Review : Call of Duty Advanced Warfare (Xbox One)

Campaign  (6.5 / 10)

I have played earlier version of Call of Duty, Modern Warfare to be specific. The campaign mode was pathetic, but since most of COD game crowd go for Multiplayer, it is not surprising. What got surprising was that COD Advanced Warfare has pretty decent Campaign and Story mode, through the end was terribly easy.

COD AW Campaign

There are total of 15 mission which starts from Induction, that sets the story. Following this, is the Atlas which is more of a simulation. During the induction mission, you loose one of your arm. A second chance is offered by Kevin Space, head of Atlas. You are given a new arm which not only makes life easier, but its pretty amazing to see what all you can do with it. Its more like a super human power.

That said you have 13 more to go. Traffic, Fission, Aftermath, Manhunt,  Utopia, Sentinel, Crash, Bio Lab,  Collapse, Armada, Throttle, Captured and Terminus.

The game manages to roll you in the futuristic warfare in it’s starting campaigns. You get to blow drone swarms, use exo-suits to the fullest, use tanks, missiles and so on. Those who love class action wont be disappointed as well. While the campaign lasts 6 to 8 hrs on an average, the duration may change how fast you adapt to the features and moves of the exosuit.

Also, the campaign is more like follow a person all the time., good thing is that COD engine doesn’t restrict you to go linear. There are tons of ways to get things done, if you can eye on the path and choose differently. I played the campaign twice, one by following the person ahead of me, and next by following the way I like it. The later is totally different experience. Also don’t expect a lot of help from your AI based campaigners. It is you who need to get most of the stuff done.

Online-Multiplayer: ( 8.5/10)

When I started playing it, I was kind of disappointed, but later got hooked to it as I discovered that like in Campaign mode, you can really do crazy stuff here as well. The first thing when you start with multiplayer is explore the player customization of your load outs. The default ones are just fine, but you need something that suits your style.

COD AW Multiplayer Shoot Drons

Player customization

You have perks, exo abilities (invisible mode is my favorite), you can use the combination of helmets, boots, shields and so on. As you play the game, you unlock weapons, suits and stealth.  You can equip them instantly as you get them. The more you personalize, more you use a weapon, chances are you get better weapons all the time. Now, when it comes to weapon, there is an option to test the weapon without leaving the lobby in a closed environment. This gives you a clear idea on what it can do and not surprising you at the battle.

Here comes my favorite. You can not only fight in land, but you can even use n UAV to shoot down enemies from air. While you actually don’t fly, but remote control which is totally awesome. In matches like “Team Deathwatch”, this serves a crucial weapon.

COD AW Fire on Double Jump

Every game you play, you get loots. This is important as it gives you a  chance to get ahead of the competition, right in the next game. This gives a lot of motivation and it’s not just the scores and XP gamers will be after.

Exo Suit

The Exo-Suit is something you HAVE to master, if you really want to do well in the game. It allows you double jump, skid while running, dash in air when taking double jump. It changes a lot of stuff, because you jump in the air to look if you enemies around, go other way round and shoot them. You can even take down enemies during double jump, if you are precise enough. However, remember any exo-suit movement, gets reflected in the enemies radar.

COD AW Exo Suite

This ability to increase your movement in all possible ways, changes the game-play. You will really need to reconsider on the strategy. You cannot just stay at one place, and keep shooting down as others seem, nor any corners will help you.  Even with a small gun, you can speed boost and take down an enemy quickly. You can double jump when enemy tries to get closer to you, and shoot him down from middle of the air.

Maps:

There are a total of 13 maps in the game, plus one bonus map called Atlas Gorge. What I really loved about the map is the number of paths you can take to reach a point. Also, in every map, there is a service path which servers a huge purpose if you play flag matches. You can quickly sneak into enemy origin, and take down snipers who hide at those points. It will take a bit of time for you to get used to it, and look for openings as hiding somewhere for long is pretty much impossible.

That said, you will have to be very smart on type of weapon you choose with every map. You need shotguns when playing on maps which are kind of closed, while sniper are needed when you have enough space to run around. Good thing is you can create a custom layout with name of your own. There are like 5 slots available, use them wisely.

Final Verdict:

IMO, There are two very important things that keeps the Multiplayer going on and on. The Supply Drop Reward System and Aero Moves. I already talked a lot about the air moves, but the former is worth a mention. It kicks in based on how long you been playing. The longer you stay, more payloads drop by and so does the winning chances. As there are no hooked to XP, This means, any new player has fair chance to use a weapon which was supposed to unlock in level 40.

The game does pretty well on Xbox One, The graphics are pretty amazing and so are the sound effects. That said, the game is definitely overpriced when it comes to India. At a tag of Rs 4,299 and no huge discounts on digital download, the new users might want to wait for a price drop. However, if you are avid gamer, nothing stops to grab a physical copy.

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