COD:AW So Photorealistic That People Will Think It’s TV

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, called COD:AW for brevity, aims to be so photorealistic, mainly thanks to the facial performances and the new tech behind it, that some people will be amazed when realizing that it’s actually a videogame.

Joe Salud, Art Director at Sledgehammer Games, said as much during a brand new behind-the-scenes video published today.

Because our subject matter is very advanced and technical, and we’re kind of peering into the future, we did whatever it took to make the game look as photorealistic as possible. The first thing the gamer’s going to notice when they see our facial performances, they’re going to wonder, like ‘It looks like it’s on TV!’ And then they’re going to realize, ‘Oh my god, that’s a game!’

Christopher Stone, Animation Director, went deeper into the specifics of how this is going to happen in COD:AW.

The tech that next gen consoles really allow for the player is immersion, 100% immersion. We’re shooting with a whole new performance capture technology. This involves capturing the actual expressions and muscle shapes of each character’s face. We’ve taken the characters in our game to a new level.

Finally, there’s always the human element that each actor brings - and Activision hired one of the best for this one, Kevin Spacey, who gets very strong praise from Stone.

Kevin Spacey can bring a performance to the table without saying a word. When he stepped into that role, Irons wasn’t just a character anymore, he was a person. That’s something you wouldn’t really get until now, definitely one of the highlights of my career.

COD:AW is expected to release on 4th November for PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The multiplayer reveal will probably happen at Gamescom, as per tradition of the franchise; stay tuned for more on this exciting new chapter in the Call of Duty series.