YMMV / Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

• Best Level Ever:
  • The car chase level has gotten praise for this since you're fighting on cars chasing after a target. Likewise, the chase after Hades has been complimented for being a tense part, especially the sniper section.
  • The two levels which give you free usage of the grapple hook are also well-received, with favorable comparisons to Batman: Arkham City being thrown at them, and many critics commented that if the grapple had been allowed for every mission, the game would have been even better than it was.
• Broken Base:
  • Some fans are annoyed that the branching story idea from Black Ops II still isn't getting used.
  • There is a sequence where you must pay your respects to a fallen soldier by pressing a key (in the PC version) or holding down a button (in the console versions). Some have derided this as Quick Time Event gone too far and a case of Anvilicious Narm, but others feel that the game is making an important point about paying tribute to those who have fallen in the line of duty. It has undergone Memetic Mutation ever since (see below).
  • Some people have said that Advanced Warfare has the best story of any recent Call of Duty. Others have said it's awful and ridden with cliches, to the point where it plays like a parody of everything that is wrong with Call of Duty's main story modes. And there's also a third group that thinks the main story mode is somewhere in the middle, or about par for the series.
  • The changes to the multiplayer have also had a contested reception. The faster, more mobile gameplay created by the exo-suit has been positively received by those who felt the franchise was becoming stagnant as well as by older gamers with fond memories of fast, high mobility arena-shooters like Unreal Tournament, while many who played Call of Duty religiously specifically because of its very distinct gameplay style disliked the major shift to something different.
  • The multiplayer map design. Because of the exo-suits, the maps were made taller to encourage use of the exo-suits' jumping and boosting abilities. This divided the base when the map designs pretty much forced many of the maps into impromptu "King of the Hill" matches where players fight over the highest vantage point. Some of the base don't mind these improvised matches as it adds to the fun of trying to hold a high vantage point to be able rain lead, lasers, and scorestreaks down on the climbers trying to knock you off. Others hate this as it makes many matches repetitive and boring.
  • The "Exo Zombies" mode. Good news: Zombie Mode is back, and the zombies will also have exoskeletons and available abilities. Bad news: Zombie mode is back, and aside from that (and the new plot which is a What If? about Atlas' bio-warfare experiments in the main plot having Gone Horribly Wrong), it all screams out "Nazi Zombies in the Twenty-First Century!" Needless to say, those who already are sick of the "Zombie Mode" are the loudest dissenters.
  • Weapon variants. They either make things more interesting and give you something else to work towards, or ruin any semblance of balance with their (generally) random acquisition.
• Complacent Gaming Syndrome:
  • At launch, the BAL-27 assault rifle was by far the most popular weapon in the multiplayer modes. It's the first assault rifle unlocked, has decent stats in all areas, fires faster the longer the trigger is held down, and has next to no recoil with the foregrip attached.
  • After Patch 1.8 nerfed the BAL's range and buffed the ASM1's, the ASM1 submachine gun became the new go-to weapon. Being a Prohibition-era Tommy Gun with futuristic finishes ups the coolness factor, too.
  • The EM1 laser. It's especially prevalent on PC, as the extremely good hip fire accuracy makes it easy to use with a mouse. Then Patch 1.8 buffed its damage...
• Contested Sequel: The broken base find that as a new entry, Advanced Warfare is looking better than Call of Duty: Ghosts, but doesn't compete with Call of Duty: Black Ops II or Modern Warfare 2 due to a larger incorporation of elements from other sci-fi first-person shooters and several returning Black Ops 2 features.
• Demonic Spiders: The AST-mounted soldiers are the Juggernauts of this game, taken up to eleven. Their S.W.A.R.M. missiles are devastating to players, and they themselves can take a lot of punishment. Even with their crippling weakness to EMP, they'll often take several grenades and entire magazines to go down. They tend to be the sole obstacles in an otherwise relatively easy campaign. It gets worse in the final two missions when you start facing multiple AST units, even when you're armed with your own suit.
