Ant Farm Teases Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Release for Activision

With the release of Activision’s Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare coming up on November 4th, Ant Farm has released a 60-second gameplay trailer, the last piece in the long advertising onslaught for the game, which kicked off with a reveal trailer starring Kevin Spacey (who voices a character in the game) back in May. 

Lines from Spacey’s in-game character hold together the trailer, along with gameplay footage and quotes from advanced reviews of the title, such as Forbes‘ “…transcends the line between game and film…” The spot highlights the changes from previous iterations in the franchise, touting a more important plot and improved multiplayer while putting the game’s improved graphics on display. Fans of the franchise have probably already put in their pre-orders but emphasizing the changes in the franchise could bring some newcomers on board.

“We’ve been partners with Activision on the Call of Duty franchise from its infancy, and over the years we’ve had the fantastic opportunity to see it grow to become the massive pop culture phenomenon it is today,” said Rob Troy, chief creative officer at Ant Farm. “This year, the graphics and the multiplayer aspects of Advanced Warfare took a huge leap forward, so the creative aspects behind this campaign needed to pay homage to that.” (more…)

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Ant Farm Teams Up With Childish Gambino for Far Cry 4

DDB-owned agency Ant Farm teamed up with rapper Childish Gambino for a new Far Cry 4 gameplay trailer set to the Gambino track “Crawl.”

In a lead-in to the gameplay footage, Gambino discusses his choice of “Crawl” for the trailer while hanging out with friends playing the game. The Ubisoft logo then appears onscreen, and a variety of in-game action plays out to the track for the remainder of the ad. It does a good job of mixing a variation of game footage — from what appear to be cut scenes to actual gameplay — to keep things from getting monotonous, and the footage does seem carefully tailored and edited to fit the song.

“Our goal for this trailer was to emphasize the perfect pairing of the song and game, and give fans a memorable musical and visual experience that is authentic to both artistic groups” said Ant Farm  VP/Creative Director Scott Cookson. “The chance to merge cutting-edge gameplay footage with a unique musical talent was an exciting and welcomed opportunity to produce a unique and stylized film that is both memorable and compelling to the brand.”
(more…)

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‘The Replacer’ Returns, with JB Smoove in Tow, in New ‘Black Ops II’ Clip

Nearly three months after 72andSunny introduced us to “The Replacer”–aka Fargo baddie Peter Stormare–in its campaign for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II – Revolution trailer, the agency has brought back the character, now with sidekick JB Smoove in tow, for its Black Ops II – Uprising promo. Jesus, how many entries are in this franchise? Anyhow, the newly formed dynamic duo embarks on several replacing adventures from serving as weatherman to fixing cable, with Stormare being his usual, somewhat menacing self and Smoove giving us the fast-talking delivery that we first came to know and love in Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

We’re not sure what the budget is here, but as the Black Ops franchise expands, so do seem the timeframe and scope of the clips promoting it. But, if you have the patience for it (it is lunchtime on the East Coast, after all), don’t let us stop you from taking in this slightly entertaining, slightly grating clip. Credits after the jump.

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