This article first appeared in GamesMaster magazine. Issue 280 is on-sale now, or subscribe here.
Keep your Killstreaks in your pocket for the moment and try to picture in your mind your most savoured Call Of Duty memory. No, don't tell us. Got it? Good... It's All Ghillied Up isn't it?
A few of you may have gone for No Russian, with its shocking headline-inspiring gratuitousness. Others may have picked Death From Above for the iconic grainy visuals. But chances are high that a huge portion of you plumped for the quietly tense sniping jaunt which, at its most fundamental, involved crawling through the long grass of Pripyat, a post Chernobyl Disaster ghost town.
While there have certainly been impactful moments in the series since then (playing Russian Roulette with Bowman and Woods in Black Ops, anyone?), nothing has come close to providing the same level of investment, or simply carrying us away to these dangerous spaces with the same atmospheric verve.
Sledgehammer games has spent the last three years (that's a year longer than the average COD team gets) ensuring it recaptures this elusive formula in the newest subtitled branch of the Duty tree, Advanced Warfare.
"It's remarkable," notes Michael Condrey, Sledgehammer co-founder and studio head. "There are some majorly iconic COD levels. They're impactful and memorable. And boy, we're trying so hard to capture that lightning in a bottle. We look at levels like All Ghillied Up. It was awesome because it was a fantastic level, but it was also really great because it had different atmosphere, right?"
This doesn't mean the team has been backwards facing. Far from it. We'll get onto the inspired near-future setting in a moment. But what initially arrests us as we get our eyes on the latest COD is the promise that it's in the hands of a team so profoundly aware of what makes for good pacing and the impact that can have on a narrative experience.
"We're inspired by things in the franchise as much as things we've done in the past," says Condrey, referring to his and Glen Schofield's (fellow Sledgehammer co-founder and studio head) work on the original Dead Space. "That said, you'll probably feel more of the Sledgehammer fingerprint on this one. Maybe a little more than you have on some recent Call Of Duty games."
Sledgehammer may have been the name on Modern Warfare 3 (co-developed in the aftermath of fractious fallouts between Activision and previous dev Infinity Ward part way through development), but Advanced Warfare will be the first COD built from the ground up by this team. So what does it mean to have a Sledgehammer fingerprint?
"It's not deliberately Dead Space," says Schofield, picking up from Condrey. The two are batting the answers to our questions between themselves with barely tempered enthusiasm. "It's our style coming out. It's from hearing the guys [veterans of real life conflict] talk about [war being] 'scary.'
"We said 'we can do that!' But we've got ups and downs and dark moments. Places where it's big war, or small war. the whole idea is to change it up, and keep you going through the game."
ZoomYou wanted something different, COD fans? While it's easy to see the disparity in the new-gen visuals and the setting (trust us, we'll get to it), it's at this fundamental level, with an obvious appreciation of story tempo and atmosphere in single-player, that Advanced Warfare has our attention. We've been in rooms with COD devs many times over the years. It's rare that the folks we talk to are so keen to discuss the intricacies of pacing over things being simply bigger and better and explodier.
Alright, alright. Hold your horses. Let's move on to that setting, then. Speaking of things equestrian, chances are we won't be seeing many four-legged chums (equine, canine or otherwise) show up with Twitter accounts this time around. We're jetting off to a new era, 2054 to be precise. In this near-future setting Private Military Corporations (PMCs) have become a major economic and political power across the globe.
One such PMC is Atlus, run by the dangerously charismatic Jonathan Irons (played by Kevin Spacey). As former US Marine Mitchell (played by perennial gaming voice-over talent Troy Baker) you join Atlus' ranks as a new recruit, loading up with all of the ultramodern, but not quite wholly implausible weaponry that goes along with it.
"We talked about having a guy that most people could relate to," says Schofield on Mitchell. "You know, middle-class and, not that everyone can relate to this, but his family's divorced. He grew up and ended up going into the military. You want to see this character's journey, and his growth.
"But [the] future was definitely one of the things we were talking about very early. We all agreed on 45-50 years in the future. PMCs [also] came very early, and the exoskeleton was even an idea that came up on the press trip before Modern Warfare 3 shipped."
"It's in the hands of a team so profoundly aware of what makes for good pacing and the impact that can have on a narrative experience"
Said exoskeleton takes the form of an angular metal frame that attaches to soldiers' backs, enabling the use of droolworthy new abilities. With an extra year in its hands with which to come up with something truly gamechanging, Sledgehammer was able to experiment in shiny new directions in terms of how you go about navigating these glistening new-gen future-scapes.
One of the levels we see, an explosive encounter on San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, entails a startling amount of exo-inspired movement, from slow-motion strafing to airborne bursts of speed. It was here, Condrey tells us, that the exoskeleton, and the way it fits into the COD formula while also actively shifting it in exciting new directions, was born.
