| Call of Duty: Ghosts | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Infinity Ward |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Year released | 2013 |
| System(s) | Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One |
| Series | Call of Duty |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player, Multiplayer |
| Call of Duty: Ghosts | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Treyarch |
| Publisher(s) | Activision |
| Year released | 2013 |
| System(s) | Wii U |
Call of Duty: Ghosts is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision, it is the tenth major installment in the Call of Duty series and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U on November 5, 2013. The game was released with the launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Campaign[edit]
In Call of Duty: Ghosts, the story is mostly told through the eyes of one single character, Logan Walker. Players assume the role of Logan for most of the game, with several other playable characters, including an astronaut specialist named Baker, Sergeant Thompson, member of Icarus and Logan's father, Elias Walker, with an all new option to play as Riley, the first non-human playable character in the franchise.
Multiplayer[edit]
The multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: Ghosts features changes from that of previous Call of Duty games as some new mechanics have been added to it. Maps now have areas that can be altered or destroyed. There is a nuke-like kill streak reward, the KEM Strike. The player can get the ODIN kill streak by either getting a certain amount of kills or by killing the top player on the other team and then completing various challenges after picking up a blue briefcase that is dropped. The sniper rifle scopes also have new "dual render technology" allowing the player to see around the outside of the scope (although blurred) when zoomed in. On October 3, a new multiplayer type was revealed, called Squads. This features a squad that the player can build and the player can face other squads around the world. The player's squad can be leveled up and will act like a true individual. "Octane", "Prison Break", "Tremor", "Freight", "Stormfront", "Siege", "Warhawk", "Sovereign", "Overlord", "Flooded", "Strikezone", "Whiteout", "Stonehaven" and "Chasm" are the maps that are in Call of Duty: Ghosts so far. The dynamic map, "Free Fall", was a pre-order bonus. The game now features playable female soldiers.
Squads[edit]
Call of Duty: Ghosts introduces a new game type called Squads. This mode can be played either solo or with other players including friends. A squad consists of ten different customizable characters. Squads can be utilized in unique gamemodes involving AI controlled enemies and AI controlled squad mates. The gamemodes include Squad Assault, Safeguard, Safeguard Infinite, Squad vs Squad, and Wargame. All of these modes can be played while online or offline.
- Squad vs Squad: Two opposing players play team deathmatch using their Squads.
- Wargame: The player and five squad mates against a team of enemy bots in a mode.
- Safeguard: The player and up to three other friends in a wave-based survival match similar to Survival Mode from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, but with the addition of perks and scorestreaks.
Multiplayer game modes[edit]
Call of Duty: Ghosts features several staple multiplayer game modes, while introducing several new game types, including:
- Search and Rescue: A take on Search & Destroy, but rather than having a single life per round, in Search & Rescue a player's team can revive them. It combines that teamwork and communication from Kill Confirmed with the objective-based cooperation of Search & Destroy.
- Gun Game: Similar to versions in previous games, the player starts with a pistol and continues to gain a new weapon for each player they kill. The match ends when a player cycles through all of the available weapons.
- Cranked: In this team-based game mode, the first team to earn 100 kills wins. Once a player kills an enemy, becoming "Cranked," the player who earned the kill has 30 seconds to earn a subsequent kill. If they do not earn a subsequent kill within 30 seconds they blow up. The detonation does not harm teammates or enemies. If a player earns a subsequent kill within 30 seconds the timer resets to 30 seconds and the kill counts for two points instead of one. Once a player is "Cranked" their movement speed is increased, they throw grenades more rapidly, and they aim down sight more quickly, among other effects.
- Free For All: The classic gamemode from previous installments in the franchise returns, in which players must rack up a total of 30 kills to win the game against seven other opponents or rack up to most kills in a 10-minute time limit.
- Team Deathmatch: Team Deathmatch returns in Call of Duty: Ghosts: two teams, 10 minutes, 75 kill limit.
- Search and Destroy: A gamemode in which one side has five minutes to plant a bomb at a choice of two sites and the other team is tasked with defending the sites, the catch of this mode is there are no respawns and the game ends once one team wins four rounds.
- Domination: A gamemode where three flags are scattered throughout the map for players to take and control. Every five seconds a flag in controlled will gain a player's team a point, if a player's team controls two or three flags they gain two or three points. The first team to 200 points wins.
- Team Tactical: A mixture of objective games involving four on four matches.
- Kill Confirmed: A gamemode in which two teams battle, similar to TDM, with the catch being that when a player kills an enemy they drop a dog tag, which is worth points when collected. If a player collects a fallen teammate's dog tag, no points are award to the enemy team; first team to 100 points wins the game.
- Infected: Similar to the mode in Modern Warfare 3, one player is randomly infected at the beginning and can infect other players until either all survivors are infected or time runs out. Playlists will rotate between several different scenarios involving various loadouts. This mode allows up to 18 players on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC versions and up to 12 players on the other platforms.
- Grind: No Information
- Blitz: This team-based game mode is similar to Capture the Flag in that the player needs to go to a portal located at the enemy's spawn point while preventing players from the enemy team from reaching theirs. These portals are temporarily closed for 10 seconds when they are captured to prevent players from rushing.
- Hunted Free For All: Players start with a pistol, two throwing knives, and a flashbang. Crates are dropped in random locations throughout the match that contains more weapons and ammo for the players to compete for. The game mode has a 25 kill limit.
- Ground War: Containing a rotating playlist with Domination and Team Deathmatch, but with 12-18 players and a 100 kill limit for TDM. This mode is only available for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC versions of the game.