• Discredited Meme: “Press F to pay respects” has been falling out of favor in most circles, due to being seen as disrespectful when people use it to pay respects to real deceased people. ^* There are exceptions, such as during the tribute stream for the Jacksonville Landing shooting.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Aside from Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons, at least until certain controversies evaporated that well, Ilona is quite popular, not only for being the only female member of the cast, but also because of her intelligence, strong moral compass, and the fact that she figured out what Irons was up to before anyone else, kicking off the final act of the plot.
• Follow the Leader: The apparent gameplay changes to the standard Call of Duty formula created by the exosuit and its superhuman abilities drew many comparisons to Titanfall and the Crysis series.
• Genius Bonus: By some definition of bonus but apparently the documentation and variables in the game files are written in Klingon. That's not a euphemism for "some Techno Babble gibberish." It's actually written in tlhIngan Hol, the language that was constructed for the Klingons in the Star Trek Universe.
• Game-Breaker: The EM1 laser rifle is this. Ridiculous rate of fire, insane damage and accuracy, and infinite ammo meaning no reloads. The only downside is that it overheats after some time, but there's an upgrade for that. Even more, accuracy is the same regardless of aiming down the sights or hip firing. There's also the Pwner variant which is even more overpowered. This is made worse when you consider how the EM1 works. The EM1 "fires" once per frame, regardless of framerate. On PCs, this means that the damage the EM1 deals can be higher or lower based on your framerate, as this redditor elaborates. It was patched with a nerf from firing once per frame (which could be as high as 3600rpm) down to a steady 1200rpm. It still acts like the laser, since 1200rpm is incredibly fast.
• Goddamned Bats:
  • Drones can be this if caught unprepared, but usually, a quick EMP grenade or two is enough to clear a swarm.
  • Red-armored Atlas soldiers in the later missions aren't any more difficult than regular grunts, but they take a surprising amount of punishment. You may find yourself shooting at what should have been a corpse by now two or three times before they finally stay down.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In the first level, Will Irons mentions he joined the military to get away from his father Jonathan (played by Kevin Spacey). After recent allegations that Spacey committed sexual assault against young men, this line can come off as uncomfortable.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!:
  • Unlike with every previous Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 3, the multiplayer trailer spawned comparisons to Halo, Titanfall, Crysis, among others. Some people aren't approving of how the game is incorporating some elements from those other games instead of doing something else new.
  • Also other people are even calling Advanced Warfare Black Ops 3 due to several returning Call of Duty: Black Ops II multiplayer features like scorestreaks and medals instead of something else new.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Press F to pay respects."^note This particular bit of Narm was viewed as breaking the poignancy of a sad scene in which the player character attends a military funeral, as well as highlighting how Call of Duty had been perceived to rely too heavily on action commands. Since Advanced Warfare's release, it's become commonplace to post the letter "F" and nothing else in response to something sad happening during a livestream on websites like Twitch. Sometimes "X" instead of "F" in accordance with the Xbox versions, or Square for PlayStation.
    • "F in the Chat."^note A phrase frequently used by streamers and viewers alike on Twitch and other livestreaming sites, calling for users to type or spam the letter "F" in the livestream's chat. Derived from the aforementioned meme, it's frequently used to symbolize sorrow, compassion, or more commonly to sarcastically mock a fail or embarrassing situation.
  • Nigerian Clothing Simulator^note Random Supply Drops have a high chance of containing clothing and gear for your multiplayer avatar, most of which is Nigerian.
  • Copy that.^note A line from an infamous Canadian ad for EB Games, made to promote a deal for the game. The ad quickly became infamous for its narmy acting, in particular the EB clerk's awkward delivery of his lines.
  • What you're seeing is Advanced Warfare^note In late 2021, this line, uttered by Jonathan Irons in the second mission "Atlas", was parodied by the Call of Duty fandom, for it's narmy nature, the title drop and its exploitability.
