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The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare The subject of this artcile appears in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies The subject of this article exists in or is relevant to the real world. This article was previously featured
For the accompanying app, see Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (app).

"Power changes everything."
— Tagline

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, codenamed "Blacksmith" during development[3], 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 Xbox One,[4] PlayStation 4,[4] PlayStation 3,[1] Xbox 360,[1] and PC. It was the first game to be developed primarily by Sledgehammer Games, as they helped develop Modern Warfare 3 with Infinity Ward in 2011. It is also the first main series game since Call of Duty 3 to not use the IW Engine. It is also the final game in the series to feature a single-player campaign mode for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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. A new reloading mechanic is added called Speed Reload, which is a quicker reload for weapons which fully depletes the magazine instantly.

Plot

In 2054, six months after enlisting for the United States Marine Corps, Private Jack Mitchell and his best friend Private Will Irons are deployed on their combat assignment in Seoul, South Korea, in an effort to repel a massive North Korean invasion force. Assigned to Badger Squad with fellow Marines Sergeant Cormack and Private Jackson, the squad inserts by drop pod into Seoul but are thrown off course due to the North Korean's anti-air defenses. Badger Squad manages to regroup with friendly forces and are assigned to assist a demolitions team with the overall objective of destroying an enemy aerial launcher. En route they encounter an Atlas rescue team lead by elite operative Gideon, who informs Badger Squad of the enemy presence in the next area before moving on. Pvt. Jackson then comments on Will's relation to Atlas CEO Jonathan Irons and asks why Will never joined, with the later stating that he wished to serve his country instead of his father.

After fighting through the besieged city, Badger Squad locates the demo team, who were killed by the North Koreans, and decide to continue their mission. Being covered by Cormack and Jackson, Will and Mitchell proceed towards the Mobile Launcher and succeed in planting the demolition charge, although Will's arm is broken by a shutter panel and is unable to get free. Not wanting them both to die, Will sacrifices himself and throws Mitchell off the ascending Launcher, being killed in the ensuing explosion. Mitchell loses his left arm due to a piece of shrapnel severing it but is saved by Sergeant Cormack, who promises to get Mitchell home. The mission is successful as the U.S. are able to repel the North Korean attack, but at a massive cost: 6000 Marines are killed.

Upon returning home to the United States, Mitchell is discharged from the Marines due to his injury and later attends Will's Funeral, where Cormack delivers an eulogy for his fellow Marine's bravery. After paying their respects to their fallen comrade, Cormack ensures Mitchell that he will support Mitchell through this ordeal, until they are interrupted by Jonathan Irons. While Cormack offers his sympathies to the grieving Irons, the latter offers Mitchell a place in Atlas, claiming that Will told him of the great soldier he was, and that he deserves to fight for an army as effective as he is. Mitchell accepts and is given a "second chance" in the form of a high-tech prosthetic arm. Mitchell then goes through training at Camp David, an Atlas facility in Virginia, to adjust to his new arm. During a simulation in which they must extract the U.S. President from a terrorist occupied house, Mitchell and fellow Atlas soldier Joker nearly succeed until Mitchell experiences a malfunction in his new arm and is beaten by Gideon, who shoots the simulated President and comments on Mitchell's sloppy performance.

Irons then arrives to receive a report new Mitchell's training, to which Gideon responds, "He's getting there, sir." Irons remains optimistic about Mitchell, informing Gideon that Mitchell's a good soldier despite his setbacks in Korea. Irons then offers Mitchell a tour of the facility, giving Mitchell the rundown of Atlas' success and how they have become a freelance superpower. Irons then drops off Mitchell and Gideon at the R&D Lab to get Mitchell's arm recalibrated. After getting his arm fixed, Mitchell is brought to both the gun range and the grenade course to check out the recalibration of his arm, meeting fellow operative Ilona on the gun range where she'll comment on Mitchell's shooting if he beats her score. Mitchell is then brought back to the simulator, where he, Gideon and Joker manage to successfully complete the simulation and is congratulated by Irons, who informs Mitchell that he is ready for some real work.

Three months later, Mitchell is given his first assignment with Atlas, 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, where the KVA's leader, codenamed Hades executes one of the hostages to assert his control of the situation. Assisted by Nigerian Army Captain Ajani, the team succeed in rescuing the hostages but 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. Back in the quarters, Mitchell, Gideon and Joker celebrate their successful op until they are interrupted by Irons, who proposes they have a toast to a job well done. Informing his operatives that this mission has provided Atlas with wonderful opportunities, Irons makes the toast to his men in honor of their service.

