Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Overview

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

The game is set between 2054 and 2061 and follows Jack Mitchell of the United States Marine Corps and his time with Atlas, a private military corporation that sells its services to the highest bidder. Mitchell is the only playable character in the campaign, and Troy Baker and Kevin Spacey play the two lead roles. After each mission you get upgrade points to spend on the Exo suit or on weapons.

There is no traditional heads-up display. Information is shown as holographic projections from the weapon you are holding. The Exo suit lets you boost, dash and sky jump, and it carries abilities such as Exo Cloak. It is the first Call of Duty that lets you pick between conventional guns and laser or directed energy weapons. Multiplayer uses a Pick 13 loadout system, an expansion of Black Ops II's Pick 10, and weapon variants bring the total to over 350 weapons. Supply drops hand out randomized gear.

Two co-op modes sit alongside multiplayer. Exo Survival is a wave-based mode for up to four players on the multiplayer maps, with 13 maps split into four tiers. Exo Zombies, announced in November 2014, is a four-player undead mode with its own story quest, and it arrived through the DLC packs, starting with Havoc.

Development began in late 2011, shortly before Modern Warfare 3 came out. Sledgehammer had been working on a Vietnam War game before that. Advanced Warfare is the first Call of Duty since Call of Duty 2 with a game engine that was mostly rewritten from scratch, and it moved the series to a three-year development cycle. Harry Gregson-Williams, who wrote the main theme for Call of Duty 4, returned, and audiomachine composed the score. The Day Zero Edition went out one day early, on November 3, 2014, and the game reached everyone else on November 4.

Reviews were positive. Review aggregate scores were 83 on PS4 and 81 on Xbox One, and critics praised the visuals, the voice acting, the fast pace and the campaign, while some found the plot predictable. It was the top-selling game at US retail in 2014. A button prompt at a funeral scene, 'Press F to pay respects' on PC, became a widely used internet meme. Later retrospectives usually place it in the top 10 of the series.

Official trailer

Official Reveal Trailer | Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Call of Duty. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Official Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare - "Induction" Gameplay Video, Call of Duty. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Developer

Sledgehammer Games

Publisher

Activision

Series

Call of Duty

Engine

Sledgehammer Games engine

Composers

Harry Gregson-Williams, audiomachine

Designers

Daniel Bryner, Greg Reisdorf

Writers

John MacInnes, Eric Hirshberg, Mark Boal

Producers

Mike Mejia

Directors

Glen Schofield, Michael Condrey, Bret Robbins

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

Yes

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Achievements

Achievements90 (2,000G)

Total

90

Gamerscore

2000

Grind

• Power Changes Everything: fully upgrade the Exo, which needs 1,600 kills, 100 headshots, 320 grenade kills and all intel
• Intel: 45 items, 3 per mission (from the PS3 trophy guide for the same set)
• Heavy-Handed: carry 20 different weapons through the Captured mission by picking up enemy guns

