It is that time of year again for gamers. With November comes another Call of Duty, and with it, all the scorn, vitriol, and downright mind-boggling hate toward it. Call of Duty Ghosts will not change that. If you hated this series before, there really is nothing here that is going to change that. If you like it, you will more than likely like this one, though I would not be surprised if quite a few were underwhelmed, even disappointed.
At least for this reviewer, the most disappointing aspect of Ghosts is its campaign. The story goes that you are part of an elite squad known as the Ghosts who are fighting back against the Federation. The Federation is an alliance of South American countries who have managed to significantly weaken the United States and gain a strong foothold in the south. While the premise may seem odd or even ridiculous, my hopes were pinned on the writer, Stephen Gaghan, who did one of my favorite political thrillers, Syriana, and who had also won an Academy Award for Traffic. Unfortunately those hopes were dashed.
As a fan of the Call of Duty campaigns, this iteration falls surprisingly short from the standards set by previous games. The writing is lackluster at best. The story gets you where you need to go, but does not compel you to care. It is predictable without being engaging, in large part due to the lack of character in this story. Case in point, there is hardly any character in Ghosts. The people you meet and fight with are, at least for the most part, stoic to the point of boredom. Even the voice acting is mostly bland and lacks passion, almost like they phoned it in at points, which is surprising considering that Call of Duty usually nails that aspect. Ironically, the non-human in the game, Riley the dog, ends up being more engaging and worthy of your attachment than the humans.
On the flip side, though hardly compelling, the campaign itself is still entertaining enough to compel you to finish it. The set pieces continue to amaze, and a good variety of different sequences are provided to keep you engaged. In fact, some of the more creative level designs of this franchise can be found here, from gun battles in space, battles under the sea, to very smooth tank battles, and even a stealth sequence in a bog that this reviewer found very engaging. Oh, and you get to sic the dog on soldiers. It never gets old!
Whereas the campaign falls short, the multiplayer portion is where Ghosts stands back up and delivers in spades. Ghosts is probably the most refined Call of Duty experience yet. The overhauled engine looks very good and shows off much improved animations. An optional contextual lean element allows you to lean from cover whenever they aim down the sights, and a slide mechanism lets players slide when they are sprinting. While these may seem like gimmicks, they are actually clever gameplay elements that players will have to learn and master if they want to be among the better rankers. This reviewer had a firsthand account of such mastery. Upon dying, I saw my killer’s killcam: he was coming up the stairs, sprinted to the window, slid to the side and then leaned down his sights and shot me. His/her timing was impeccable.
The multiplayer itself is brimming with a stunning amount of content, refinements, and additions. While I cannot talk about all of them for the sake of brevity, I can run down the major points that shine in this iteration.
New modes such as Cranked and Blitz bring some unique variety. In Cranked, when you kill someone, you get bonuses to your character that last for 30 seconds. If you do not kill someone in that time frame, you die. This is great for discouraging camping. In Blitz, it is almost like a soccer match: you have to get to your opponents’ goal line to score while stopping them from getting to yours. I have found this mode to be quite fun. In-game there are field orders that you can grab upon an enemy’s death that offer you a challenge such as getting a certain number of head shots or melee kills. Upon completion of such a challenge, you receive an award in the form of replenished ammo and a care package. New and modified killstreaks along with surprisingly large and varied maps help to differentiate Ghosts from the pack. Those expecting the close-quarters combat of previous titles are in for a surprise.
One of the biggest overhauls, though, is the character customization and squads mode. You can now create your own soldier down to their gender. It is not Skyrim level, but it at least allows for players to input their own personalities into the characters.
Squads mode is where I will be finding myself spending the most time. The major draw point here is that you can now customize and build your own squad to take on other players’ squads. There is almost a simulation feel to the whole thing, though not quite at that point yet. For this reviewer though, the best thing about this mode is Safeguard. Building on one of my favorite modes in Modern Warfare 3, Survival, Safeguard is a horde mode where you hold out against increasing waves of enemies. Up to four players (up from two in MW3) must hold out as long as possible using guns, knives, care packages and pretty much everything at your disposal. It is a lot of fun, though admittedly tough.
The final and most unique addition to Ghosts has to be Extinction mode. Piggybacking off of Nazi Zombies in previous games, you and up to three others must destroy alien hives while also holding off waves of alien foes. It may sound like another horde mode, and in a sense it is, but it is more hectic and has its own style of play that will require multiple attempts and experimentation to master.
A final note on multiplayer: Thank you for bots! If you want to hone your skills or just do not care for playing against real players, this option is a godsend.
In the end, Call of Duty Ghosts comes down to this question: what are you looking for? A compelling campaign like the previous titles? Look elsewhere. Major shakeups to the Call of Duty formula? Nope. However, if you are looking for content and refinement in a slick package, you need not look further. Call of Duty Ghosts is the game for you.
(Played on PC; Available on nearly all current systems)
