Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer (Hands-On Preview)

The highly anticipated Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal Event took place in Los Angeles on August 14th, where professional Call of Duty players and the media got to see the reveal live and in-person. The reveal showed off tons of new footage from the game including the impressive next generation graphics, the deep new customization options, new weapons equipment and perks, new game modes, some cool multiplayer maps, a quick look at the new Call of Duty: Ghosts companion app and special edition versions of the game fans can preorder right now. The event was sponsored by Xbox, so many attending gamers were able to get their hands wrapped firmly around a new Xbox One controller for the first time. The event was good fun and the game was even better. Needless to say, we can't wait to jump into some more Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer matches when the full game arrives in November!

During the Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer presentation, Infinity Ward Executive Producer, Mark Rubin, mentioned that the game would essentially be the same game on current generation consoles as it would be on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was later clarified that the main exception to the statement would be that some of the graphical components featured in the next generation release of Call of Duty: Ghosts simply couldn't run on the last generation of consoles. Real-time lighting and other stunning features were present on the version of the game we were allowed to play, and it was easy to tell the game was running on an Xbox One, as the visuals were clearly heads and shoulders above what we saw with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox 360. Movements were more fluid, and the guns the soldiers carried had lots more details than guns in previous entries of the series. Little details of the maps popped too, whether looking a the detailed lighting of shadows moving across the large windows inside of a warehouse or watching the swaying leaves of a palm tree in the wind. The game also features some destructible environments that may knock out part of a crumbling building, knock down a bus from a dangerous perch or change the map in some other way for the duration of a match.

Even more impressive than Call of Duty: Ghosts' visuals was the game's audio presentation. With each new release in the Call of Duty franchise, developer Infinity Ward has managed to improve how the game sounds. Guns now sound more realistic than ever, though still not nearly as deafening as their real life counterparts. The audio cues sound great when firing your own guns where you can tell you what type of environment the shots are being fired in, but it is also easier to tell how far away an enemy player is by listening to gunfire a short distance away from your soldier. Characters in the game also help their teammates by calling in locations of enemy players on the map just as you'd expect your friend to do over the headset in your Xbox LIVE Party. Infinity Ward knows the audio design in Call of Duty: Ghosts is something special, and the team has created some items in the game based around this concept. One particular grenade in the game can be thrown out to send out rustling, crunching and other sounds all around an enemy player, which causes a sense of paranoia, much like the distraction Decoy Grenades have caused in prior Call of Duty games with their mini-map distortion.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will feature a handful of animations that are sure to provide some thrilling Final Kill Cams in the future. The emphasis on player movement being more fast-paced than it has been in recent releases is easily apparent in Call of Duty: Ghosts and begins with soldiers' ability to easily vault over low-lying obstructions littered around the map. This allows players to quickly spring over windowed entries, short barricades and other objects in the game while sprinting, without ever losing any momentum. The animation controls fluidly but can cause you some trouble if you're looking to run up behind a camping spot to crouch and pick off an enemy. Another feature that plays on the same mechanics allows players running at full speed to slide into prone, rather than dolphin-diving as in previous entries. The new mechanic allows characters to slide into position and still fire a gun simultaneously for an all new way to embarrass opponents. Another new feature plays more on stealth by simply allowing a character to walk up to a corner and peek around the edge while remaining aimed down the scope with a simple button command. This allows enemies to be picked off without having to run out in the open to see them. The rest of the classic Call of Duty controls remain intact aside from these changes though, and that's a good thing.

On a side note, the Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal Event was the first time I was able to personally try out the Xbox One controller, and though it would take some getting used to, it was still a great feeling controller in my hands. When carefully studying the controller, you'll notice it is a bit smaller than the standard Xbox 360 controller, and it is shaped a bit differently as well. The aim of the controller's developer was to make it even more comfortable than the Xbox 360 controller, so many of the round curves of the Xbox 360 controller's shell have been removed. The thumbsticks also feel noticeably different on Xbox One and are now easier than ever to change minor degrees of sensitivity without the slippage the loose Xbox 360 thumbsticks can cause. This makes looking around the maps in Call of Duty: Ghosts easier and aiming precision shots much more efficient. There are also new triggers that are much more comfortable and ergonomically designed in a way that feels perfect for the shooting genre. New rumble features were also a great new feature that allowed me to feel every time my soldier was shot during a match. The lasting impression on the Xbox One controller simply left me wanting to test it on other games to see what it was capable of doing outside of Call of Duty: Ghosts.




One of the biggest new changes in Call of Duty: Ghosts is the plethora of new customization options. In prior releases, players have been restricted in how they can change their character, typically meaning changing the colors and style of facepaint or even no options at all sometimes, and the character represented in-game would then come pre-rendered from whichever faction the team was fighting for. Now, players can fully customize their soldiers to give them a unique face and head, custom fatigues or other outfits and even change the gender of your soldier. Yes, this means you can now play as a female soldier in Call of Duty: Ghosts! The customization options continue with the most perks the franchise has ever offered in a single game. The perk and weapon system works on a point system that allows players to equip better perks but will cost more points for the higher level perks. A player is typically allowed up to eight perks on a single soldier, but savvy players can remove secondary weapons and equipment from classes to equip up to eleven perks on a single soldier. The combination of perks on a soldier are nearly limitless and just one more way to diversify one soldier from another in Call of Duty: Ghosts.





