Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

"The next Call of Duty represents a new era for this amazing franchise, and we look forward to sharing what we have been working on."

- Sledgehammer Games "Power changes everything."

- Tagline Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is the eleventh major release in the Call of Duty series. It was developed by Sledgehammer Games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, and by High Moon Studios for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released on November 4, 2014 for, , , , and PC. It is the first game in the series to benefit from the three year development cycle afforded by adding Sledgehammer Games as a third studio.

Gameplay
Harnessing the power of next-gen platforms, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare brings players into the battlegrounds of the future by boasting a new hi-tech, advanced arsenal and ability set, arming players with all-new equipment, technology, perks, and vehicles like hoverbikes and highly specialized drones. Players can also choose between standard ammunition and an all-new class of directed-energy weaponry that enables totally new gameplay dynamics. Additionally, with exoskeletons delivering a massive force multiplier and unprecedented tactical freedom, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare evolves every firefight.

Powerful exoskeletons evolve every aspect of a soldier’s battle readiness, enabling combatants to deploy with an advanced lethality and eliminating the need for specialization. The introduction of this gameplay mechanic delivers enhanced player movement and verticality through boost jumps and grappling, covert cloaking abilities, and biomechanics that provide unparalleled strength, awareness, endurance, and speed. With the advent of the exoskeleton and newly advanced armor and weaponry, every soldier commands tactical freedom in any terrain unlike ever before, fundamentally changing the way gamers play Call of Duty across all modes.

In singleplayer, players will earn points during missions that can be used to upgrade the exoskeleton suit with new features.

Plot
In 2054, six months after enlisting for the United States Marine Corps, Privates Jack Mitchell and his best friend Will Irons are stationed in Seoul, South Korea, in an effort to repel a massive North Korean invasion force. The mission is successful, but at a massive cost: 6000 Marines are killed, including Will. Mitchell loses his left arm due to a piece of shrapnel severing it when he and Will were tasked to take down an aerial launcher, but is saved by his squad leader, Sergeant Cormack.

Whilst attending Will's funeral, Mitchell is approached by Will's father, Jonathan Irons. Irons offers Mitchell a place in his private military company, Atlas. Mitchell accepts and is given a "second chance" in the form of a high-tech prosthetic arm, as well as elite training and state-of-the-art gear. He befriends three fellow Atlas operatives: Ilona, Gideon and Joker.

Mitchell's first assignment with Atlas is to rescue the Nigerian Prime Minister, Samuel Abidoyo, from the KVA, a large anti-western, anti-technology terrorist organization. The president and a few other technologists are held hostage at a technology summit in Lagos but is quickly rescued by Atlas forces, who soon discover that the KVA are not targeting the president, but a technologist who was attending the conference. They pursue the escaping KVA vehicles and recover the technologist, who is taken back to Atlas HQ on Irons' orders.

Soon afterwards, the KVA launches a massive surprise attack on nuclear power stations all over the world. Mitchell, along with a massive Atlas quick-reaction force, is sent to retake a power plant in Seattle, Washington, and although the Atlas forces manage to defeat the KVA, they are too late to stop the KVA from initiating a meltdown and blowing up the reactors. 50,000 people around the world die as a result of the KVA attacks.

Four years later, the world has recovered from the attacks with the help of Atlas, which has provided aid and shelter to everyone affected. Atlas has now become the largest corporation in the world and effectively controls much of the world's resources. Mitchell, Gideon and Joker are stationed in Detroit to track down an affiliate of the KVA, Dr. Pierre Danois, who has information on the whereabouts of the KVA's leader, codenamed Hades. They track down Danois successfully and he is interrogated by Ilona, who manages to get answers out of him.

Danois' intel points to Hades being in Greece, and Irons sends Atlas forces to track him down and kill him, despite opposition from U.S. officials. Mitchell and Ilona locate Hades and Mitchell shoots him using a WASP drone, but it is revealed to be a double. The double is rigged with explosives that go off after his death and almost wipes out the squad if not for a sacrifice made by an Atlas operative. The compound is soon swarmed by other KVA operatives and the remaining Atlas forces must fight their way out. The real Hades makes an attempt to escape, but Mitchell and Ilona stop him and, after a brief struggle, Mitchell cuts Hades' throat. As he is dying, Hades utters the words "Irons knows" and gives Mitchell and Ilona a storage device containing a recording.

