Call of Duty: Ghosts is an upcoming first-person shooter video game from Activision to be the tenth main installment in the Call of Duty series, and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. The game is to be released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U[3] and Xbox 360 on November 5, 2013.[4]

Ghosts will also be the first Call of Duty game available on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,[5][6][7] as launch titles for both consoles on November 15, 2013 (November 29, 2013 in Europe) and November 22, 2013 respectively.[2]

Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Wii U & Xbox 360
November 5, 2013
PlayStation 4
NA November 15, 2013
EU November 29, 2013
Xbox One
November 22, 2013

Campaign

The player will assume the role of a character dressed in a military Ghost uniform known only as Hesh.[8] However, Infinity Ward's executive producer Mark Rubin has stated that Hesh is not the character's final name and is just a place holder until the studio can come up with a better name.[8]

Multiplayer

As confirmed in the behind-the-scenes video released by Call of Duty, the multiplayer in Call of Duty: Ghosts will not be like the previous Call of Duty games.[how?] New mechanics have been added to the multiplayer. Maps now have areas that can be altered or destroyed. On certain maps there is a Nuke-like kill streak reward, the Odin Strike, that can be gained by killing the top player on the other team and then completing various challenges after picking up a briefcase that is dropped. The sniper rifle scopes will also have new "dual render technology" allowing the player to see around the outside of the scope when zoomed in. On October 3, a new multiplayer type was revealed, called Squads. This features a squad that you build and you can face other squads around the world. Your squad can be leveled up and will act like a true individual. "Strikezone", "Octane", "Whiteout", "Stonehaven" and "Chasm" are the five confirmed maps that are in Call of Duty: Ghosts so far. The dynamic map, "Free Fall", is a pre-order bonus. It has also been revealed that the game will feature playable female soldiers.[9]

Multiplayer game modes

Call of Duty: Ghosts brings back a number of fan-favorite modes, while introducing seven new game types, including:
â—¾Search and Rescue: A take on Search & Destroy, but rather than having a single life per round, in Search & Rescue a player's team can revive them. It combines that teamwork and communication from Kill Confirmed with the objective-based cooperation of Search & Destroy.
â—¾Cranked: In this team-based game mode, the player has to kill an enemy which triggers a timer. The player must get another kill before the timer reaches zero, otherwise they die. The player's movement is enhanced in this game mode.[10]
â—¾Free for all: The classic gamemode from previous installments in the franchise returns in Call of Duty: Ghosts, in which players must rack up a total of 30 kills to win the game against seven other opponents or rack up to most kills in a 10 minute time limit.
â—¾Team Deathmatch: Team Deathmatch returns in Call of Duty: Ghosts: two teams, 10 minutes, 75 kill limit.
â—¾Search and Destroy: A gamemode in which one side has five minutes to plant a bomb at a choice of two sites and the other team is tasked with defending the sites, the catch of this mode is there are no respawns and the game ends once one team wins four rounds.
â—¾Domination: A gamemode where three flags are scattered throughout the map for players to take and control. Every two seconds a flag in controlled will gain a player's team a point, if a player's team controls two or three flags they gain two or three points. The first team to 200 points or the team with the highest amount of points after 10 minutes wins.
â—¾Kill Confirmed: A gamemode in which two teams battle, similar to TDM, with the catch being that when a player kills an enemy they drop a dog tag, which is worth points when collected. If a player collects a fallen teammate's dog tag, no points are award to the enemy team; first team to 100 points wins the game.
â—¾Infected: Same as Modern Warfare 3 infected.
â—¾Grind: No Information
â—¾Blitz: This team-based game mode is similar to Capture the Flag in that the player needs to go to a portal located at the enemy's spawn point while preventing players from the enemy team from reaching theirs. These portals are temporarily closed when they are captured to prevent players from rushing.[10]
â—¾Hunted: No Information

A playable German Shepherd dog, named Riley, is part of the player's squad.

