Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a 2014 first-person shooter game published by Activision. The eleventh major installment in the Call of Duty series, the game was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One, while High Moon Studios developed the versions released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and Raven Software developed the game's multiplayer and the Exo-Zombies mode. It was Sledgehammer's first Call of Duty title as the primary developer.

Before the development of Advanced Warfare, Sledgehammer was originally working on a game set during the events of the Vietnam War. Development for Advanced Warfare began in late 2011, shortly before the release of Modern Warfare 3. The game became the first entry in the Call of Duty series since Call of Duty 2 to feature a game engine that was mostly re-written and built from scratch. For the game's single-player campaign mode, Sledgehammer employed veteran actors Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey in lead roles. The game's story features a futuristic setting, set between 2054 and 2061, and follows Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps and his involvement with Atlas, a private military corporation that sells its services to the highest bidder.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was released to a positive critical reception and was declared an improvement over its predecessor, Call of Duty: Ghosts. Many critics praised the visuals, voice acting, single-player campaign, and fast-paced gameplay, but some criticized the single-player campaign's plot as predictable. Retrospective reviews have generally remained positive, with the game generally placing in the top 10 in lists ranking the series' games. The game won several awards and was considered a commercial success.

Gameplay Advanced Warfare, like the other Call of Duty titles, is presented in a first-person shooter perspective. The game features several significant changes; unlike other installments, Advanced Warfare does not use a traditional heads-up display (HUD); instead, all information is relayed to the player via holographic projections from the weapon equipped. The general gunplay remains unchanged, apart from new mechanics, such as 'Exo' movements. These Exo movements are performed from the Exoskeleton, which allow the player to boost, dash, and sky jump. The game is the first in the Call of Duty series that allows the player to choose differing types of conventional weaponry; for example, the game features regular conventional firearms, but the player can choose to use laser or directed energy weaponry, both of which have differing attributes. In addition to Exo movements, the game features different Exo abilities, such as Exo Cloak, which allows players to turn transparent for stealth for a period of time.

Campaign The single-player campaign features one playable character, Jack Mitchell, as opposed to multiple characters in most previous Call of Duty games. It uses pre-rendered cinematic cut scenes, similar to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, to assist in the story aspect of the campaign. After each mission, the player is given a certain number of upgrade points that can be used to upgrade the Exo suit or weapons. The player can upgrade detection, armor, resistance, tactical, lethal grenade, sprint, recoil, flinch, reload, quick aim, and battery. The number of points that are given is determined by the players performance in the missions. The player may earn additional points by completing specific side objectives, one of which is collecting the game's collectable 'Intel'. The player can switch between different grenades, all of which possess distinctly different abilities.

Multiplayer Apart from the Exo movement, Advanced Warfares multiplayer retains certain similarities to previous Call of Duty titles. The Pick 10 system in Black Ops II returns as Pick 13, allowing players to pick weapons, attachments, perks and score-streaks within a total of 13 allocation points. Score-streaks are also upgradable with different modules, allowing for additional abilities/effects, at an extra score cost. Advanced Warfare introduces weapon variants, which contain various different stats compared to the base weapons. This allows the game to contain over 350 weapons, both variants and base versions. Supply drops allow players to earn new gears through playing the game. The content of each supply drop is randomized, and can range from weapon variants to player customization items, as well as bonus experience points (XPs) time. Players can complete daily challenges to earn supply drops.

Exo Survival Exo Survival was first introduced as Advanced Warfares cooperative game mode. Considered to be a new version of the Survival Mode from Modern Warfare 3, Exo Survival allows up to four players to engage in a wave-based match against A.I.-controlled enemies. Players can choose from four different classes of Exo, which grant different abilities and score-streaks. Weapons and score-streaks can be upgraded throughout each match. After a certain number of rounds, players are given objectives to perform, such as defending a location, or collecting intel from fallen enemies. Completing the objectives grant players bonus upgrade points; not completing them result in the players being punished, such as having their Exo suits temporarily disabled or activating hostile security turrets. Exo Survival is played on the game's multiplayer maps, with a total of 13 maps divived into four tiers. Each tier can be unlocked by playing the previous tier and survive a specific number of rounds.

Exo Zombies

Exo Zombies was first teased at the end of the Exo Survival map "Riot", and was officially announced with the Havoc downloadable content (DLC) pack. The game features zombies that utilize exo suits, giving them more maneuverability. The game mode stars five brand new characters.

Exo Zombies plays similarly to the original Zombies game mode that has been featured in Treyarch's Call of Duty games since Call of Duty: World at War: up to four players must survive against endless waves of undead enemies, with an optional story quest that can be completed at any time during a match. Players earn points by injuring and/or killing zombies, and use those points to open doors/clear obstacles, or buy new weapons and perks to strengthen their chance of survival. Players can also acquire exo suits in the game mode, allowing them to utilize new movements. Different types of zombies are present in the game, including Charger zombies that have increased movement speed, and Electro-magnetic zombies (EMZs) that can disable the players' Exo suit in close proximity.

