New Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare image shows off Avatar 2's facial tech

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is gracing the cover of Edge magazine this week, and the tome is leading with a new piece of character art which shows off Sledgehammer's new facial tech, which shares tools used in James Cameron's Avatar 2.

It follows confirmation that you can now pre-order Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on PS3 and PS4, giving you the option to pre-load it. Those doing so will be able to play it at midnight on the morning of November 4.

CharlieIntel reports that the physical issue of Edge 268 goes out today, but that subscribers have had early digital access through the week.

Edge writes, "There is no question that this particular Call Of Duty throws up an unusually long list of things to talk about. First, there are its origins at Sledgehammer Games, a studio that contains many of the people who created the first – and best – Dead Space at Visceral Games, and who are convinced that one of the things they can deliver this time around is a coherent, meaningful storyline.

"Then there’s the game’s new facial animation system, powered by technology and techniques that will also be used in the production of James Cameron’s Avatar 2. There is Advanced Warfare’s audio design, whose aim is to replicate not only the sound of letting loose with heavy firearms, but the torso-invading feel of it too.

"And there is Sledgehammer’s broad goal for the game’s visual appearance – photorealism – something it achieves in places thanks to a combination of its new rendering technology, an abundance of data sourced from the real world, and the application of its artists’ expert hands."

We'll have more on this once we get access to the new issue, but in the meantime here's the Edge cover in full: