Call of Duty: Ghosts

"Everyone was expecting us to make Modern Warfare 4, which would have been the safe thing to do. But we’re not resting on our laurels. We saw the console transition as the perfect opportunity to start a new chapter for Call of Duty. So we’re building a new sub-brand, a new engine, and a lot of new ideas and experiences for our players. We can’t wait to share them with our community."

- Mark Rubin "We've always had the power. Not anymore. All we have is each other. We're Ghosts, fighting for something that can't be killed."

- Unknown Ghosts soldier in the Reveal Trailer Call of Duty: Ghosts (also known as Call of Duty 10) is the tenth main Call of Duty game. It was developed by Infinity Ward, Neversoft and Raven Software. It was confirmed that a Call of Duty game was in development on February 7, 2013, Ghosts was officially revealed on May 21, 2013 via a Reveal Trailer during the Xbox One reveal. It was released on 5 November 2013 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii U and is a launch title on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Set to occur ten years after a devastating mass event, the United States of America is no longer a superpower, with its economy and government in ashes. The remainder of the nation's Special Operations Forces, the Ghosts, fight a newly emerged technologically-superior global power not for freedom, or liberty, but simply to survive.

Players are able to peek around cover while still being able to fire (leaning), automatically mantle objects, and customize their character's gender, patch, uniform, and many other features. They are also able to activate environmental hazards, rather than the hazards automatically activating without player interference. This allows players to do some hidden sub-missions which will result in new twists in the campaign storyline. Campaign is linear, but hidden sub-missions will be Easter egg-like, and they will be unlocked if players pick up certain objects or if they do a specific action.

According to Mark Rubin, the game has a reduced latency of the controllers which will result in quick movements.

Single player
Call of Duty: Ghosts features a completely new setting, characters, and system, though it is in the same universe. It still features linear sections, but it is said to have "easter eggs" within the game to alter missions slightly. The setting of the game is a war-torn U.S.A. ten years after an ODIN strike, launched via satellite after a hijacking, devastated the landscape and invasion from the Federation, a conglomeration of several South American countries. The single player features a dog companion named Riley, fighting in outer space, a story featuring a team of "Ghosts," who are remnants of elite U.S. Special Forces teams, and various other features.

Setting and Characters
The game's main protagonists are the Ghosts, a force of U.S. Special Operations personnel trained to conduct clandestine missions behind enemy lines. The unit is led by retired U.S. Army Captain Elias Walker (Stephen Lang). He is joined by his sons Logan and David "Hesh" Walker, along with Booth and Neptune, a trained German Shepherd named Riley, and Cdr. Thomas A. Merrick of the Navy SEALs.

Call of Duty: Ghosts is set in an alternate timeline from our world that follows the nuclear destruction of the Middle East. The oil-producing nations of South America form the Federation in response to the ensuing global economic crisis and quickly grow into a global superpower, swiftly invading and conquering Central America and the Caribbean. The game's main antagonist is Gabriel Rorke, a former Ghost who eventually turned into a traitor after being captured and brainwashed using torture and hallucinogens who now works for the Federation.

Plot Synopsis
The game begins with Elias telling his sons about the legend of how the Ghosts first appeared. Meanwhile in space, the Federation hijack the controlling space station of the Orbital Defense Initiative (ODIN), an orbital superweapon that utilizes kinetic bombardment, and use it to destroy several cities in the southwestern United States. The surviving American astronauts sacrifice themselves to self-destruct the space station and prevent the other ODIN satellites from launching their payloads further inland. Elias and the young Logan and David narrowly escape the destruction of San Diego.