With Atlas now at the height of their popularity due to killing Hades and effectively destroying the whole of the KVA, Mitchell and Gideon are accompanying Irons at the Atlas headquarters in the thriving New Baghdad. Ilona shows Mitchell and Gideon the recording that Hades gave them, and it reveals that the technologist from Nigeria warned Irons of the KVA attacks on the nuclear reactors, but Irons killed the technologist and deliberately kept quiet about the attacks in order to make a profit from the aftermath. Gideon believes the recording is a fake, but Mitchell and Ilona attempt to flee the headquarters, only to be held captive by Atlas troops on Irons' orders. They are contacted by an unknown person who assists them in escaping captivity, and they escape New Baghdad. Their unknown assistant turns out to be Mitchell's old sergeant Cormack, who is now part of an elite U.S.-led multinational team known as the Sentinel Task Force, whose priority was previously to investigate the KVA attacks and prevent anything like it from happening again, but once Atlas and Jonathan Irons grew in power, it became clear he and his company were the bigger threat, and the Sentinels are now investigating Irons and Atlas.

Mitchell and Ilona defect to Sentinel and, along with Cormack and Knox, infiltrate Irons' home in Bangkok to find intel on a mysterious Atlas operation called "Manticore". They find out that "Manticore" is a biological agent that only targets specific genotypes (those that are not registered on the Atlas database) and will not affect any Atlas personnel, meaning Irons can deploy it in the midst of a battle without risking harm to his own troops, while the opposing force is annihilated. They tag a cargo plane that is about to transport a large shipment of Manticore before pulling out.

Later, the Sentinel forces move in on the Atlas cargo plane and bring it down over Antarctica. As they are attempting to secure the Manticore, a large Atlas force ambushes from drop pods and recovers the Manticore. Cormack, Ilona and Mitchell manage to take out most of the Atlas soldiers, but are captured by Gideon and his squad. Gideon calls for evac before suddenly shooting his squadmates and helping the remaining Sentinel forces dispose of the Manticore.

With Gideon now on the side of Sentinel, he is reunited with his old teammates once more. Gideon reveals where Manticore is being made - in an Atlas bio lab in Bulgaria. He and Mitchell infiltrate the lab and destroy it before escaping in an experimental Atlas hover-tank.

A month later, Jonathan Irons is inaugurated into the United Nations. He issues a speech effectively declaring war on the governments of the world, now obsessed with total domination and believing the world would be better off under Atlas. His first move is an attack on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which Sentinel forces attempt to repel. They fail, and the Golden Gate Bridge is demolished over a U.S. Navy carrier, which is promptly boarded by Atlas forces. Mitchell and Gideon are among only a handful of Sentinel operatives to survive the attack, and are soon joined by Cormack and Knox, who help them in retaking the carrier and destroying the advancing Atlas ships.

With Atlas now officially at war with the world, U.S. forces close in on the Atlas headquarters in New Baghdad. Mitchell, Ilona, Cormack, Gideon, and Knox are among the personnel involved in the attack, and they manage to defeat most of the Atlas forces in the area. With New Baghdad under siege and Atlas losing, Irons deploys Manticore, which wipes out all the U.S. forces in the area, including Knox. Mitchell, Ilona and Gideon survive since they were once Atlas personnel and are thus unaffected by Manticore.

The three are captured and taken to an Atlas prison camp, where they meet up with Cormack. Irons meet the four in person and shoots Cormack in the leg before destroying Mitchell's prosthetic arm as payback for him defecting from Atlas. Ilona and Gideon overpower their captors and rescue Mitchell and Cormack. Whilst escaping, they learn that Irons plans to unleash Manticore strikes on military bases all over the world. They escape the camp after Mitchell commandeers an AST, but Cormack succumbs to his wounds and dies.

