14 DAY TRIAL // Sledgehammer Games, the developer of the upcoming first-person tactical military shooter Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, believes that the armored exoskeleton that the game will introduce to the series will be a game-changer when it comes to the title's multiplayer action.
The futuristic technology of the exoskeleton introduces a lot of new freedom of movement into the game, enabling players to perform high jumps and swift side dashes even before it's upgraded, thus significantly altering the gameplay dynamic.
"We've got heavy weapons, which is sort of another new class, verticality through the boost jump - you can imagine what that does to the multiplayer experience. And then cloak, super-strength, and then off-the-controller changes, like the exo-boost and the exo-slide," Sledgehammer co-founder Michael Condrey tells OXM.
"We've got a really great combo now with the boost jump and then a lethal slam from above. We feel like it's a pretty fundamental change to the second-to-second combat, as well as the broader linear experience that you see in campaign," he continues.
The exo-suit can be upgraded at the end of every mission, allowing players more tactical options when it comes to tackling the campaign' objectives. The new storyline allows for a much wider array of tactics than in any of the game's precursors in the series, enabling players to use the suit's capabilities to out-maneuver enemies and ambush them, or to rip the door from a nearby car and use it as a shield.
The consequences of these new interactions and possibilities for the multiplayer strategies which have largely remained unchanged since the debut of the Call of Duty series will translate into new challenges and opportunities for virtual warfare enthusiasts.
However, Sledgehammer has been very careful so far, in order not to ruin the balance of the game or to utterly destroy the most popular aspects of the Call of Duty multiplayer experience, mentioning that several of the most used weapons in the previous games will also show up in Advance Warfare, alongside the fundamental gameplay mechanics and interactions.
"What we do is we look at an AK47, and in 50 years it hasn't changed a heck of a lot, so for a future version, we've changed it as much as you would in 50 years. Others we've looked at, and they've just changed fundamentally in those 50 years, so we've made those adjustments as well - we've said 'OK, that's changed a lot,'" Sledgehammer's Glen Schofield explains.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is scheduled to come out on November 4, 2014, for the Windows PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 platforms.
