History VideoGame / CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare

* AmericaSavesTheDay: [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]]. At the start of the game, Jack Mitchell is a private in the US Marine Corps and while the mission in Korea he takes part in is successful, many lives are lost including that of his best friend Will Irons and Mitchell himself loses an arm for his troubles and is medically discharged. From there he accepts an offer by the Atlas Corporation to fight for them with the help of a prosthetic limb. Things go well for him as a PMC and during his tenure Atlas grows to be the largest corporation in the world with an arm in all manner of global security, to the point that they can claim they are a superior military than any government-funded army in the world. [[spoiler:Then it's revealed CEO Jonathan Irons knowingly let the initial attack that catapulted Atlas to success happen so he could benefit from it. Mitchell and fellow Atlas operative Ilona defect to the Sentinel Task Force, a multinational US task force assigned to investigate the KVA's nuclear attacks, but later reassigned to investigate Atlas' rise to power. They remain with them through the end of the game]].

** The final levels are essentially a grab-bag of scenes from previous iterations in the franchise: [[spoiler: The villain is a high-ranking American who has turned on the country both for its sins (''Modern Warfare 2'') and because he lost a close relative (''Black Ops 2''). The heroes are members of his handpicked elite, who are betrayed and forced to fight against their former leader (''Modern Warfare 2''). The villain's boldest stroke is to attack the Americans' flagship aircraft carrier (''Black Ops 2''). The final move is an imminent launch of chemical/biological weapons against the mainland US (''Black Ops'') where the protagonists' squad learn of it at the last minute and are the only ones close enough to stop the ICBM launch (''Modern Warfare''). The enemy's base is in a middle eastern skyscraper, which the heroes attack using heavy armored suits (''Modern Warfare 3''). At one point, the player is injured and must defend themselves from the ground with only a handgun (''Modern Warfare''). And after succeeding, the player is carried off to safety by his British and Russian friends into a SequelHook (''Modern Warfare 2'').]]

''Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare'' is a FirstPersonShooter entry in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series, developed by Sledgehammer Games and released in November 2014 for the PC, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox 360}}.

* CoolGuns: Somehow, despite being 2054, weapon designs have decided to look to the past for some inspiration. The "[=ASM1=]" submachine gun is a Thompson M1921 with a more modern stock and tactical accessory mount points.

* DemocracyIsBad: ZigZagged. Irons himself gladly admits the benefits of living in a democracy, he just doesn't believe most of the world capable of supporting it - nor does he believe that it will last, because humans will [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans reject freedom in favor of powerful leadership]] in [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste times of crisis]]. He thus justifies seizing power as simply the smallest of a list of evils.

* VillainHasAPoint:
** There's quite a lot of TruthInTelevision when Irons criticizes the United States' inability to bring peace and democracy to the Third World due to flawed policies, as countries with little in the way of democratic practices in their histories tend toward other systems or adapt democracy to their own systems instead, rendering the changes often useless or temporary - those cultures lack ''all'' of the concepts necessary for it; freedom of religion, freedom of the press, even basic freedom of ''speech''. He makes an equally good point that America has been trying to turn other nations into democracies since UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and it has never worked, instead starting a cycle of wars that has continued into the 21st century. He also [[SmugSnake smugly]] points out that even America itself could be considered an anomaly, because [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste in times of chaos]], humanity will eagerly embrace [[TotalitarianUtilitarian a good ol' firm-but-fair iron fist]] - the 2050s have seen the country become a police state in all but name due to fear of terrorism - so he sees no reason ''not'' to provide said fist himself via his [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMC]], Atlas. He's still a CardCarryingVillain, though, willing to commit [[spoiler:mass murder through biological warfare to "end wars before wars end mankind"]].
** Hades' rants about the over-reliance on technology also prove very prudent, as [[spoiler:when Irons locks down Gideon and Mitchell's exosuits, they are in fact forced to return to their "natural state" and use primitive means to take down their foe, just as he wanted: pure human determination, strength, and stamina - nothing more high tech than a knife]].

''Advanced Warfare'' takes place in the semi-near future of 2054-2060, similar to ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' (which was set in 2025). Like ''Black Ops 2'', the game features fictional futuristic weaponry and equipment such as "[[PoweredArmor Exosuits]]", [[MiniMecha mechs]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Airships}} hybrid airships,]] transforming [[SpiderTank spider-tanks]], hover-bikes, combat drones, wall-climbing gloves, and adaptive camouflage.

-->"Unlike the government, we don't keep secrets of our capabilities. We don't sell policy, we sell power. We are a super power for hire."

* AnachronismStew: Played straight in multiplayer. As of December 2015, the multiplayer features the MP-40, Sten, [=StG-44=], M1911, lever action rifle, Wild West revolver, and a ''16th century blunderbuss''. This is amongst the energy weapons and advanced firearms/technology available. A final update in February of 2016 also added the M1 Garand to round it out.
* AnArmAndALeg: In the prologue level, the transport that Will loaded with an explosive device blows up, and debris from the destroyed transport takes Mitchell's arm off. As shown by Will's corpse, he, too, lost his arm, his right one as opposed to Mitchell's left, in the blast, on account of it being stuck in the door at the time of the explosion.

* InkSuitActor: Mitchell, Gideon and Jonathan Irons are video-game versions of Troy Baker, Gideon Emery and Kevin Spacey, respectively. Likewise, Matt Riedy (Kingpin) in the brief bits he appears in.

