Call of Duty: Ghosts (PS4/Xbox One) Review

Assuming you have the Xbox 360 version and wanting to get the Xbox One version down the road, you will be pleased to know that your ranking and stats will transfer over. There are no lengthy and complicated process that you have to do to transfer it. Simply jump on the multiplayer portion and your stats, levels, and unlocks will be there. The Season Pass also applies and any other DLCs, primarily the Free Fall map, will carry over. However, this will not work if you are playing on PlayStation 3 and wanting to move on the Xbox One version.

Compared to the population playing the game in both versions, the amount of people playing is less on the next-gen than the ones on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version. If you see that there are roughly over a hundred and thousands on the Xbox 360, don’t expect to see the same amount on Xbox one as there will only be around twenty thousand or so. Since the next-gen consoles just came out, this is common as not everyone will upgrade yet.

The maps have all been designed for the fast-paced nature of the Call of Duty franchise. They manage to offer something new. None feel like maps that have featured on previous titles, dispelling the idea that it is a copy and paste game. It is only overtime that ‘camp spots’ and other such advantages will be discovered. Nevertheless, all of the maps currently feel balanced with spawns being spaced out and offering well placed objective locations. Visually they all differ with a decent range of locations depicted. This alongside the small changes that will occur when playing on certain maps truly helps keep the gameplay fresh. There is once again a map choosing system allowing gamers to vote from the available choice of maps. This will not be used to great effect early on, currently being rarely used at all, but within a few weeks its importance will become clear: allowing gamers to vote for their favorite maps and attempt to skip those which are commonly disliked.

The multiplayer element offers gamers a lot of opportunity to customize their gameplay experience. There is a decent range of weaponry to choose from all with unique stats. These stats can then be altered via the many attachments and perks on offer. This reduces the probability of coming across a player with a similar class. For the first time, in the Call of Duty series, gamers can massively alter the appearance for their online characters. There are plenty of different army based outfits to unlock, as well as items such as helmets and patches. Even the characters themselves can be altered with the choice of both male and female soldiers; each having a number of faces to pick from. Having female soldiers in Call of Duty: Ghosts is neither groundbreaking or game selling, nonetheless it is a worthy addition to the customization section.

Killstreaks available to players in Call of Duty: Ghosts fit the title perfectly. There are three major killstreak trees to choose from Assault, Support and Specialist. The Assault strike package offers killstreaks to help you get more kills, the Support package offers things that can aid teammates and the Specialist tree offers the ability to learn bonus perks by earning point streaks. The game then lets players further customize their characters to their individual play styles. As with the other Call of Duty games, the killstreaks have been tweaked to fit in with the rest of the title. The most unique and ‘Ghosts’ style killstreak is the Guard Dog. After achieving a five person killstreak, players can call on an Alsatian that will attack enemies with deadly results.

In conclusion, playing Call of Duty: Ghosts on next-gen consoles will provide a much better experience than the ones on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Visually, the next-gen versions is a huge improvement where effects like smoke are more noticeable, along with a slight boost in frame rate. Playing the multiplayer portion of the game makes the experience better as there is less lag and no slow-downs whatsoever. Unfortunately, the campaign is a let down as it’s short and the story is uninspiring.

[Editor’s Note: Call of Duty: Ghosts was reviewed on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]