⚙️ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Full Review (PC) – Exosuits, Kevin Spacey, and Future Firepower
⚙️ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Full Review (PC) – Exosuits, Kevin Spacey, and Future Firepower
In 2014, Advanced Warfare redefined the Call of Duty formula. With a fresh studio (Sledgehammer Games) at the helm, this title ditched the past and went full sci-fi—introducing exosuits, boost mobility, and a morally gray story about private military power.
It was a bold leap, full of high-tech spectacle, explosive action, and a Hollywood lead villain.
🎮 Campaign – Politics, Power, and Powered Armor
The single-player campaign kicks off in 2054, with the world destabilized by a series of terrorist attacks. You play as Jack Mitchell, a Marine turned private military contractor for Atlas Corporation, the world’s most powerful PMCs, run by Jonathan Irons (played by Kevin Spacey).
Spacey’s performance is a highlight—equal parts chilling and charismatic. His portrayal of Irons carries an unsettling realism, making him one of the more memorable antagonists in the series. The storyline unfolds with heavy political overtones, corporate militarism, and betrayals—almost like a Black Mirror episode with explosions.
The campaign is tightly paced, running about 6–7 hours. It avoids filler and constantly throws new gadgets and scenarios at you—from high-altitude stealth infiltrations to zero-gravity firefights. It feels like a big-budget sci-fi action movie where you’re in the starring role.
👍 Highlights:
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Exo abilities like boost jumps, grapples, and cloaks add verticality and mobility.
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Visually impressive set-pieces and futuristic tech.
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A refreshingly different antagonist with Kevin Spacey’s mo-cap work shining.
👎 Drawbacks:
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Some scripted sequences limit player agency.
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Story can be predictable, with cliché plot twists.
🧠 Gameplay Mechanics – Boosting the Formula
The defining feature of Advanced Warfare is the Exosuit. Each mission (and most of multiplayer) gives you new movement capabilities—double jumps, dashes, wall clings, and more. This one addition completely reshaped how Call of Duty played, offering faster traversal and vertical gunfights.
Weapons feel slick and punchy, especially with future-tech touches like directed energy rifles and deployable drones. The grenade system was overhauled with smart grenades that track targets, EMPs, threat detection, and more, giving players more tactical tools.
Vehicle sections are few but memorable, with hover bikes and spider tanks offering a brief but fun break from standard gunplay.
🕹️ Multiplayer – High-Octane and Vertical
Multiplayer in Advanced Warfare is divisive. On one hand, it offered a massive shift from previous games with its mobility system. On the other, it dramatically changed the franchise's core “boots-on-the-ground” feel.
Exo movements made gunfights more dynamic and chaotic, but they also made the skill gap wider. Players who mastered boost-dodging and vertical flanking had a serious edge. Maps were redesigned to support this, with multiple levels and open skies.
The Pick 13 system (an evolution of Pick 10) let you customize your loadout even further, encouraging creative builds and tactical flexibility.
🗺️ Notable Maps:
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Detroit – urban, close-quarters combat.
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Solar – clean, mid-sized map with good vertical lanes.
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Riot – prison-themed, with balanced sightlines and flank routes.
📦 Supply Drops:
Advanced Warfare introduced Supply Drops, which could include weapon variants and cosmetic gear. While it added loot-driven progression, the RNG-based system raised some eyebrows due to its pay-to-win implications—especially with variants offering stat bonuses.
🧟 Exo Zombies – Undead in Powered Armor
Following in the footsteps of Treyarch’s Zombies mode, Advanced Warfare introduced “Exo Zombies” in its DLC packs. It brought a sci-fi horror vibe, with fast-moving zombies that could use exosuits themselves.
The mode starred celebrities like John Malkovich and Bill Paxton, and delivered its own bizarre, tongue-in-cheek storyline. It wasn’t as deep as Treyarch’s version but still offered addictive, wave-based co-op action with futuristic weapons and powerups.
🖥️ PC Performance – A Slick Experience
On PC, Advanced Warfare holds up impressively well. The visuals, even today, remain clean and stylish, with smooth animations and sharp effects. The engine feels well-optimized, with good scalability across hardware.
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Graphics Settings: Plenty of tweakable options for resolution, AA, shadows, and more.
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Performance: Solid framerate on modern systems, even on mid-tier GPUs.
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Controls: Mouse and keyboard play smoothly, with full customization.
One downside is the lack of modding support—common for most CoD entries post-Black Ops II. That said, the base content is fairly robust.
🧭 Final Verdict
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare may have been a polarizing game at launch, but in retrospect, it was one of the series’ most experimental and bold entries. Its exo-powered mobility, cinematic storytelling, and future-tech weaponry gave the franchise a much-needed jolt. While its multiplayer balance and loot systems weren’t perfect, the game deserves credit for taking risks.
For PC players in 2025, it’s still a highly playable, visually stylish, and fun futuristic shooter—especially for fans of mobility-heavy gunplay.
⭐ Score: 8/10
+ Bold mechanics, great pacing, strong campaign
– RNG loot and steep multiplayer learning curve