Another autumn, another instalment in the world's biggest game series. And while some analysts are forecasting a downturn in sales after last year's lacklustre Ghosts (certainly pre-orders have dropped significantly this time), Advanced Warfare isn't just another factory line addition to Activision's billion-dollar franchise.
For a start, San Francisco-based studio Sledgehammer Games is leading development for the first time, after helping out on Modern Warfare 3. The team has been given an unprecedented three-year dev cycle, providing enough time to radically rethink the multiplayer experience. This has resulted in some of the biggest changes to the game's dynamics since Perks were introduced back in 2007's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Here, I've picked out the five key new features from the point of view of a professional player, providing pointers on how to use these changes to gain a tactical advantage over your competitors.
The Guardian