No series has been able to keep up with the train that is Call of Duty. A series that started as a “Medal of Honor killer” lived up to its plan and quickly expanded to become a yearly franchise. Much like sports games, Call of Duty doesn’t change much between installments, but it does add a few slight improvements, and a new story every year.
This time Infinity Ward, the company that started it all had the reigns of creating the game. They share the burden with Treyarch, who released Black Ops II last year. With only a two-year development cycle, it’s hard to change much. You can tell that it’s the same game at its core, but they added enough to keep some of the fun and magic of the series intact.
The story mode is a lot of fun. Starting with the premise of the U.S. on the receiving end of it’s on technology, O.D.I.N. or the Orbital Defense Initiative, has destroyed most of America leaving them to have to fight a defensive war against the Federation.
The story mode is everything you would expect from a Call of Duty game. Over the top action, and grossly uneven battles make sure you feel like a hero throughout every mission. The set pieces are almost silly in the way they up the ante for the series.
One of the best examples of this is the final mission, where you run across the top of a train as you try and take out the man who has been hunting you and your team down. It’s silly, and also really fun.
The game shares the same quality that made Pacific Rim so enjoyable. It makes your inner child jump for joy each time you finish a mission. It’s so stupid, but it’s also a lot of fun, and that’s a win.
The story mode is short. It only takes four to five hours to finish up on the regular difficulty, and that isn’t a bad thing. Every mission has been carefully planned, and there is almost no filler.
The real draw of Call of Duty has always been the multiplayer. There are very few people who get the game for the campaign alone, and those people will be disappointed with this installment of the franchise.
The multiplayer is mostly the same. You make a load out for your soldier, and then play games to level up and unlock more equipment and slowly find out what works for you and then continue playing.
The new features are really interesting this time around though. The first major addition is the create a soldier feature. This time around you can customize your soldier all the way. You pick a gender, uniform and other aesthetic features to make your soldier look slightly different than everyone else’s. This isn’t a game changer, but it is enjoyable.
The perk system has been revamped, taking Black Ops II pick 10 system to the next level. There are almost too many perks to choose from, and none of them really feel like throw-aways. They all have a use in some situation, and it can get hard to pick when you only have so many points to spend on them.
Another change to the series is the interactivity of the maps. They all have hidden surprises to add to the fun. There are a couple of maps where you can close and open doors to ambush enemy soldiers, and a few maps will change completely when a player completes a certain objective.
All in all it’s another Call of Duty game. It doesn’t change the formula in a big way, but it adds enough to keep fans of the series happy. If you like Call of Duty, you’ll like Ghosts.