* EiffelTowerEffect: In the first level, set in UsefulNotes/{{Seoul}}, Mitchell and Allies drop right in front of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_World_Tower Lotte World Tower]].

* AKA47: Though justified that MegaCorp take over the production and giving then new names and that some weapons like the Bal-27 are mishmash of more than one weapons or a heavily modified one.

* DangerRoomColdOpen: Following a time skip, Mission 2 opens with Mitchell obstensibly already as an Atlas operative, working with a team to rescue the POTUS from a country lodge, which goes smoothly up until his glitching prosthetic arm winds up botching the mission, whereupon his captor shouts to reset the simulation, revealing the entire lodge and surrounding area is just an enclosed training camp attached to a larger Atlas facility.

* EveryoneHasStandards: It's noticeable that every faction in the game, from allies to enemies, makes at least some conscious effort to avoid needless civilian casualties to a degree that's unusual for a ''Call of Duty'' game. Your allies will capture or incapacitate enemy workers instead of killing them, Atlas makes a point of targeting military targets rather than civilian populations, [[spoiler: as well as deliberately engineering their WMD to not harm their own soldiers]]. Even the KVA can be seen deliberately scaring off civilian crowds instead of mowing them down indiscriminately (though the KVA is pretty carless about collateral damage during actual firefights, and also doesn't let the certainty of civilian casualties get in the way of their plans).

* EveryoneHasStandards: It's noticeable that every faction in the game, from allies to enemies, makes at least some conscious effort to avoid needless civilian casualties to a degree that's unusual for a ''Call of Duty'' game. Your allies will capture or incapacitate enemy workers instead of killing them, Atlas makes a point of targeting military targets rather than civilian populations, and even the KVA can be seen deliberately scaring off civilian crowds instead of mowing them down indiscriminately (though the KVA is pretty carless about collateral damage during actual firefights, and also doesn't let the certainty of civilian casualties get in the way of their plans).

* MegaCorp: Atlas Corporation is this in spades, a PrivateMilitaryCompany that at the beginning of the story was already possessing a single largest military forces in the world and were becoming even more powerful through the entire course of the game. [[spoiler: Which culminating with its CEO pretty much declaring war on ''the entire world''.]]

!Tropes appearing in the game include:

* RealityEnsues: On several levels.
** Jonathan Irons' various speeches about the nature of modern foreign policy strike a chord with many players because, unlike many shooters, it acknowledges the nature of modern wars themselves, and how they often simply lead to more wars.
** When [[spoiler:the KVA]] has its leader fall, it falls fast due to no real visible leadership. However, when the leader of [[spoiler:Atlas Corporation]] falls, the fact that there ''is'' a backup leadership means that there is an implied SequelHook even though the most apparent conflict is finished.
** When [[spoiler:Cormack]] is shot with a seeming flesh wound on the leg, most players, who undergo this kind of shot regularly in the games, would assume he's going to be fine. unfortunately, it's directly stated that he will die in approximately twenty minutes from blood loss due to a lack of adequate medical attention.
** One of the things touched upon, is how powered exoskeletons have changed how infantry warfare is handled, as well as Military Operations in Urban Terrain. Because of the verticality that can be achieved with an exosuit, along with how much it increases the warfighter's capabilities and what it can provide to the warfighter, it has changed how infantry combat unfolds. Yes, the warfighter in an exosuit can still be slowed down, badly injured and killed, but in a lot of circumstances, the kind of damage they can do in a short period of time, one on one or in fireteams or larger, is nothing short of astonishing. An effective force multiplier, it is. Ideal for advanced warfare.
** Atlas is the most powerful corporation in the world, with the largest military in the world, direct control over much of the world's infrastructure, and some of the most advanced weaponry on the planet. When [[spoiler: Irons declares war on ''everyone'', however, his capital is directly attacked by overwhelming military force, and the only thing preventing it from being overrun is Irons dropping Manticore bombs on his own city.]]
** Gideon and Mitchell, being ''Call of Duty'' protagonists, have [[TheAce an amazing array of skills]]. They have AST pilot training, tank training, can fly light jet fighters, jetpacks, and helicopters, along with training in demolitions, stealth, and controlling several types of drones. But even with all their expertise, the game draws the line at [[spoiler: Gideon being able to stop a melting-down nuclear reactor. He just doesn't have the highly-specialized technical know-how to actually stop the reactor from blowing]].
** [[spoiler: Irons]] knows that even with the power his forces can bring to bear, he can't possibly stand toe-to-toe with the might of the United States Navy. So rather than fight them head on, he instead decides to [[DroppedABridgeOnHim drop a bridge on them.]] [[spoiler: ''Literally'', as in dropping the Golden Gate Bridge down on top of the core of the U.S Pacific Fleet so he can pick them apart with cargo ships converted into warships.]]

* EiffelTowerEffect: In the first level, set in Seoul, Mitchell and Allies drop right in front of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_World_Tower Lotte World Tower]].

* Hypocrite: The KVA is very technophobic, yet they make use of drones, surveillance devices, advanced weapon optics, vehicles, and so on. Exo-suits seem to be the only real omission they make.

* [[Hypocrite]]: The KVA is very technophobic, yet they make use of drones and surveillance devices.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Mitchell rips off what's left of his cybernetic arm to drop Irons off a building.]]