With little hope of taking New Baghdad and stopping Atlas, Mitchell and Gideon attempt one final, all out frontal attack in a pair of AST suits, while Ilona guides them. They manage to infiltrate the Atlas launch center and destroy the Manticore rockets before they are launched. However, because they had to access the rocket from the launch vents and they were caught in the blast, Mitchell is in critical health, so Gideon has to carry him. Irons shows up and locks down their exoskeletons, rendering them unable to move, but refuses to kill them in an attempt to show that he still has some humanity left in him, still claiming that he was "saving the world from itself." and Gideon arguing "Twisted fucks throughout history have used the same argument...". As he flees, Mitchell manages to escape his exoskeleton and catch up with Irons in his office at the top of the Atlas headquarters. After a brief struggle, Irons nearly falls off the edge of the roof, but grabs onto Mitchell's lifeless prosthetic arm and tries to convince him to pull him up to safety. Mitchell, unable to shake Irons off, severs his own prosthetic arm with a knife and watches as Irons falls to his death. As Gideon arrives to help Mitchell, he comments that Atlas is still at large and the war has only just begun.

Setting
In the mid-21st century, terrorists simultaneously attack nuclear reactors in North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, throwing governments across the world into turmoil and crippling defenses. As a result, the United States enlists the help of the Atlas Corporation, a private military company led by Jonathan Irons, to fight on their behalf, as well as to assist in reconstruction.

Locations

 * Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A.
 * Atlas Training Camp, Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
 * Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
 * Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
 * San Francisco, California U.S.A.
 * Santorini, Greece
 * Strandja, Bulgaria
 * Lagos, Nigeria
 * Seoul, South Korea
 * Bangkok, Thailand
 * Darwin Glacier, Antarctica
 * Sentinel HQ
 * New Baghdad, Iraq
 * Atlas Prison Camp, New Baghdad Outskirts, Iraq
 * Atlas Command Center, New Baghdad, Iraq

Multiplayer
Advance Warfare multiplayer also marks the returns of several old mechanics, with one being the Black Ops II Pick-10 Create-A-Class system, however in Advanced Warfare it's a Pick-13 system due to the fact that Scorestreaks are a part of the Create-A-Class.  Ghosts'  combat slide has also returned and contextual lean is not available.

Some new features to the gameplay are that Scorestreaks can now also be customized, giving them new features but increasing the amount of points required to earn said reward. There is a new reward system that grants supply drops upon achieving tasks. When used they grant the player 3 items of different rarity: Enlisted (common), Professional (uncommon), and Elite (rare). The items range from custom weapons and player customization items to special care packages called Reinforcements, which can give the player a scorestreak, or 2 free random perks till the end of the match.

A few gamemodes have also returned from Black Ops II, including Hardpoint and Capture the Flag. There is a new mode which is called "Uplink". "Momentum" is a renamed but returning game mode based on "War" from Call of Duty: World at War and Call of Duty 3.

Customization has had an overhaul in Advanced Warfare, with the new Create-An-Operator. Players are able to customise invidual pieces of clothing on characters. The player is able to choose which gender they are in multiplayer, similar to Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Exo Survival
Exo Survival is a round-based survival mode similar to Survival Mode from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Safeguard from Call of Duty: Ghosts. One to four players are needed to survive waves of enemies, which get tougher with every round that pass. The mode lets the players use the exoskeleton from multiplayer, as well as various weapons, to battle against the enemy soldiers.

Zombies
After completing tiers 1, 2 and 3 of Exo Survival, players unlock the only tier 4 map called Riot, which starts out as a normal match until the end of round 10 when a Manticore strike occurs, knocking all players to the floor, triggering a small event lasting about 10 seconds. All players will then be able to move again on round 11.

On round 11, the player begins with an Atlas 45 with Extended Mags and no ability to use the Exoskeleton. Zombies will start spawning around the map and attempt to kill the player. Weapons can be found on the ground and used against the zombies. There are different variants of zombies, including some in exoskeletons. They can attack only with melee attacks. Players have to survive for a few minutes until an option to extract appears. If the player escapes, a special pre-rendered cutscene appears.

