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'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III' will include the series' biggest zombies map ever
Activision has revealed more details about Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III. The game will have the biggest CoD Zombies map to date, including "an open-world PvE extraction survival experience." The sequel will also debut with modernized versions of every original 'Modern Warfare 2' (2009) multiplayer map.
Call of Duty players can bring most of their 'Modern Warfare II' gear over to 'Modern Warfare III'
Activision is doing something different with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, this year's entry in the blockbuster military shooter series. Rather than starting from scratch and having to rebuild your collection of weapons and cosmetic items, Activision is letting players carry over nearly everything they unlock in Modern Warfare II.
The next Call of Duty game is 'Modern Warfare III'
At one point, it seemed like there wouldn't be a full Call of Duty game this year. However, Activision has confirmed Modern Warfare II is coming your way on November 10th.
'Attack on Titan' gear is coming to 'Call of Duty'
An 'Attack on Titan' skin and gear are coming to 'Call of Duty: Vanguard' and 'Call of Duty: Warzone Pacific' with a new bundle.
'Call of Duty: Vanguard' install size maxes out at 93GB on consoles, thankfully
Previous games in the series have crested 200GB, so this is good news.
How California's wildfire skies ended up in 'Call of Duty: Vanguard'
The orange glow over Stalingrad is actually lethal Bay Area light.
'Call of Duty: Vanguard' first look: Taking the series back to WWII
Call of Duty: Vanguard lands on past and current generation consoles, as well as PC, on November 5th.
Exo Zombies invade Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare trailer
The latest trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare shows off the game's upcoming downloadable content, Exo Zombies. Arriving as part of the first content pack, Havoc, Exo Zombies features the voice acting talents of John Malkovich, Bill Paxton, Rose McGowan and Jon Bernthal. The Havoc DLC pack will launch on January 27 for Xbox One and Xbox 360. Havoc also includes four multiplayer maps, the AE4 assault rifle and Widowmaker custom variant. While the Havoc DLC can be purchased separately for $15, season pass holders will receive the pack at no additional charge. Advanced Warfare's $50 season pass grants access to three other pieces of downloadable content: Ascendance, Supremacy and Reckoning. Activision struck a deal with Microsoft to bring Advanced Warfare DLC to the Xbox platforms before it arrives on other systems, so the publisher has yet to offer a release date for Havoc on PS4, PS3 or PC. [Image: Activision]
Call of Duty Championship offers $1M prize pool in March
Activision's Xbox-sponsored Call of Duty Championship returns to Los Angeles across March 27-29, and 32 teams are once again doing battle for their share of the $1 million prize money. A new championship requires a new battlefield (wordage intended), so it's fortunate there is the recently-released Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for this year's competitors. If you and your friends think you've got what it takes, the championships are open to players both pro and non-pro (you're no amateur). You'll need to qualify first, though, and to do that you'll have to make it through online tournaments and live regional finals, all played on Xbox One. MLG.TV has further details here. As for the main event, you can tune in live to the Championship's semi finals and grand final on Xbox Live, and the final's confirmed for "other broadcast partners" too. [Image: Disney, Activision]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is UK's Christmas No. 1
Ding dong merrily on high / In the UK CoD is winning Ding dong verily the sky / In LA Kotick's grinning Spa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-aycey Kevin in excelsis! Like an exosuit-clad soldier sneaking stealthily down the chimney, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sneaks up on FIFA 15 to nick the UK Christmas No. 1. Activision's shooter usurped EA's kicker with a last-minute promotion, which according to Chart Track makes it the fifth CoD ever to claim the top spot in merrytime. Outside of that excitement, the UK charts are getting into the holiday spirit by barely moving an inch. Nonetheless, if you jingle below the break you'll find the full top ten, and this week a very festive edition of the customary music video - sort of.
