While I still mostly avoid the multiplayer due to a lot of toxicity, Sledgehammer has tried to address this with a new game mode called The Combat Readiness Program. In this mode of play all player's gamertags are turned off as well as voice chat. The servers fill in missing players with AI bots and as a player, you'll never know if you are taking out human or AI opponents. This is a really slick way to ease people into the greater multiplayer world of Call of Duty and a great way for people to avoid what can generally be socially unpleasant experience.
In terms of co-op there's only one mode in the game right now, it's called Exo-Survival. A zombies mode is definitely coming as its teased by completing over 200 waves of the current co-op mode, but as we reported, it's going to be premium DLC.
Exo-survival is a waved based survival mode for four players with three classes of exoskeletons to choose from. Each class limits your weapons and special ability choices, thereby creating a need for a cooperative team of balanced classes. With light, heavy and specialist at your disposal, you can pretty much figure out how they all fit together in the gameplay puzzle.
After defeating each wave of enemies players run to a weapon or exoskeleton upgrade station. At these they can purchase new weapons for their class, restock ammo, or upgrade score streaks and exo-suit abilities. I found you'll want to quickly pump points into weapon proficiency so you are dealing appropriate damage to the baddies coming at you. In terms of the waves themselves there's some variety - it's not just straight up killing. Some waves have you collecting dog tags or defusing bombs, others force you to defend an area on the map or deal with enemy drones. If you fail an Objective Round, you won't lose - but bad things do happen. Your entire HUD could be corrupted by a System Hack or you weapon may jam periodically for the next round.
Exo-survival is fun, but the difficulty in it ramps up quickly and there doesn't appear to be much in terms of rewards for playing the mode. Other than unlocking more difficult maps, of which there are 14 maps in total, the only other thing to earn seems to be a few achievements. With all of the items and upgrades to earn in the regular multiplayer, this is kind of a bummer.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare I feel is the first CoD game in years to not feel like an add on from a previous game. An intriguing story, great graphics, a solid cast of characters and plenty of multiplayer options all contribute to a solid value for your $60. Of course there's still a ton of stuff coming (for a price) - but with what's here, you'll get plenty of hours of enjoyment out of it. In terms of co-op, I was a bit disappointed, the mode while fun, feels a bit shallow with very little incentive to keep playing. That said, I really think Sledgehammer nailed the futuristic combat experience for the campaign, let's just hope they aren't clairvoyant.
Verdict
Co-Op Score
Overall
The Co-Op Experience: In Exo Survival, one to four players embark on a horde mode with objectives sprinkled in.
Co-Optimus game reviews focus on the cooperative experience of a game, our final score graphic represents this experience along with an average score for the game overall. For an explanation of our scores please check our Review Score Explanation Guide.