That Departed trailer looks like someone's been watching a lot of Tarantino

Tomorrow sees the release of the Invasion map pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts, so how about we get one last rundown of the new maps. In Mutiny, you'll fight in what's essentially Tortuga, shooting off almost as many bullets as one-liners about Davey Jones locker and other pirate schtick. Departed is probably the most interesting looking map, as it offers a unique killstreak, turning you into a dual revolver wielding mariachi of death. You can get a closer look at Pharaoh here.

Finally, we have Favela, a remake of one of my favorite maps from Modern Warfare 2. The trailer brings back nostalgia feel goodies too, as it's a near perfect remake of Modern Warfare 2's first multiplayer teaser. My, how time flies.

Call of Duty: Ghosts Invasion releases tomorrow for Xbox One and the Xbox 360.

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May 2nd to May 5th

Call of Duty: Ghosts is going to be free soon on the PS3 and PS4, in case you were curious about how the new iteration ended up (spoiler -- the actual release was underwhelming, but the DLCs have been pretty good overall). From May 2?nd (10AM PST) to? May 5th (10AM PST) you can now pick up the demo on your Sony console of choice.

Three maps will be included in this special version, including Strikezone, Warhawk, and Prison Break. You can also test out Extinction mode, which is basicall?y Infinity Ward's take on nazi zombies with ali??ens.

Call o?f Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Demo Coming This Weekend [PlayStation Blog]

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There's also an R. Lee Ermey Voice Pack

Infinity Ward is rolling out a bunch of customization items for the Xbox versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts on Tuesday, April 22. Among that content lineup is a Snoop Dogg Voice Pack for multiplayer. It's exactly what you'd ??expect, but go ahead and watch the preview above if you'd like.

While writers came up with Snoop's lines for the game, he says "They allowed me to do my thing and put a little Snoopism on top of it." He's done more far-fetched videogame collaborations than this and I'd imagine there's plenty more ?he'll do in the coming years.

I'd be curious to hear R. Lee Ermey's voice pack. No preview of that one, ??at least not yet.

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You know, Arnold and Danny Glover's Predator

The new trailer for Call of Duty Ghost's second DLC pack, Devastation, is pretty standard stuff for the first?? few minutes. You know -- the typical overview of maps, lots of gunfire, and an Eminem track laid over it. Then you get to the 2:20 mark and things start g?et weird.

As teased last week, The Predator is revealed as an element in the Ruins map. This isn't a knock-off or anything -- it's the actual Predator from the films. While the base game may have not been all that interesting, so far I'm really enjoying Infinity Ward's weird take on DLC, following the playable Halloween villain Michael Meyers.

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Pre-order bonus unlocked

Remember that bonus map that was given out to those who pre-ordered Call of Duty: Ghosts? Well now it's available for everyone, similar to how Activision eventually unlocked Nuketown 2025 in Black Ops II, you can now grab Free Fall for...well..free.

This change applies to every platform (PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One), and also arrives with a number of multiplayer fixes, which you can view here.

Call of Duty: Ghosts [Activision]

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But hey, the free Steam weekend is okay

This weekend, Call of Duty: Ghosts' multiplayer will be free to play on Steam and the game is half price ($29.99) to own. There's?? also double XP being offered, from February 21 at 10:00am to Feb. 24 at 10:00am. These are all things I was somewhat happy to talk about.

Then I got wind of this week's customization DLC for Ghosts, shown in the trailer above, a?nd I'm rather put off. Yes, this stuff is surely going to make money as cosmetic DLC for popular multiplayer games tends to, but I feel obligated to call out its grossness.

First are the personalization packs -- Circuit, Ducky, Inferno, and Space Cats -- at $1.99 each. Kind of sloppy looking, but okay. Next, character skins straight out of Ghosts' campaign are being sold at $1.99 a pop; those are Keegan, Merrick, Hesh, and Elias. That same amount of money can also get you four extra Create-a-Soldier loadout slots in the Extra Slots Pack.

Lastly, there's Captain Price. He's playable in multiplayer with the same sort of personalized items -- a custom player patch, background, card, and reticule -- if you scrounge up $3.99. To each their own, but having bought cra??p like this before, it alm?ost always ends in regret.

