Call of Duty: Ghosts Review: Stuck in Shadows

Game Reviewed: Call of Duty: Ghosts

Release Date: November 5, 2013

Developer: Infinity Ward

Publisher: Activision

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3, PC, Xbox One, PS4

Genre: First-Person Shooter

Rated: M for Mature

It’s a special occasion all over again for gamers as we’re now back at the front door of the most anticipated game year over year. This time in the hands of Infinity Ward we notice nothing is no longer modern within the warfare. In fact, we’re in times where elite soldiers are needed to emerge from the shadows to the front line. This is Call of Duty: Ghosts.

You’ll be surprised what can happen in space when its station is overrun and leads to a huge catastrophe on earth as the ODIN Satellite is hijacked and used as a weapon against the United States. It calls for a higher ranking than troops or the militia; This is where the Ghosts step in.

The key characters in Call of Duty: Ghosts are Logan and Hesh, son of the original Ghost, Elias Walker. The brothers as well as the Ghosts are sitting ducks as one of their own, known as Rorke, went rouge, killing off one Ghost at a time.

With the country they loved over the year is literally and physically turning to rubble, the group of elites that are known to only move in the shadows must step into the light to defend what’s left of the U.S.

I had very high hopes for Call of Duty: Ghosts new campaign as we were finally getting something new to help refresh the series. However we received all of the same tactics that we’ve com to expect over the years with the Call of Duty franchise.

It reminded me off the old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The gameplay may not be broken but when you look at the direction of it all; same graphics, same engine (since MW2), same sense of gameplay (since Modern Warfare).  I expected tanks, there were, but you were in and out almost immediately as the mission was a bit rushed.

The space missions were very unique in their own way however. The mechanics worked flawlessly, blending weight balance through gravity. The same could be said for the underwater missions as well. Elements and environmental changes gave the overall experience a genuine outlook.

Now one thing that didn’t was Riley, your companion. The dog as your partner, being someone you cared about didn’t stick for long. It seemed more like a feature highly mentioned and pulled out at the last minute. While infiltrating areas as Riley sparked interest it didn’t get a “true” moment to execute. Instead, it played out more as a sporadic feature .

Ghosts also was one of the first campaigns in quite some time that I was thrown into a glitch. In one particular mission, I was killing a group of enemies to where they continued to spawn from the same area. If I decided to pursue them, my player automatically bled out and died instantly. To make matters worse my checkpoint continued to reload from a glitch where an enemy was trying to kill me while stuck in between a truck. Inevitably I was forced to replay the entire mission to find out I was at the very end of it.

Audio has never been an issue with the series and it didn’t start with Ghosts. Ranging from the character voiceovers, weapons and theme (soundtrack), It all stringed together perfectly.

Multiplayer covers all of the normal game modes and also add on a bit of its fan favorites like infected and hunted. The multiplayer sessions in COD: Ghosts feels a bit more challenging. Some love to argue that the MP is usually a rehash of previous installments; and while it feels almost the same, it isn’t.

Without question multiplayer serves as the bread and butter of the franchise. And when playing Ghosts noticing the size and expansion of the maps as well as the pace of each session, you can appreciate the direction Infinity Ward decided to take.

Then to personalize your gameplay on step further, you can now create your own gender and loadout from weapons down to the uniform.

Now Extinction is quite different. Some will be quick to think of this new multiplayer mode to be Infinity Ward’s response to Zombies; it’s not even close. If you’ve ever played Horde in Gears of War, imagine that mode never ending. That’s Extinction. The entire concept is you grabbing a drill and destroying all of the creatures that attempting to overrun and kill you and your squad in the process. It all sounds nice, it was more of a very forgetful experience.

Other than the solid Multiplayer experience, Call of Duty Ghosts felt like a very safe title raising obstacles they couldn’t climb. With a lackluster campaign and a underperforming new game mode, the only Ghosts left was the creation within itself. Call of Duty is a huge franchise, I honestly expected more.

Disclaimer: Review copy of Call of Duty Ghosts was provided by Activision

The Scores

Gameplay: 3.5/5

Visuals: 4/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Controls: 4.25/5

Replay Value: 3.75/5

Overall Rating: 3.75/5