Though divisive,Call of Duty: Advanced Warfarehad its share of intriguing ideas. While many focused on how it was full of futuristic weaponry and was the first entry in the series to feature advanced movement, it also included mechanics likecustomizable killstreaksthat would be great to see again one day. Further, it featured character customization better than anything else in the franchise.
Recently,Call of Dutyhas leaned into the games-as-a-service approach with its battle pass and in-game marketplace full of purchasable bundles. All the items within the bundles are purely cosmetic so as not to provide a tactical advantage, and for the most part,Call of Dutyhas done a fine job of making these packages enticing. However, one way to make the system better would be to let players customize their character as much as they could inCall of Duty: Advanced Warfare, mixing and matching the pieces they get from each bundle.
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How Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Cosmetic Approach Could Be Revived
ModernCall of Dutygames have focused on Operators, characters that either stem from the campaign or are crafted exclusively for multiplayer. With the Operator system, players will pick between several characters that have unique voices, finishing moves, and appearances. ThoughOperators were only given proper depth inCall of Duty: Vanguard, it could be expanded upon once again in future games, and one way to do that would be through individual pieces of clothing.
InSledgehammer Games’Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, players were able to choose between a number of clothing pieces to make their character look very different from others in the sci-fi shooter. Players could customize their tops, pants, helmets, glasses, knee pads, and shoes, allowing for some truly diverse character designs. Though most of these items were acquired through the divisive supply drop system, having dozens of gear pieces in each category was terrific.
With Operators,Call of Dutyfanssimply cannot get that same level of customization. They can choose between the default appearance, or purchase and unlock alternate skins. However, there is no option to equip just a piece of an outfit, as players are stuck wearing the entire skin, whereas inAdvanced Warfarepieces from various sets could be mixed and matched. Further, players may dislike an Operator but love one of their skins, or vice versa. This forces them to miss out on playing on a character they love because that Operator does not have access to a desired skin.
Obviously, making every skin compatible with every Operator is not viable, as it would require an absurd amount of work forCall of Duty’s developers. Likewise,Call of Duty’s monetizationhas been successful for Activision, so any drastic change is unlikely. However, one way to revive theAdvanced Warfareconcept of customizable soldiers would be through the Mil-Sim characters. These Operators lack specific stories and are just generic soldiers, with players currently able to pick from a handful of realistic outfits for them.
In the nextCall of Dutygame, a “blank slate” Mil-Sim option could be added. Players could be able to do some basic customization for skin tone and hairstyle, and from there, they could unlock and purchase new gear pieces for their Mil-Sim Operator. Similar to theModern Warfare 2Weapon Vaultswhich apply an appearance to every attachment for every gun, Operator Vaults could let players wear unlocked gear on Mil-Sim characters from either faction. Players could buy individual helmets and tops from the shop, or bundles that collect a few sets. Mil-Sim rewards could also make seasonal challenges more interesting, as they would be exciting to strive for without stopping people from having an interest in purchasing Operator skins. Letting players combine various gear pieces like inAdvanced Warfarewould be interesting, and through the use of Mil-Sim Operators, it just might be possible.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfareis available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
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