I'll start with the main reason anyone plays Call of Duty, and that's multiplayer. Unlike EA, Activision decided to actually bother changing this, well sort of anyway, it still feels like Call of Duty although there is a slight indication that this franchise is ready to move on, but they decided to milk the current format a bit more. To be fair there are a few developments, namely more dynamic maps that finally have destructible elements in them, I'm not going to even pretend that they're nearly as good as Battlefield as it only has a minor affect on the maps, but it's a sign of development which the franchise desperately needs. Another addition is spawning briefcases that issue the player a challenge, completion of these challenges leads to unique killstreaks which is definitely a good idea and I did enjoy using them, even if the challenges were a bit plain.
Unfortunately the multiplayer is nowhere near as fun as its predecessors, the weapons lack variation and each gun feels very similar to the last and selection is now personal preference rather than strategy. The weapons are also terribly balanced, some are ridiculously overpowered which makes multiplayer more frustrating than intense, some are easily a two shot kill from the other side of the map. The game modes are still as good as ever with welcome returns of personal favorites such as Infected and Gun Game, and also new modes that only really expand on previous modes and offer nothing particularly radical. The exclusion of Ground War is also surprising, this popular game mode always used to be a very fun and hectic game mode and so I'm very disapointed to see it only on the current gen consoles.
This years zombie replacement is known as extinction mode, and it is shit. I was never a massive fan of zombies, it always seemed like a big fuss over nothing, but it was fun to play and I praised it for that. Extinction mode isn't fun to play, the aliens are really dull and the sole strategy seems to be shoot some alien things, then kill an egg. Doing that multiple times isn't particularly exciting and it really makes me wonder whether COD needs these mini-games when it could just focus on the multiplayer.
Now COD has rarely dropped the ball on the campaign, unlike their EA counterparts, but it seems this year they both suffer from the same massive flaw, lack of character development. The actual premise of the Ghosts plot was very good, if a bit patriotic, the enemy faction aren't really a serious threat unless they get their hands on this ODIN thing, which is quite awesome and an excellent hinge for the plot to be based on, but the plot just ends up with the USA being built as the underdogs which never really worked. The characters also didn't work, I just never felt the need to care about any of them throughout the plot. In a previous COD game I would've cared about a family member dying, like in Black Ops 2, but this time I really didn't care. It doesn't help that the main character seems to be a fucking dog called Riley who just becomes more of a nuisance rather than contributing ANYTHING to the actual plot, just why? However at the end of the day it is still great fun, I just wish a bit more care would be taken when crafting the storyline.
The missions are mainly well crafted, there are a few dull and pointless segments but that's mainly due to the fucking dog. There is also a nice variety of settings with missions feeling unique, but not exactly looking brilliant on the previous gen consoles, especially when compared to Battlefield. Definitely the strongest part of the game is the ending to the campaign. It ends in a big shock, which is a pleasant surprise coming from a company who like to emulate their material rather too fondly, I thought I knew every trick in the COD book of cliche, but thankfully I was proved wrong. The ending really is generally fantastic and I seriously can't think of a better ending to a FPS in the last few years, maybe only topped by the original Modern Warfare, it does genuinely make me want to part another £50 for the inevitable sequel.
Overall this game fells exactly like they promised it wouldn't be, repetitive. It certainly isn't the worst game in the world but the Call of Duty fanbase needs steps forward to develop their franchise, and this is just a step backwards.
Final Score: 68/100
Favorite Quote: "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". Infamous quote here from executive producer Mark Rubin.
Favorite Moment: Lending this game to a friend and just playing Modern Warfare 3
Worst Moment: Being quickscoped by a bot on recruit difficulty.
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