Gamers across the world have been criticizing Activision for its “roster update” style releases for the widely popular series known to bros and 11-year olds as Call of Duty. Although I’ve enjoyed a great deal of Call of Duty games, and acknowledge that many of their releases expanded upon things that made their last games popular and addicting, I also acknowledge that not all of the games are different enough to warrant a purchase- for most people anyway.

I’ve never called my self a big Call of Duty fan until the very first Modern Warfare game came out on PS3, 360, and PC. It was the first time I remember a game coming out that blended twitch gameplay, addicting mechanics, and RPG style progression in an online multiplayer experience. It was a breath of fresh air amongst the fairly standard tropes of going online, and leveling up a Rank (which did nothing for actually progressing your online character). Leveling up actually meant something in Modern Warfare, and I found myself addicted to discovering the nuances that made this title unique, and becoming an all around great player. I wanted to be great with any weapon. My friends and I even started a clan called eXe (Tactical Execution) on gamebattles.com and battled other clans. Nothing ever came out of it, but between COD and Rainbow Six, I was HOOKED on first person shooters.

Fast forward to today, and you’d be hard pressed to find some really fantastic First Person Shooters on consoles. Titan Fall, Black Ops 2, and Borderlands 2 are what I’d consider to be standout titles that I find myself drawn towards in terms of recent releases, but other than that, with as many FPS that exist, there aren’t that many that stand out as “fantastic”. This is why I’m pleasantly surprised to find myself excited about another First Person Shooter.

This next COD looks spectacular

So why am I personally hyped for this game? For starters, it’s the first Call of Duty game in the franchise (since Modern Warfare) that has been developed with the 3 year cycle in mind. What this means (in theory) is that the developers actually had a great deal of time to really focus on a vision, test said vision out, and execute with a clarity and sense of newness that we hadn’t had much exposure to in the series. Obviously, this is all speculation, but this could be the first huge change in the series since Modern Warfare hit the scene, and that can mean some exciting new possibilities.

Not all changes are good though. Conversely, this could very well mean the high-risk high-reward ends up not paying off, and we’re left with a carbon copy of Titanfall, with less emphasis on the mechs. We could end up with a broken game that has people running around with stealth camo, one hit knifing people (please don’t include this in the multiplayer) and campers on top of roofs, spawn camping every noob in existence. This could very well show a continued, steady decline in the quality of Call of Duty games.

Hover Motorcycles? Hmmmm

Needless to say, most gamers are cautiously optimistic about Call of Duty Advanced Warfare. With it’s apparent focus on an interesting story, and using never before seen (in a COD game) gadgets and environments, there’s much reason to be excited. What about you? Are you over COD games? Are you over First Person Shooters in general? Is it too little too late? Watch this video below, and let’s talk about it.

Preorder Call of Duty Advanced Warfare

Images courtesy of Sledgehammer, and Activision.