Infinity Ward's 2013 installment in the "Call of Duty" franchise was a huge disappointment. A follow-up to Treyarch's experimental "Black Ops II", it was a major downgrade with its conventional storyline and unexciting multiplayer. There was nothing in "Ghosts" that hadn't been done before in better ways. In fact, the game was so poorly received that a sequel was never greenlit by Activision despite a cliffhanger ending. While "Ghosts" proved to be moderately entertaining, it was also a sign that the franchise was in a dire need of fresh blood.
Some of the problems was a lack of meaningful changes to multiplayer and a shortage of well-designed maps. Extensive customization options and destructible environments did nothing for the game. While new weapons and gadgets also failed to impress. Additionally, the aliens-themed "Extinction" mode was nowhere as good as "Zombies". And the introduction of "Squads" (where you could customize a roster of soldiers) also seemed to be oddly pointless. Even the survival-based horde mode was lame when compared to the one featured in "Modern Warfare 3".
The best thing in "Ghosts" is the campaign and even then it's a bit underwhelming. Its plot is a cross between Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming's James Bond. There's even a tribute to the climax of "Moonraker" with a space battle. Moments in the campaign also recall Clancy's "Rainbow Six" and even Infinity Ward's own "Modern Warfare" trilogy. But the overall feeling is that it's just spinning its wheels. This is easily one of the weakest titles in the "Call of Duty" franchise. Personally, I think I spent less time with this entry than any other. The Xbox 360 version includes a mandatory install, but doesn't the feature "Ground War" matches included in the Xbox One game. I'd give it a 7.2 out of 10.