Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's multiplayer could be very different thanks to the futuristic exoskeletons every player is wearing. However, long-time COD fans who think it's too different will have the ability to disable that new feature.
"We also understand that some players may want to go back to more traditional style so there will be a traditional playlist where you can play Team Deathmatch, Domination, Capture the Flag and others without boost jump, without your exo," Sledgehammer Games co-founder Michael Condrey told DvLZStaTioN in the video interview above. "So you and your friends who want to play that way will have a playlist just for you."
The exoskeleton featured in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare grants players superhuman speed and strength. It also allows them to leap great distances. Sledgehammer Games has said in the past that these suits are a "game-changer" and will "usher in a new era" for the franchise.
"We've listened to the fans who told us it's time to change and we're also players," Sledgehammer's other co-founder Glen Schofield said in the interview. "We wanted to add our own, you know, feeling to the game. One of the things we discovered was that when we started adding the exoskeleton and we added the boost jump to it it just changed the way you played the game. It gave a verticality, it gave us a new way to design the levels."
Although exoskeletons have changed Advanced Warfare's multiplayer dramatically, Schofield says that the game is still Call of Duty at its heart.
"So now we've got levels that are designed differently, we have a different way to play but it still feels like the game that you know and love. But now we've added this - I think that once you start to play with the boost jump, you don't want to go back because you kind of miss it."
Sledgehammer Games has a fine line to walk with Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. On the one hand, they want to introduce new features to shake up the Call of Duty formula and make it feel new again. On the other hand, that old formula attracts millions of players to each sequel. Their challenge is to innovate in a way that keeps the status quo intact.
The traditional playlist is a good compromise. I have doubts that it will be as good as playing a game specifically built without exoskeletons in mind. As Schofield said, the Advanced Warfare maps have been crafted around this new equipment and the mobility they give players. Plus, a single playlist means that you don't have much choice over the types of matches you're playing. It sounds like the traditional playlist will cycle through a bunch of different modes.
Still, the traditional playlist gives the Call of Duty purists an escape hatch. If they hate the exoskeletons, Advanced Warfare will still let them play "the old-fashioned way." Sledgehammer Games is banking on these players learning to love the exos. Still, the fact that this feature can be effectively turned off makes it easier for Sledgehammer to convince older COD fans to pick up the game.
