I haven't purchased a Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare 2, and after seeing how bad Battlefield 4's servers were, I decided to give the CoD franchise another chance.
I played every Call of Duty game after MW2, but never invested in them because they all seem to be rehashes of the same basic formula and generic gameplay that was introduced in 2007 with Call of Duty 4. Ghosts is the newest addition to the franchise, and although it's been developed for next-generation consoles, it still plays pretty much the same.
The Campaign itself was surprisingly entertaining. The story isn't exactly a masterpiece, but the gameplay is streamlined to make it easy to follow, and throws you into some different scenarios to keep the gameplay fresh. For example, your first mission is in outer space, and you'll experience that again towards the end of the game. There are underwater levels, stealthy sniping levels, and levels where you will rappel down buildings. All in all, the Campaign is relatively long, and keeps you wanting to play with achievements, and variations in gameplay. This isn't what I had initially expected when I went to play it, because most of the CoD Campaigns are relatively stale, and repetitive. The biggest gripe I've always had with their Campaigns is the lack of NPC intelligence. A lot of times, enemies are crouching behind cover, but their head is clearly visible, and they're pretty easy to take out. Overall, though, it was pretty entertaining.
Multiplayer, however, is a completely different story. It basically feels just like every other CoD game, as you'd expect. In fact, you'll hear sounds that have literally been every time used since the '07 game. Animations are pretty much the same as well, and the physics (especially the animations when characters die) simply look bad. There aren't many weapons to choose from, but it doesn't really matter because all of the weapons can kill you extremely fast. Kill times are insanely low as you'd expect from Call of Duty, and the map design is simply atrocious. Many of the maps seem to encourage camping with only one or two access points, high ground, and long lines of sight. This is very troubling when marksman rifles in the game kill you in two semi-automatic rounds. Close-quarters gameplay is basically a shot in the dark because hip-fire accuracy is all over the place. Inside buildings, shotguns will win every time. There's a shotgun called the "Bulldog," which fires semi-auto, and has incredible hip-fire accuracy and range. If you're aiming anywhere near them when you shoot, you'll get the kill.
The spawning system seems like it hasn't been changed a bit, and if it has, it's only gotten worse. I find myself watching "killcams" where I can literally see myself spawning, and then being killed. I should never spawn in someone's field of view in any game, ever. Especially in a game that's as fast paced as Call of Duty. The hitboxes on characters are absolutely horrendous. Many times, you won't even hit someone, and you'll get a kill, or damage them somehow. Basically, if you're shooting in their general direction, you'll get a hit. This allows for a faster-paced game, but most players will die around 8-10 times a game, making it extremely frustrating.
You are a little bit more free in the customization options in this game versus previous titles. As you rank up, you'll unlock new appearance modifications for your character, and you can purchase multiple characters with "Squad Points," which level up separately. Squad Points also will be able to buy you weapons, and weapon attachments.
The Verdict:
Overall, it's a sad attempt at reviving the Call of Duty name, and could have been much more with the potential of the next-generation consoles. If you enjoy Call of Duty, go on and buy it, but it's not exactly my cup of tea. Maybe someday the series will decide to make some big changes, but until then, I'm done purchasing them (again).