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The first few minutes of Call of Duty: Ghosts don't paint an accurate portrait of what lies
ahead. You barely have time to take stock of the idyllic Southern California setting
before fire begins raining down from the heavens, destroying every car and home in sight as
a navy man commands you to follow him to safety. Along with the outstanding new co-op mode and an
abundance of clever elements to competitive multiplayer, Call of Duty: Ghosts is a refreshing
and thoroughly satisfying game in the top shooter franchise. The way your enemies scurry
up the sides of buildings and burst forth from underground caves changes the dynamic
in a cool way. Much of Ghosts' success stems from its own sense of humility if i may point.
Infinity Ward has done a great job reining in the excesses of previous Call of Duty campaigns,
replacing the crumbling Eiffel Tower and runaway Tube trains of Modern Warfare 3 with a less
heavy-handed approach that employs spectacle footage.
While the current-generation versions are just as competent as ever, rendering the chaotic
shootouts at a smooth 60 frames per second, the PlayStation 4's next-gen beauty creates
a much more impresive and intensive battleground. The sheer level of production value that goes
into something like Call of Duty is remarkable and new. It’s remarkable to me, as someone
who played long time ago old Super Mario games, just how enormous and spectacular some of
these big-budget titles can be. Not the best for anyone, but impressive in their own
way for every FPS player.Ghosts delivers just enough narrative to serve as a tunel for its whirlwind
tour through global warzones, while resisting the need to club you over the head with plot
twists and shock-and-awe moments. In many ways, Infinity Ward has crafted a story that
reflects the stoic nature of the Ghosts themselves: focused, efficient, and committed to the task
at hand. One of the features that Ghosts introduces to multiplayer is a character customization
system that takes those abstract player levels and wraps a greater sense of ownership around
them. You can now create a ton of personalized soldiers, each decked out in a wardrobe full
of custom armor, equipment and weapons. Facial designs, skin color, and gender are all options
you can use to craft your own characters, and then you take those creations one step
further by leveling them all up independently of one another. But,to be honest, it’s not
that it’s the uniqe first-person shooter on the game market. There are sure more interesting
games, more challenging games, more scary or more innovative or exciting games. So what
is it about this particular game and series that keeps people coming back? The important
thing to note is that while you might not see a huge change from one Call of Duty game to
the next, what you do get is a solid experience and playing joy.
Top-notch production values, lots of game modes and maps, and a high-octane, cinematic,
single-player campaign is one of its best points. If Ghosts' story campaign is an example
of its developers leaving Modern Warfare behind, its approach to co-op takes that trend one
step further. This is a game that's keenly aware of the series' strengths and pluses,
but doesn't find itself beholden to them. No matter what standard you apply, Call of
Duty: Ghosts is a terrific first-person shooter.