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I get by with a little help from Michael Myers

Call of Duty: Ghosts is one of the most disappointin?g games in the series' history. Although I didn't dislike it as much as Jim did, there's certainly something missing that made past games in the franchise appealing, and it's not just because the formula is getting stale.

The campaign was a bore, multiplayer didn't really bring much to the table, and worst of all, the highly anticipated "Extinction" mode was grossly underutilized. While the new map pack doesn't fundamentally fix the core problems of Ghosts, it doe?s make it a little more interesting as a whole.

Call of Duty: Ghosts: Onslaught DLC (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One [reviewed])
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Released: January 28, 2014 (Xbox 360, Xbox One) / TBA (PC, PS3, PS4)
MSRP: $14.99 ($50 Season Pass for four packs)

First things first, Onslaught comes with a new weapon -- the Maverick. It has the unique ability to be used as either an assault rifle or a sniper, but sadly, not at the same time (all my hopes of a Transformers style gun have been dashed). I was excited to try it out, but after using it? in a series of games, the?re isn't much to say about it. It's more fun as a sniper than an assault rifle, because there are so many of the latter to choose from anyway, but that's about it. The good news then is that it's not overpowered and won't alienate players who don't buy the DLC.

In terms of maps, there are four new ones -- Bayview, Cont??ainment, Ignition, and Fog. The standout here is Fog, featuring a creepy swamp area and a series of shacks that are straight out of a horror movie. There's a ton of detail here, including cult shrines littered about the brambled swamp, and a large house that features a deranged basement, leading into a runoff of blood and organs.

The interiors have a lot of work put into them, with dead animal trophies, flayed hides, and other horror themed knick-knacks in tow. There's even a wrecked bridge leading into the level, complete with a broken down car on the other side. But the real kicker is the ability to transform into Halloween's Michael Myer??s by picking up and completing a specific field order.

This usually happens once per match, and when it does, the iconic Halloween theme plays for everyone, and one player gets to run around the map with extra health and an axe, wrecking havoc while everyone else panics. It's basically a modified version of the Maniac killstreak, but it's well done and fun, nonetheless. This is one of the first times any Call of Duty has featured such an extensive Easter egg in the core multiplayer, and it really adds a lot of character ?to the DLC in ge?neral.

Bayview is the best new addition though, taking place on the oceanfront under the guise of a boardwalk style town. It has a distinctively different feel from most of Ghost's bleak maps, as it feels more Treyarch in nature with its bright hues and sunny backdrop. There are tons of buildings to explore, including a giant crab shack, an information center, and a miniature aquarium. There's a lot of variety aesthetically and in terms of its layout, with a good mixture of indoor and outdoor environments to have firefights in, complete with a moving trolley along the map's perimeter. All in all, it's a pleasant surprise, and probably my favorite Ghost map in general.

Containment is a bit more boring, but not a bad map by any means. It takes place in a war torn city, almost like a World at War level. The setup is interesting, as there are two distinct sides separated by a bridge and a ravine, with a truck housing a nuke in the middle. If you approach the truck your radar is screwed up, which leads players into sticking to their sides, engaging into lots of ranged fights. Other than a giant church on one side however, there isn't a whole lot of personality to it, and?? although you won't loathe playing on it, you won't get very excited either.

Unfortunately, the last part of the four piece map puzzle (which is a remake of Modern Warfare 2's Scrapyard) feels like a complete waste. Ignition features a generic layout and style that's been done many times before -- whether it's the shuttle launching in the background or the industrial warehouse theme. The only cool part is the non-functional mobile fortress is one area (similar to the Jawa's Sandcrawler in Star Wars), but even then that's pushing it. This map is just so boring that I actively found myself voting against it -- it's not nearly as memorable as Scrapyard was when it debuted. Thankfully, all four maps have a really cool meta-game involving the hunt for "alien eggs," as one is hidden on each Onslaught stage.

The main event for Onslaught however is the new Extinction storyline, starting with "Episode 1: Nightfall." For those who aren't aware, Extinction is Infinity Ward's answer to Treyarch's "Zombies" mode, but instead, it's a bit more linear in nature, and features more mobile aliens. At launch, Ghosts came with a rather generic offering of Extinction that I only bothered to play a handful of times until I was bored to tears. But with Nightfall, I see ??some hope on the ho??rizon.