Ten years later, the United States has fought the Federation to a stalemate along a front that comprises the destroyed cities, also known as "No Man's Land". Logan and Hesh are part of a US unit commanded by Elias and during a patrol, they spot an American working with the Federation who is called Gabriel Rorke. Soon after, the brothers are ambushed and rescued by members of the Ghosts who are seeking their companion Ajax, who was captured by Rorke. Logan and Hesh join the mission to rescue Ajax but arrive too late to rescue him and after he is killed by Rorke, they reunite with their father who reveals himself as the leader of Ghosts. Believing his sons are ready to join his unit, Elias welcomes them into the Ghosts and they learn from him that Rorke once were their leader. However, during a successful mission to assassinate General Almagro, then president of the Federation in the capital Caracas, Elias is forced to abandon Rorke, who was presumed dead, but instead turned traitor and is now hunting down his former companions.

The Ghosts manage to locate and capture Rorke, but while flying back home, Rorke's men attack their plane and rescue him. The team then is forced to land deep into the Amazon Jungle where they witness a rocket being launched with an unknown purpose. Once reunited and rescued, the Ghosts storm a Federation laboratory in the Andes and obtain data regarding a classified operation in a factory at Rio De Janeiro. To secure a path to the factory, the Ghosts destroy the Federation's Atlas oil platform located in Antartica to lure the enemy fleet away from their objective and sink their remaining destroyer guarding the Brazilian coast. Once inside the factory, the team discovers that the Federation had reverse engineered the ODIN's technology and developed their own orbital bombardment system. After destroying the factory, Elias and his sons regroup in Las Vegas but are captured by Rorke who kills Elias in front of Hesh and Logan who later find an opportunity to escape.

Realizing that once the Federation's ODIN become operational they will be defeated for good, the United States pool all their remaining forces in a synchronized attack to take down an enemy space center in Chile while a small team of soldiers boards a shuttle to take over the Federation satellites in space. Once both objectives are completed, Hesh and Logan pursue Rorke to avenge their father and are seemingly successful, only to find out during the aftermath that Rorke survived their battle. Logan attempts to defend his wounded brother, but has his arm broken and is kidnapped by Rorke, with the former Ghost announcing his plans to brainwash Logan into killing the rest of the team. In a post-credits scene, Logan is seen being kept inside a pit in the jungle, presumably going through the same torture methods that Rorke went through.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer in COD: Ghost includes features never before put into the COD series, such as character customization, dynamic maps, and many new movements such as sliding, leaning around corners, and better interaction with the environment. Sliding is done the same way as drop shooting on previous COD games. Leaning is done by standing close to a wall and pressing the ADS button. In COD: Ghost, guns do more damage then they ever have before, meaning that players die quickly but also get kills quickly. The key to winning a gunfight is aiming down sights and getting shots on target the fastest. The maps in Ghost are bigger than they have been in any other game in the COD series, rendering assault rifles the most popular class of guns. Some maps have dynamic parts to them, such as the bus in Chasm or the Halon Gas in Sovereign. There is also more customization than there ever has been before. Players can change their character's head, headgear, gender, uniform, and many other accessories. The system of prestige and unlocking weapons and attachments is completely different as well. In order to prestige, the player unlocks a squad member with squad points and ranks it up to level sixty. Once the player has leveled up all ten squad members, they become max prestige. In order to unlock weapons, attachments, and equipment, the player simply purchases them with squad points, or can wait until they reach a certain level. The player must unlock weapons for each individual squad member. Players that pre-ordered Call of Duty: Ghosts via GameStop received a bonus map, called Free Fall.

Weapon Camoflages

Ghosts has 13 weapon camos that can be unlocked by doing in-game challenges. "Spectrum camo" is available for those who pre-ordered the game off of the Microsoft Store. The Season Pass also unlocks a DLC camo called "Ice."

Downloadable Content
There will be four map packs to come out in Call of Duty: Ghosts, along with some Personalization packs. The map packs are Onslaught, Devastation, Invasion, and Nemesis.

Season Pass
The Season Pass can be bought and downloaded for Call of Duty: Ghosts. It allows you to get all future DLC for the game for free, plus gives you the Team Leader customization pack.

