History YMMV / CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare

* StrawmanHasAPoint: 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 [[spoiler: 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 ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' installment outside of the ones set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, but Irons' views of U.S. foreign policy [[OlderThanTheyThink have been demonstrated quite clearly]] in the ''Modern Warfare'' subseries, where the United States is arguably portrayed as a FailureHero at best.

* SignatureScene: The funeral, thanks to the "Press F to Pay Respects" meme.

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Just like with every previous ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' since ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Modern Warfare 3]]'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCnRWFV3sZ4 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 ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'' had.

* WinBackTheCrowd: Much like ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops II]]'', another sci-fi themed entry in the series, Activision is banking on this rejuvenating the franchise after the somewhat tepid reception that its [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts predecessor]] received from critics and fans alike by introducing new concepts and mechanics such as the exosuit, as well as ditching the aging IW Engine that had powered every title in the series since Modern Warfare 1 in favor of an in-house engine that Sledgehammer developed from scratch with true next-gen visuals in mind. It eventually 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.

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** After a frankly ''abysmal'' PC port in ''Ghosts'', ''Advanced Warfare'' has far more options available for higher-end [=PCs=].
** One of the chief criticism leveled at ''Ghosts'' was how its bad guys, the Federation, seemed to have [[GenericDoomsdayVillain no motivation for their actions beyond giving the player something to shoot at]]. The BigBad of this game, on the other hand, has a more fleshed-out and compelling story behind his actions.

** 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 [[CoolGuns/SubmachineGuns Tommy Gun]] with futuristic finishes ups the coolness factor, too.

** 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 [[spoiler:which is a WhatIf about Atlas' bio-warfare experiments in the main plot having GoneHorriblyWrong]]), it all screams out "Nazi Zombies [[RecycledInSpace in the Twenty-First Century]]!" Needless to say, those who already are sick of the "Zombie Mode" are the loudest dissenters.

* DemonicSpiders: The AST-mounted soldiers are the [[TheJuggernaut Juggernauts]] of this game, taken UpToEleven. 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, [[spoiler: even when you're armed with your own suit]].

* {{Anvilicious}}: Atlas Corporations' JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope has been accused of this.

* DiscreditedMeme: “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.

** 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.

* NightmareFuel:

** 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.[[/note]]

** 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 QuickTimeEvent gone too far and a case of {{Anvilicious}} {{Narm}}, but others feel that the game is [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped making an important point]] about paying tribute to those who have fallen in the line of duty. It has undergone MemeticMutation ever since (see below).

** Some fans are annoyed that the branching story idea from Black Ops 2 still isn't getting used.

** "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=].

** "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 [=PS4=] version, as the Xbox One's interact button would be A.[[/note]]

* BestLevelEver: 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.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After a frankly ''abysmal'' PC port in ''Ghosts'', ''Advanced Warfare'' has far more options available for higher-end [=PCs=].

* GameBreaker: The [[FrickinLaserBeams 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 [[LeetSpeak 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, [[http://www.reddit.com/r/CodAW/comments/2qcu57/following_up_on_udrift0r_s_video_on_em1_it_is/ 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.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** In the first level, Will Irons mentions he joined the military to get away from his old man (played by Creator/KevinSpacey). After recent allegations against him that he committed sexual assault against young men, this line can come off as uncomfortable.
** Speaking of the allegations that Spacey molested underage boys, Johnathan Irons' comment about a "great junior high" is significantly more uncomfortable today. This is especially the case since Spacey's most famous accuser, Creator/AnthonyRapp, claimed Spacey tried to assault him when he was middle-school aged.