Firstly, there's now a real cohesive story involving the outbreak and a few people who know the truth behind it. It's not a great story, but it's something, and runs parallel to Treyarch's attempts to link together their Zombies mode with its own lore. The other kicker is that it adds new aliens, including a boss fight with the giant Breeder, and a new miniboss -- the Phantom. The Phantom i??s a standout in particular, as he has the ability to teleport around, Nightcrawler style. His teleporting is seemingly non-scripted, as he can feign an attack, then ghost about at will just to trick you as you're attacked by other aliens from behind.

The new map is also much brighter and more open ended, allowing you to drill various alien nests at your own pace with up to four players. All of the same progression oriented gameplay is here, including the ability to choose between an assault, tank, mechanical, or healing class, to augment your party's abilities or buff your own. Although it's not nearly as robust as Zombies ?and doesn't feature half as many tricks and secrets, I feel like Ext??inction has really proved its concept in Nightfall, and I'm legitimately looking forward to seeing what the next three episodes can offer.

I was pleasantly surprised by Onslaught, especially considering the fact that Ghosts was so underwhelming. Although it won't do too much to change your mind if you're an adamant Call of Duty hater, the new Extinction ?episode is promising, and there are three solid maps he?re for the taking.

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As in Call of Duty, not like, a cod fish

Call of Duty's real life ad campaign continues with this year's Call of Duty: Ghosts. The ad starts off almost as an homage to the intro from The Dark Knight with the whole Joker bank robbery scene. Then we see it's that one actor whose name I can't rem??ember.

From there, the CODnapper goes around, saving people from their boring lives to play Ghosts in pretty extreme ways. It's all silly, but I like? how?? over the top dumb it all is.

This is also specifically promoting the upcoming Onslaught downloadable content. Onslaught wi??ll feature four new maps, the abil??ity to play as Michael Myers in one of the maps, a new weapon, and the next episode of Extinction.

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First of four downloadable content packs

GameStop leaked the first look, and now Activision has given us an extensive overview of what to expect from the upcoming Onslaught downloadable content for Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Onslaught includes four new small to medium sized maps (Fog, Bayview, Containment, Ignition), plus the first ??installment of the Extinction add-on content, Episode 1: Nightfall, will be included here. Expect new characters, a new weapon, plus new aliens that include a three-story tall alien enemy. Lastly, there's the new dual-purpose Maverick assault rifle/sniper rifle gun being added to multiplayer.

So the multiplayer maps aren't just straight up new maps, as each offers something unique. In Fog, if you get a field order you will transform into Michael Myers. You know, from the Halloween movies. You even get his mask and a big bloody axe to swing around. A nice nod to old school Modern Warfare right there.

Onslaught will be out first for the Xb?ox One and?? Xbox 360 on January 28.

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Plus the next $1 million tournament announced

Call of Duty: Ghosts latest updates is all eSports focused. An upcoming update will restrict Ghillie suits, tracker sights, danger close, and disable third-person spectating in competitive rules. They will also add ??a kill feed to Broadcaster mode, and address the broadcaster mode stability.

There's several other fixes coming detailed on the Call of Duty forums, but the ma??in highlight i??s the note that Infinity Ward is investigating the addition of Xbox One LAN support.

Which leads us right to the next announcement: the next Call of Duty Championships have been announced. The second annual tournament will see 32 Call of Duty teams?? from around the world competing for $1 million. The tournament takes place in Los Angeles March 28-30, and this time part?icipants will be playing on the Xbox One. The tournament will be streamed on Xbox Live and on MLG.tv.

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ODIN

Here we have a quick overview video displaying the content players will receive when they pony up for the Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass. It encompasses four DLC packs including maps and weapons, as well as an episodic "Extinction" experience, and throws in an exclusive DLC pack with a new character head and some other features (including a reticule, which I didn't realize was the kind of thing we were doing for DLC nowadays). All that for $4??9.??99.

