Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare from 2014 moved the series into the near future and, as the first installment, introduced exoskeletons enabling double jumps, lateral dodges, and wall traversal, which fundamentally changed the pace of movement and combat in multiplayer compared to previous installments of the series. The campaign also benefited from Kevin Spacey's digitized face and voice as the main antagonist.

The Xbox 360 version was released alongside the main release for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, but instead of Sledgehammer Games it was developed by High Moon Studios, a studio specializing precisely in ports for the older console generation. The graphics were significantly simpler, with lower-resolution textures and shorter draw distance, just so the game could run at all on the older generation's hardware. The key exoskeleton mechanic in multiplayer was retained, but with fewer players per map and a more limited selection of game modes than on Xbox One.

The campaign remained content-identical to the new generation, just in a technically more modest form, with lower image resolution and noticeably simpler explosion and smoke effects in action sequences. The Xbox 360 version was intended for players who hadn't yet moved to Xbox One in 2014, and it was among the last major multiplatform titles released simultaneously for both generations of Microsoft consoles.

For this version, High Moon Studios did not use the engine developed for the new generation but built on modified technology from earlier installments, just so the Xbox 360 could maintain a playable frame rate at all. Destructible environment elements and some visual effects tied to the exoskeleton were simplified or omitted entirely. Even so, it was a way for players loyal to the old generation to experience the same story with Kevin Spacey and try out the basic gameplay mechanics that would go on to have a major influence on later installments of the series, albeit with fewer players in multiplayer matches and a smaller map selection than on Xbox One.

Why play it: For players loyal to the older generation, the Xbox 360 version offers the same story with Kevin Spacey and the basic gameplay mechanics of future installments, albeit with simplified destruction and a more limited multiplayer.