This post isn't strictly about "defending" a game. Rather, it is intrinsically about ministering rational perception in the study of games and their design between and amongst each other. By the way, I absolutely LOVE Killzone and Battlefield, which I'll be buying instead of Call of Duty Ghosts. Battlefield 4 on PC and Shadow Fall on Da Quad :cool:! Crazy shit, huh? Â Here we go! Turn up!
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"Nothing new! Copy of Battlefield!"
^Â That is the general consensus for Ghosts that I've personally come across in reading comments from various sites like System Wars, YouTube, and N4G. Another mind-numbing complaint in my opinion is for the graphics. Sure, one has got to admit that Ghosts doesn't look like an amazing next generation game. Textures in most instances are dull and animations are not as fluid and detailed as other AAA shooters. Though are the graphics that essential as long as its stability is intact? Is it true that hardcore gamers consider graphical fidelity more than anything else? It seems at first sight that many gamers around the world, who most definitely rise to any occasion to ridicule Call of Duty, will condemn the game based on merits of graphics and new engines rather than game design. The majority of complaints are more in tune with what I'd liken a casual consumer to lament about.
Just how exactly is Call of Duty Ghost more of the same from a design aspect? What makes the sequels of other AAA shooters on the market more of a worthy upgrade than their predecessors? As someone who plays and studies a myriad of shooters out there, I genuinely can't find one that is uniquely above and beyond. Let's list what Ghosts adds over previous entries:
- Seven new game modes. I'd like to take to the time to emphasize just how critical adding new game modes to an online shooter is. It's a criminally underlooked endeavor by developers around the world and rare to see with sequels. It also serves as one of the biggest ways to literally change the way you play a multplayer game. How many shooters on the market are adding even two new game modes per sequel?
- New maneuverability. Mantling, knee sliding, and lean around corners. These are not new mechanics to the genre, but add more variety in Call of Duty's gameplay creating tactical circumstances within the environments and in engaging other players. It all looks smooth and seamless, too. A general rule of thumb that I have is the more options a player has at their disposal, the deeper and varied the experience can be (if balanced correctly).
- Completely customizable soldiers. Personalize your character from head to toe and even create a female soldier. COD equality lol. A small addition on its own, but cool none-the-less. Personalization and making something your own is big for folks believe it or not.
- Squads system. Don't get this mistakened for the squad system found in Battlefield or Killzone. Here, you have up to 10 soldiers that you can separately personalize, upgrade, prestige, and play with. This acts as a revamped class system.
- Squad Points changes how you choose and unlock perks, weapons, and attachments. It's sort of like micro managing a mini role playing game.
- You may unlock anything at anytime you wish with squad points making character progressoin more open than before.
- Squads Mode. This is not necisarrily a singular game mode, but a more of a pillar. Overall, there is Campaign, Multiplayer, and Squads. Squads is a mix of competitive and co-operative. In itself you'd presume there's nothing new here, but in its execution it provides something that hasn't exactly been done in the genre before, from my knowledge.
- From Polygon. "You can play with them either solo, co-op or competitively in four different Squad-based modes. The first is Squad vs. Squad, which pits you and up to five of your AI-controlled squad mates against another player and their five squad mates. The second is Wargame, which pits you and your team of five AI soldiers against a team of bots this mode can utilize any gametype available in the core competitive multiplayer experience. Then there's Safeguard, which pits your Squad against waves of AI enemies.
The final mode is arguably the most innovative: In Squad Assault, either you and five AI squad mates or five other actual players square off against a six-person AI Squad created by another player. You can either matchmake to find a Squad to play against, or choose to fight a friend's offline team. The map and mode that your offline Squad will defend can be chosen ahead of time, and your AI-controlled Squad can even earn you XP if they perform well while you're offline." - This includes better programmed AI, which Infinity Ward suggests will be better than any of their other games. Bots will act more like real players than before. They'll even dropshot, side strafe, bunny hop like real players. I'm eager to see how well it's integrated and how varied their virtual characteristics are.
