Back in November I was proved wrong by the world and I was truly caught with my trousers down. Being a stubborn young lad, I tried my best to hate Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, the latest addition to, in my opinion, the dullest and most disappointing game franchise around, but I almost went into cardiac arrest when I discovered that it was actually pretty awesome. Advanced Warfare to me was like going back in time to when I first played Unreal Tournament, a ridiculously fast paced arena shooter that was completely bonkers and addictive to play, so it’s no surprise that I find myself still playing it and still enjoying it immensely. The generous folks at Activision have kindly sent me the third explosive DLC pack for Advanced Warfare, this time entitled ‘Supremacy’, but does it indeed reign supreme? Let’s lock and load boys!
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare proudly presents the Supremacy Pack, the latest action packed expansion for Advanced Warfare’s bustling online community. Promising 4 new maps to roam through as well as a brand new EXO zombie map, Supremacy looks, feels and dare I say smells like its predecessors, but does it actually add anything new to the game’s experience? Is it worth splashing your hard earned cash on? It was only a matter of time before the mighty Call of Duty train I was riding on started to slow down, which is a grand shame as up until now I found the otherwise generic shooter to be gradually winning me over.
First up is ‘Skyrise’, a map which Modern Warfare 2 vets will find remarkably familiar to the popular ‘Highrise’ map, now re-imagined for Advanced Warfare. Taking the original critically acclaimed landscape and turning it up a notch, players can now scale that dangerous roof top with balsy sprinting and EXO dodging, or pick your prey like defenceless lions (too soon?) with the maps highly regarded sniper positions. It’s great to see a popular map amongst the fanbase make a return, however all that seems to have changed is the addition of a few ATLAS trademarks, which personally makes this a somewhat lazy repackage. The map itself is small, hectic and pretty fun, but with it failing to be a creative or original level design means it’s not a favourite of mine.
‘Parliament’ is a map set on board a cargo ship currently docked in Ole Landan Taaan during a somewhat barbaric attack. Providing various types of site-lines and advantages to give players multiple opportunities to kill their enemies, ‘Parliament’ is a medium sized map that even contains its own map based score streak, a barrage of deadly airborne missiles. Whereas that feature is pretty cool, the map itself is actually incredibly dull that provides nothing but aggravation for the more casual player like me who just wants to run and gun. The map is set on a long boat which means the level design is bland and boring with players shooting in a straight line hoping their bullets hit something; this is without a doubt the worst map in Advanced Warfare to date.
The next map to explore is ‘Kremlin’, a combat heavy battleground set outside Russia’s presidential palace. Providing 3 lanes to mow your enemy down from and secure elevated positions to gain an advantage from, Kremlin is a pretty well created map that looks like it’s been picked up off the ground from the Modern Warfare cutting room. Though not a map to overuse your EXO boosts in, your suit’s abilities however will shine within this close quarter’s arena that’ll try and blow you up half way through the match. Visually the map isn’t impressive and it is set amongst your typical Call of Duty “city in peril” backdrop, but it’s an enjoyable level to say the least and one that feels common place amongst the maps already on disk.
Last to leave the starting blocks is ‘Compound’, a secret ATLAS training facility that’ll be sure to separate the men from the boys. Taking the form of a small labyrinth, ‘Compound’ is full of twists and turns that encourages high speed combat and imminent death to those that take a breather. This map gives off the impression that you don’t need your comrades and that you can carry out this death match on your own, so you’ll soon see your allies running around and blasting into the air everywhere you turn. This small, symmetrical map is great fun and easily the best map in the pack and one that certainly maintains that claustrophobic chaotic feeling that made me enjoy this game so much. There’s really not a lot to say about this map other than that it is exciting, exhilarating and a tad terrifying as you never know who will be darting around that container or jumping over that railing.
If you take the dull ‘Parliament’ map and make it bigger, more prone to explosions and you fill it up with hundreds of EXO suit wearing zombies, you’ve got yourself a pretty buggered up trip upon the ‘Carrier’, Advanced Warfare’s third chapter of the critically acclaimed Zombie campaign. Following suit from the previous chapters in the spin off, your team of ATLAS employees must now fight against more waves of the ferocious undead however this time they have been cast into the sea on board a high tech and highly dangerous airship carrier. The same rules apply, survive the seemingly endless waves of attack with friends or strangers and try and make it out alive, however one minor change has been applied that may appear small but boy does it seriously put a cork in your shotgun. Just as you’re knee deep into rotting corpses, your enemies can now plant poorly timed bombs around the map, meaning you only have a small window of opportunity to kill the baddies and go disarm it; these bombs will be detected at random so always be on your toes for when one is about to blow. To offer you more of a fair fight when you’re trying to kill zombies and track down a hidden explosive is the inclusion of more awesome weaponry that makes light work of enemies, no matter how many of them stand in your way; all new energy weapons can be purchased and upgraded around the map that slice through the battlefield with laser beams and cut through your enemies like a soft boiled egg. ‘Carrier’ is a terrific map and easily the most chaotic, heart-pounding and difficult one to date, and the addition of new obstacles and events taking place during the combat do speed up the already fast game play. With multiple floors of dark, dingy and run down boat to run, jump and teleport around (for if you need a quick getaway), ‘Carrier’ is a more than worthy successor to the spin off series that will get avid fans excited to play it.
The Call of Duty Advanced Warfare: Supremacy Map Pack is just as good as it is bad. The new maps themselves are pretty good, but I can’t help feeling disappointed with a couple of them being boring and unoriginal, which is a pity as the previous map packs have each featured 4 action packed, landscape changing playgrounds. ‘Compound’ and ‘Kremlin’ both offer hugely different ways to approach the enemy which hasn’t been seen in the maps featured on disc or released prior to Supremacy, so for me it’s great to see the studio still thinking carefully about what they create. The new EXO Zombies map ‘Carrier’ is definitely the best one released so far, a map that is actually scary and will genuinely push you to the edge of your seat with new features, new weapons, zombie sharks and Bruce Campbell. For an all new way to play, the EXO Suit’s Grapple Hook has been unlocked so you can take that along with you on your online campaign which provides a never before done way to traverse the arena, escape certain death and skewer your opponents with in a very satisfying manner. ‘Supremacy’ does not reign supreme above Advanced Warfare’s other map packs, but it’s still not bad and will offer fans some new ways to enjoy their favourite franchise, I just hope the studio haven’t lost traction with one more map pack still to come out.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
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