While many will argue about every iteration's quality, few can deny that the Call of Duty franchise offers a surprisingly well-rounded experience. From single player, to multiplayer, to co-op, the average COD title usually ticks all boxes. Whether it does so with style or in a way that gamers enjoy, however, is in the eye of the beholder.

This year's Call of Duty, subtitled Advanced Warfare, is still a few days out from release, but we already know that it too will tick all the appropriate boxes. The game has a unique single player campaign, featuring Kevin Spacey as Jonathan Irons. It has its own twist on multiplayer thanks to its near-future setting and technology. And it has a cooperative mode wherein up to four players try to survive waves of oncoming enemies.

By all accounts, Advanced Warfare has hit past series benchmarks with those three elements, but many might be wondering if a fourth secret is lying in wait. We speak, of course, of the Zombies mode – a staple of Treyarch's wing of the Call of Duty franchise.

Although it seemed like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare would not go the Zombies route – it does have its own co-op mode after all – it appears there actually is an undead component to the game. Unfortunately, the existence of Zombies was not officially revealed by developer Sledgehammer Games or publisher Activision, but was instead leaked via an early copy of Advanced Warfare.

Video evidence of the Zombies in the game has since been removed, as it should be, but the cat is still out of the bag. Sledgehammer Co-Founder Glen Schofield even acknowledged the surprise with this message:

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But the nature of this Zombies tease is still somewhat of a mystery. There are some theories about what the footage could be hinting at, and there are likely firm answers, but we'd rather try to preserve Sledgehammer's surprise as best as possible. With an annual franchise like Call of Duty, it isn't often that the game offers unexpected twists, but knowing that Advanced Warfare has a few is mighty enticing.

Are you glad to see Zombies return (in some form) for Advanced Warfare? Do you think the Zombies mode should be in every game?

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare releases November 4, 2014 for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

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Source: Reddit