Technology Changes Everything: Call of Duty Advanced Warfare by Jaime Baeza

Terrorists in the mid-21^st century are targeting a variety of nuclear reactors in many parts of the world and on different nations crippling many governments and destroying their defenses. The nations have to rely on privately owned military companies to assist in their predicament. This is the time period that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare takes place in where as technology is evolving, dramatic changes in politics occur. This video game is a first-person shooter that was developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision that was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on November 4, 2014. Many of the aspects presented in this game such as gameplay and visuals has made this new installment in the Call of Duty franchise a must get game.

            The gameplay presented in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is similar to older Call of Duty games with new gameplay mechanics that make the game stand out from the rest of the games. Both tactics and technology have evolved in a new form of combat for the franchise. The new futuristic innovated technology, such as Specialized Drones, vehicles, energy based weapons, cloaking devices, newly enhanced grenades, and the main gear being exoskeletons that allows new introduction to gameplay mechanics. Exoskeletons in this game enhance player’s movement, boost jumps and grappling, covert cloaking abilities, and biomechanics are in the series. This allows players to explore the huge 3-D environment to accomplish methods of completing each mission in the single-player campaign. The combat in Advanced Warfare is also a key principle in the game. Thanks to the large amount of customization and characters abilities gives the game more substance than just pointing and shooting. For example players can use parts of the environment to help them in their combat such as tearing car doors off and using them as a shield and being able to throw it at enemies, in addition to this customizations in the Exoskeleton suits such as upgrading to gain more abilities greatly enhances the gameplay. Lastly there are many in game elements that cause you to adjust quickly to the condition being thrown upon you. For example there is a driving scene where you are in pursuit of an enemy vehicle and while you drive hazards such as other cars, missiles, and enemies so you use evasive maneuvers to try to stay on the road.

            The visuals in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is miraculous because of the attention of details the developers incorporated into the game. Effects, such as explosions, smoke effects, real world elements like land marks, and the full 3-D environment creates a feeling of interaction between you and the game that makes this game come alive. One example of incredible visuals was a scene where you are fighting on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco where the enemy soldiers deploy a series of drones that attach themselves to the support cables and detonate, causing the bridge to collapse. Another example of appealing visuals is the different locations presented such as forest, cities, military compounds, and cliffs that provide a sense on how the world is structured. Lastly due to these visuals enhanced in this game makes it feel like a movie experience with lots of action, excitement, and lots of thrill while playing this game.

            The audio or soundtracks played throughout the game is really high-quality and easy to hear or understand. Sounds such as fired shots, explosions, cracking glass, audio transmissions, and other things are very clear and easy to distinguish that makes it feel that they are all around you in real life. Another thing that further enhances the game is the music used during missions. The music matches perfectly with what’s happening at that moment that it gives the gameplay a sense of epicenes. To add to this the conversation clips and cut scenes are easy to hear and gives you updates in the plot and what’s occurring in the mission that gives you a full picture of the events in Advanced Warfare.

            Overall the game gives an interesting new take to the Call of Duty games with new gameplay mechanics, great visuals, and audio that breathes new life into the franchise. The liberating movement, excellent visuals, dynamic gameplay, interesting fast-paced single player, has made this a solid game. However there was one concern that need to be noted is the plot the game is structured around. The story is way to similar to the plot in other Call of Duty games, and also was very predictable, had disappointing plot twists, and the inconsistent narrative. The game needs to find an away to use this style of gameplay and use it to develop a plot that no one would expect because this game is dull without a decent plot. Overall this is a game that is really fun to play, and it is rated 8 out of 10 stars.