Major Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare patch hits PS4, Xbox One
A significant Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare update addressing multiple gameplay issues is now available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, developer Sledgehammer Games announced this week. Advanced Warfare's "biggest title update yet" patches Goliath clipping and out-of-bounds glitches, fixes dozens of UI and HUD issues, and rebalances many weapon types across all multiplayer modes. The patch additionally tweaks broadcast and eSports-specific settings, and upgrades Advanced Warfare's anti-cheat enforcement system, eliminating many previously published exploits. While this week's update is currently exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Advanced Warfare, Sledgehammer Games notes that an equivalent patch will launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms "soon." [Image: Activision]
Top CoD: Advanced Warfare players get ironic armor
Developer Sledgehammer Games has a special reward for those Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players tough enough to survive the weaponry of the near-future, an overacting Kevin Spacey and the horrors of playing online, though it's as garish as it is anachronistic. In lieu of hyper plastics and glowing LEDs - the de facto aesthetic for the game - the armor awarded to the top 100 Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare players apes overwrought Renaissance-era ceremonial armor with fine Baroque details and what appear to be precious gems. Apparently once you've cracked the elite ranks of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare there's no need for stealth, so you may as well dress like a militant Fabergé egg. Sledgehammer offers no details on how the armor is distributed to the upper tiers of the online shooter's leaderboards, nor does it offer information on what happens if a player falls out of the top 100. Do players have to go back to drab, boring military colors after a few brief moments as a fabulous peacock of death? We've attempted to contact Sledgehammer Games and will update this story with anything we hear back. [Image: Activision]
Exo Zombies will debut with Havoc DLC in January
The previously-announced return of zombies in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare will rush Xbox One players that purchase the Havoc DLC pack in January 2015 (and other platforms at a later date), developer Sledgehammer Games has revealed. Exo Zombies' chapters will be overrun with an "entirely new breed" of zombies, the first glimpse of which is shown in the above trailer, a clip that was previously viewable by conquering the Riot stage of Advanced Warfare's Exo Survival mode. Though we don't have an exact launch date for the Havoc DLC just yet, remember that Xbox One players will get the first shot at Havoc, Exo Zombies and the rest of Advanced Warfare's DLC due to Xbox's timed exclusivity deal with Activision. [Image: Activision]
Activision issuing DMCA takedowns on Call of Duty exploit videos
Activision is issuing copyright strikes on YouTube videos that "promote cheating and unfair exploits" within its Call of Duty series, Eurogamer reports. Gaming network Machinima warned its userbase in an e-mailed newsletter this week that videos showcasing glitches in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare are currently being targeted for DMCA takedowns, and affected accounts will receive copyright strikes. YouTube users who earn multiple copyright strikes risk having their accounts permanently disabled. "Activision is being particularly vigilant about their Call of Duty videos lately; issuing strikes on videos showing glitches," Machinima's statement reads. "If you post videos highlighting these glitches, your channel may be liable to receive a copyright strike so please be careful." Activision issued a response to Eurogamer claiming that it intends to curb cheating and unfair play within Advanced Warfare's multiplayer mode. "We're excited that so many fans are having fun playing the game and posting videos of their gameplay," an Activision representative wrote. "We love watching the videos ourselves. Occasionally, some folks post videos that promote cheating and unfair exploits. As always, we keep an eye out for these videos - our level of video claims hasn't changed. We are appreciative of the community's support in helping to ensure that everyone has the best playing experience possible." [Image: Activision]
CoD: Advanced Warfare gets 6 million viewers on Twitch in first week [Update]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is apparently as fun to watch as it is to play, given that players spent 5.4 million hours watching Twitch streams of the game in its first week. That figure came from Variety, which noted that over 75,000 broadcasters streamed gameplay footage of Advanced Warfare on Twitch, resulting in more than 26 million views by six million people across all videos during the week. As Twitch confirmed via Twitter, Advanced Warfare became the most streamed console game on Twitch of the year "based on launch week comparisons." The latest Call of Duty dethroned Destiny, which saw five million unique viewers during its introductory week in September. The streaming platform, which was acquired by Amazon for nearly $1 billion in August, has in fact seen better weeks: After inking a three-year deal to become the Electronic Entertainment Expo's official streaming partner in March, 12 million viewers tuned in to Twitch during E3 2014 in June. Update: As a point of clarification, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was the console game with the biggest launch week of the year on Twitch based on the number of streamers, but has not been confirmed as the most streamed game of the year on the platform. We've updated the article and headline to reflect this. [Image: Activision]
UK Charts: CoD Advanced Warfare dethrones FIFA
After six weeks unchallenged, even FIFA 15 can't stop Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from taking top spot in the UK. EA's latest sterling factory falls to No. 2, while according to Chart Track, Sledgehammer's shooter outsells the combined first week sales of Titanfall, Destiny and Wolfenstein: The New Order - by 14 percent. Of course it helps when you're on all platforms and, oh we don't know, a Call of Duty. It might be more revealing to contrast and compare Advanced Warfare against Ghosts, and the 2014 game did beat its annual predecessor's first week in the UK. However, Advanced Warfare debuted on PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, while Ghosts launched on PS4, Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii U. The Xbox One version of Ghosts arrived the following week, and for that matter the game's PS4 and Xbox One copies launched before the respective consoles did... For more on this week's UK charts including the full top ten and the music video (yes it's still going), advance beyond the break.
