As the resident Call of Duty gamer it falls to me to say what I’m excited (or interested) about in the new Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from what I’ve seen in the trailer. Now remember this trailer is for the single player version of the game so we don’t know how many of these features will be included in multiplayer.
So in chronological order of this trailer, here we go.
Microsoft continues as lead platform
In the entire last generation Microsoft had secured the Xbox 360 as the lead platform for the Call of Duty series, and it looks like this has been renewed for the current generation. The trailer was captured on an Xbox One and this leads us to believe all DLC will arrive on the Microsoft platforms first – and presumably, the world champs will continue to be hosted on the Xbox One.
Obviously this is all about Microsoft throwing money at Activision. Hate it or not that’s how it works.
Exoskeleton suits
The very first graphic we see is a soldier wearing an exoskeleton. As in previous modern Call of Duty titles the developers try to stick to current or nearly current technology. Exoskeletons currently exist and are in development for the military.
We see further in the trailer that the exoskeleton appears to be used to enable the player jump further. Take a look at the 40 second mark. We can also see from this screenshot that quadrocopter drones (top right) are still in the game and a bit further on we get to see a full swarm of them.
On the top left we see a relatively modern attack helicopter and on the bottom right what looks like a corporate logo bringing in the feeling that this version is not going to be nation vs nation but rather predominately private military organisations.
Kevin Spacey
We then hear the unmistakeable voice of Kevin Spacey and as the trailer moves on we also see that the character he is voicing looks exactly like him. The idea of integrating gaming directly into the mainstream movies and TV series is a great way to capture the minds of the mainstream gamer.
Not only that but as Kevin Spacey is currently starring in political drama, House of Cards – and the idea that he is talking politics is great. They are also touching on a strong point the world is debating at the moment and that is whether military force really can, or even should, bring democracy to places like Syria, Ukraine and Libya.
Private Military
We quickly again see the private military guarding what appears to be civilian prisons. The prisoner we can see is dressed in normal clothes and acting very casual making me believe this is not a criminal prison but rather something like an emigration holding cell.
Cloaking
At 0:24 into the video we see a military attack helicopter de-cloak while a soldier of the Atlas corporation looks on. Now in the last Ghost Recon, Future Soldier, we were told by the PR guys that cloaking technology was nearly here. Unsurprisingly the army hasn’t quite got it right yet but once again it looks like it will be used in a game.
Lagos, Nigeria
During the time that Kevin Spacey states “These countries don’t even have the basic building blocks to support a democracy” we see the following screenshot.
Where we can clearly see the Nigerian Flag (top right) and the city name, Lagos, in the middle.
Now seeing that Nigeria is now the biggest economy in Africa I can see some people being upset by that but at the same time over 200 school girls were recently abducted from that country supposedly as prizes and brides for militants, so yeah I have to agree with Sledgehammer here. They are obviously not ready for a true democracy.
San Francisco, USA
As usual the game is going to be shipping us all over the world with a quick shot of the Golden Gate bridge letting us know that we are going to be in San Francisco for part of the game.
Politics, Religion and Media
Spacey’s monologue continues and he brings up the three-pronged issue of why they should tolerate people who disagree with them, why they should allow people to follow different gods and why the media is allowed to disagree with the president. It raises a lot of ideas on how the game will play out.
He is definitely sounding like your stereotypical dictator except this time he isn’t trying to win votes or support but rather rule with absolute power from the very beginning.
Hover/Speeder Bikes
And something to make all Star Wars fans excited it looks like the next Call of Duty is taking some inspiration from a geek’s favourite movie and introducing hover bikes into the game.
Hulking Exoskeleton
The basic exoskeleton that allows players to move faster, further and quicker doesn’t appear to be the only one in the game with this hulk of an exoskeleton getting a few seconds of screen time.
Wall Climbing
Verticality is still a big deal in shooter games and it looks like Advanced Warfare is going to include it as well.
At the 1:43 mark we see a player activate power gloves and then instantly start climbing a vertical wall. Now this is all just fine in the single player version but if they add power gloves as a kill streak or option in the multiplayer it would really shake up the formula.
Portable Wall
Back when I was a kid the go-to shooter gameplay mechanic were exploding barrels. In the last generation waist-high concrete blocks just appeared everywhere.
Well COD appears to have solved that now with what appears to be a portable metal wall that can be deployed anywhere on the battlefield to provide cover for you and your team. Again I need to see this in action in the multiplayer version as a team utilising these properly could easily change the way a fight is going and alter maps entirely.
