Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Delivers on All Fronts

Being a grown adult, married with young children and many assumed responsibilities, I don’t get to play video games as much as I used to. There was a time, just a few short years ago, when I kept up on all the latest releases and played them through voraciously. But that’s just not an option anymore, which is probably a good thing.

The last Call of Duty game I purchased and played was Modern Warfare, the first in the franchise to move the action from the historical battlefields of World War II to the present day. Many sequels have come and gone since then, none of which I have felt particularly compelled to sample. The latest entry, however, piqued my interest.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare makes the next chronological leap in the series from the present day to an imagined near-future where high-technology reshapes both the warrior and his battlefield. Add to that the acting talent of Kevin Spacey, fully digitized in a key role, and developer Sledgehammer Games presents a package worth taking a look at.

Having received the game as a birthday present recently, I’ve had the opportunity to kick its tires and have to say – it’s impressive. Especially coming from the perspective of having been away from the franchise for several years, the game feels remarkably evolved from what I remember. It’s easy to pick up and get the hang of, despite presenting a deeper than average experience for a game of its genre. It manages to be both more complex than its predecessors, and still simple to play.

The single-player campaign feels as cinematic and immersive as any big-budget Hollywood action film. You’ll find yourself marveling at the action even as you are the one controlling it. The “that’s cool” moments hit one right after the other.

If you’re like me, and haven’t yet made the switch to the next generation of consoles, you’ll want to take advantage of an offer available through March 15th to get both the current and next gen versions of the game for the price of one. You have to buy the downloadable version, and you’ll be committing to stick with your current console brand. If you buy the Xbox 360 version, you get the Xbox One as well, and the same with Sony’s Playstation.