Festive Pack
The Festive Pack was released on December 16, 2013 for all platforms. It could not be downloaded, however, until the 18th on PlayStation 3 and 4. It includes Holiday Sweater Camouflage, a snowflake reticule, a festive background and the "You'll shoot your eye out!" emblem.

Wolf Skin for Guard Dogs
This pack was released in December around the time of the Festive Pack. It gives a Wolf skin for the Guard Dog killstreak.

Team Leader Pack
The Team Leader pack comes with the Season Pass along with the Prestige Package version of the game. It gives you the ghost mask that Elias "Scarecrow" Walker wears in the Campaign.

Simon "Ghost" Riley Pack
This pack gives you access to the Simon "Ghost" Riley skin. It only comes with the Prestige Package version of the game.

Onslaught
This is the first map pack in Call of Duty: Ghosts. It includes the multiplayer maps Fog, Containment, BayView, and Ignition. The Extinction map is Nightfall, which takes place in an abandoned Alaskan base. This DLC also includes the Maverick Assault Rifle and the Maverick A2 Sniper Rifle. It was released on January 28, 2014 for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It will be released on February 27th for PC, Playstation 3 and Playstation 4.

Squads
Squads is a new game mode in Ghosts. In it, the player can play with AI controlled teammates or even with friends against AI. XP is shared between Multiplayer and Squads, so leveling up in Squads helps your character in Multiplayer as well. There are five modes within Squads:


 * Squad vs Squad: Involves two opposing players versing 1v1, with squad members filling in the rest of the team, making 6v6.


 * Wargame: The player and five other squad members verse a team of six opposing bots in a mode set to "replicate" the full MP experience. This mode will be available on every single MP game type.


 * Safeguard: The player and up to three other players take part in a match based on Survival in Modern Warfare 3, with Perks and Scorestreaks also involved. It can be played to 20 rounds.


 * Safeguard Extended: Safeguard with 40 rounds.


 * Safeguard Infinite: Safeguard with no limit to the waves.


 * Squad Assault: The player and up to five other players or squad members verse a squad consisting of another player's squad. Any XP goes to Multiplayer progress.

Perks
On August 14, in the Multiplayer Reveal, Mark Rubin introduced a similar customization system to BOII's Pick-Ten System for Perks:

"Every Perk has a set point value from 1 to 5, and you have 8 points to use how you want. So for example: I could choose 4 Perks, each valued at 2, or 8 Perks, each valued at 1. I could also choose to get rid of my Secondary and my Equipment and get up to 11 Perks."

The classic three-tiered perk system has been done away with, replaced by seven categories of five perks. These tiers are Speed, Handling, Stealth, Awareness, Resistance, Equipment and Elite. Speed will feature perks meant to allow the player to move faster overall, Handling will let the player move more consistently and better, Stealth perks will grant immunities to certain things in the game. Awareness perks will give the player a better overall view of the game, and what is going on around them, Resistance is set to grant resistance to common factors of the game, like explosives. Equipment will give the player's Tacticals, Lethals and Attachments a healthy boost, while Elite perks are more based around situational benefits.

Killstreaks
Killstreaks return from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, and are also available as Assault, Support or Specialist Killstreaks. Assault Killstreaks include the brand new SAT COM killstreak, "Riley": the five point Guard Dog streak and the new Maniac Juggernaut killstreak. Support killstreaks include the Ammo Crate (get ammo and receive a random weapon), the new MAAWS launcher and the Helo Scout.

Multiplayer Maps
In Call of Duty: Ghosts, for the first time, the player is able to alter their experience on each map, with Dynamic Maps being even more so than before. Examples given include knocking down a stack of logs, destroying a map with the new KEM Strike killstreak reward, collapsing a gas Station and blowing up doors. There are limits to these factors though, and they are only available on preset spots (descriptions are under "Dynamics" in each maps' pages).

