Last week saw the release of the new trailer for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and while it certainly whet our appetites for the November 4 shooter, it left plenty of room for speculation. An article in the June issue of Game Informer, out today, fills in some blanks and gives us a clearer look at what to expect from the next installment of the world’s top-selling shooter series.

As we saw in the trailer, Kevin Spacey‘s likeness and voice is heavily featured. Spacey plays Jonathan Irons, CEO of the Atlas Corporation, a powerful private military firm, and father of Will Irons, squad mate of the game’s sole protagonist, Private Mitchell. Irons recruits the two soldiers after their tour of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps. The plot of the game’s campaign remains largely unknown, but the catalyst for the action is described as a “global 9/11” event that affects major cities on multiple continents.

Set in 2054, Advanced Warfare puts futuristic weaponry and equipment in the hands of players. As a part of Atlas, soldiers are outfitted with an EXO suit, a combat rig that allows the player to perform superhuman feats. Abilities like magnetic wall-climbing, boost-dodging, super-jumping, hovering and optic camouflage are all available, and can be upgraded with points earned during missions. Variable grenades allow soldiers to switch between concussion and threat detection on the fly. If threat detection grenades are chosen, enemy locations are revealed in the player’s HUD, giving a major tactical advantage. If concussion grenades are chosen, they just blow shit up. Traditional ammunition-based firearms are present, but energy weapons also make an appearance. In addition to the hoverbikes shown in the trailer, armored vehicles called Pitbulls will also be available, offering relatively safe transport through more heavily contested battlegrounds.

While much of the game’s technology doesn’t exist in the real world (yet), Sledgehammer made efforts to keep things realistic by consulting with futurists, military experts, and even film production designers.

Though no details were given on the game’s multiplayer suite, CoD:AW is almost certain to spend a lot of time developing the online modes. Michael Condrey, co-founder of the game’s developer, Sledgehammer Games, teased, "You can probably imagine the possibilities of a lot of the stuff you saw in single-player and how it would apply online." Co-op play has been confirmed, though no more details were presented.

In addition to Kevin Spacey, Advanced Warfare includes contributions by other talents. Veteran voice actor Troy Baker, best known as Booker from BioShock Infinite, Joel from The Last of Us, and the Joker from Batman: Arkham Origins, plays Private Mitchell, and Harry Gregson-Williams, composer for the Metal Gear series and countless movies and TV shows, will be handling the game’s soundtrack.

Sledgehammer will develop the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game, which run on a new, unspecified game engine, but Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will be made by a separate studio to be named. A Wii U version was not mentioned. Shocking, we know.

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