• Moral Event Horizon: Some people might consider Irons allowing the KVA attacks to happen to be this for his character. However, if you're not convinced by that, then everything you see in the prison camp will definitely vault him over it.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Opening a Supply Drop and hearing "ELITE!" Even better if the Random Number Gods bless you and you hear it multiple times!
• Narm:
  • This has been the general reaction to the now-memetic "Press F to Pay Respects," with many claiming that this was the moment where Call of Duty became a parody of itself. To specify, a section of the game has the player participate in a funeral for one of his fallen comrades. It would be fairly poignant moment, if not for the prompt appearing, as well as the "objective complete" signal at the top of the screen appearing when you complete the prompt, completely shattering any sense of poignancy possible by reminding you you're in a video game.
  • Many players found Iron's shout of "AHHH! MITCHELL!" as he falls to his death to be unintentionally funny due to the the fact that, while the line was delivered in an abrupt, Killed Mid-Sentence fashion, the subtitles made it seem like he's letting out a long groan followed by Mitchell's name.
  • The fact that Mitchell only speaks during cutscenes does ruin some of the moments in the game.
  • Apparently, the Atlas Corporation has a higher approval rating than any U.S. President in history. Theodore Roosevelt, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln would have something to say about that.
• Nightmare Fuel: Has a page now.
  • Captured as a whole. Just when you thought nothing could top Camp Omega, Mitchell and his friends find out how much human life really is worth to Atlas Corporation and Jonathan Irons. Answer: not much.
  • Manticore as a whole. It's left up in the air whether or not Atlas took civilians into account when making this thing. Though given what we see in "Captured", somehow we get the feeling that they don't care.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: The lesser used weapons, like the EPM3, MK14, S12 and AMR9 all got pretty good buffs over the course of the game's life, while the Bal-27 and ASM1 got heavy nerfs multiple times.
• Rooting for the Empire: Quite a few fans believe Irons' cause, ending war by dismantling the major superpowers, to be in the right, though some of those feel the use of Manticore, though not the ultimate goals, to be too extreme.
• Scrappy Weapon: While most weapons get better with their variants, these were sadly neglected for a fair amount of time:
  • The EPM3 energy weapon, which was once the worst weapon in Advanced Warfare and possibly the entire Call of Duty series before some good buffs arrived via patches. Before the buffs, it was a 3-hit kill at virtually all ranges, meaning you'll usually be outclassed by anyone using an automatic/burst-fire weapon. The high recoil, slow movement speed, and obstructive iron sights and energy trail ensure no one ever uses it unless they're grinding for weapon challenges.
  • The MK14 marksman rifle, for much of the same reasons as the EPM3. At least bullets don't have an energy trail blocking your view.
  • The NA-45 sniper rifle, a two-shot weapon (as in, it fires two shots before reloading and both must hit a target one after the other to do any appreciable damage, necessitating double-tapping) that is widely regarded as one of the worst weapons in the entire franchise because of how complicated it is to use, its low magazine and terrible damage if both shots don't connect.
  • Any AMR9 SMG variant that isn't the Dynamo variant. Most AMR9s have a five-round burst, but each individual round does little damage, so it usually takes three bursts to kill and you face the same issues as with the marksman weapons. About the only redeeming factor is that you can attach an underbarrel grenade launcher, unlike the other SMGs. The Elite "Pro Pipe" variant is a different story. It not only gets the grenade launcher attachment for free (doesn't use a slot), its long range damage has been increased such that it can kill in a single 5-round burst at any range (less than that at closer ranges) as long as all 5 shots hit. This comes at a noticeable cost to rate of fire.
  • The crossbow gets this the worst. It only holds one bolt compared to the Black Ops 2 crossbow which holds 3, is difficult to use effectively on account of the increased mobility, and isn't silent, despite being a crossbow. As a result, it is one of the least used weapons in the game.
