Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is one of the best entries to date in this long running game series. Advancing the story roughly fifty years into the future - war has changed where our marines are wearing body armor that allows for superhuman abilities. Tactics remain the same with running and gunning but how you go about doing it is crazy fun.
Wearing a type of armor called EXO allows for your main character to rip off car doors, crash through walls, jump higher, and hover while falling from great distances. This element adds quite a bit to the COD formula and it's a welcome change. The controls feel really solid, which is a good thing for an FPS, and the graphics are absolutely stunning. There were times that I thought I was looking at a real person instead of their digital representations. It's a little creepy at times and only makes me wonder how far into the uncanny valley we'll go with future titles.
What really stood out to me was how clean the HUD (Heads Up Display) was. No longer is the screen littered with status bars for ammo or maps, instead all of that information is now mapped to the weapons. When your weapon is readied you'll see grenade and bullet magazine amounts, and power that's left in your EXO suit. This was a really great choice because not only does it reduce screen clutter, you're also not distracted by too much information.
The music hits another high point for me. Utilizing both Harry Gregson-Williams and Audiomachine - Sledgehammer upped the bar for how COD music should be heard. I played Warfare mostly with headphones and the music made an already enjoyable experience even better. After purchasing the soundtrack I found myself liking Audiomachine's tracks more than Harry's but that's more personal preference.
As for the story.... it's your typical COD fanfare. You're a not so great solider who becomes humanity's savior after six hours of game time. I wasn't too impressed by the events that took place, it was mostly predictable but I thought it was a serviceable plot to keep things moving forward. The addition of Kevin Spacey wasn't as jarring as I thought it was going to be and I think he did a fantastic job with the material he was given. The role he played reminded me a lot of the role he plays in House of Cards, so if you're a fan of that series expect a great performance.
Multiplayer is typical COD. You earn points for leveling up your character to get better weapons then rinse/repeat. Multiplayer is very fun with the addition of the EXO suit. It reminds me a lot of Titanfall with the double jumping ability. It definitely adds to the experience and makes it a better more enjoyable game. My only fear about multiplayer is what are we going to get next year? Activision has three teams working on Call of Duty so what we have now may not translate to a future title. We'll just have to wait and see - with any luck this game will sell well enough that Activision won't change much of the formula.
I highly recommend picking up Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The graphics alone will justify your next generation game console purchase - too bad we had to wait a year to see something this good. You might not be too impressed with the story but c'mon... who plays Call of Duty for the story? I beat the game on the Regular setting and it offered a good challenge but didn't seem as tough as previous COD titles. I would recommend doing this difficulty first to get a feel for the layout then going back to tackle the higher tier difficulty settings. Overall, the entire package contains a well rounded game and something that'll keep you busy for quite some time.
Score:
9 out of 10
-Jim
Wearing a type of armor called EXO allows for your main character to rip off car doors, crash through walls, jump higher, and hover while falling from great distances. This element adds quite a bit to the COD formula and it's a welcome change. The controls feel really solid, which is a good thing for an FPS, and the graphics are absolutely stunning. There were times that I thought I was looking at a real person instead of their digital representations. It's a little creepy at times and only makes me wonder how far into the uncanny valley we'll go with future titles.
What really stood out to me was how clean the HUD (Heads Up Display) was. No longer is the screen littered with status bars for ammo or maps, instead all of that information is now mapped to the weapons. When your weapon is readied you'll see grenade and bullet magazine amounts, and power that's left in your EXO suit. This was a really great choice because not only does it reduce screen clutter, you're also not distracted by too much information.
The music hits another high point for me. Utilizing both Harry Gregson-Williams and Audiomachine - Sledgehammer upped the bar for how COD music should be heard. I played Warfare mostly with headphones and the music made an already enjoyable experience even better. After purchasing the soundtrack I found myself liking Audiomachine's tracks more than Harry's but that's more personal preference.
As for the story.... it's your typical COD fanfare. You're a not so great solider who becomes humanity's savior after six hours of game time. I wasn't too impressed by the events that took place, it was mostly predictable but I thought it was a serviceable plot to keep things moving forward. The addition of Kevin Spacey wasn't as jarring as I thought it was going to be and I think he did a fantastic job with the material he was given. The role he played reminded me a lot of the role he plays in House of Cards, so if you're a fan of that series expect a great performance.
Multiplayer is typical COD. You earn points for leveling up your character to get better weapons then rinse/repeat. Multiplayer is very fun with the addition of the EXO suit. It reminds me a lot of Titanfall with the double jumping ability. It definitely adds to the experience and makes it a better more enjoyable game. My only fear about multiplayer is what are we going to get next year? Activision has three teams working on Call of Duty so what we have now may not translate to a future title. We'll just have to wait and see - with any luck this game will sell well enough that Activision won't change much of the formula.