• Seoul Mates Complete "Induction." 25G 86.4% of players
• Welcome to Atlas Complete "Atlas." 25G 78.93% of players
• Carma Kill an enemy by throwing a car door at them. 10G 37.51% of players
• A New Era Complete the campaign on any difficulty. 30G 52.61% of players
• Hard Hitter Complete the campaign on Hardened difficulty. 50G 17.42% of players
• SP Prestige Complete the campaign on Veteran difficulty. 75G 12.93% of players
• Never Saw It Coming Boost jump, dash forward, then air stomp on an enemy. 15G 18.32% of players
• Escape Artist Avoid 20 grenades by dodging with your Exo. 20G 10.47% of players
• Loud Enough For You? Kill 10 enemies or drones while affected by a sonic blast. 15G 11.16% of players
• Maximum Overdrive Kill 50 enemies while using Overdrive. 20G 8.44% of players
• Genius Kill 4 enemies with a single smart grenade. 10G 38.1% of players
• Threat Detected Paint 10 enemies with a single threat grenade. 15G 77.02% of players
• Fly Swatter Knock 25 Drones out of the sky with EMP grenades. 15G 39.92% of players
• Where Are You Going? Stop an AST with an EMP grenade. 10G 45.07% of players
• History In the Making Collect over half of the Intel. 15G 10.53% of players
• Ferrum Absconsum Collect all the Intel. 30G 7.76% of players
• Riot Control Kill 20 enemies while linked to the Mobile Cover Drone. 10G 13.41% of players
• Advanced Soldier Spend your first exo upgrade point. 5G 83% of players
• Second Skin Spend 10 exo upgrade points. 10G 63.67% of players
• We Have the Technology Spend 20 exo upgrade points. 25G 42.71% of players
• Power Changes Everything Completely upgrade your Exo. 50G 6.81% of players
• Not on my Watch Prevent the walking tank from being destroyed by the Drone Swarm in "Induction." 10G 69.83% of players
• Deadeye Score "excellent" in the shooting range in "Atlas." 10G 25.91% of players
• Grenadier Score "excellent" in the grenade range in "Atlas." 10G 21.58% of players
• Look Both Ways Kill all the KVA in the traffic section without damaging a civilian vehicle in "Traffic." 10G 10.15% of players
• Life in the Fast Lane Complete "Traffic." 25G 72.84% of players
• Fire and Forget Kill 10 enemies with the Mobile Turret missiles in "Fission." 10G 37.52% of players
• Radioactive Complete "Fission." 20G 68.05% of players
• Motor City Complete "Aftermath." 25G 64.01% of players
• Wheelman Finish the hoverbike sequence without hitting walls or obstacles or taking damage in "Aftermath" 10G 7.84% of players
• Sitting Ducks Kill 3 enemies with one shot of the Sniper Drone in "Manhunt." 10G 25.07% of players
• Born to Die Complete "Manhunt." 20G 61.63% of players
• Betrayal Complete "Utopia." 30G 60.46% of players
• Party Crasher Kill 20 enemies with the Grappling Hook in "Sentinel." 10G 8.76% of players
• Crates on a Plane Complete "Sentinel." 30G 59.13% of players
• The Destroyer Returns Complete "Crash." 30G 58.36% of players
• Restricted Airspace EMP 10 enemy aircraft out of the sky with the hovertank in "Bio Lab." 10G 10.4% of players
• Irons in the Fire Complete "Bio Lab." 30G 56.55% of players
• GG Complete "Collapse." 30G 55.7% of players
• Man Overboard! Melee an enemy so they fly off the side of the ship in "Armada." 10G 10.77% of players
• Wrath of Atlas Complete "Armada." 30G 54.95% of players
• Flying Ace Shoot down 10 enemies with machine guns in "Throttle." 10G 7.4% of players
• Manticore Unleashed Complete "Throttle." 30G 54.02% of players
• Heavy-Handed Go through 20 gun drops in one-armed combat in "Captured." 10G 10.58% of players
• The Wheat from the Chaff Complete "Captured." 30G 53.62% of players
• Exo Survival Veteran Play 50 Exo Survival Matches. 10G 4.64% of players
• Exo Survivor Successfully complete the Exo Survival Bonus Wave. 10G 11.05% of players
• Class Warfare Play 30 minutes with each class online in Exo Survival. 10G Needs online 8.92% of players
• Exo Flip "Flip" a map. 10G 15.29% of players
• Flip Flop "Flip" a map twice. 30G 7.96% of players
• I'm Alive! Survive until round 10 in Outbreak. 10G 33.37% of players
• Survivor Survive until round 25 in Outbreak. 25G 12.65% of players
• 20/20 Upgrade 2 weapons to level 20 in Outbreak. 40G 4.22% of players
• Moneybags Have 15000 credits in the bank in Outbreak. 25G 11.32% of players
• Cheapskate Acquire the Exo suit without spending any money in Outbreak. 15G 9.26% of players
• Burgle Burgle Burgle Steal 10 kills from a teammate in Outbreak. 15G 16.38% of players
• Game Over, Man! Call in a rescue in Outbreak. 50G 3.55% of players
• Come On And ... Slam 10 zombies at once in Outbreak. 25G 8.4% of players
• PC Load Letter Use the 3D Printer 15 times in a single match in Outbreak. 30G 10.64% of players
• Do You Even Exo? Exo Melee kill 10 zombies in 30 seconds in Outbreak. 15G 15.86% of players
• Alright, Alright Survive until round 10 in Infection. 10G 15.72% of players
• Climbing the Corporate Ladder Survive until round 25 in Infection. 25G 4.75% of players
• One Man's Poison... Use the cure station to kill 5 host zombies at once in Infection. 25G 4.45% of players
• Indirect Fire Kill 100 zombies with traps in Infection. 25G 4.9% of players
• Burgertown Escort Service Rescue 1 survivor in Infection. 15G 15.76% of players
• Abandon All Hope Rescue 4 survivors in a single game in Infection. 40G 3.06% of players
• Blood-Spattered Savior Rescue a total 20 survivors in Infection. 20G 2.49% of players
• Love Tap Kill a Goliath with a melee attack in Infection. 25G 2.24% of players
• Popcorn Cook 50 zombies with the Magnetron in Infection. 15G 5.1% of players
• MEAT IS MURDER Activate Bubby. 50G 2.64% of players
• Ensign Reach Round 10 in Carrier. 10G 12.69% of players
• Admiral Reach Round 30 in Carrier. 50G 2.65% of players
• Flotsam & Jetsam Sink the boat in Carrier. 50G 1.28% of players
• Slot Jockey Use the Grenade Disposal Machine 30 times in a single match in Carrier. 20G 1.53% of players
• Right of First Defusal Defuse 5 gas bombs in a single match in Carrier. 20G 3.7% of players
• Take Off, Hoser! Ride Chompy for 5 minutes in a single match in Carrier. 20G 1.55% of players
• Telefragathon Telefrag 50 enemies in a single match in Carrier. 20G 1.63% of players
• How Low Can You Go? Hit 18 enemies with a single shot of the LZ-52 Limbo in Carrier. 20G 2.13% of players
• Hugs! Kill 20 enemies in a single burst of Explosive Touch in Carrier. 20G 3.97% of players
• Mad Hops Jump over 4 live sharks in 10 seconds in Carrier. 20G 1.37% of players
• Smooth Operator Defeat Oz in Descent. 10G 7.01% of players
• How The Mighty Have Fallen Defeat Oz... again in Descent. 20G 4.02% of players
• Reunion Complete Oz's Challenges in Descent. 50G 1.13% of players
• Double Tap Defeat Oz for the last time in Descent. 50G 0.76% of players
• Big Game Kill Oz with a Blunderbuss in Descent. 20G 1.74% of players
• Coast 2 Coast Cross the water with a teleport grenade in Descent. 20G 1.69% of players
• Size DOES Matter Punch Oz with a Goliath in Descent. 20G 1.33% of players
• K.O. Punch 20 enemies with a Goliath in Descent. 20G 1.45% of players
• Nah, I'm Good Reach round 7 without anyone opening a door in Descent. 20G 2.47% of players
• Trick Shot Kill 100 enemies behind you with the KL03-Trident 20G 1.45% of players