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. After successfully reaching the control room, Gideon attempts to get the reactor levels under control but is too late, as the reactor has already gone near critical. Gideon refuses to leave until ordered by Atlas Command, who orders all forces to evacuate the area. Although their team member Carter is killed, Mitchell, Joker and Gideon manage to escape, but the reactor becomes critical and causes the facility to collapse. Soon, more nuclear plants around the world become critical, with 50,000 people dead 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 and has now become the largest corporation in the world, effectively controlling a majority of the world's resources. Now one of Atlas' most elite operatives, Mitchell is deployed in Detroit along with Gideon and Joker to track down a KVA lieutenant, Dr. Pierre Danois, who has information on the whereabouts of Hades. Joined by fellow Atlas Operative Torres, the team use hover bikes to track down Danois at his last known location, a hospital in the ruins of Detroit, where they discover the bodies of several Atlas field scientists with their hazmat suits missing. Realizing that they've been working in disguise, Mitchell and Gideon proceed towards their target until Mitchell loses his footing on an unstable ledge, falling to the lower levels of the ruins and losing his weapon in the process. He is eventually able to regroup with Gideon and the team and track down Danois successfully. While extracting him, the team are sidetracked by a KVA ambush and are nearly killed until a group of cloaked soldiers intervenes and saves them. Telling the team that they will cover their escape, the soldiers' leader tells them to move until he is stopped by Gideon, who demands to know who the soldiers are. The leader simply retorts that it's classified and moves on. The team then manages to reach the Atlas base on their bikes despite being pursued by KVA forces.

Danois is then interrogated by Ilona, who manages to extract the intel that points to Hades being in Greece. Irons, now a member of the U.S. Defense committee, shares this intel with fellow U.S. officials despite their doubts of how solid it is. Wanting to catch the man responsible for chaos caused four years back, Irons proposes that he sends an Atlas team to finish this once and for all, but is chastised by the committee as they see it as committing an act of war despite Atlas being a private company. Irons then leaves with Mitchell and Gideon, wanting them to be on the ground in the next few hours.

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 his heroic sacrifice made by Drelick. 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 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 executed 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 a Major and is the CO 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. However, 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, Juarez and Michaels, 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. Unfortunately, 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 of 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 disabling Mitchell's prosthetic arm as revenge for him defecting from Atlas. Ilona and Gideon overpower their captors and rescue Mitchell and Cormack. Whilst escaping, they learn that Irons is planning 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 missiles 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 corporation led by Jonathan Irons, to fight on their behalf, as well as to assist in reconstruction.[5]

Locations

Characters


Factions


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 three 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 two 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 Operator system. Players are able to customize individual pieces of clothing on characters. The player is able to choose which gender they are in multiplayer, similar to Call of Duty: Ghosts. Other things can be done in here as well, such as checking the Combat Record, customizing Calling Cards, making Emblems, etc.

Gametypes

Maps

Weapons


Camouflages

Perks, Wildcards and Scorestreaks


Vehicles


Exo Survival

Main article: 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 passes. The mode lets the players use the exoskeleton from multiplayer, as well as various weapons, to battle against the enemy soldiers.[6]

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 ten 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

Main article: 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. A total of four maps, one from each map pack, are available for this mode, being Outbreak, Infection, Carrier and Descent.

Development

Sledgehammer confirmed that they were hiring for an unannounced Call of Duty project[7] and a Sledgehammer employee stated that he’s responsible for “developing photo real visual effects for the next Call of DutyModern Warfare release.”[8] 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."[4] 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."[9] On February 6, 2014, Sledgehammer Games and Activision confirmed that they would be developing the 2014 release of the Call of Duty series.[10]

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), Call of Duty®: Advanced Warfare harnesses the first three-year, all next-gen development cycle in franchise history. The game 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, Sledgehammer Games confirmed on Twitter that the game was not in development for the Nintendo Wii U after much 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.

Blacksmith

In an early prototype of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the game was known under the codename Blacksmith, and used a build name from Call of Duty: Ghosts referred to as Call of Duty: Phantom. It was to feature a campaign, Special Ops, and multiplayer. Only one campaign mission was fully working in this version, which was called Fusion and would later be renamed to "Fission" in the final release of the game, but there were three other known missions as well: "SSF Bridge", "SF MOB", and "Dogfight".[11]

Editions

Atlas Pro Edition

Atlas Pro Edition AW

The Atlas Pro Edition.

The Atlas Pro Edition[12] 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

Atlas Limited Edition AW

The 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.

Gold Edition

The Gold Edition includes:

  • Four new Multiplayer maps
  • Havoc DLC pack
  • Two bonus weapon variants: the AE4 directed energy assault rifle and AE4 Widowmaker custom.

Achievements


Soundtrack

Main article: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Soundtrack


DLC

Gallery

Promotional Material

Factions

Player Customization

Special Edition Content

Videos

Trivia

  • When playing the campaign for the first time, the opening cutscene of each mission cannot be skipped.
  • On PlayStation 4, the DLCs for the game are tied to Call of Duty: Ghosts. If the player has Call of Duty: Ghosts on an extended storage device for the PlayStation 4 but has Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on the system storage or a separate extended storage device, they will not be able to access their DLC for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare unless they have the extended storage device with Call of Duty: Ghosts in use.

References

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