How Call of Duty: Ghosts' New Multiplayer Mode Balances Chaos With Strategy

There's something deceptively complex about the new Blitz multiplayer mode in Call of Duty: Ghosts. Sure, it looks simple enough: two teams try to defend a magical glowing circle within their base, and if anyone from the competing team manages to dash inside that circle without getting killed, that sneaky player will earn one point and find himself instantly teleported back to the safety of his own side of the map. It is, essentially, CTF without ever needing to pick up a flag.

And wouldn't you know it, combining that straightforward rule set with Call of Duty's frenetic pacing can lead to some pretty chaotic action. With the ability to teleport right back to your base, you can charge headfirst into the enemy stronghold knowing you need only the slightest shred of health in order to score a point and make it back alive. Once you've got your eyes on that circle, you know you've got to go for it.

And that's exactly what you wind up doing...at first. But spend more time with Blitz mode, and you'll find a competitive multiplayer experience that balances that chaos with a pretty substantial need for team strategy. For one thing, scoring a point triggers a 10-second cooldown period on the enemy team's circle. There's nothing worse than being that guy who runs into the circle immediately after his teammate scores a point, only to find himself surrounded by enemies without the ability to teleport home to safety. You've got to coordinate the timing of those attacks, spacing them out enough to make sure no one gets left high and dry.

Of course, coordinating those attacks doesn't have to be a clean and precise endeavor. Say you've got your gaze fixed firmly on the enemy circle with too much ground to cover before getting gunned down by enemies. Just throw a flashbang while dashing toward the circle, and as long as you continue a fixed line, you may just distract your enemies long enough to score yourself a point--blindness and all. It's those little ways of buying a quick route into the enemy base that makes Blitz such a chaotic but entertaining endeavor.

Then there's the need for defense. If everyone is attacking the enemy base, that means you're leaving your own base completely uncontested. Success in Blitz mode requires at least a few players to hang back and guard the fort, preferably those who've outfitted their character with enough claymores to surround the circle with deadly stopping power. And given that scoring a point automatically teleports you back to base, there's a very fluid distinction between attacker and defender. You can reel off a few quick points in a row, and find yourself in a position to hold tight and play defense for a bit.

Or maybe you just use defense as a decoy. Don't kill the enemies attacking your base--that would just send them back to their side of the map where some of your teammates might be working on scoring points. So instead, you just distract them for a bit. A spray of gunfire here and there to keep them pinned behind cover. That keeps them away from their base, giving your guys enough breathing room to score a point or two.

It's situations like these that make Blitz a surprisingly rewarding game mode for how straightforward the match parameters are. Sure it's chaotic, but to find success, you need to manipulate that chaos to your advantage.