Initial Thoughts on Call Of Duty Ghost

Activision's Call of Duty Ghosts was released yesterday (November 5, 2013) and I wanted to write about my initial thoughts of the game after playing it for a day or so.  Please be aware that my mind may change as I play the game more and as it is updated.

I'm playing on the PS3 which means that if you are playing on Xbox, a PC or one of the new generation game consoles then your mileage may vary.

I've been struggling a bit with this one, but then again we are only a day into it.  I will say that Infinity Ward went all out with this game, they have tried to change many of the rules.  With its new greater degree of player character customization, dynamic map elements, player movement features (slide and lean) and new game modes it is different and kind of fresh, we will see if it lives up to its billing and if any of these features follow on and are included in future games.

Graphics:

I'm a bit disappointed by the graphics in this game.  The color palate makes it difficult for these old eyes of mine to see.  Some of the on screen written information is also difficult to see, which means I feel like I am missing vital information.  For example the game has a feature called Field Orders which is difficult to read.  The map is also difficult to make out.  I'm assuming that I will get better at understanding what I am looking at as I play but I wish that they explained the screen views better.

Game Modes:

I have not played all the game modes yet, but there are quite a few new ones.  I will say that I am looking forward to playing them all.  I was at first confused because the thing I like to do with a new Call of Duty game is see if there is a training mode or someway to play against bots.  It took me a few hours before I realized that the Squads mode to play a practice mode against and with bots.

The game mode that I like the most so far is Cranked.  Which is kind of amazing to me, because I am not much of a rusher in most COD games.  In Cranked it is fun to run around and just kill people, and the speed boost that you get as you kill more and more people make it even more fun.

I've also played Team Death Match, Search and Rescue and Kill Conformed.  Team Death Match and Kill Conformed of course have not changed.  I was hoping that Kill Conformed was the same, because it is the COD BO2 game that I played the most lately. 

These game modes are fun so far, and I am looking forward to playing all the other modes.  There are quite a few of them.  I've heard and read great things about Blitz and Infected.

I did also try out the Squads Sageguard mode, it is kind of harder then I expected (that may be because I played it on solo, more on that later).  And I also played Extinction which is a bit confusing, but I think as I learn more about it I  will enjoy it.  I say that because I did play and enjoy Zombies and this is kind of like Zombies mode in BOs.

Character Customization:

The character customization for this game, seems very cool.  I have always liked earning the various nameplates and other player ID features that the COD series have.  This game has the ability to change the uniforms, sex, race and many other ways that your character looks.  It also has backgrounds and patches that you can earn.

I think this feature makes the game a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to customizing my character to the max.  I also think that it gives each player a way to express a bit of their personality while playing the game.

Weapons:

Just like the game modes I have not really used that many of the weapons.  But I will say that the dynamic of this game's weapons feels a bit like the other Call Of Duty games by Infinity Ward.  I think that the way some of these weapons work has been tweeked by Infinity Ward for this new game.  I have not played with any of the new rifles that are in this game, but again I am looking forward to it.  I've never been much of a sniper, but I do like trying to pull it off. 

I have not unlocked very many weapons yet, and have been using the bizon sub-machine gun while playing Cranked.  I noticed that it is really good when hip firing.  I've also been playing with the two Assault Rifles that are unlocked at the start of the game.  You have to earn what are called Squad Points to unlock 

Maps:

The maps are huge and I usually think that is a good thing, but in the game modes I have been playing there are times when I have been running around not finding anyone to kill.  I think as the game matures this may not be as much as a problem.

I like the interactive elements that can be found on the maps they make the game play more interesting.  

The Campaign:

I usually play through the whole campaign of most COD games before playing the other modes.  And I usually enjoy the campaigns as much as some people enjoy the multiplayer mode of the game.  This has been a different experience for me this time playing COD, but that might be because I wanted to see how multiplayer and some of the other modes work.  I will continue playing the game, but the Campaign did not capture me they way it has in past versions of the game.

Overall Opinion

So in general I'm a bit torn by the game, I like that it has a lot of new game modes to try out. Squads, Extinction, and several other new game modes are very interesting and I want to give them a deeper play.  I also want to try all the different weapons and customize my character to the max.  As I said I also want to complete the Campaign.  But I do hope that it is easier to see on the new maps that will be part of the DLC.  I am also hoping that the game matures and that some of the game modes that were left out of this version of COD are brought back, ie Ground War.

One last feature that is annoyance is that the multiplayer game play depends on social game play.  While I am all for social gaming and playing with my online friends, most times I like to play games by myself and don't want to listen to others sing into my head phones or go into a racist, sexist, curse filled rants that have nothing to do with the game. I think it is important for developers to allow gamers the options to play with their friends or to play solo.