They're also offering a little something to those who are planning to upgrade their Call of Duty experience ?to the new console generation. Season passes will carry over from PS3 to PS4 or Xbox 360 to Xbox One at no additional charge until May 31, 2014.

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It comes with a free derp face

Remember that rumored skin that changes Riley the dog into a wolf for Call of Duty: Ghosts? Well it's real, and today, you can grab it for $1.99. If you order now, it comes with a bonus derp face, free of charge (timed exclusive).

Oh, and I almost forgot the "best" part -- it's exclusive to Xbox for a limited time! As an aside, the skin changes Riley into ?a wolf strictly in terms of the killstreak bonus during multiplayer play.

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It turns Riley into a wolf

Reddit user beta_crater has uncovered what appears to be a legit DLC card for an upcoming add-on for Call of Duty: Ghosts. The card says it all - it's a "Guard Dog Killstreak Skin" for use in Ghosts, that will change the R??iley the dog multiplayer model into a wolf.

Just like any regular bit of cosmetic weapon DLC it'll cost less than your standard map pack (at $3 on December 12th), and similarly, it's completely optional. I really don't know what to say -- I thought everyone liked Riley? Also, where the hell is our corgi DLC, Dale North?

So... this is happening [reddit]

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Of course it's not Activision's fault

Activision knows why Call of Duty: Ghosts didn't sell as many copies as they had hoped, and it has nothing to do ??with them regurgitating the same game every year. Eric Hirshberg, Activision's CEO, told GameInformer that the slow sales were due to "the challenges of the console transition year."

He also blew off the negative critical response to Ghosts by sa?ying that "the critical response doesn't?? always mirror the fans' appreciation of a game. We actually do read the critics' comments and take them into consideration during our creative process, but we just can't measure ourselves by that yardstick alone."

Basically the message here is that lower review scores from critics, and declining sales, have nothing to do with the quality of the Call of Duty franchise, or at least that's what Act?ivision wants you to believe. I don't buy into sales being hurt by the console transition, since the game is available on every platform, and players had ways to upgrade to the? next-gen version if they wanted to.

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Patch provides Nvidia's PhysX and Fur

Just what you've been waiting for PC subjects, realistic fur technology is now available in Call of Duty Ghosts. 

A recent patch has added -- not only dynamically-lighted, soft and oh-so pettable fur to Riley, NPC wolves, and the attack dogs found in multiplayer -- but also a bevy of other PC improvements to p??erformanc??e and stability. PlayStation 3 and 4 users have also received fixes. 

For a full list to the update click here. 

COD dog gets next-gen fur on PC [Eurogamer]

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Not a ghost town

Now that the servers are live on Xbox One, I had a chance to sit down with the newest Call of Duty and test out both next-gen versions of the game. I'm pleased to report that they not only have feature parity with the PC version (and thus, don't feel gimped like on 360 and PS3), but the visuals are markedly improved, and online play is much smoother than any COD game before it.

There's just one problem -- it's still Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Don't get too excited here. You're still going to get the throwaway, "been there done that" campaign, and Infinity Ward's extremely poor attempt to copy the Zombies formula with Extinction, but the good news is the serviceable multiplayer is vastly improved. Instead of limiting the player count to 12 like in the 360 and PS3 versions, Ghosts on next-gen systems allows for up to 18 players, and the Groundwar gametype. It doesn't sound like a huge difference to most people, but I can assure you that six more people on the medium-sized maps of Ghosts literally make the difference between an action-packed round??, and a ghost town.

My ranking transition from playing on the 360 t??o the Xbox One was seamless (I hadn't previously tested it on the PS3). I just logged in, and all of my stats and levels were intact. It also asked me if I'd like to transition any DLC I purchased previously (in this case, the free "Free Fall" map), and downloaded it instantly. Extinction mode (something that has to be unlocked) also popped up on my menu. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the generation to generation transfer were -- I wish it were this easy for every game.

Jumping into an actual game was straightforward, considering that dedicated servers are now standard practice (although the PS4 runs on a hybrid mix of P2P and dedicated, whereas the Xbox One is entirely dedicated). Ghosts does look noticeably better on next-gen consoles, and the frame rate is vastl?y improved to the point where I didn't sense any slowdown -- both in terms of latency and visually. Little effects are also more noticeable, like smoke particles, sparks, and so on. On the Xbox One, the triggers took some getting used to, having played FPS games with a 360 gamepad for the past eight years -- but once I was acclimated they felt wonderful.

