Review: Call of Duty Advanced Warfare is a long-awaited return to form

Predictably, the story-driven campaign on offer here is as fast as it is furious.

It makes Vin Diesel look sluggish and The Rock seem scrawny, such is the way it prioritises brawn over brain and action over thought. While there are always going to be those who object to this kind of entertainment, it's exactly what we want from a Call Of Duty 'narrative'.

But better than simply providing what we expect, Sledgehammer has crafted the finest single-player the series has seen since the giddy heights of the Modern Warfare era - thereafter replaced by the inconsistent likes of Ghost and Black Ops.

The reason this ridiculous yarn is so fun is predominantly thanks to every gadget, character, location and plot thread being ramped up to 11 and beyond.

While overarching themes as harrowing as genocide and world domination permeate the six hours (ish) that it takes to reach the final credits, the formulaic and clichéd way in which they're presented adds a hint of humour to every second spent behind enemy lines or avoiding the attentions of a tank.

Best of all is that the writers seem to be in on the fun. Advanced Warfare doesn't quite go so far as to enter the realms of self-parody, but it certainly doesn't take itself too seriously.

How could it? Within minutes you're battling swarms of intelligent unmanned aerial drones, throwing grenades that can see through walls and using your Exo suit to double-jump onto buildings. It might be set 35 years into the future, but this is hardly a serious commentary on the reality of things to come.

During one mission you use optical camouflage to sneak through a forest - bringing back memories of Modern Warfare's All Ghillied Up, but lacking that classic's expert pacing - only to then find yourself piloting a hover tank. Yep. Hover. Tank.

Soon after you're in a fighter jet, then a walking mech loaded with rockets. You don't have time to think. You can only react and go along for the ride.

Prior to release, much was made of Kevin Spacey's involvement, the Hollywood star taking up the role of Jonathan Irons, all round whack job and CEO of private military firm Atlas. Anyone hoping such revered involvement would add a sense of class is in for a let down, his performance serving only to highlight how over-the-top everything really is.

By the end, Spacey is the most excessive of the campaign's elements - more cartoon character than menace to society. All in the name of silly, forgettable fun, though.

It's entirely stupid, then, but that's welcome. By not taking itself seriously, it's easy to absorb the action and brush up on those aiming, shooting and cover skills for the main event. As a stepping stone to multiplayer, the campaign works as well as you could hope.

Many of the futuristic properties of the single-player have found their way to the online arenas, with the Exo suit providing options not seen in previous games. Double-jumping allows you to enter high windows and reach roofs and ledges extremely quickly, your overall speed further boosted by a burst that allows you to dodge forwards, left or right faster than ever to avoid danger.

Enhanced movements come with optional extras, such as the cloaking device, a portable shield for blocking bullets, extra health, or the ability to hover in the air - all of which can only be employed for a limited time: once per life.

There's no doubt these change the way multiplayer looks and feels, with enemies and teammates flying through the sky, over high walls and towards you to inflict those satisfying melee kills.

Engaging in such acts too frequently, however, is a sure-fire route to death and frustration, as each use of the Exo suit causes you to pop up on your opposition's radar (unless you've employed position-scrambling perks).

"The campaign is entirely stupid, but that's welcome. By not taking itself seriously, it's easy to absorb the action and brush up on your skills for the main event"

If you're worried about your kill/death ratio, the best way to a higher grade remains playing safe and sensible - checking those corners, crouching where possible, moving slowly and communicating with friendlies.

Multiplayer servers have so far been split into two categories of people. One, those that love to use the Exo abilities, and two, those that love to wait for people to use the Exo abilities. It'll be interesting to see, in a couple of months time, how many people continue to rely on the mech suit.

Despite the future setting, guns work in much the same way as they always have. They might have fancy new names and offer a range of high-tech scopes, but the majority of them still shoot bullets and are split between typical assault rifle, shotgun, light machine gun and sniper types.

It's this continued consistency across weapons that results in Advanced Warfare still feeling like a 'proper' Call Of Duty game; those same staples that you've grown to know and love are replicated here in full.

Less impressive are the maps. Huge effort seems to have gone into making sure every area of every arena comes coupled with multiple entry and exit points, making it all but impossible to defend a position or intelligently cover all of your angles.

Doing so would require the use of four or five players at a time, which would make for some rather boring and uneventful battles as most games are limited to six per team. These locations promote constant movement, which is fine for the run 'n' gun type of player but less involving for those that prefer to pack a sniper rifle or advance methodically from one side of the map to the other.

There was once a time when Call Of Duty included map types to suit all player tastes, but that path has been replaced by a uniform design aimed at ramping up the number of deaths as quickly as possible. For example, there's not a single dedicated 'sniper map' - making the weapon type all but pointless for anyone not interested in quickscoping.

Inferior maps are a shame because the rest of multiplayer is brilliantly crafted, exhaustive and packed full of content. The number of different game modes alone puts almost every other shooter to shame.

Still, despite such problems, this remains the best Call Of Duty we've seen in years and is the wake-up call the series so desperately needed. Things had been looking stagnant for a while, but the future looks bright once again.