"San Francisco was the second level we developed during pre-production in early 2012," remembers Condrey, "and the first one with our exo-boost mechanic. The addition of verticality to combat became an instant hit at the studio, and the anchor of the exoskeleton player movement innovations. That was the moment - the exact moment - we fully realised the new gameplay potential, more than two and a half years ago. And it was just the beginning."
ZoomThe San Francisco stage takes place during Fleet Week, an annual event in the US when Naval vessels in service dock and the public are allowed to take inside tours of them. Theoretically this should be a classic first-person shooter level, set along the straight, linear path of the bridge.
We even see burnt out cars lying splayed across the tarmac providing optimal cover. What Mitchell does when faced down by sentinel troops (Advanced Warfare's answer for real life's NATO), ensures that our preconceptions are rapidly quashed.
Pinned down by enemies perched atop a smashed up bus, Mitchell reaches out towards the car he's using for cover and, using his exoskeleton-powered super strength, rips the door right off. He then uses it as mobile cover as he crosses the killing ground before flinging it heartily at a drone hovering menacingly above.
Next Mitchell boost-jumps upwards, leaping atop the bus itself, before boost-strafing sideways in mid-air and using a player-activated Overdrive skill to slow down time while peppering the sides of his startled foes with bulletry. It looks exhausting, frankly. And while we're undoubtedly watching someone play a Call Of Duty game, this is a welcome difference to what has come before.
We're shown another two levels to help us wrap our heads around these new mechanics. The next one up to bat was Armada, set atop the multi-tiered deck and inside the dank, metal corridors of an aircraft carrier. the grounded realism of the world is touched on nicely as your presumed mentor, a less beardy-faced, more beanie-headed take on Modern Warfare's Price, reminds the squad to turn off their exo-boost functions to avoid breaking their necks on the ceiling.
We get to see a few more near-future touches. Mitchell can cycle through various grenade types on the fly, their multiple functions highlighted via a blipping holographic marker on the grenade itself. One minute he's tossing them up, where they galmorphanise (or 'sprout', if you insist on using real words) propellers and float over towards enemies. The next he's lobbing a vision-altering X-ray number into the fray. This sets all bad dudes glowing red before you, whether they're in direct line-of-sight or hiding behind cover.
This is not a science-fiction experience," says Condrey. "We're laser-focused on delivering a Call Of Duty experience, and by that I mean grounded in a believable, realistic near-future experience." Did someone say lasers? It's a word you won't hear in Advanced Warfare. Your beam-based arsenal is referred to as 'weaponised energy,' another technology in the works in real-life. But it's definitely the exo-powers that are the stars so far.
It's mostly when Mitchell and pals are out in the open that Armada highlights the impactfulness of these skills. the deck is loaded with metallic protrusions, high walls to bound up using the boost, and room for hovering grenades and the like to grab at our attention. It's enough to wipe any Call Of Duty weariness away, and yet when our otherwise mind-blowing look at Advanced Warfare moves indoors we find our eyes glazing over a tad. Surely we've seen it all before when it comes to corridor gameplay?
"Sledgehammer was able to experiment in new directions in terms of how you go about navigating its glistening new-gen future-scapes"
Just as that thought enters our critical brain machines, we're thrown straight into the third and final level of our demonstration. Aftermath turns out to be a superb showcase of sledgehammer's conscious intent to force the player to drink in the world, the story and the characters, rather than just plough through those initially worrisome pathways.
It's got hover bikes. Now, we're not treated to a full on Halo-esque ghost battle, but it's clear that the player is most definitely in control of these vehicles. Mitchell and his sweary retinue are heading into a neighbouring military camp amid palpable political tensions and the shadowy promise of night-time cover of darkness.
We whisper through the streets as rainwater glistens on the tarmac with an ethereal sheen. troops in hulking mech suits guard the exit to our own camp, eventually allowing us to pass. One guy in particular straddles up and takes a good long look at us, an ominous mini-gun nonchalantly hanging from his arm. Before long we're deep in the enemy camp, having not shot a single bullet, traversing broken cityscape scenery.
We go through an entire sequence, hiding from visibly more powerful forces, scrambling weaponless through dilapidated school buildings and even at one point discovering a room filled with bullet-riddled corpses. Flies audibly buzz about us and the haze of the massacre hangs still warm in the air, or so it feels. There's that Sledgehammer touch, then.
Before long we're gunned up to the nines and blasting our way back out of the area, enduring a cover-pushing QTE (groan) before being saved by the nosey fellow in the mech suit we had gotten an eyeful of just prior. It's a heart-stopping level, tension crafted masterfully at some points before being shattered breathlessly moments later. At its most innovative, Advanced Warfare is goosebump worthy.
