14 DAY TRIAL // 
The Call of Duty series has become one of the most important and profitable franchises in the world, rivaling both movies and books in terms of popularity, as tens of millions of fans look forward to each year's new iteration in the series.
This year is quite special, as franchise founder Infinity Ward has returned with an all-new title, in the form of Call of Duty: Ghosts, which has nothing to do with the Modern Warfare spinoff series, despite the use of the name Ghosts.
With the promise of a vastly improved engine, better visual effects, and all sorts of new additions to the multiplayer mode, Ghosts is set to be a major step forward in the series that's mostly accused of repetition and lack of innovation.
Does it deliver on these promises or should these Ghosts be busted? Let's find out.
Story
The all-new story in Ghosts is one of the game's main claims to fame, as Infinity Ward proudly touted the near future setting and the introduction of the Ghosts, a squad of highly-trained soldiers who can get impossible jobs done in the blink of an eye.
The plot focuses on a conflict between the United States and the Federation, a coalition of South American countries who rose to power after the Arab oil fields ran dry. Their resources, coupled with unorthodox tactics, result in the invasion of the U.S. after a surprise attack from space using a satellite equipped with Tungsten rods.
Players take control of Logan, one of the two sons of Elias, the leader of what’s left of the U.S. armored forces. Logan and his brother, Hesh, coupled with their trusty Spec Ops dog, Riley, must go on all sorts of missions alongside the actual Ghosts in order to stop the Federation from delivering the final blow to the U.S.
While the plot seems pretty original, don't forget that the South American foes were already used by last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. What's more, the whole mythos surrounding the Ghosts isn't detailed all that much, and the members are pretty generic spec ops soldiers. Even the new squad member, Riley the dog, isn't used that often, meaning you don't get time to forge some sort of connection with the surprisingly lethal pooch.
The main villain is also pretty cliché and the conclusion adds an unnecessary cliffhanger that just begs for a sequel or at least some downloadable content.
Gameplay
Ghosts, despite trying to bring quite a few new things to the Call of Duty recipe, is reluctant to make any major changes. The shooting system is practically the same, with only a few shots being necessary to take down foes. There's no actual feedback for your shots, so expect to find enemies that are crawling on the floor.
In terms of movement, the system lacks any real weight, and animations for other characters often look funny or are unnecessarily slow. You also get to control different vehicles through the campaign, including tanks or helicopters, but they also feel a bit wrong. What's more, in the chopper you don't actually get to control the altitude, so you're stuck just strafing all over the place.
Among the few new things in terms of gameplay are firefights in space and in the water. Despite sounding really cool and interesting, they are somewhat lackluster. The space sections are a bit confusing, as the whole environment is filled with a lot of debris and distractions. The water segments are weighed down by the relatively clumsy shooting and by a certain segment in which you need to move around sharks.
Another brand new element is Riley, the dog that you and your squad will use in certain missions. He is quite smart and very lethal for your foes. You even get to control him, just like a drone of sorts, and infiltrate enemy bases while taking out foes silently (despite the fact that the dog makes quite a bit of noise while eviscerating foes). While these moments feel relatively fresh, they aren't that numerous and it still feels like you're controlling a robot within the body of a dog.
Foes aren't that smart, so you won't have that many problems taking them out. They do, however, like to use cover, so you might want to throw grenades and flush them out. Their lack of variety also disappoints, as there are only a few out of the ordinary types.
Missions, while filled with explosive moments, aren't really exciting as you're still following other squad members through a linear path in order to reach different goals. Levels also suffer from this linearity, although they are relatively varied.
Multiplayer
As always, Call of Duty games have based their success on their polished multiplayer, and Ghosts is no different, offering a variety of mechanics.
First and foremost, there's the traditional competitive online mode in which players fight against others in a wealth of different modes, ranging from favorites like Team Deathmatch, Free-for-all, or Domination, to new ones, like Search & Rescue or Grind.
While quite a few of the new game types sound rather intriguing, good luck finding players with which to experience them, as many just queue up for the tried and true modes like Team Deathmatch or Domination.
In order to add a new element of progression to this competitive multiplayer, Infinity Ward also brought forth the special Squads type, in which players, alongside AI-controlled teammates, engage in different matches against other AI opponents or against humans who are also leading their squad into battle. This type is relatively interesting, but you don't have a lot of motivation to tweak the loadouts of your fellow squad mates and take them into battle.
Competitive maps are pretty varied, and Infinity Ward also tried to add dynamic events that alter, to some degree, the layout of the level. These changes, however, aren't that impressive, and the tweaks made to the map are minimal in most cases. Of course, the exception is the Free Fall dynamic map, but that one is only played by those who pre-ordered the game.
The saving grace of the multiplayer mode in Ghosts is the Extinction co-op experience. This pits a team of four players against hordes of aliens in a mad rush to find and destroy the extraterrestrial hives. Players need to set up and defend a special drill and, based on their fighting prowess, receive cash that can be instantly redeemed for special powers, like sentry turrets, for bonus weapons found in the game world, or for activating unique elements of the level, like an electric fence.
This experience is quite fun and really hectic. It also requires a lot of coordination from players, as they should each pick one of the four main classes and make sure they're doing their part in the alien killing process. Unfortunately, the fact that you only have one map limits the appeal, so it's better to play it in short sessions.
Graphics and Sound
Call of Duty games haven't exactly delivered the best-looking shooter experiences out there, preferring to focus on a rock-solid framerate rather than on an array of visual effects. Call of Duty: Ghosts promised to deliver an evolution in terms of graphics and, while it certainly looks a bit better than previous installments, its visuals still appear a bit outdated.
Throw in the washed out colors, the often blurry or pixelated textures, not to mention some of the animations errors, and Ghosts isn't a pretty game. Sure, the character models of the main heroes and their weapons look pretty good, but the overall tone isn't that impressive.
In terms of sound, the game also fails to deliver a great experience. The soundtrack barely stands out, with only a few noteworthy tracks during the most hectic battles. Voice acting is also bland, failing to make characters feel remotely human, just stereotypes seen in many other shooters or military movies.
Conclusion
Call of Duty: Ghosts is a fumbled step in the shooter series. All the new things it promised to introduce, from the new story, to the fresh Squads multiplayer experience, or the better graphics, fail to live to expectations.
It's still a good Call of Duty game, but nothing remotely recommends it for greatness of any kind. The Extinction mode might do that, but the fact that it has just one map is a disappointment, at least for now.
