4, 2014. However, a trailer was leaked on May 1, 2014, and officially released shortly after. The trailer introduced actor Kevin Spacey as a character in the game who dislikes democracy. It also displayed futuristic technologies, such as cloaking aircraft, twin-rotor drones, hover bikes, "spider" tanks, specialized weapons, powered exoskeletons, threat-detection grenades, and gloves that allow users to climb walls.
On June 9, 2014, E3 2014 began with a new gameplay trailer for Advanced Warfare. The trailer showed features like swarms of drone-like birds and infrared tools to identify enemies. During the event, Xbox head Phil Spencer stated that downloadable content for Advanced Warfare would first be released on Xbox Live, similar to previous games in the series.
On July 29, 2014, Sledgehammer Games released a trailer that provided more details about the main story of the game’s campaign. The last five seconds of the trailer briefly showed the multiplayer mode for the first time, revealing "score streaks" from Black Ops II and a new HUD design that changes with each game title. The trailer also announced a worldwide multiplayer reveal on August 11, 2014, during Gamescom 2014.
On October 30, 2014, Taylor Kitsch and Emily Ratajkowski appeared in a live-action trailer for the game, which was released before the game’s November 4 launch. The trailer was directed by Peter Berg, who previously worked with Kitsch in Battleship and Lone Survivor.
A pre-order bonus called "Advanced Arsenal" was introduced. It includes a Custom Exoskeleton, along with the EM1 Quantum and AK-12G weapons for multiplayer use. A collector’s edition was also announced, which includes a bonus multiplayer map called "Atlas Gorge," a remake of the "Pipeline" map from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, an Atlas Digital Content Pack with additional items, and a season pass for four post-release map packs. All pre-orders were upgraded to the Day Zero Edition, which grants 24 hours of early access, double XP, and extra weapons and items.
On November 3, 2014, Activision announced four DLCs for Advanced Warfare: Havoc, Ascendance, Supremacy, and Reckoning. A new co-op mode called Exo Zombies was revealed on November 27, 2014, and released alongside the Havoc DLC on January 27, 2015, for Xbox consoles, February 26 for PlayStation consoles, and March 3 for Windows. The Ascendance DLC was released on March 31 for Xbox consoles and April 30 for PlayStation consoles and Windows. It included four new maps, the second Exo Zombies map, and a new grappling hook feature. The Supremacy DLC, released on June 2 for Xbox consoles and July 2 for PlayStation consoles and Windows, added four new maps and continued the Exo Zombies campaign. The last DLC, Reckoning, was released on August 4 for Xbox consoles and September 3 for other platforms. Its release ended the exclusivity deal between Activision and Microsoft.
Reception
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare received "generally favorable reviews" according to Metacritic, a website that collects and summarizes game reviews. Josh Harmon from Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game a 9/10. He praised the engaging combat mechanics, clear story (which he called "a welcome shift for Call of Duty"), new movement options, detailed character specialization, and multiplayer, which he described as "The deepest, most enjoyable, and most skill-based Call of Duty multiplayer to date." He also praised the futuristic gadgets, calling them "a feature that breathes new life into the franchise." However, he criticized the single-mission level design for being similar to previous games, a predictable and disappointing plot twist, an unimpressive co-operative mode, and awkwardly designed single-player missions involving vehicles.
Brian Albert from IGN gave the game a 9.1/10. He praised the game’s setting in the mid-21st century, calling it the biggest and most successful change from what is expected in the Call of Duty series since the Modern Warfare trilogy brought the series into the 21st century. Albert praised the campaign, highlighting the performances of Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey as Mitchell and Jonathan Irons, but criticized the campaign for weakening the relationships between characters and overusing exposition dialogue. He praised the creativity of the campaign levels, especially missions that allowed players freedom to complete objectives. Albert praised the Exo suit, even though it was not fully used in the campaign, for making multiplayer more intuitive and fun. He noted that the Exo suit allowed advantages in multiplayer not possible in earlier Call of Duty titles and made modes like Capture the Flag feel more intense. Albert also praised the faster rewards given to players leveling up in multiplayer, such as cosmetic items, new weapons, and temporary perks like double experience points. He praised the Pick 13 System, an expansion of the Pick 10 System from Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which gave players more options for weapons, attachments, and score-streaks. He also praised the addition of a firing range in the multiplayer lobby, which allowed players to test their loadouts.
