And the worst enemy in the game's campaign isn't a hostile nation. There are man-portable laser guns that actually fry their targets rather than merely dazzling or designating them. Elite troops wear superhuman exoskeletons. With Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (out now for PC and current and last-generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles), the franchise leaps ahead 40 years into the decidedly sci-fi setting of war circa 2054.
War, in these games, is existentially hellish, even if the waging of it is necessarily fun. Even the wildly successful Call of Duty series of military-inspired shooters, despite their less fantastic settings, are only seasoned with realism, featuring protagonists that routinely soak up bullets and bombs.
From the Halo franchise's WWII-like alien invasions and galaxy-burning WMDs to the wrathful robot deities of the Mass Effect series, gaming should never be looked to for sober predictions of tomorrow's conflicts.
Video games are full of insincere visions of the future of warfare.