The PS4 controller still isn't my choice for FPS titles, but it's a vast improvement over the DualShock 3, so I didn't have any major complaints. I mostly tested the Xbox One version for this write-up, a?nd despite all of the controversy ov??er the resolution limits, both the XB1 and PS4 versions look relatively the same.

Now, there's something to keep in mind: although the dedicated servers do make a difference, there is a vastly lower player count in the next-gen space. I'm talking the difference between hundreds o?f thousands of people at once on 360 and PS3 to less than 100,000 on Xbox One and PS4. It's something that could grow over time as more people pick up their shi?ny new systems -- or it could just as easily shrink, so be aware of that.

All in all, the next-gen experience for Call of Duty is the best way to go if you don't have access to the PC version. It has full feature parity, it runs great, and the dedicated servers really help make online play m?uch smoother. So long as you rea??lize that you're not going to get much mileage out of anything but multiplayer.

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Guns, guns, guns

Charlie Intel, courtesy of user @syncohboyy, recently got its hands on what look to be data files for weapon DLC in Call of Duty: Ghosts. The files plainly state "dlcweapon" with a number designation following each, as well as a list of weapon attachments. If true, this would be the first time an Infinity Ward-made Call of Duty gets weapon DLC, as Modern Warfare 3 was tasked to its memory capacity.

Last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 was the first time weapon DLC was introduced to the series, though the memory limitation??s of current-gen hardware meant that the Peacekeeper SMG would be the only weapon added. If these supposed weapons follow suit??, you can expect more info alongside the map pack reveals. 

PC game files for G?hosts hints at possible weapon DLC [Charlie Intel]

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Starting today at 10AM PST

Call of Duty: Ghosts is the biggest title laun??ch of this week, and to celebrate Activision is running a Double XP w??eekend. It starts today at 10AM PST, and will go on until November 11 at 10AM PST. This is good for all the platforms the game is available on.

As for those of ?you thinking of doing the $10 upgrade to next-gen, know that all your multiplayer XP, stats, and achievements will carry o?ver.

So real talk from all of you that have actually played this year's Call of Duty multi??playe?r: You liking it? Enough new content, or same old same old?

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'Cause ghosts say "boo"

Call of Duty: Ghosts has done decidedly less well than usual with critics. Gaming everyman Chris Carter called for a stop to annualization. Call of Duty fan Jim Sterling even gave it a 5. Still, the litmus test for CoD success is always sales. Activision doesn't slow up its shoveling of a franch??ise until it sees a sales ??dive.

The future of the Ghosts subseries is not yet decided. Speaking to Metro, when asked if Ghosts w??as a planned trilogy or just two games, Infinity Ward Producer Mark Rubin said, "Don’t know. Actually don’t know. Until we start finishing up this story."

I guess the campaign's end strongly suggests a sequel, but it might just be the one. "The full context of that story to come is being worked on as we speak," Rubin said. So expect a sequel, ideally Call of Duty: Ghost Dad, in 2015, after Treyarch takes their next shot.

Given that Ghosts is the next generation console debut, I expected a bit more from it, but it seems like it should've just stayed as Modern Warfare 4 and not given people higher hopes. What direction do you want Treyarch to take the series? Or will Titanfall finally topple the Call of Duty juggernaut as EA so desperately hopes?

Call Of Duty: ??Ghosts Mark Rubin interview – ‘there are things that we’re not allowed to? talk about’ [Metro]

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Old dog, old tricks

While Call of Duty is often regarded as the epitome of the annualized, cynically produced, lazily constructed videogame franchise, I've always maintained that both Infinity Ward and Treyarch expended much more effort than they were ever given cred??it for.

Whether it's the underestimated storytelling prowess of Modern Warfare or the noble efforts to revitalize the COD formula with Black Ops, the overwhelmingly popular series is far more cognizant of its own criticis?ms than many like to believe. 

