Rating: 8.5

November, and indeed the holiday season in general, holds a chaotic place in every video gamer’s life. The month is flooded with new game releases, as publishers try and present the year’s best games for holiday shoppers. Gamers must try to decide which games are worthy of their asking price. Has “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” earned this esteemed honor? Many people groan at the idea of the popular first-person shooter’s annual release; in fact, this year’s incarnation is the series’ 11 entry, so it is understandable if players have gotten worn of the brand.

However, in the series’ first true attempt to break the monotony, novice developer Sledgehammer Games, previously only involved with partial development tasks on “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3,” actually succeeds in creating a different, yet stylistically similar entry in the long-running franchise. In short, “Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare” is definitely worth your money.

This game is the first to utilize the series’ new three-year development cycle, which, in theory, gives developers more time to actually innovate the series instead of copy and pasting the same game year after year. The lengthy development time is immediate apparent in “Advanced Warfare.” The Xbox One has a new graphical champion, as this game presents the best visuals of any game on the market. The completely new engine Sledgehammer has created thoroughly utilizes the console’s hardware; environments are rendered with mind-blowing detail, shadows are nicely dark and cast realistically, and advanced post-processing effects, such as motion blur and anti-aliasing, make the game staggeringly life-like. What is more, cutscenes in “Advanced Warfare” are seemingly life-action—that’s how good the CGI is. Performance capture, including that applied to Kevin Spacey’s much-publicized villain Jonathan Irons, is meticulous and impressive.

However, excellent visuals don’t make games. Despite all the attention poured into the game’s graphical presentation, Sledgehammer also dedicated substantial effort to creating a new gameplay component: the Exosuit. While the intense, yet slightly predictable campaign is still largely timed QTEs and “follow me” objectives, the Exosuit allows players to greatly change the way they play the game. Six different grenade types are available, as well as Exosuit powers like slowing time, riot shields, sonic blasts, and double jumping.

The “Call of Duty” game’s typically smooth gunplay is preserved, augmented with futuristic weapons and equipment. Much to the player’s benefit, Sledgehammer has crafted a sturdy gameplay system based around the Exosuit, which will appease those who lament the series’ hitherto repetitive nature.

“Advanced Warfare” also includes a multiplayer mode where you and three other players kill waves of computer-controlled enemies of varying type: deadly dogs, heavily-armored units, quick, Exosuit-clad soldiers and other enemies are surprisingly difficult. Past “Call of Duty” co-op modes slowly ramp up the difficulty, but “Exo Survival” immediately confronts players with a demanding challenge. Disorganized teams will quickly perish, but those who work together will find the mode’s weapon and Exosuit upgrade system enjoyable. While “Exo Survival” likely won’t attract players as much as the game’s multiplayer due to its fairly limited customization options and repetitive gameplay, it still provides an option for those who are intimidated by the multi player’s twitch-based, chaotic nature.

Under Sledgehammer’s production, the “Call of Duty” series has been injected with new life. The game itself is graphically head and shoulders above anything the Xbox One currently offers, and the Exosuit is the change players have been asking for, offering a new way to navigate levels while offering fantastically entertaining abilities. The campaign as a whole is intense, even if the last act stumbles to a cheesy and quick conclusion, and the game’s two multiplayer modes, “Exo Survival” and the world-famous multiplayer suite, are sure to add many hours of playing time.  “Advanced Warfare” gives hope to the series’ new three-year development cycle, and if this game is anything to go by, the future of “Call of Duty” has never looked better.