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Call of Duty Ghosts is the latest in a 10-year line of Call of Duty titles and while it might sound it’s a cliche to say “It’s the best one yet!”, it really does feel like it.
The basic premise is that ten years after an event which completely knackers much of America – which you’ll see happen in the outstanding opening level, America’s borders and the balance of global power have changed forever. The remainder of the Special Ops forces are now known as “Ghosts” and lead the fight back against a newly-emerged, technologically-superior global power.
Amongst the engaging storyline, Call of Duty Ghosts introduces a new next-gen engine which the blurb states “delivers stunning levels of immersion and performance, all while maintaining the speed and fluidity of 60 frames-per-second across all platforms” and I can’t really improve on that description because it delivers in spades. The videos in this review speak for themselves. It’s just a shame that I can only record in stereo and not the Dolby Digital 5.1 that the game comes with.
Whether going after baddies on land, as is the usual way with these games, you’ll also take to the skies and underwater for some missions, as well as even controlling your dog Riley from time to time – although I do prefer the traditional format but it’s nice to try something new – and there’s even a brief mission in space, as you’ll have gleamed from the live-action trailer featuring Megan Fox – although I was sceptical about whether firing bullets in a spacecraft was a good idea given the danger, but I’m really thinking too much about that…
Quite frankly, exhilarating just isn’t the word for it. Well, actually, it is. This is just absolutely fucking awesome and knocks Battlefield 4 into a cocked hat. Whereas that game’s graphics were reasonable, Call of Duty Ghosts really delivers with polygons aplenty with a fluidity I feel like I haven’t seen in years. This is major contender for first-person-shooter game of the year, if not the winner.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts about the game.
While it excels in fun, there’s also confusion, since in the heat of battle I get mixed up when pressing R1 and R2, and the same for the left shoulder buttons, so I end up throwing grenades when I don’t mean to. Also, there are times, such as in level 8, Birds of Prey , where after clearing one area, your men didn’t know where to go until I’d triggered the next scene. However, they were pointing in the wrong direction which caused confusion for where I was meant to go, sometimes taking me back the way I’ve come. Since that clearly wasn’t right, I then headed forward to somewhere we hadn’t been before and, thus, triggered the next scene. An annoyance, but the thrill factor in the rest of the game more than makes up for such little foibles.
Especially in certain levels when you’re escaping from the 52nd level of a collapsing building, and another when you’re legging it off an oil rig that’s about to explode, it’s absolutely intense as hell!
Overall, if you want Crash! Bang! Wallop! for your money, Call of Duty Ghosts is it.
I always go for the single player campaign, but multiplayer fans are also well-catered for.
There’s the new Create-A-Soldier system, where players can change the physical appearance of their soldier by choosing the head, body type, head-gear and equipment, and for the first time in a Call of Duty game, the player can also choose their gender. With 20,000 possible combinations, this is the most flexible and comprehensive character customization in Call of Duty history.
New dynamic maps are the evolution of multiplayer. They include interactive elements and player-triggered events that make the environment evolve as each match goes on. The entire landscape can shift and force players to change tactics and strategies.
Call of Duty: Ghosts also introduces new tactical player movements. The new contextual lean system now allows players to lean around obstacles without adding button combinations or fully leaving cover. The new mantling system allows fluid movement over objects, while maintaining momentum. The knee slide allows for a natural transition from sprinting crouching to prone.
Call of Duty: Ghosts delivers over 20 new Kill Streaks such as Juggernaut Maniac, the Helo Scout, the Vulture and the ODIN Strike. Players can even bring in guard dog Riley, from the single-player campaign, to protect and also to attack enemies. There are also over 30 new weapons, including an entirely new weapon class: Marksman Rifles.
The Squads feature allows you to build your team and take up to 6 of them into battle in the all new Squads mode. This mode takes the best parts of the multiplayer experience and allows you to play either solo or cooperatively with the custom soldiers created and leveled up in multiplayer. The load-out choices you make for your Squad members will directly change the AI behavior of your squad-mates. Give your soldier a sniper rifle and he’ll behave like a sniper, and an SMG guy will be more run and gun.
At the time of uploading this review, I’ve played through 13 of the 18 levels and have posted links to my favourite 4 in this review.
Visit my DVDfeverGames Youtube channel for many more gaming videos.
Important info:
- Publisher: Activision
- Players: single player campaign, multiplayer: 1-12, co-op: 2-6
- HDTV options: 720p/1080i/1080p
- Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes
- Spoken language: English
- Subtitles: English
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GRAPHICS SOUND GAMEPLAY ENJOYMENT |
10 10 8 10 |
| OVERALL | 9.5 |
Director: Sylvain Doreau
Writers: Adam Foshko and Stephen Gaghan
Music: David Buckley
Cast:
David ‘Hesh’ Walker: Brandon Routh
Keegan P. Russ: Brian Bloom
Thomas A. Merrick: Jeffrey Pierce
Gabriel Rorke: Kevin Gage
Elias T. Walker: Stephen Lang
Ramos: Steve Wilcox
Multiplayer Announcer – Drill Instructor DLC: R Lee Ermey
Soldier: Rachel Kimsey
Capt. David Archer (Extinction): Dave B Mitchell
Genghis Khan Mongol Warrior: Marcus Natividad
Male Soldier 2: Scott Whyte
John ‘Soap’ MacTavish: Dan Glenn
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.
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