DLC

Four DLC map packs came out in 2015, each with new multiplayer maps and one Exo Zombies map. They came to Xbox consoles first. The Season Pass bundle is still listed on the Xbox store.

Items

Name	Date	Adds	Obtainable today	Price
Havoc	2015-01-27	New multiplayer maps and the Exo Zombies mode with its first map, Outbreak.	yes
Ascendance	2015-03-31	Four new maps, the second Exo Zombies map Infection and a grappling hook playlist.	yes
Supremacy	2015-06-02	Four new maps and the third Exo Zombies map Carrier.	yes
Reckoning	2015-08-04	New maps and the last Exo Zombies map, Descent.	yes
Season Pass	2014-11-04	All four map packs in one purchase.	yes	49.99 USD at launch

Playable today

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale	Reviews
Metacritic	Xbox One	81	100	53
Metacritic	PlayStation 4	83	100
Metacritic	PC	78	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	9.1	10
Game Informer	9	10
Electronic Gaming Monthly	9	10
Polygon	9	10
GameSpot	8	10
GameTrailers	8.7	10
Official Xbox Magazine UK	8	10
Giant Bomb	4	5
Joystiq	4	5
USgamer	3.5	5

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Glen Schofield
Director	Michael Condrey
Director	Bret Robbins
Producer	Mike Mejia
Designer	Daniel Bryner
Designer	Greg Reisdorf
Programmer	Jason Bell
Artist	Joe Salud
Writer	John MacInnes
Writer	Eric Hirshberg
Writer	Mark Boal
Composer	Harry Gregson-Williams
Composer	audiomachine
Exo Zombies score	Chris Vrenna

Cast

Character	Actor
Jack Mitchell	Troy Baker
Jonathan Irons	Kevin Spacey
Gideon	Gideon Emery
Will Irons	Paul Telfer
Ilona	Angela Gots
Knox	Khary Payton
Sergeant Cormack	Russell Richardson
Hades	Sharif Ibrahim
Dr. Pierre Danois	Erik Passoja

Notes for collectors

• The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions were built by High Moon Studios, not Sledgehammer.
• Will Irons' funeral asks you to press a button to pay respects. The prompt turned into the 'Press F to pay respects' meme.
• It was the first main Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 to skip a Nintendo console.
• Havoc and the following DLC packs arrived on Xbox first. Reckoning, the last one, ended the Xbox timed exclusivity when it came to other platforms on September 3, 2015.
• Microsoft released a 1 TB Xbox One bundle with a Sentinel Task Force design and a digital copy of the Day Zero Edition.
• The Atlas Limited and Atlas Pro editions came in a SteelBook case with the Advanced Soldier manual.

Credits

Publisher

Activision

Developer

Sledgehammer Games

Director

Glen Schofield, Michael Condrey, Bret Robbins

Released

2014-11-04

Age rating

M (Mature 17+)

Region

US

Time to beat

about 7 hours

Copies in the shop

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (XBOX ONE) CA$14.99