My defense of the consistent quality of Call of Duty has certainly caught criticism of its own. Indeed, I am lauded as a hypocrite for daring to suggest that Modern Warfare 3 was not objectively, factually, a mediocre game. I still believe that, and I still have respect for Call of Duty as a series. However, I've always been mindful that the gravy train cannot last forever, and as "military shooters" are in 2013 what World War II shooters were in 2008, it's high time Call of Duty underwent another dramatic transformation, the likes of which gave us the original Modern Warfare. 

Black Ops II was a step forward in this regard, an earnest attempt to inject fresh life into a flagging idea. By comparison, Ghosts is not only a failure to capitalize on the goodwill Black Ops II earned, it??'s a disappointing step backward. 

Call of Duty: Ghosts (PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360 [reviewed], Xbox One)
Developer: Infinity Ward
Publisher: Activision
Released: November 5, 2013
MSRP: $59.99

While most fans consider their Call of Duty campaigns to be little more than additional fluff, tacked onto the multiplayer, I've always found them a compelling draw. The stories aren't the most engrossing, nor are they particularly deep, but they are at least energetic, explosive, and highly effective at drawing a reaction from the player, even if a few cheap tricks are employed the get it. Ghosts, by contrast, offers a startlingly lethargic solo experience, with a story lacking in character -- or indeed, characters -- and ??going through the expected motions with little evidenced enthusiasm. 

The campaign isn't exactly bad, but it is a banal shooting gallery without the remarkable setpieces or memorable moments to carry it. Very much a COD-by-numbers affair, players quickly blitz through the usual tasks with dutiful obligation. Indeed, "obligation" is a fitting word to use when talking about Ghosts' solo missions -- the obligatory bit where a temporary player character dies, the obligatory aircraft sequence, the obligatory escape while shooting things from the back of a vehicle, the obligatory sniping part, the obligatory chapter where you're walking quietly in grass. More than any other Call of Duty, there is an overwhelming sense of having been there many times, and having don??e t??hat more than you can count. ;

The combat is solid, but its solidarity is matched only by its tepidness. You move from small wall to small wall, shooting the enemies ducking behind their own walls, and avoiding their endless grenades. After the mission variety and unique optional objectives found in Black Ops II, it's difficult to go back to "normal" Call of Duty, which feels comparatively dry and plodding. Without an interesting story (the American invasion plot feels like a rehash of Modern Warfare 2), and ?without the usual explosive pace I've come to expect, there's really very little wo??rth experiencing here. 

Ghosts' one big attempt to stand out is the inclusion of Riley, a dog. It's a dog. That's what it is. In missions where Riley accompanies you, you can press a button to make the dog attack an enemy. Every now and then, you might get to control the dog and let it sneak around in grass to attack people. That's about it. There's something about the game industry that compels it to market dogs as massive, game changing inclusions in games. They never have been, and if Ghosts is a continu??ation of a trend, they probably never wi??ll. 

Without a campaign of note, Call of Duty hinges on multiplayer more than ever and ... it's okay. As always, various tweaks and refinements have been added, but Ghosts' online efforts suffer in the same way its campaign has -- the previous installment added too much, and did too many things better, for this to be considered a worthy successor. While there are some ne?w toys to play with, and you can even customize the look of your character (as well as play as a woman, finally), the core experience feels like business as usual, moreso since we've lost the near-future gadgets found in 2012's installment. 

A new mode, Squads, allows you to command your own team of characters in a multiplayer scenario, cooperating with friends and challenging others with AI-controlled teammates. I'll be honest, I don't really get the point. You're not commanding anybody, or doing much more than experiencing an official simulation of a multiplay??er match with half a lobby full. Its presence isn't offensive, and it may be of use to total newcomers who aren't ready to jump into full competition, but it failed to really excite me. 

If one is to be diplomatic, one can say Ghosts is still better than a lot of cornball military shooter knock-of?fs, but formula and familiarity have won the day, as Infinity Ward finds itself too afraid to shake anything up in too dramatic a fashion. As with the campaign, a checklist of obligatory elements appears to have been steadily worked through, as the usual format of ranking, unlocking, and customization trundles along with methodical reliability.

