‘Ghosts’ enhances Call of Duty franchise

 

In the 10th installment of the Call of Duty series, players are now completely in control.

In the most noticeable change from the previous games, players of “Call of Duty: Ghosts” are now offered a vast number of options for character customization, whereas before, the character was randomly generated.

Users can now customize players with more than 20,000 possible character combinations including, for the first time, a woman.

Not only is the physical appearance interchangeable from head to toe, but there are also many weapons, tactical equipment, perks and rewards to choose from to increase gameplay.

Similar to “Black Ops II,” there is still an allocated weapon budget. However, it gives more options to personalize your weapon. I chose the MSBS assault rifle with thermal scope and extra ammo. There is a big kickback in the recoil of the gun, which players will have to adjust their aim for.

A plus in “Ghosts” is that for many of the rewards, you don’t have to wait on a care package to deliver them. There are still some that require a care package, but not many. The rewards are also better, such as the ability to fly in a helicopter.

My rewards were a guard dog, a sentry gun and the juggernaut suit with gun. The dog is beneficial and serves as a bodyguard as he attacks those nearby who may not have been seen. The sentry gun is a personal favorite from “Black Ops II,” and maximizes the chance for higher kill numbers. The juggernaut suit really stands out as the best tactical assault reward. The suit nears invincibility while at the same time is armed with a high power machine gun.

Players can also customize up to 10 squad members including weapons and perks. This comes in handy if they die and you want to pick up a better weapon.

Be prepared for more intense gameplay as even the recruit bots seem more forceful and experienced. Many are found throughout the game lurking around corners or squatting and waiting for the enemy to come along.

In developing the game, Infinity Ward stepped up its game by hiring Emmy and Oscar award winner Stephen Gaghan to write the Campaign story line. “Superman Returns” star Brandon Routh even voices one of the brothers in the plot.

However, as a multiplayer gamer, I prefer coming home and turning on a new game without having to worry about following a story line.

There are now nine multiplayer game modes available to choose from. I stick with team deathmatch, free-for-all and cranked. In cranked, the player must continuously kill within 30 seconds for up to 100 kills, or the character explodes. As the player continues the killing, he gets faster and more powerful in this mode, making it even more intense.

The franchise shows developmental growth as the graphics get better and better each installment, and “Ghosts” is no exception. The developers really stepped up the graphics, going from arcade-like visuals from even the recent “Modern Warfare 3,” to finally being competitive to graphics found in the “Battlefront” series.

Be prepared for not only larger maps than in “Black Ops II” but also more interactive maps. Now players can destroy many landmarks found in the maps and, in some maps, there are even weather conditions that can interfere with gameplay.

Players can now get struck by lightning, drown in a flood and have earthquake tremors interfere with aiming at targets.

Every year Call of Duty releases a new game, every year I doubt its ability to lure me away from the predecessor and every year I fall in love with the new version. After only two weeks of playing, I am already hooked on “Ghosts.”