Locations

 * Mexico
 * San Diego, California
 * The Caribbean Sea
 * Caracas, Venezuela
 * Antarctica
 * South Atlantic Ocean (Near Brazil)
 * Brazil
 * Low Earth's orbit

Extinction Mode


Extinction mode is a new game mode featured in the Call of Duty: Ghosts; the players' objectives are to kill the aliens, destroy the hives with the drill, arm the nuke, and get on a helicopter for extraction. It plays similar to Survival mode, with various weapons and upgrades. As the player progresses through the game and completes challenges, they unlock skill points, which they use to upgrade their load out. Guns are bought throughout random spots in the map, and equipment and attachments are found by scavenging. There are 30 levels, with different defenses unlocked as the player progresses. Once the player reaches level 30, they prestige and have the option of using relics, which allow the player to level up faster. Every time the player prestiges, they can use one more relic.

Hardened Edition
The Hardened Edition includes:
 * Call of Duty: Ghosts' disc
 * Ghosts Insignia Pack (Player Pattern, Card, Background)
 * Official SoundTrack
 * Free Fall Bonus Map
 * Collectors Steelbook
 * Paracord Strap
 * Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass with Team Leader Pack

Prestige Edition
The Prestige edition includes:
 * 1080p Tactical Camera
 * Call of Duty: Ghosts disc
 * Ghosts Insignia Pack (Player Pattern, Card, Background)
 * Official SoundTrack
 * Free Fall Bonus Map
 * Collectors Steelbook
 * Paracord Strap
 * Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass with Team Leader Pack

Digital Hardened Edition (PC & PS3)

 * Call of Duty: Ghosts full game download
 * Digital Hardened Pack (Player Pattern, Card and Background)
 * Team Leader Pack (MP Ghosts Character head, Player Pattern, Card and Background)
 * Ghosts Insignia Pack (Player Pattern, Card and Background)
 * Free Fall Bonus Map
 * Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass

Next-Gen Upgrade
Call of Duty: Ghosts offers players the ability to transfer their progress from an Xbox 360 to an Xbox One or a PS3 to a PS4. This includes all multiplayer progress, including unlocks, statistics, and the Season Pass DLC.

Trivia

 * This is the first modern game where there are no civilians seen in any of the cities that are completely stable or at least intact in the campaign.
 * This is the first Call of Duty game since Call of Duty Classic to feature leaning on consoles.
 * In the beginning of the reveal trailer where Riley and Hesh are seen looking toward the crater, the United States flag can be seen and it appears to have 48 stars instead of 50. The flag below the U.S. flag is a California State flag.
 * This is the first game in the series where players have the option to play as female soldiers in multiplayer.
 * This is the first game in which the box cover art does not feature any weapon.
 * This is the first non-World War II Call of Duty game not to feature the AK-47 in game, due to the AK-12 succeeding it. This is also the first game not to feature the RPG-7.
 * It is also the first game in the main series since Call of Duty: Finest Hour to never feature the M1911.
 * This is the first game developed by Infinity Ward not to have a character called Price.
 * This is the first title in the Call of Duty franchise in which Light Machine Guns can be equipped with grenade launchers and underslung shotguns.
 * This is the first game in the main series since Call of Duty 3 where there are only two playable factions in multiplayer, the Ghosts and the Federation.
 * This is the first game Raven Software is listed as a developer on the boxart.
 * This is the first game where players can have up to four attachments on a primary weapon in multiplayer mode (counting the integrated attachment of particular guns, or weapons obtained via the Ammo Crate).
 * In Local multiplayer, the text for picking up weapons does not show the name of the weapon and its attachments; it shows the pick-up icon in place of these.
 * The first letters of the map packs for Call of Duty: Ghosts spell out ODIN: Onslaught, Devastation, Invasion, Nemesis. A similar fact occurs in Call of Duty: Black Ops.
 * This is the first game in the Call of Duty series that does not feature Russians as characters.