And don't get me wrong, it's as reliable as it's always been -- if all you've ever really wanted is the same Call of Duty every single year, then you're going to love this, because it's as Call of Duty as Call of Duty gets. A few cute modes help break up the usual stable of gametypes, such as Infected (one player slowly turns the others into zombie-like creatures) and Cranked (??chaining kills makes you tougher, faster, and able to score more points). These modes can make things less monotonous, but they riff on ideas seen in? many other shooters, and really aren't worth the buying the whole game for. 

Except players can also have dogs now. Dogs make everything good.?? 

I've made no secret of my love for Call of Duty, and I've been avidly into the series up until last year, but this time around, I barely struggled to keep my eyes open for more than a handful of matches. I feel I've officially done this too many times to care anymore, and for as much as I've supported the series, this is the one that's turned me off -- at least as far as the Infinity Ward installments go. While Treyarch has steadily gotten better and braver with each new game, Ghosts sees Infinity Ward step into the role of pretender, of flagging inferior, one that doesn't seem to care much about improving its status, not when it could churn out any old guff at this point and come out on top of the sales charts.&nb??sp;

To that end, Infinity Ward takes a page ?directly of Treyarch's book with Extinction, a wave-based cooperative mode that performs functionally similar to the ever popular Zombies mode. However, while Zombies always had a unique sense of humor and an amusing arcade quality, Extermination is a fairly bland slice of chaos, in which fairly uninteresting aliens are mowed through across blasted cities littered with quivering pustules. 

As aliens are killed, one earns cash, which can be spent on new weapons, while skill points unlock temporary items that support the team. As with everything else in Ghosts, it performs its job adequately, and is not a terrible experienc??e. It's just not very exciting either, and yet again plays catch up to things done far better in previous installments. 

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record at this point, everything I've said can be said about the visuals as well -- they're not the worst, they're far from the best, and yet again they feel highly lacking off the back of Black Ops II, which at least had cool futuristic designs to play around with. Ghosts' vision of a not-quite-post-apocalyptic America is bourgeois at best, an unremarkable representation that could have been eerie and unsettling, if it were presented wit?h anything more than sociopathic carelessness. Audio is the same way -- uninspired music, and the usual shooting noises, alongside bored voice actors. 

A few buggy elements rear their heads too, such the audio frequently cutting out during campaign loading screens, and guns failing to switch properly when they run out of ammo. I also had to restart a checkpoint due to an event not triggering as it should. Nothing game breaking, but at this point, ?one doesn't expect to see such silly little glitches in a game that's not done a whole lot to reinvent itself. 

Call of Duty may have picked up a reputation as one of the laziest, most callously developed cash cows in the business, but I've always believed that reputation was undeserved. Call of Duty: Ghosts, however, with its slapdash campaign and unambitious multiplayer, contains enough factory-standard cynicism to earn itself plenty of scorn. Nothing Ghosts does is especially bad, but nothing Ghosts does is worth paying any attention to. It e?xists to exist, a stopgap bit of filler spat out as the industry transitions from on??e generation of consoles to another. 

Contrary to the old saying, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Black Ops II demonstrated that with style. Ghosts, however, is a dog that simply doesn't want to change. It knows what it is, and sticks with it. It would be a respecta?ble endeavor, if it didn't lead to such an underwhelming and predictable little pr?oduct. What a sleepy, sleepy dog. 

Goodbye. 

The post Review: Call of Duty: Ghosts appeared first on Destructoid.

PS4 running at 1080p, Xbox One upscaled from 720p

A lot of rumors have been flying around in regards to the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Infinity Ward's Mark Rubin has addressed them once and for all. For starters, Ghosts runs at 1080?p on the PlayStation 4, and is upscaled to 1080p from 720p on the ??Xbox One. Both versions are 60 fps.

Rubin is also happy about the reception with the game's alien-centric Extinction mode, so I hope it lives up to the hype. It'll be really interesting to see how Call of Duty and Battlefield 4 fare on PC versus the Xbox One and PS4, and ho??w it changes the attitudes of major FPS developers going forward.

Mark Rubin [TwitLonger]

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Hope you like single-player

It dawned on me this morning how close we're getting to November. A few more nights spent watching horror movies and, before I know it, Call of Duty: Ghosts will be out.

