A Look At: Call of Duty: Ghosts

Kicking off the new year with a Call of Duty review, here I will discuss what the game does well and what definitely needs improving for the sequel.

I've been playing the game for a couple of months now and I actually enjoy playing it, which is more than can be said for the majority of the FPS community. Call of Duty has always been twitchy, fast-paced and very popular with both Xbox and PlayStation users, and the latest release is no different, yes it has it's faults and it isn't perfect, but Call of Duty rarley is.

The story is a refreshing deviation from Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare franchise, including new characters such as protagonist brothers Logan and Hesh, who become 'Ghosts', and lead antagonist Gabriel Rorke. It also makes a subtle reference to the previous MW series as the soldier's German Shepherd is named Riley, after Simon 'Ghost' Riley. I however want to see Captain Price make his return in the next game.

Multiplayer is different to Black Ops 2 in many ways, however what stands out most is map design and health. You die fast, and some guns can drop you in three bullets, so some element of strategy is needed to go along with everyone's favourite style of play - run and gun.

Infinity Ward seems to make more complicated multiplayer maps than Treyarch, and for me this isn't much of a problem, however people coming straight from Black Ops 2 to Ghosts will notice a huge difference. There is also a new weapon class in Ghosts; marksman rifles, which deal roughly 3 shot kills at range. Accurate players will most likely prefer long-range maps like Stonehaven, Whiteout and Stormfront and take advantage of these, opposed to SMG and shotgun friendly maps Strikezone and Octane.

It isn't the best looking first person shooter on the market, and it seems to be losing some of its original 'fun-factor', although for me the online elements of the game are just as good as the story mode. The character customisation is great however, and I hope that this stays in future COD games as it allows you to play as who you want and not just some preset soldier. The guns are fine, although more attachments would be nice, the perk system is improved, and even IW's attempt at Zombies in 'Extinction' (where you fight aliens) is good.

But there are some issues, for instance the invite system on Ghosts is a joke compared to that of Black Ops 2, some guns seem like they can one burst you around corners, there is no 'Theater' mode, and 'Squads' isn't that amazing.

Personally I haven't had as much fun on Ghosts as I did with Black Ops 2, however this could be due to the fact that I play on PS4 and most of my friends don't have the system/game yet. Call of Duty is still my favourite game series as it offers everything I look for in an action FPS, and probably will do for some time. The DLC will be coming out this year and will feature 4 map packs including weapon and Extinction content, and will spell out O.D.I.N. (a reference to the story).

Call of Duty remains strong in many areas, however with the arrival of many decent-looking shooters like Battlefield 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Titanfall and Destiny, the series needs to improve on gameplay and graphics and needs to recapture it's fun-factor in order compete successfully in the future.