  • The RW1 can be this as well, on account of its one-shot capacity and the high-mobility nature of the game making accurate shots difficult.
• Sequel Difficulty Drop: The Exo Survival co-op mode is noticeably less difficult than the similar Safeguard mode in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Players can survive more damage than in Safeguard and can upgrade their armor to survive even more damage, the purchasing system means players can customize their loadout and aren't at the mercy of the random numbers god, and the exo-suit's boost abilities make it much easier to escape from enemy gunfire. Also, there are no ultra-frustrating shield-bearing enemies (which, in Safeguard, could kill you in 2 hits and were extremely difficult to kill from the front).
• Sequel Difficulty Spike: It takes noticeably longer for health to regenerate in the Advanced Warfare single player campaign compared to earlier Call of Duty games, especially the ones by Treyarch (the Black Ops series). This is balanced out by exo abilities that give you a number of combat options to save yourself when your health becomes low. The game also occasionally throws a Boss in Mook's Clothing Mini-Mecha A.S.T. at you, which have no real equivalent in previous Call of Duty games (not counting Juggernauts, which didn't appear in the main campaigns).
• Signature Scene: The funeral, thanks to the "Press F to Pay Respects" meme. It even has its own Wikipedia page and has been called Call of Duty's "greatest legacy".
• Strawman Has a Point: It's been pointed out that Irons' taking the United States to task for its foreign policy reeks of hypocrisy, as Atlas not only engages in the same methods Irons decries but takes them to worse extremes, such as in employing Manticore—to say nothing of the fact that Irons' ire for American policy was triggered by a legitimate and defensive war on behalf of an allied nation. Nevertheless, there are fans who believe Irons was correct in his criticism of America (usually the same ones who want to see the superpowers dismantled).
  
  Some fans claim that this topic has never actually been addressed in a Call of Duty installment outside of the ones set in World War II, but Irons' views of U.S. foreign policy have been demonstrated quite clearly in the Modern Warfare subseries, where the United States is arguably portrayed as a Failure Hero at best.
• That One Achievement: Wheelman, which involves clearing the Hover Bike sequence at the end of Aftermath... without hitting any obstacles or taking damage. The track is about a minute long and has three checkpoints, but it's very easy to mess up and it isn't even very clear if you HAVE messed up. And if you fail, you'll have to redo the whole mission over again.
• That One Level: "Bio-Lab" is easy enough...until you're forced into a tank at the very end. Not only does it lack regenerating health and come with wonky controls (the tank's various weapons are all mapped to the same buttons, forcing you to cycle between the different weapon sets by pressing other buttons depending on the threat), enemy tanks, choppers, and infantry are scripted to spawn in front of you at certain points no matter what, even if you've taken pains to destroy everything in your field of vision before advancing.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Just like with every previous Call of Duty since Modern Warfare 3, the multiplayer trailer had some people cry that Advanced Warfare isn't a Call of Duty game due to additional sci-fi elements (like laser weapons) far beyond what Black Ops 2 and Call of Duty: Ghosts had.
• The Un-Twist: Is it really that big a surprise that Kevin Spacey's character turns out to be the major villain of the story?
• Win Back the Crowd: Much like Black Ops II, another sci-fi themed entry in the series, Activision banked on this rejuvenating the franchise after the somewhat tepid reception that its predecessor received from critics and fans alike by introducing new concepts and mechanics such as the exosuit, as well as rewriting the aging IW Engine that had powered every title in the series since Call of Duty 2 nine years prior, leaving it with very little legacy code and giving it true next-gen visuals. It ultimately didn't work, as Advanced Warfare got a tepid reception much like Ghosts did. Players and critics cite the exosuits and map design to balance them made gameplay get stale quickly as matches fell into a "King of the Hill" game, in which players scrambled to claim the highest vantage points.