Advanced Warfare Campaign

Lore & Background

The story begins in 2054 when U.S. Marines Jack Mitchell and Will Irons repel a North Korean invasion of Seoul under Sergeant Cormack. During the battle, Will is killed and Mitchell loses an arm, leading to his medical discharge. Following Will's funeral, Mitchell joins the Atlas Corporation, a private military firm run by Will's father, CEO Jonathan Irons, who equips him with a prosthetic arm. By 2055, a terrorist group called the KVA, led by Joseph "Hades" Chkheidze, launches coordinated nuclear attacks on power plants worldwide, killing 50,000 people and irradiating cities. Atlas emerges as the dominant global force over the next four years, aiding displaced civilians while consolidating power. In 2059, Mitchell and his team capture KVA second-in-command Dr. Pierre Danois in Detroit, learning that Hades is at a conference in Santorini, Greece. There, Mitchell kills Hades, who warns him of Irons before dying.

In Their Own Story

After Hades' death, the data chip he gives Mitchell reveals that Jonathan Irons executed the KVA technologist and deliberately allowed the global nuclear attacks to happen to increase Atlas's power and profit. When Irons attempts to have Mitchell and Atlas operative Ilona arrested by military police, they escape Atlas headquarters in New Baghdad with help from an unidentified soldier who turns out to be Sergeant Cormack, now leading the Sentinels—a US-led task force created to investigate the KVA but re-purposed to stop Atlas. In 2060, Mitchell, Cormack, Ilona, and Knox infiltrate Irons' private residence in Bangkok. They discover that Dr. Danois is collaborating with Irons to produce a bioweapon called "Manticore." The team intercepts a plane carrying Manticore bound for Argentina, which crashes in Antarctica. Gideon helps the Sentinels defeat Atlas soldiers during this operation.

Reader's Guide

The campaign features only one playable character, Jack Mitchell, utilizing pre-rendered cinematic cut scenes similar to Call of Duty: Black Ops II. After each mission, players earn upgrade points based on performance and side objectives like collecting "Intel." These points allow upgrades to the Exo suit (detection, armor, resistance) and weapons (recoil, reload, quick aim). Players can switch between different grenade types with distinct abilities. The story progresses through specific locations: Seoul in 2054, Lagos in 2055 during a summit rescue, Detroit in 2059 to capture Dr. Danois, Santorini for Hades' elimination, New Baghdad for the escape from Atlas headquarters, Bangkok in 2060 to find the Manticore bioweapon, and finally Antarctica where the plane carrying the weapon crashes. Key NPCs include Mitchell's teammates Gideon, Ilona, Cormack, and Knox, who guide the mission objectives against the rising threat of Jonathan Irons.

Did You Know?

• Sledgehammer Games originally worked on a game set during the Vietnam War before development began on Advanced Warfare in late 2011.
• The game was the first Call of Duty entry since Call of Duty 2 to feature an engine mostly re-written and built from scratch.
• A special Day Zero Edition released on November 3, 2014, included bonus in-game content for pre-orders a day before the official launch.
• The single-player campaign uses only one playable character, unlike most previous Call of Duty titles which featured multiple protagonists.