Future Technology
A lot of the end of the trailer is taken up with a montage of future technology such a walking tanks, rail guns, more exoskeletons than you can shake a stick at.
And that’s it! The first trailer is done and dusted and the overarching idea behind it was that this one won’t be about countries but rather private companies. It also looks absolutely stunning and the increased agility of soldiers seems to be instrumental.
It’s no surprise to see a release date of the 4th of November and if their previous marketing plans go the same don’t expect to hear much about the multiplayer aspect of Advanced Warfare until August this year. I’m a big fan of the high-intensity single player campaigns of Call of Duty and from what I’ve seen here I am definitely hopeful of something special this year.
Did I miss anything important? Let me know in the comments below.
Last Updated: May 2, 2014
Kensei Seraph
May 2, 2014 at 11:40
Dam that looks interesting.
I need to watch the trailer during my lunch break.
Purple_Dragon
May 2, 2014 at 11:53
I wouldn’t mind the COD games if the SP sections were a bit longer.
Jaded_Reprobate
May 2, 2014 at 12:19
Rail guns are more current tech than future tech Gavin,
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rail-gun-u-s-navy-top-gun-article-1.1749616
Jaded_Reprobate
May 2, 2014 at 12:19
Rail guns are more current tech than future tech Gavin,
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/rail-gun-u-s-navy-top-gun-article-1.1749616
Kensei Seraph
May 2, 2014 at 12:30
Thanks for the interesting read.
Jaded_Reprobate
May 2, 2014 at 12:42
there are some cool vids on youtube from the test firing, if you’re keen
Gavin Mannion
May 2, 2014 at 12:45
No they are still testing “The enormously powerful weapon has been tested on land and will get tested on the water in 2016, the military announced.”
They exist but you won’t see them in battle… YET
Brian Murphy
May 2, 2014 at 15:41
I highly doubt you will ‘see’ them in battle, period. If it’s used, you’re probably not going to be seeing much, shortly thereafter.
Brian Murphy
May 2, 2014 at 15:40
And here’s the Stealth Destroyer that goes with it:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2603374/The-U-S-Navys-futuristic-ship-Just-Christened-Its-Most-Futuristic-Ship-Ever.html
They plan on putting a rail gun on this bad boy, along with laser bank missile interceptors, and a ton of other interesting tech.
eXpZA
May 2, 2014 at 12:25
http://imageslgmr.lazygamer.netdna-cdn.com/2014/05/xboxone.png – Is this a 1:1 representation of what we can expect the resolution to be?
eXpZA
May 2, 2014 at 12:25
http://imageslgmr.lazygamer.netdna-cdn.com/2014/05/xboxone.png – Is this a 1:1 representation of what we can expect the resolution to be?
eXpZA
May 2, 2014 at 12:25
http://imageslgmr.lazygamer.netdna-cdn.com/2014/05/xboxone.png – Is this a 1:1 representation of what we can expect the resolution to be?
brad coetzee
May 2, 2014 at 12:26
why is this being taken so seriously? Especially after Ghosts.
brad coetzee
May 2, 2014 at 12:26
why is this being taken so seriously? Especially after Ghosts.
CAE9872
May 2, 2014 at 12:33
Glad to see a journo admit they like it. COD gets a bad rap for no great reason. I was looking at the Metacritic rating of COD Ghosts vs Battlefield 4.
Ghosts = 72 (average of all releases)
Battlefield 4 = 84
How the hell can that be? One is, from all internet trawling I do, broken, the other works just fine…yes perhaps more innovation was hoped for, but come on. Its an FPS – what do people want? Go 3rd person, introduce turn based strategy, football, what?
It’s not a 10/10 franchise all the time, we cannot have COD 4 MW type entry all the time. Sometimes the increments made are good enough…like FIFA. It too cannot suddenly have FPS battles in it…some things are un-changeable to some degree.
I think ultimately its the “in thing” – must hate COD because its COD.
John
May 2, 2014 at 15:36
Moron! How can you rate a game based on clearly biased websites! Idiots like you who decide if a game is good or not based on rating is even more pathetic than the idiots who take incentives to write this pure horseshit!! COD gets a bad rap for being a crap game, and rightly so!! They churn out the same bullshit every year, and idiots like you believe the hype, and are blind to the crap they feed you every damn year! Its NOT the in-thing to hate COD you numpty, people hate and cuss COD because its crap!!! Only a pure gaming whore would rate a COD title 10/10! I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an ignoramus that isn’t talking about the xbox!! Don’t ever bring up metacritic scores in a post again, you are just advertising your own stupidity to the world!