- From Polygon. "You can play with them either solo, co-op or competitively in four different Squad-based modes. The first is Squad vs. Squad, which pits you and up to five of your AI-controlled squad mates against another player and their five squad mates. The second is Wargame, which pits you and your team of five AI soldiers against a team of bots this mode can utilize any gametype available in the core competitive multiplayer experience. Then there's Safeguard, which pits your Squad against waves of AI enemies.
- Clan Wars. Similar to Killzone 2's clan system, Ghosts takes things further with an added meta game to the whole clan structure. There's a list of other clans to challenge and to be matched against automatically. Climb clan ladders and receive exclusive unlockables. This meta game also adds new dynamic and persistent battles where you vie for power against other clans in imagined locations around the globe. Once point of interest is controlled your clan will have to fight to defend it within the meta game. Various scenarios will be added throughout the lifespan of the game.
- New content. Every sequel has new content. In Ghosts, Infinity Ward adds 30 new weapons and 20 new and/or revamped killstreaks. Killstreaks are now more ground based and tactical versus aerial. For example, UAV is no longer a drone in the sky which requires special equipment to destroy. It's now more easily accessible being ground based, yet more tactical since the deployer can hide it anywhere they wish.
- Field orders. When you kill another player, random objectives in the form of a briefcase drops. If you pick it up and successfully complete the order, I'm assuming you gather more XP and/or points toward your streak. Just a small way to make the play more dynamic and engaging.
- Dynamic maps. Okay, this one is a doozy due to the instant comparisons to Battlefield. No, they are not exactly the same thing. The reworked engine used in Ghosts does not offer the ability to do the more organic and high level destruction seen in Battlefield. What Ghosts offers is a plethora of scripted changes to maps, both miniscule and map changing, triggered by players and at random by the map's timer. Each map has its own identity and set of enviormental changes. This is new for Call of Duty and it will be interesting to see how it all coincides with the new maneuverability, perks, and streak rewards.
- Cross generation transfer. Your squads, clans, XP, and DLC are all transferable from current generation platforms to the next. The DLC transfer is by far the best deal that I'm not certain many games in any genre does.
- Other details.
- Dual rendering with the scopes, which is a creative visual feature allowing you see your focused zoomed view, as well as your normal, blurred peripheral, simultaneously.
- Numerous balance changes; this comes with just about every game.
- No more deathstreaks.
- Knifing animations are slower and stickier, in a sense. You can't knife people within a nanosecond of each other, it seems lol.
- More emblems. Customize your emblem or clan emblem with your phone lol.
- New audio design. The sound quality may not be as good as Battlefield, Killzone, or Halo, but functionality wise, they seem to be evolving it nicely for the franchise. There are more shouts than before expressing detailed, location specific accounts of what's happening in combat. Example: "Hostile entering the rear atrium!" This can actually be useful in combat, especially for all the chumps who never communicate or are in XBL Parties. Also, guns dampening and reverb depending on your locations such as a heavily carpeted room or wide open hanger.
- More additions to COD Elite, which with its initial implementation years ago was the first of its kind for the genre. For example, you can queue your next load out in game with your phone lol.
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In conclusion, did anyone actually watch the COD Event entirely or read the new additions to the game? To me, it appears to be along the lines of any other AAA shooter. I'd dare to say it may add to, and retrofits, its respective franchise more-so than many of it's competitors. This is what is revealed for multiplayer so far. The game should undoubtedly have more to offer when it releases. I'm not here to wrongfully admonish anyone who reads this. There's far too much of that in the world of social gaming media, shit the world in general. I'm just, you know, dishing out another persepctive perhaps?
Thanks if you read it all! Hope you're all HYPEd for next gen!
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NEW, CONFIRMED AIRSTRIKE KILLSTREAK!
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