Hold your cynicism for a second. While you’ve likely heard the word ‘innovative’ thrown around in the game industry for some time now, Sledgehammer Games might actually mean it in reference to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare this time around. With the inclusion of all new Exo suits, futuristic tech such as 3D printed ammo and more, Advanced Warfare is sure to be the most interesting title in the series yet. Sledgehammer is looking to set themselves apart from both Infinity Ward and Treyarch and they accentuate this notion in an interview with Metro where co-founder Glen Schofield says:
“We’ll have our own style. The exoskeletons are definitely in there and that’s the core of the game.”
The Exo suits in particular are going to be a large part of the core gameplay. Usually COD games revolve around close to long range engagements that use twitch reflexes to determine who comes out on top. This has been augmented slightly by the inclusion of features such as diving to prone in Black Ops II and the knee slide and leaning in Ghosts. Having Exo suit abilities, which provide the player with altered movements such as a power jump and being able to boost dodge, will definitely change how this COD game is played from the rest. Co-founder Michael Condrey also comments on multiplayer saying:
“Our multiplayer has what I’m going to call the biggest set of new, as you call it, cool gear that you’ve seen in a long time. It’s a big step forward, from three years in development we’ve been able to innovate across the game.”
“When you talk about all the ways you want to innovate a franchise or a game, for us it was about offering real gameplay changes and the heart and soul of the exosuit really was that focus. Everything from the boost jump, which you saw, to the strength, which you saw, and the speed and new player movements like the dodge and the slam. We put a tremendous amount of our time into really getting that right, and all the innovations of the advanced soldier, and that’s been kind of the focus for the last three years.”
It seems Sledgehammer has been making effective use of their time to transform a franchise’s core gameplay from the inside. We’ll certainly see more of COD: Advanced Warfare in the coming months. The game launches on November 4th for Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3 and PC.