One worry, however, is that when it leans on the conventions of the franchise it's too easy to see where gaming lines draw things together. That moving cover moment? Right out of Black Ops' prison escape with Reznov. Perhaps it's just because we're so familiar with these elements, but we're hoping they're rare in the final fracas.
One particularly welcome change we notice is that the typical, tedious COD trope of traipsing after another soldier through linear pathways, constantly chasing the word 'follow' as it bounces before you on-screen, is a thing of the past. "We feel like it's a very strong way of presenting critical information to not throw up a 2D icon with a name in your face," says Condrey, who's eager to emphasise how much of the team's past experience has enabled them to make decisions like these.
"We looked to strike a different avenue on Dead Space. We started calling it the HUD-less look. All the information is integrated into the player. We thought this is awesome for an advanced soldier, because you've got augmented reality, right? Just like the military is working on today, just like Google Glass is starting to do. There's no reason to have this artificial thing on screen that breaks the immersion. We can give you the information you need in real-time in a way that's really specific to our fiction."
As for where else in the world beyond these three stages we'll get to go, Condrey hints at Europe and North America as well as Africa and Asia. Best pack our toothbrushes as well as our weaponised-energy arsenal, then. Sledgehammer is clearly prepared to take us to some new places, both with its locations and future-infused thematic oomph. But how closely will it approach something as dark as Modern Warfare 2's No Russian?
Zoom"Really the franchise has always been rooted in the hero's journey, right?" explains Condrey. "It began in World War II, what many called the Great War. It was a cause that was viewed, generally, as noble. Those are the values that are important to Call Of Duty. there's still a social responsibility. The opposite of those things, a selfish or self-serving goal, gratuitously violent subject matters... those are areas that I don't think are in COD's space. It's not where the narrative that Glen and I want to deliver exists."
According to Sledgehammer, Advanced Warfare's narrative darkness will come from debate-rife political, economical and technological areas, rather than reputation-damaging shock tactics. Condrey continues: "There are some interesting topics in the world today, right? From fascism, to terrorism, to the rise of PMCs. All of those are very grounded in what's happening today - very real, global topics. And with them there's some controversy.
"I do think that by the nature of that subject matter we'll touch on some social commentary that'll be compelling. But it's for the sake of driving a great narrative. It's for the sake of driving an interesting, ripped-from-the-headlines thought on the state of the world today. It's not about trying to shock, or deliver gratuitous violence."
Still got those Killstreaks on your back burners? Go on, then. Fish 'em out. Multiplayer, as you might expect, will play a huge part in Advanced Warfare. We're tantalisingly promised that "there were really no sacred cows" when it came to approaching its finely-tuned formula. "We started [on] day one with a focus on innovating MP," Condrey enthuses, clearly eager to tell us more but conscious not to blow what will be, as tradition dictates, a major reveal later in the year.
"We've had a full two and a half years to really focus on making this a game-changer. We've got movement sets and mechanics that are inspired by what you saw in the single-player levels and what that can bring with the exo to MP." Essentially this means that even in multiplayer, you'll be able to use exo-skills such as ripping off car doors for portable cover and freely boosting around the maps, all while drinking in the crackling 60 fps shooty juice you know and love.
"For the first time in probably a decade, we're redefining the movement set for Call Of Duty. You saw that [in single-player] in terms of the boost-jump and adding verticality. [There's also] the boost-dodge and the exo-slam. And there are other things around cloak and strength. When you put the controls in the players' hands, it's going to be everything that COD is known for, but imagining all of what the exo brings has opened up a lot of potential for us to redefine that multiplayer experience."
There's something else that you need to know. Advanced Warfare is being put together by Sledgehammer specifically for new-gen consoles. But hold on. There's a last-gen version coming out, right? This will actually be created by an entirely different, as yet unnamed, studio. While clearly keen to not let the huge install bases of PS3 and 360 pass them by, Activision wants to push on from the relatively lukewarm reception for Ghosts.
There's little chance that Advanced Warfare will feel stretched too thinly over generations. Developers seem to always be on the look out for that hard to pin down new-gen feature that signifies a game is inherently not last-gen. Sledgehammer's challenge is to do this without breaking up a vast existing fanbase.
What's exciting is that it's doing this by looking both forward and backwards for inspiration, embracing what has made the series great while being more open to new ideas than we can remember from a COD studio.
If you're an active member of the game's 40-million strong community, you should most certainly be excited. But if you're a tired veteran, hungry for battle but burned out by the unchanged building blocks of the genre, then there may be plenty to draw you back in too come 4 November.
This article first appeared in GamesMaster magazine. Issue 280 is on-sale now, or subscribe here.
