Today Activision unveiled world premiere multiplayer footage for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare that left quite an impression. The trailer showcased key elements of the multiplayer experience, highlighting the blisteringly frenetic pace of combat and satisfying array of high-tech gadgets and guns.
The arsenal includes some innovative new toys such as a wrist-mounted grenade launcher, a concussion rifle and even a heat-laser that is startlingly similar to Halo 3‘s Sentinel Beam. Other goodies include fanciful space-age war-toys like machine-gun toting drones and turrets that rain a hell of bullets on enemies to tried-and-true SMG’s.
There was also this thing, which looks like it delivers terrible death on anyone that gets in front of its scope. Crossbows make an appearance, too.
But of course the real weaponry revolves around the exo-suits, which turn you into a living weapon. The exo-suits make everything you do better; from pneumatic-enhanced super-jumps to melee attacks, Sledgehammer has made every player a one-man army.
Hulking mechs only add to that deadly force–equipped with gatling guns, these bipedal armorsuits can even be self-destructed to harm nearby baddies when death is imminent.
One high-tech soldier sported av-camo that would even make Predator jealous, and wrist-mounted ballistic shields conveniently pop out to soak up those crucial bits of damage. Weapon-switching is lightning-fast, and players can utilize a pulse that sets on-screen indicators a la Blacklight: Retribution to pinpoint enemies for easy execution.
Weather hazards add new depth to multiplayer matches. Now players have to look out for risks like tsunami waves and move to higher ground while fending off enemies.
In-game maps were shown off as well, and for the first time ever it appears they’ll have dynamic weather that actually affects gameplay. One map, which showed the Golden Gate Bridge arcing out into turbulent waves, featured tsunami waves that loomed intimidatingly on the coast.
The roiling surf threatens to drown out the skirmishes as players battle each other in gridlocked firefights, and eventually the waves crash in, submerging the exo-touting fighters in the salty sea.
The core mechanics remain the same, and Advanced Warfare‘s multiplayer is very CoD-esque; the pacing is the same, as is the general themes and chaotic FPS sandbox action. In many ways, though, Sledgehammer has introduced the new generation of the franchise.
The trailer may only be around three minutes long, but it shows us more than enough to affirm that this is a new breed of first-person shooter.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launches on November 4, 2014 across Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