Advanced Warfare console comparison drops a few frames on PS4
Sledgehammer Games recently confirmed that the Xbox One version of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare automatically scales its resolution up to 1080p on a frame-by-frame basis. By comparison, the PS4 version consistently maintains a high resolution, but performance analysis tests from Digital Foundry show that it comes at a price. In a video (seen after the break) of Advanced Warfare version 1.04 running on both systems, the testers found that the Xbox One version held up at a mostly steady 60fps. As for the PS4 version, it had more frequent dips in frame rate, dropping as low as the mid-40s during some scenes. The tests were primarily focused on the game's campaign; initial looks at Advanced Warfare's multiplayer performance bore similar results, though the Xbox One version did not scale up from its 1360x1080 resolution during multiplayer sessions. [Image: Activision]
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare community not toxic, dev says
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare lead designer Michael Condrey defended the franchise's community in a recent chat with BBC Newsbeat, asserting that the development team has a "low tolerance for toxic behavior" among its fanbase. "I certainly wouldn't characterize the community of fans I know and had the pleasure to engage with as toxic or misogynistic," Condrey said. "The community as a whole is very healthy, engaged and thoughtful and probably like anything anywhere well outside of gaming." Condrey's statement follows up on a recent drive to end online harassment in the games industry, which frequently targets women in particular. Condrey dismissed abusive behavior among Call of Duty players, saying, "In the fringes of a lot of areas of society there are examples of people behaving poorly." Condrey continued: "Come to the game to have fun, come to be social, come to enjoy and build a community and have a positive energy. [...] Toxic behaviors, abusive language, inappropriate emblems, I don't want that around. [...] So for our community, Sledgehammer Games and Advanced Warfare we have pretty low tolerance for toxic behavior." [Image: Activision]
Hold X to watch Conan O'Brien play Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
If your game has a "Hold X to Pay Respects" button and you ask Conan O'Brien to play it - well, you know what's going to happen. Conan's vid does have a few early spoilers for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but it's worth watching the self-proclaimed Clueless Gamer go crazy over turrets, crossing a street and Kevin Spacey's eyes. [Image: Activision-Blizzard]
Metareview: Call of Duty - Advanced Warfare
I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. As it turns out, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare isn't advanced enough to feature pre-frag life-flashing, but at least you get to respawn and run and bounce around its futuristic world, over and over and over. It stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... According to our four-star review, Sledgehammer's Call of Duty is an American beauty. As EIC Ludwig Kietzmann put it, "Despite the familiarity, it's been years since a Call of Duty campaign was as coherent and fast-paced as this one. Within the confines of its franchise, which has yet to make much room for a mature look at the subject matter, Advanced Warfare works with aplomb and, at the very least, plays its Big Dumb Movie card wisely. If you're running out of bad guys, borrow some from Hollywood." But what about the rest of the review universe - the reviewniverse if you will - was Advanced Warfare advanced enough for them, or did it just get lost in Spacey? Head below the break for a sampling of the early reviews.
