Virtual Kevin Spacey stars in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

"People need a leader who can give them both the support, and the constraints to keep chaos at bay. You give them that, and they'll follow... and that's where I come in."

Kevin Spacey's ominous speech in the trailer for the feverishly-anticipated new entry in the Call of Duty series makes it fairly obvious that he's the villain of the piece. Adding a digitised Spacey's gravitas and star power to the trailer (and the game itself) is a neat gimmick, but the slick graphics, showcasing adrenaline-pumping scenes of hi-tech, near-future warfare in some very iconic locations, are what makes this new trailer from game creators Activision such a thrill ride. 

The addition of flying bikes, handheld drones and robotic tanks to a franchise that has already dabbled with alternate timelines in Call of Duty: Ghosts might risk alienating the core audience who thrilled to the hyper-realistic counterinsurgency action of Call of Duty: Black Ops and it's sequel; and the Modern Warfare titles, not to mention the World War-era classics of earlier years. It's also hard to draw too many conclusions on the basis of a video game trailer - as ever, it is the gameplay which will decide if this becomes a gaming classic in the long run. One thing's sure, it's hard to think of a bigger, shinier, more explosion-packed teaser than this one, blurring the line between classic CoD and more spaceage fare like HALO.

The Call of Duty series has attracted criticism over the years for glorifying violence and war - the further it retreats from present-day reality, presumably the safer it will be from critics who say it trivialises real-life conflicts. Nevertheless, Advanced Warfare, for all its futuristic furniture, is tackling themes very relevant to the present day. Spacey plays the boss of a firm of private military contractors (PMCs) who go rogue and take on the U.S. government. Earlier this week, Activision posted a documentary about real-life PMCs on their site - watch it here. It begins with the words: "In the next Call of Duty, the world's most powerful military is not a country. It's a corporation." 

Taking inspiration from creeping corporate power, the proliferation of military contractors in the theatre of war, the use of drones in urban combat, the thin line between combatant and civilian in war-torn cities, and the increasing effectiveness of computer technology in creating ever more ruthless weapons, the game is rooted very much in themes and technologies that either exist, or are bound to at some point. It is due for worldwide release on 4 November.