Exo Zombies
Exo Zombies is a new mode added to Advanced Warfare in the Havoc DLC. Similar to Treyarch's popular Zombies mode, four Atlas employees: Lilith Swann, Oz, Jim Decker and Kahn battle against the onslaught of undead. The first map, Outbreak, takes place in an Atlas Testing Facility overrun with zombies.

Development
Sledgehammer confirmed that they were hiring for an unannounced Call of Duty project and a Sledgehammer employee stated that he’s responsible for “developing photo real visual effects for the next Call of Duty – Modern Warfare release.” in the summer of 2013.

In January 2014, a job listing for a Weapons & Vehicle Artist stated that the "candidate must have experience using Adobe Photoshop to create hyper realistic textures for next gen materials." and that Sledgehammer are "looking for a top notch hard surfaces modeler to join [their] AAA family working on the next Call of Duty game." On February 6, 2014, Sledgehammer Games and Activision confirmed that they would be developing the 2014 release of Call of Duty series.

On May 1, 2014 Activision released a series of teasers and minor details about Call of Duty 2014, calling it a New Era for Call of Duty, and setting Sunday, May 4 as the world premiere. Later that night, Destructoid.com leaked a low quality version of the reveal trailer along with several .gifs of said trailer. As a result, Activision decided to release the trailer to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare early on the official Call of Duty Youtube channel.

Developed by Sledgehammer Games (co-developers of Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 3), harnesses the first three-year, all next-gen development cycle in franchise history. Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare envisions the powerful battlegrounds of the future, where both technology and tactic have evolved to usher in a new era of combat for the franchise. Delivering a stunning performance, Academy Award® winning actor Kevin Spacey stars as Jonathan Irons – one of the most powerful men in the world – shaping this chilling vision of the future of war.

On August 2014, the Sledgehammer Games's twitter confirmed that the game was not in development for the Nintendo Wii U after many speculation and evidence regarding a Wii U version being developed alongside the Xbox 360 and PS3 version, claiming that it was a decision from Activision itself, this decision was not further explained but is speculated that its reasons were the low sales of both Black Ops II and Ghosts on the platform.

Atlas Pro Edition
The Atlas Pro Edition includes:
 * Collectible SteelBook
 * Atlas Gorge Multiplayer Bonus Map
 * Atlas Digital Content Pack, which includes:
 * The Bal-27 AE Assault Rifle and the Atlas 45 AE Pistol
 * Atlas Exoskeleton and helmet
 * Atlas Player Card
 * Five Bonus Supply Drops
 * Single Player Exoskeleton Upgrade Token
 * Advanced Arsenal, which includes:
 * Bullet Brass Exoskeleton
 * EM1 Quantum directed energy weapon
 * AK-12G Assault Rifle and the Crossbow-B2
 * Welcome to Atlas: Advanced Soldier Manual
 * Official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Soundtrack
 * Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass

Atlas Limited Edition
The Atlas Limited Edition includes:
 * Collectible SteelBook
 * Atlas Gorge Multiplayer Bonus Map
 * Atlas Digital Content Pack, which includes:
 * The Bal-27 AE Assault Rifle and the Atlas 45 AE Pistol
 * Atlas Exoskeleton and helmet
 * Atlas Player Card
 * Five Bonus Supply Drops
 * Single Player Exoskeleton Upgrade Token
 * Advanced Arsenal, which includes:
 * Bullet Brass Exoskeleton
 * EM1 Quantum directed energy weapon
 * AK-12G Assault Rifle and the Crossbow-B2
 * Welcome to Atlas: Advanced Soldier Manual
 * Official Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Soundtrack

Digital Pro Edition
The Digital Pro Edition includes:
 * Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Season Pass
 * Atlas Gorge Bonus Multiplayer Map
 * Atlas Digital Content Pack
 * Day Zero Early Access

Day Zero Edition
The Day Zero Edition includes:
 * Early access for 24 hours.
 * Double XP throughout the day.
 * Advanced Arsenal Pack.
 * Three bonus weapon variants: the AK-12 G, the Crossbow B2, and the EM1 Quantum.