- Drop Zone: Teams take turns capturing drop zones for points. For every 15 seconds a player holds down the objective, a care package will drop.
Extinction[edit]
Extinction is a new 4-player co-op mode, which pits the player(s) against various types of aliens (known altogether as Cryptids) in a base-defending survival style map. The main goal is usually to destroy all of the Cryptid hives scattered across the map (with the exception of Awakening and Exodus; the former requires players scanning for obelisks in an area which need to be destroyed, while Exodus features generators which the players have to activate). Players choose from four different class types, with unique traits and customizable loadouts. The player(s) can level up their classes, unlocking more weapons and equipment for their loadouts. This mode is unlocked by finishing the first level of the Campaign.
The first map, "Point of Contact", is included within the base game, and serves as an introduction to the game mode. The map takes place in an abandoned city in Colorado, two weeks after the events of the campaign mission "Ghost Stories".
The second map, "Nightfall", is released as part of the Onslaught DLC pack, and is advertised as the first of the four episodic contents for Extinction. The map takes place in an Alaskan research facility, 14 weeks after "Point of Contact", and introduces two characters central to the story: Dr. Samantha Cross and Cpt. David Archer. The map also introduces two new types of Cryptid aliens, one of which (the Breeder) serves as a boss-type enemy. Players are also given access to a mysterious and powerful weapon: The Venom X. Players can unlock several pieces of intel, revealing details about the story revolving around Cross and Archer.
The third map, "Mayday", is released as part of the Devastation DLC pack, and is the second of four episodes of Extinction. The map takes place on board a Naval ship, 26 days after the events in "Nightfall", and introduces two more new types of Cryptids: The Seeder (Which looks like the red seekers) but is bright orange and spawns plantlike turrets that shoot projectiles at the players, and the Kraken, the large, multi-tentacled boss at the end of the chapter. In addition to weapons scattered throughout the ship, players can access schematics to build powerful offensive and defensive weapons, including 4 variations of the Venom X from the previous chapter. Players can also find intel as well to learn more about the story of Extinction.
The fourth map, "Awakening", which is released as part of the Invasion DLC pack, is advertised as the third episode. The map takes place in an underground Cryptid hive, 36 hours after "Mayday", and introduces three new types of Cryptids: the flying Gargoyle, the explosive Bomber, and the powerful Mammoth. The Cryptids' masters, the Ancestors, are also seen in the map. The players have access to ARK attachments, which turn weapons into laser weapons, greatly increasing their power. As with the previous two maps, intels can be found to discover more information regarding the story.
The final map, "Exodus", which also acts as the final episode of Extinction, is released as part of the Nemesis DLC pack. The map takes place in a launch facility, 3 months after "Awakening", where the players are pit in a final battle against the forces of the Cryptids. Nearly every Cryptid type is encountered in the map, including the Ancestors. Players can choose their own paths in progressing throughout the map. The map also introduces two brand new weapons, the NX-1 Disruptor and the NX-1 Grenades, which are required in taking out the Ancestors.
Downloadable content[edit]
DLC for Ghosts has been released. Pre-ordered versions of the game included a bonus "dynamic" map called Free Fall and also got Simon "Ghost" Riley and John "Soap" MacTavish from Modern Warfare 2 as playable multiplayer characters. However, Free Fall was excluded from the Wii U pre-ordered version, which was later released on the Wii U on March 4, 2014.
Four sets of DLC map packs were released in 2014. A Season Pass is available, which gives players immediate access to all four DLC packs.
The first map pack, Onslaught, was released for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on January 28, 2014 and for Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 on February 27, 2014. It contains an exclusive playlist for owners of the DLC. The DLC pack brings in 4 new multiplayer maps: "Fog", "Bayview", "Ignition", and "Containment". The map Ignition is a re-make of Scrapyard from Modern Warfare 2. It also includes two new multiplayer weapons: the Maverick assault rifle, and the Maverick A-2 sniper rifle; as well as "Nightfall", the first of the four Extinction episodic contents. On the multiplayer map Fog, Michael Myers from the Halloween film series appears as a playable character, obtainable by earning a care package by completing various challenges via Field Orders.
The second map pack, Devastation, was released on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on April 3, 2014, and on Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 on May 8, 2014. It contains an exclusive playlist for owners of the DLC. The pack introduces four new multiplayer maps: "Ruins", "Behemoth", "Collision", and "Unearthed". The map Unearthed is a re-make of the fan-favorite map Dome from Modern Warfare 3. It includes a new hybrid multiplayer weapon called the Ripper, which Season Pass owners received early. On the map "Ruins", Predator from the Predator film series appears as a playable character. Additionally, it includes the next installment in the Extinction episodic contents, titled "Mayday".
The third map pack, Invasion, was released on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on June 3, 2014, and on Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 on July 3, 2014. It contains an exclusive playlist for owners of the DLC. The pack introduces four new multiplayer maps: "Pharaoh", "Departed", "Mutiny", and "Favela", a re-make of the fan-favorite map of the same name from "Modern Warfare 2". It includes the third Extinction episodic content, titled "Awakening".
The final map pack, Nemesis, was released on the Xbox 360 and Xbox One on August 5, 2014, and on Windows, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 on September 4, 2014. It contains an exclusive playlist for owners of the DLC. The pack introduces four new multiplayer maps: "Goldrush", "Subzero", "Dynasty", and a reimagined version of the map "Shipment" from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, "Showtime". It includes the final Extinction episode, titled "Exodus".
Additional downloadable content includes; Announcer Packs of Snoop Dogg and the Drill Instructor featuring R. Lee Ermey, Personalization Packs, Legend Packs and Special Characters.