That time of the year again. No, not Christmas. Well, ok, maybe it’s Christmas for some FPS fans but anyway, the latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise ‘Call of Duty Advanced Warfare’ is now out officially for everyone. I got my hands on it early yesterday morning and I can assure you it’s the kick up the backside that the series has desperately needed since Modern Warfare 3. While I’m busy toting up my normal first week prestige on multiplayer and getting our full review done, take a look at what some of the world’s biggest gaming sites have to say about Activision and Sledgehammer Games’ newest release in our Call of Duty Advanced Warfare review round-up.
GameSpot – 8/10
The huge change in player mobility is less of a paradigm shift and more of an overdue retooling for an 11-year-old FPS franchise, especially in a year of mobility-focused shooters. Yet for all its predictability, Advanced Warfare is a deluge of action-film bravado, and it’s difficult to not be carried away by its tidal forces.
EGM – 9/10
If Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s storytelling ambitions disappoint, the same can’t be said of the upgrades to gameplay. In both campaign and single-player, the exoskeleton and other futuristic gadgetry breathe new life into a franchise that seemed increasingly trapped in the shadow of the original Modern Warfare.
Polygon – 9/10
For whatever minor missteps Advanced Warfare makes with its story, it more than compensates with vision and remarkable execution. The latter has never really been Call of Duty’s problem — Ghosts notwithstanding — but Advanced Warfare adds enough and moves far enough forward with its new abilities to feel like a risk. Turns out, that’s just what the series needed.
OXM UK – 8/10
Kevin Spacey might take top billing, but it’s the array of powerful PMC tech that’s the real star of the show, making the stalest formula in contemporary videogames feel remarkably fresh.
GamesRadar – 8/10
Multiplayer feels wonderfully fresh, thanks to the added agility of Exo Suit boosting. Sadly, though, co-op is unimaginative, and the story fails to satisfy when compared to previous installments.
So, while I’m beavering away on the review, what do you think? I’m absolutely loving the multiplayer, you can absolutely scream across the map and as a SMG run and gunner, it suits my playstyle perfectly (even if it’s a bit manic). With a lot of 9 or 8s, looks like Activision are onto a winner.
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Sources: Polygon, OXM, GamesRadar, GameSpot, EGM