I highly recommend picking up Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The graphics alone will justify your next generation game console purchase - too bad we had to wait a year to see something this good. You might not be too impressed with the story but c'mon... who plays Call of Duty for the story? I beat the game on the Regular setting and it offered a good challenge but didn't seem as tough as previous COD titles. I would recommend doing this difficulty first to get a feel for the layout then going back to tackle the higher tier difficulty settings. Overall, the entire package contains a well rounded game and something that'll keep you busy for quite some time.
Score:
9 out of 10
-Jim
Driveclub: The Soundtrack Review
So on a whim I decided to buy the Driveclub soundtrack since I loved the game so much....(cough). To my surprise the album was produced by Hybrid - one of the most influential electronic groups out there right now. These guys have been doing quite a few video game soundtracks over the years which have not disappointed and I'm happy to report that their Driveclub album can sit among their previous works as an excellent example of musical mastery.
The production values on this album are excellent. The sound is very crisp and only improves as the quality of headphones increases. Right off the bat you're going to notice the massive 27 song track list. At first glance this is absolutely huge but nothing out of the ordinary for a game soundtrack. Disappointingly there are only 5 main theme tracks and the rest are remixes - either by Hybrid or other electronic artists. Now I'm not adverse to remixes, I actually sometimes prefer them as I enjoy listening to other artists interpretations but with only 5 theme tracks there isn't much diversity to create 22 remixes. I do have to hand it to the contributing artists for really taking advantage of the main melodies and creating something unique other than the filler which is usually common with remixes.
Speaking of the 5 main theme tracks, they are absolutely fantastic. In not so electronic scoring fashion these tracks stick to a purely slower pace that creates tension as they build through their 4 - 5 minute run times. It's almost as if these tracks were meant for a more adventurous game... which is not surprising given Hybrids sweeping orchestral melodies mixed with electronic drum beats. The remixes speed things up a bit which is a welcome change of pace for the album and very much carry the electronic dance music motif. Overall, the tracks compliment each other nicely - I just wish there was a little more variety.
What's really surprising to me is with such a fantastic artist attached to the soundtrack you'd think their music would be more prominent throughout the game. The only time you hear these tracks is throughout the many menus you must traverse before entering a race which is a damn shame. If anything the remixes should have been playing during the races to create more tension and make things less uninteresting. I can't help but shake the feeling that Evolution Studios was fighting a massively low budget and had to quickly slap something together before Sony abandoned them.
If you're a Hybrid fan I highly recommend adding this soundtrack to your collection. The main theme tracks will take you on an incredible musical journey and the remixes will make you want to drive fast.
For me this album will be on my running playlist for a while.
Score: 7 out of 10
-Jim
The production values on this album are excellent. The sound is very crisp and only improves as the quality of headphones increases. Right off the bat you're going to notice the massive 27 song track list. At first glance this is absolutely huge but nothing out of the ordinary for a game soundtrack. Disappointingly there are only 5 main theme tracks and the rest are remixes - either by Hybrid or other electronic artists. Now I'm not adverse to remixes, I actually sometimes prefer them as I enjoy listening to other artists interpretations but with only 5 theme tracks there isn't much diversity to create 22 remixes. I do have to hand it to the contributing artists for really taking advantage of the main melodies and creating something unique other than the filler which is usually common with remixes.
Speaking of the 5 main theme tracks, they are absolutely fantastic. In not so electronic scoring fashion these tracks stick to a purely slower pace that creates tension as they build through their 4 - 5 minute run times. It's almost as if these tracks were meant for a more adventurous game... which is not surprising given Hybrids sweeping orchestral melodies mixed with electronic drum beats. The remixes speed things up a bit which is a welcome change of pace for the album and very much carry the electronic dance music motif. Overall, the tracks compliment each other nicely - I just wish there was a little more variety.
What's really surprising to me is with such a fantastic artist attached to the soundtrack you'd think their music would be more prominent throughout the game. The only time you hear these tracks is throughout the many menus you must traverse before entering a race which is a damn shame. If anything the remixes should have been playing during the races to create more tension and make things less uninteresting. I can't help but shake the feeling that Evolution Studios was fighting a massively low budget and had to quickly slap something together before Sony abandoned them.
If you're a Hybrid fan I highly recommend adding this soundtrack to your collection. The main theme tracks will take you on an incredible musical journey and the remixes will make you want to drive fast.
For me this album will be on my running playlist for a while.
Score: 7 out of 10
-Jim