Daniel Tack from Game Informer gave the game a 9/10, praising the fast movement, extensive multiplayer weapon customization, excellent visuals, well-executed single-player story, varied multiplayer modes, and distinct single-player levels. He criticized the predictable ending and unimpressive weapon upgrades. He summarized the game as "a special step forward while keeping the gunplay that makes the series great."
PlayStation Lifestyle gave the game a 9/10, stating that Sledgehammer Games gave players more customization options beyond just cosmetic items, such as random unlocks and many modifications.
Ludwig Kietzmann from Joystiq gave the game a 4/5. He praised the variety of challenging multiplayer maps, three-dimensional movement, clear and fast-paced campaign, smart storytelling, exciting gameplay, lifelike characters, and movie-like presentation. He criticized the game for being similar to previous titles, saying "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare just doesn’t have the power to break through the expectations of the brand."
Miguel Concepcion from GameSpot gave the game an 8/10, praising the content-rich multiplayer, futuristic combat system, and new Uplink mode. He criticized the inconsistent story, which made the campaign less engaging, and the shallow difficulty curve, which made the co-operative mode "tedious."
The game received mixed reviews from USgamer, which gave it a 3.5/5. It said the game "executes the formula competently" but added features like mechs, laser cannons, and double jumps without fully exploring the setting, making it a "solid but ultimately unexciting" entry in the series.
One moment in the game that reviewers and players noticed was the funeral service for Will Irons, where players were prompted to press or hold a button to approach the coffin. On the PC version, the prompt read "Press F to Pay Respects" ("Hold to Pay Respects" on Xbox and PlayStation versions). This mechanic was criticized for being unnecessary and inappropriate to the tone of the funeral. The phrase later became an internet meme, sometimes used unironically, such as during a tribute stream for the Jacksonville Landing shooting, where viewers typed "F" in chat.
Activision claimed Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare generated more revenue than any other media launch in 2014. In November 2014, US retail sales of Advanced Warfare were 27% lower than 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts. Despite this, Advanced Warfare remained the top-selling game in the US for 2014.
The PlayStation 3 version sold 79,586 copies in its first week in Japan, making it the best-selling game of the week in the country. The PlayStation 4 version sold 64,060 copies in the same week, and the Xbox One version sold 3,370 copies.
Advanced Warfare won the "Best Graphics – Technology" award at IGN’s Best of 2014 awards. At the 2014 NAVGTR Awards, the game won two awards: Performance in a Drama (Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons) and Original Dramatic Score, Franchise. It received eight nominations: Writing in a Drama (Mark Boal), Use of Sound (Franchise), Graphics (Technical), Game (Franchise Action) (Glen Schofield, Michael Condrey), Direction in a Game Cinema, Character Design, Art Direction (Contemporary), and Animation, Technical. It also won the "Outstanding Realtime Visuals in a Videogame" award at the 2015 Visual Effects Society Awards. The game was nominated for awards from events such as The Game Awards 2014, the 11th British Academy Games Awards, the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and the 2015 Golden Joystick Awards. It was also nominated for the eSports Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2015.
Legacy
Reviews of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare over time have been mostly positive, with the game often listed among the top 10 games in the series. The futuristic setting and exo-suit gameplay were praised for introducing new gameplay features never seen before in the series. The campaign was highly praised for its exciting scenes and the performance of actor Kevin Spacey. NME's staff called it "stellar," and Complex's Dan Wenerowicz described it as "Call of Duty adrenaline at its finest." Chris Freiberg of Den of Geek noted some funny moments, like the origin of the "Press 'F' to pay respects" meme.
The multiplayer mode received mixed feedback, with some critics liking the maps and others having different opinions. The exo-suit gameplay either enhanced or challenged the player experience. Dave Aubrey of Sports Illustrated said that in 2014, most game controllers lacked rear paddles, which made the game harder to play. Some critics also criticized the use of loot boxes. Freiberg called the Exo Zombies mode "unique." In 2023, Cade Onder of ComicBook.com called Advanced Warfare "deeply underrated," praising Sledgehammer Games for taking a creative risk and delivering "the most innovative Call of Duty game at the time and it may still be."