Heck, the launch trailer is already here, featuring familiar sights and sounds like the companion dog -- which has arguably become the most memorable character in the franchise, depending on how into Modern Warfare you were -- plus Eminem, and more of those "everythi?ng's blowing up around you" first-person action sequences. Are those still cool?

I'm also starting to realize that I don't feel strongly about Ghosts one way or the other. And that kind of neutral stance feels out of place for such a notable, public franchise that many people (or at least the loud ones among our circles) seem to love or hate.

The post It’s more Call of Duty: The launch trailer for Ghosts appeared first on Destructoid.

PC system requirements

The system specs for Call of Duty: Ghosts have appeared on GeForce and?? they're worth a look for ??a couple reasons. Namely, there's the higher-than-expected minimum RAM requirement. And although it's something I'll need to get used to before much longer, needing 50 GB of hard drive space freaks me out a bit. Not that I'm hurting for storage or anything. Still!

The post You’ll need 6 GB of RAM for Call of Duty: Ghosts appeared first on Destructoid.

Hybrid system will attempt to find the best matches

Up until this point, there's been little if any talk about dedicated servers for Call of Duty: Ghosts outside of such support being confirmed for Xbox One. The game's coming to platforms other than Xbox One, as you surely know, and so are dedicated servers. "[They] will be used on current gen, next gen and PC," said executive producer Mark Rubin.

"And, in order to make sure that people have the best possible experience regardless of platform, location or connection, Ghosts wil?l be using a hybrid system of dedicated servers and listen servers. So no matter where you are the game will always be trying to give you the best online performance possible. There is also some great new tech in the matchmaking system that will place players in matches that have the best combined overall connectivity performance."

If you're wondering about the lack of specific platforms there, Rubin went on to say that "[Infinity Ward] can't call out any other platforms by name." Well, that doesn't leave much to the imagination. On a more positive note, he did say the team is "Hoping to add server browser and re??nt-able ranked ser?ver once we get through launch crunch."

Not especi??ally relevant, but screw it. Still cracks me up:

The post CoD: Ghosts’ dedicated servers aren’t Xbox One exclusive appeared first on Destructoid.

But I've been let down by silly AI before

I've been out of the game for long enough that Call of Duty: Ghosts' Squads sounds appealing. Not to the point where I'm as enthusiastic as this announcer guy, but you get the point. Squads is a set of modes centered around sol??diers you build out and can then play alongside. They'll be represented as AI-controlled bots and, in theory, are supposed to behave appropriately for the load??out you've given them. A sniper will do sniper-y things, for instance.

There's also the option to play with and against real-world players, if you don't want to be totally alone. This trailer runs through the various modes. I quite like the sound of Squad Assault, which is where you compete against another person's squad in co-op while they're offline. To that end, when you're offline, you can accrue experience poi?nts from your squad's exploits.

Call of Duty without having to deal with the typical Call of Duty player? Sounds good.

The post Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Squads sounds good on paper appeared first on Destructoid.

And a dog. Don't forget the dog.

"You never expect something you tru?st to turn against you." Why yes, that is th??e definition of trust. I'm sure it sounded cooler in the writer's head.

Snark aside, as a fan of the Call of Duty series' single player campaigns, it's nice to know that Infinity Ward is still putting some effort into the mode more neglected by its players. Astronauts with guns? That one is new. Satellite-based doomsday weaponry? A little Goldeneye-esque, but I'll take it. And of course, the badass Ghosts dog attacks a hel??icopter, because that is what badass d??ogs do.

The post Call of Duty: Ghosts campaign tr?ailer has guns, tautology appeared first on Destructoid.

Announced at gamescom

Dedicated servers for Xbox One players of Call of Duty: Ghosts will be possibl??e with Xbox Live Cloud. This was announced this morni?ng by Infinity Ward's Mark Rubin at a pre-gamescom Microsoft Xbox One press event. 

In related news,  new multiplayer mode for Call of Duty Ghosts, called Blitz, is an objective based game that has players thinking tactically to control two points on a map. Players using the best strategy ?for offense and defense will be rewarded.?? This will be shown off at the Xbox booth at gamescom. 

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