The first Exo Zombies map, "Outbreak", was released as part of the Havoc DLC map pack. The second map, "Infection", was released as part of the Ascendance DLC pack. The third map, "Carrier", was released as part of the Supremacy DLC pack. The final map, "Descent", was released as part of the Reckoning DLC pack.

Plot

Campaign In 2054, U.S. Marine Jack Mitchell (Troy Baker) and Will Irons (Paul Telfer) help repel a North Korean invasion of Seoul, under the command of Sergeant Cormack (Russell Richardson). During the fight, Will is killed in action and Mitchell loses his arm, resulting in him being medically discharged. Following Will's funeral, Mitchell accepts a job position at the Atlas Corporation, a private military corporation, by its CEO, Jonathan Irons (Kevin Spacey), Will's father, and is given a prosthetic arm.

A terrorist group called the KVA, composed of former Chechen separatists led by Joseph "Hades" Chkheidze (Sharif Ibrahim), begins staging attacks. In 2055, Mitchell, Gideon (Gideon Emery), and other Atlas operatives rescue the Nigerian Prime Minister and capture a KVA technologist in Lagos during an international summit. However, Mitchell and his team are later unable to prevent a more sophisticated KVA attack from forcing a nuclear reactor meltdown on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. The KVA launches simultaneous attacks against nuclear power plants worldwide, irradiating numerous cities and killing 50,000 people. Atlas emerges as the world's dominant military force over the next four years by aiding displaced civilians and repelling the KVA.

In 2059, Mitchell and Gideon are dispatched to Detroit to find and capture Dr. Pierre Danois (Erik Passoja), the KVA's second-in-command. Danois reveals that Hades is at Santorini, Greece, where the KVA is holding a conference. In Greece, Mitchell kills Hades; before dying, Hades warns them of Irons and gives Mitchell a data chip. Atlas operative Ilona (Angela Gots) analyzes the chip, which reveals that Irons executed the technologist after learning of the planned global attacks, and deliberately allowed them to happen to increase Atlas' power and profit. Irons attempts to have Mitchell and Ilona arrested by military police, but they escape from Atlas' headquarters in New Baghdad with an unidentified soldier guiding them, while Gideon stays with Irons for further investigation. The soldier reveals himself to be Cormack, now a member of the Sentinels, a Tier One US-led global task force created to investigate the KVA but now re-purposed to prevent Atlas's rise to power.

In 2060, Mitchell, Cormack, Ilona, and Knox (Khary Payton) infiltrate Irons' private residence in Bangkok. The team discovers that Danois is collaborating with Irons to produce a bioweapon called "Manticore". They track and intercept a plane carrying Manticore bound for Argentina, which crashes in Antarctica. Gideon helps the Sentinels defeat the Atlas soldiers, allowing them to retrieve a sample of Manticore. They discover that the weapon is designed to target and kill an individual's specific DNA; the only exceptions are Atlas members. The Sentinels and Gideon infiltrate and destroy an Atlas bioweapons laboratory in Bulgaria, destroying many Manticore samples. With his plan revealed, Irons declares war on the United Nations General Assembly, blaming their constant warmongering for his son's death and believing that the world would be better off if Atlas were in control. The team discovers that Irons is planning a preemptive strike on the United States via an Atlas attack in San Francisco. Atlas destroys the Golden Gate Bridge, trapping the United States Navy's Third Fleet in the Bay Area, but is stopped by Sentinel forces. The United States and the rest of the world declare war on Atlas, forcing Irons to retreat to his headquarters in New Baghdad.

In 2061, the Sentinels led an attack on New Baghdad to capture Irons. However, Atlas deploys Manticore, killing Knox and most of the troops. Being former Atlas soldiers, Mitchell, Ilona, and Gideon are spared. They and Cormack are captured and brought to an Atlas prison camp, which runs Manticore experiments on its inmates. The team escapes the facility, but not before Irons shoots Cormack and severely damages Mitchell's prosthetic arm. After Cormack dies, the others discover that Irons is preparing to launch ICBMs loaded with Manticore against every military base in the world. Using armored battlesuits, Mitchell and Gideon launch a two-man assault on Atlas' headquarters and destroy the missiles. They find Irons as the other Sentinels prepare to bombard the building, but Irons disables their exoskeletons. Mitchell chases and tackles Irons at the edge of the building; Irons hangs onto Mitchell's prosthetic arm, but Mitchell severs it, sending Irons falling to his death. Gideon pulls Mitchell from the ledge, and Mitchell notes that the war against Atlas is far from over.

Exo Zombies

Development