"Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the Titanfall competitor that no one wanted or needed, and as a result, it failed to please longtime fans of Call of Duty nor attract enough new players to ensure its long-term survival."
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare has one of the most interesting and unique narratives in the 20-year history of the franchise. While it was poorly received by the community for its deviation from the pacing and gunplay we have come to expect from a Call of Duty title, the campaign was widely praised for its stunning visuals, engaging story, and high-quality character models, which helped to sell the narrative.
While many in 2023 look at Kevin Spacey very differently, in 2014 getting an actor of his calibre to take the lead in a video game campaign was a huge deal,and in the eyes of some, helped close the gap between traditional entertainment and video games, which to this day are often wrongly dismissed as being just for kids or lacking in artistic merit.
While there are many ways to adapt a narrative to video game format, some elements are better left non-interactive,such as paying respect at a funeral. The now-infamous phrase “Press F to Pay Respect” became a meme due to its awkward placement during a military funeral set shortly after the first mission, highlighting how even well-intentioned emotional moments can come off as unintentionally comical when gamified.
There is nothing wrong with hopping on a trend and making it work,Call of Duty: Warzone is proof of that. However, many successful IPs have struggled to retain their core fanbase after making radical gameplay changes to attract players away from rival titles, and Activision has been one of the most consistent offenders.
Over the years, the publisher has made several attempts to retool the Call of Duty formula to chase other shooters, with mixed results:
1) Advanced Warfare: Activision’s attempt to cash in on the success of Titanfall resulted in many Call of Duty players rejecting the Exo suit movement system, while very few Titanfall players were willing to leave behind a superior mech-based experience for the relatively lacklustre Exo mechanics of Advanced Warfare.
2) Infinite Warfare: The second attempt to capture the Titanfall audience further alienated the player base, which was eager for a return to boots-on-the-ground combat. Ironically, despite being a vastly inferior game, Infinite Warfare outsold Titanfall 2 by a wide margin,only to swiftly die off, while Titanfall 2 still maintains a modest but loyal community to this day.
3) Black Ops 4: Live-service titles are incredibly popular today, but that was not always the case. When Activision prematurely attempted to turn Call of Duty into a buy-2-play battle royale without crossplay, it found limited success. While Black Ops 4 performed well commercially, it could not compete with the free-2-play giants like Fortnite and Apex Legends, which continue to dominate the genre.
Fortunately for Activision, the fourth attempt was a success. Call of Duty: Warzone and its sequel became dominant forces in the genre,not quite dethroning the leaders, but carving out a massive player base and eventually overtaking PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in 2022.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is a first person shooter game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Square Enix, it released on 3 November 2014, and is available on PC, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare supports:
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare offers the following matchmaking options:
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare supports the following peripherals:
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is rated PEGI 18+ and contains:
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is well worth playing for its campaign alone. It remains an ambitious and memorable entry that dared to experiment, even if not all of its ideas stuck. However, with little to no multiplayer activity on any platform, it’s not a good choice for players looking for cooperative or competitive experiences.
We found Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare to be a good game, meaning it is likely to be enjoyable for most players, despite having a few areas that could be improved upon.
"Forever controversial and killed off before its time, Star Wars Battlefront 2 remains popular with gamers old and new and will likely do so until Battlefront III (or yet another franchise reboot) occurs sometime later in the 2020s."
"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) remains one of the most iconic and controversial video games in history, and while it has been remastered and remade twice, playing the original is still enjoyable for those who wish to experience it as it was originally intended. "
"Titanfall 2 remains one of the greatest FPS in the genre's history and is a testament to why a poorly chosen launch window can greatly hinder the success of a near-perfect title."
