Sledgehammer Says Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Visuals So Good You Won’t Be Able to Tell It’s A Game

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July 1, 2014

Activision today released a new behind-the-scenes video for this November's blockbuster shooter Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, featuring commentary from Sledgehammer Games developers about how the game is going about achieving "photrealistic" visuals.

"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," art director Joe Salud said. "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.'"

The video also touches on character animations. Animation director Christopher Stone said Sledgehammer Games went to great lengths to ensure that characters--including those wearing exo-suits--look believable.

"We're building a whole separate character skeleton on top of the character animation to be able to see all those articulated parts and things moving as he's running," Stone said. "It's really going to let you feel like a badass, which is something that everybody needs to feel like playing Call of Duty."

"It's not an experience like you're used to from Call of Duty," he added. "It's going to blow people away."

Also in the video, you might notice a man wearing a motion-capture suit at around 21 seconds in. To me, he looks like actor Denis Leary, but an Activision representative confirmed, "No, that is not Denis Leary." In fact, this actor is Gideon Emery.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare launches November 4 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more on the game, be sure to check out GameSpot's previous coverage.