Review - Call of Duty: Ghosts - Survive the Extinctionby Steph Dumont
Format reviewed on Xbox One |
Developers; Infinity Ward
Publisher; Activision Formats; PC, PS3, X360, XO, PS4, WiiU Release Date; Out Now |
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So this week, I have mostly been playing Call of Duty: Ghosts for the Xbox One. Now, normally I wouldn't consider it and I have previously stated that I would never play another Call of Duty game after the first Black Ops but I couldn't let a bargain opportunity slip me by. Not too long ago, www.graingergames.co.uk had a very and I mean VERY good deal on the game. For £29.99 you were getting a digital code for the Xbox 360 version. This would also allow you to then download the Xbox One version for FREE on the same profile. You are also able to continue your multiplayer experience and keep all multiplayer stats and whatnot on whatever version you decide to play so, essentially, you're getting two for the price of one. Considering the price of a standalone copy of the 360 version and Xbox One, this was and if you look hard enough IS still a steal. Currently £33.94 on Amazon with free p+p, I would not let it pass you by. Also, double the achievements!
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I could talk to you about the single player and how it's full of its high octane action moments that looks fantastically awesome on the Xbox One (yet to try the 360 version) but truth be told it's just like every other Call of Duty game in that respect. L trigger acts as your zoom and pretty much locks onto your nearest enemy while R fires your weapon. Run from A to B firing at enemies on screen whilst collecting that one collectable per level and completing that bonus side objective per level for required achievement or trophy and there you have it. Even on veteran, which I ran through first time, earned me everything I needed to and was reasonably easy and probably the easiest in the series in that respect. Don't get me wrong, it was still thoroughly enjoyable and fun to play and I enjoyed every moment of it without having to pull my hair out.
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As for the multiplayer side of things I imagine it to be the same deal for competing online in death-matches and team matches. There's no achievements or trophies for that so it doesn't inspire me to play any multiplayer in those modes and, to be honest, the last time I played Black Ops online I was bombarded with fifteen voice messages in my inbox over LIVE with a child at the other end screaming at me that he knew what I did. As far as I was aware, I'd played a bit, possibly got my ass handed to me and thought nothing more of it before I decided to move onto something else.
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What I really want to talk about however, is the Extinction mode. I'm not sure if this was originally part of the package deal or just got put in there last minute to replace the previous game's zombies mode but, damn, so SO good! There's no underlying story or narrative as of yet, though this has now been worked on and will be implemented into the game via the Onslaught and future DLC expansions over time, starting with the first of a five part series available on the 28th of January through Onslaught. Back to what we're playing now; the game throws you in to scenario where you have to defeat wave after wave of alien invaders whilst placing a drill at various nest locations in the area of which at the moment there are three. Each of these three areas only allow you to pass once you have taken out these nests followed by the overall hive at the end of this area. A chopper is called in during this hive scene which you have to protect from the alien invaders whilst it fires away to take it out and allow you to progress deeper. Once you have taken out all nests and hives you have a small timed window to arm a nuke and then run all the way back to the extraction point at the very beginning of the map. Although there is but one map at the moment this is by no means an easy task especially if playing by yourself and if you have not ranked up and acquired any decent equipment to load out with.
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You get your basic crawler type aliens to your slightly bigger scouts, followed by poison gas spitting scorpions, to your rhino-like armoured aliens which take a lot of ammo and preferably a few auto-sentry turrets to the face to take down. One or two of these with a handful of scorpions can seriously change the outcome of the round in no time at all no matter how far you've come and how good you are so, when it comes to arming that nuke and the game throws everything at you as you start to run, you'd best be prepared.
Tackling this mode is aided by being able to select whatever class is needed and I recommend tackling this mode with 3-4 players of high rank. Each enemy, nest and and hive area pays you cash which you earn to pay for different class specialties as well as your standard ammo. Random challenges that appear prior to the drill being placed at every nest allow you to gain an extra upgrade point which you would normally otherwise only acquire after taking out a nest, to upgrade your class abilities. |
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Medics allow team health regeneration, faster sprint and longer stamina as well as quick revives. Tanks take more damage, have more health and deal out more melee damage. Weapon Specialists stock and give out more ammo to the team while engineers repair drills and add more armour to the drills as they are placed down. There are also different load-out slots across the classes but generally they are the same across the board. Pistol, ammo, team support and equaliser types are all available once the player has gained enough XP and reached level 30. Add On the Go and Resilience abilities for each class and there you have your package deal. Also, once you prestige, your rank resets to level 1 and you gain a Relic slot (thankfully you get to keep your unlocked equipment). Although this is our next attempt for another play-through, Relics unlock the ability to alter things slightly. A smaller wallet gets you less cash for defeating enemies, enemies give more damage, enemies acquire more damage to be killed, etc. which in turn gives you more XP and points to get further up that leaderboard. And an achievement.
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Call of Duty: Ghosts has a fun and action packed single player story which again, is relatively easy on veteran difficulty. Multiplayer is more than likely the same as it ever was (without having tried it myself) but in the end, I think I've spent more hours this week playing Extinction rather than anything else and I would almost justify the previously mentioned bargain price worth the asking price alone. Grab some beers, party up with your friends and set some time aside for a fun engaging bug hunt that'll keep you entertained at least until the first episode is released later this month. Though I'm not quite sure the Season Pass price is justifiable at the moment so if anyone wants to send me a free or discounted Season Pass code...
Big shout at to my guys over on Xbox Live, The Subtle Arts, Dysfunktional G, Soulreaper 01 and Y2EwEn for covering my back and checking those corners. Also, www.graingergames.co.uk and the guys at www.postabargain.co.uk for the good deal and daily shares! |
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Wrap Up
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Good - Entertaining high octane action packed single player, Extinction Mode is awesome fun with friends and challenging enough.Looks great too!
Bad - It's just Call of Duty innit? Even on veteran difficulty the singleplayer is relatively easy and short to blast through. |
4/5 |
Images courtesy of Activision
Game bought by reviewer
Game bought by reviewer
