Call of Duty: Ghosts Reviews
This is a series that once redefined first-person shooters with the seminal Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but Ghosts has little interest in change. If you're looking for more of the same you'll get it, but not much else.
With four very distinct modes – each essentially it's own deep and polished game – Ghosts delivers serious value for military FPS fans
There is innovation here and even if it's not always in exactly the areas you'd wish it's enough to ensure that Call Of Duty's status as the world's favourite FPS is still largely deserved.
While the singleplayer gets upstaged by a dog, the multiplayer comes at you from so many angles that you'll inevitably find something to enjoy.
Call of Duty may aspire to realism, but it's a better game when it acknowledges its silly side.
With an outstanding new co-op mode and a campaign fueled by fierce combat, Call of Duty: Ghosts is another great addition to the blockbuster shooter franchise.
Ultimately, Call of Duty: Ghosts can be considered as the standard for what has become expected from the franchise, but even if it isn't a drastic departure from what some have grown to hate or love, it is still a product that is tremendously fun to play with your friends and has enough options to keep you playing for hundreds of hours.
Diminishing with every return, Ghosts' addictive nature is tempered by over-familiarity.
Ghosts, in and of itself, is a fine game. It ticks all the boxes and then blows the boxes up in glorious 1080p resolution (on PS4 at least). Those who only ever play COD will be more than happy with it, but those who have grown weary of the series will see more of their ambivalence justified this time around. Infinity Ward had a chance here to throw down the gauntlet for the next hardware generation, to set the new standard, to show that this hugely popular, much derided behemoth can dance to a different tune. It's chosen to play a Greatest Hits package instead.
Call of Duty is a series that's getting stagnant. This latest edition is a solid shooter, with highly tuned mechanics, an addictive multiplayer offering, and a plethora of content to play through – but it very much feels like a familiar game with a few minor adjustments. The new Extinction mode is particularly good, but it's the highlight in a title that's following a tired recipe. Fans of the series will enjoy Call of Duty: Ghosts regardless, but those of you looking for something new will have to dig out those night vision goggles and search elsewhere.
Call of Duty: Ghosts does a good job on all accounts. The single player eventually goes in a direction which I liked and enjoyed, while the multiplayer holds onto what it does best, with a few tweaks to the formula. It even manages to straddle the generational divide quite well, even though the current machines suffer badly in comparison. However, it is generally more of the same, and really doesn't push itself hard enough to overhaul and redefine what Call of Duty can be.
Ghosts doesn't leverage the PS4 beyond providing a more visually immersive experience, it stands as a more than capable bridge for the franchise. While the campaign is relatively short at eight hours and at times feels very derivative, the high points really shine and the multiplayer experience continues to set the bar for the genre.
Call of Duty defined the first-person shooter genre and while Ghosts doesn't take the next step forward, it's at least on par with what we've already played.
The single player attempts to be bombastic, but will leave you feeling cold. The multiplayer is signature COD, but we're waiting until public servers are up to make a judgement.
There's so much content on offer in Call of Duty: Ghosts that everyone will get their money's worth, and then some. Infinity Ward could quite easily have rested on their laurels, stayed in their comfort zone to release Modern Warfare 4 this year with little negative critical reception. Instead, they've done something bold with the franchise they gave life to, and as a result have created the best Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 2. Big, brash and absolutely stunning.
Although it follows the same formula, 'Call of Duty: Ghosts' offers a few refreshing changes.
There's no point in detailing Ghosts' plot because Infinity Ward didn't put much work into writing it.
Ghosts is polished and fun, but fails to push the series forward in any major ways
Call of Duty: Ghosts is a safe and familiar entry in the franchise that won't win any new fans with derivative design
Call of Duty: Ghosts isn't a terrible game. It just happens to be a small, yearly released cog in a franchise that continues to resist innovation at every turn. Coming back to this title after playing Modern Warfare 2 in 2009, I should have been overwhelmed by a multitude of exciting new changes. Instead I was hit with the realization that I hadn't missed a thing.