CAE9872
May 2, 2014 at 15:57
Methinks the lady doth protest too much! That’s Shakespeare by the way!
However why the vitriol is beyond me. I can only think you are indeed one of the trolls of the internet world.
Hammersteyn
May 2, 2014 at 12:37
The combat looks like it might be a lot more fast paced. Will buy this purely for the SP though so a lot rides on that. Hopefully the cloud will be up and running here by launch day?
Ryanza
May 2, 2014 at 13:06
There is nothing new to say about Call of Duty. All that I can say is that Call of Duty is going to be shit. Single player is going to be so short and so basic. Multiplayer will not not change. What you have been complaining about for years, will still be there. My guess, even more disconnections and slow downs. They keep adding more shit to that shit stack called Call of Duty.
It’s the new gen in gaming, so built a new engine from the ground up. R1000 for shit just won’t cut it anymore.
You take some shit, put it up on the wall, check it out for a while
You take that shit up off of the wall, put it down on the floor in a glass bowl
You take some fuck, put it up on the wall where the shit used to be
You take the fuck up off of the wall, put it down on the floor with the shit in a glass bowl
You take some fuck then some shit
Then some fuck then some shit
You’ve got the Call of Duty game
Realist
May 2, 2014 at 14:39
So I guess you wont be preordering?
Ryanza
May 2, 2014 at 16:02
does a bear shit in the woods?
Activision is the bear
call of duty is the shit
people who buy call of duty for R1000?
John
May 2, 2014 at 15:31
Haha – just looks like even more bullshit!! When will this pathetic franchise go away!!!!
YOUDIEMOFO
May 2, 2014 at 16:36
Agreed……..
Brian Murphy
May 2, 2014 at 15:42
Same engine, cross-gen, same tired CoD Modus Operandi.
Next.
duda
May 2, 2014 at 16:04
“…whether military force really can, or even should, bring democracy to places like Syria, Ukraine and Libya.” The Ukraine is a democracy. It has been invaded by Russia. And since Russia is a permanent member of the U.N and has veto power, supplies oil to Europe, the only thing anyone is willing to do about it is use harsh language.
Karl Ericsson
May 31, 2014 at 19:28
Yes, and even Nigeria is a democracy, most nations in Africa are. Funny thing w Libya is that Khaddafi was put there to lead by the west khaddafi n the west were “best buddies” and now they pretend they have nthing to do w any distabilisation of countries around the world. No, they are trying to help with aid and “democracy” and neo-imperialist-capitalism. Yeah, itsquite annoying w ignorant reviewers
YOUDIEMOFO
May 2, 2014 at 16:37
People need to stop trying to live in the clouds….
The Green Ranger
May 2, 2014 at 18:01
Elysium + Edge of Tomorrow = CoD: Advanced Warfare…super pumped for this!!
jason skimer
May 3, 2014 at 05:31
FUK CALL OF DUTY AND ACTIVISION WITH THEIR LEAD PLATFORM CRAP. MICROSOFT YOU ALL THROW MONEY AT ACTIVISION. FUK YOU MICROSOFT. FUK YOU ALL
CypherGate
May 5, 2014 at 09:08
Looks really good and im not really a fan of COD. If they had a really decent length single player then id buy it. Not a big fan of online multiplayer.
InsanityFlea
May 5, 2014 at 12:00
So much for keeping Lagos clean. Haha
Jonah Cash
May 5, 2014 at 13:54
I would like a portable wall like that, but my wife would be pissed sitting on the wrong side of it all the time!!
Karl Ericsson
May 31, 2014 at 19:23
Tsss, America isnt even a democracy (its a plutocracy) and clearly not ready for it either since massacres happen there every now and then.
androsje
October 28, 2014 at 11:52
The main reason why I loved Titanfall and truly repented having bought BF4 was the vertical playing in the first, the ability to move fast and at the same time running on walls and doing wall jumping really changed the way a fight was played.
Dele Olubodun
January 15, 2015 at 22:13
This all epitomizes the ‘chewing gum brain’ mentality common with most American racists. It is for the Nigerian Government to sue the producers of this garbage. ignorant bunch of empty heads.