Characters

The game's main protagonists are the Ghosts, a force of US 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, along with Booth and Neptune, a trained German Shepherd named Riley, and Cdr. Thomas A. Merrick of the Navy SEALs.[8]

The game's main antagonists are Almagro and Rorke, the leaders of a South American alliance called the Federation.

Story

In 2013, San Diego, California is kinetically bombarded by an American superweapon called the Orbital Defense Initiative (ODIN),[10] after a group called the "Federation" takes it over, resulting in what becomes known as "The Event." As a result, the global balance of power changes: many countries are decimated, geographical landscapes change, and the United States ceases to be a superpower. America's industry and infrastructure are devastated, casualties are high, and the country is vulnerable to external threats.[8]

Ten years later, in 2023, the "Federation" emerges as the world's dominant superpower and invades the United States. With Federation forces occupying large swaths of American territory and the government in danger of collapse, remnants of the US military mobilize the Ghosts to stop the invaders and take back what's left of the US. Part of the counteroffensive involves hacking into the Federation space station Loki and use it against Federation forces on the ground.

On February 7, 2013, Activision confirmed that a new Call of Duty game was in development and would be released Q4, 2013. The publisher expects to sell fewer copies than the series' previous entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops II on seventh generation consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) due to the transition to next-generation consoles.[12]

The series starts a new subseries with Ghosts to coincide with Sony and Microsoft's eighth generation consoles entering the market. The game will debut an engine built by the developer, originally described as a new engine, but later clarified to be the same engine as used in previous games with "significant" upgrades.[13][14]

The Wii U version of the game is to be developed by Treyarch.[15]

Infinity Ward's Mark Rubin has confirmed that Call of Duty: Ghosts will run natively at 1080p on Playstation 4, and is upscaled to 1080p from 720p on Xbox One. "We optimized each console to hit 60 FPS and the game looks great on both," Rubin said.[16]

Reveal

On April 29, 2013, the official Call of Duty website was updated with a social media mosaic that filled up every time a user logged into the site via Twitter or Facebook. The next day, the mosaic was completed and the picture showed a skull along the text "the Ghosts are real."[17][18] Some details about Ghosts leaked prior, especially when Tesco pulled the listing of the game for the PlayStation 3 after it was put up accidentally.[19] Several other retailers, including Target, listed it for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[1][20][21] The live-action teaser trailer for Ghosts, titled "Masked Warriors", features glimpses of people wearing historical battle masks, among them one of a group of soldiers putting on the skull mask shown on the box art. It was released on May 1, 2013. Ghosts appeared at the "Xbox Reveal" event on May 21, 2013.[22]

On August 14, 2013, American rapper Eminem's "Survival" featuring Liz Rodrigues, with production by DJ Khalil was premièred in the multiplayer trailer for the game.[23][24][25] The music video for the song features various footage from the game's single player campaign, and other elements from the game.

Audio

Stephen Lang voices Elias Walker, while Brandon Routh and Kevin Gage voice other characters in the game.[26] David Buckley scored the game's original soundtrack.[27]

Infinity Ward has released some new information about the classes available in the new Extinction game mode in Ghosts. The new game mode forces players to use anything and everything at their disposal against the alien hordes. Four character classes with different abilities are available to help maximize the team's changes in fighting against the odds.

All four classes (Weapon Specialist, Tank, Engineer and Medic) gain levels as the game progresses, which further improves their abilities.

Weapon Specialist

â—¾Bullets deal 20 % more damage.
â—¾Used as an assault class against the aliens.
â—¾Useful vs. heavily armored threats and smaller swarms.
â—¾Weapon handling improves as the class levels up.

Tank

â—¾Has 25 % more health.
â—¾Used on the frontlines since the class can take hits that would otherwise knock out other classes.
â—¾Leveling up increases the classes health and lethality.

Engineer

â—¾Can provide armor for the drill and earn extra cash.
â—¾As the class gains levels, the drill maintenance and trap efficiency improves.

Medic

â—¾Revives allies quicker than other classes.
â—¾Faster movement speed and better healing abilities are gained with additional levels.


The team should consist of a variety of classes, which allows all the different abilities to complement each other - this way you'll stay alive longer.