The big draw in any first-person shooter is its weapons, and Call of Duty: Ghosts is no different. The game features over 30 new weapons, an 80% increase from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as noted in during the Call of Duty: Ghosts Multiplayer Reveal Event. The arsenal of weapons in the game still includes favorites such as the AK-47 and UMP sub machine gun, but most players were anxious to try out the all new class of Marksman Rifles included in the game. These are single-burst weapons with tremendous power, slow rate of fire and high recoil that can take down enemies in only a couple of shots on any game mode, and they can be upgraded with attachments for larger bursts even more firepower. Another attachment in the game called the Dual-Render Scope is attachable on most rifles and allows a soldier to aim down the scope with precision without zooming all the way in. Foreground objects will become blurred when using this scope, but it still offers flexibility unlike any other scope in the game for close and long range encounters simultaneously. Attachments such as these do not count against the loadout point system the same way that primary weapons, secondary weapons and grenades do however. Some new killstreaks were shown in the short time with the game with the favorite easily being the ability to call in the attack dog from the game's campaign to fight alongside the player.

Two new game modes were shown off for Call of Duty: Ghosts: Cranked and Search and Rescue. Cranked is a team deathmatch variant that forces players to get another kill 30 seconds after the first and every subsequent kill. If the player fails to get another kill within the time limit, the player explodes. This hectic mode is a lot of fun and places an emphasis on always pushing towards enemy forces rather than camping areas or running around the outskirts of maps. Search and Rescue offers a twist on the classic game mode Search and Destroy, only players drop dogtags upon death that can be recovered by either team. If an enemy player recovers the tags, the player is dead forever, but if a teammate acquires the dropped item, the player will be given another chance at life to atone for prior mistakes. Both matchtypes offer something completely fresh and entertaining, and they should quickly become two of the most popular game modes behind team deathmatch when Call of Duty: Ghosts arrives in November.



We were able to try out 3 of the 14 new maps coming in the full version of Call of Duty: Ghosts later this year at the event. Strikezone was one of the coolest maps on display at the event. The stage features a city area in a tropical environment with most of the action taking place inside of the various buildings that piece together to create plenty of close range encounters. The map didn't seem to offer the best spawnpoints for teams, but the map has one of the most surprising moments of any map when a missile lands out of nowhere to completely change the landscape into burning rubble. The scripted event offered a very memorable experience that may lose some of its swagger over time, but still manages to make the map one of the favorites shown during the event.

Octane was the second map on display. This map takes players to a dusty, desert town, where the dry heat was apparent as was the collateral damage of a recent altercation. Many of the buildings were busted up pretty bad and looked even worse by the end of the match thanks to some new destructible environments. Though the places where buildings could be destroyed were determined by the development team, they were still a lot of fun to mess around with and discover during the match. Even more fun was waiting at a local gas station the map is named for. Catching a gas pump with a few stray bullets or an explosion is enough to destroy the gas station and send the overhang crumbling to the ground for additional cover and vantage points. Octane is definitely a good map and one that encourages long distance encounters between buildings or flanking enemies through tiny street paths.



Lastly, we got to try our luck at Whiteout, a map that offered plenty of snow-covered scenery and a few buildings scattered around the small outpost. The map offered one of the best looks at what Call of Duty: Ghosts would look like on next generation consoles with snow falling all around the map and plenty of trees casting shadows across the dug out trenches and caves that make up the map. The stage was fairly large and offered a mix bag of close and long range encounters, and it seemed like a good map for a lot of different game types.

The Call of Duty app was also announced in addition to the multiplayer reveal. The app will be available for mobile devices to allow players to edit their Squad of customized characters before a match, change loadouts before spawning, check leaderboards, view player statistics and share results of a match directly on Facebook and Twitter. Players can also manage a Clan with the app in many of the same ways Call of Duty: Elite allows. Clans also get special missions that work in cooperation with the app to unlock special in-game content and items while rewarding experience points to all participants of the Clan during the match whether playing with a controller on any platform or using a tablet or phone with the Call of Duty app.

The last major announcement the team had for fans of Call of Duty: Ghosts was the reveal of two new special editions of the game. The Hardened Edition comes with the Call of Duty: Ghosts Season Pass, which includes four free DLC multiplayer map pack downloads coming to the game in 2014, a paracord strap inspired by the game, exclusive player patch, card and background to customize a player profile in-game, special steelbook casing and the official Call of Duty: Ghosts Soundtrack. Call of Duty: Ghosts Hardened Edition is now available for preorder for the MSRP of $119.99. Players can also preorder the Prestige Edition version of the game that comes with all of the above plus a 1080p HD Tactical Camera that comes with all of the accessories needed to become a true spy. Call of Duty: Ghosts Prestige Edition will be available in very limited quantities and will retail at the MSRP of $199.99. Preorders of any edition are also good for a free download code for the Free Fall multiplayer map set between two collapsing skyscrapers.



Call of Duty: Ghosts is shaping up to be the best release for the franchise since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and if history shows us anything, the game will likely be the best-selling release for the entire year when it releases this holiday season. Infinity Ward has made many strides in an attempt to improve on their already record-breaking success with an overhauled presentation that improves visuals and audio and introduces a whole new way to customize soldiers from the primary gun they carry down to their gender. Activision and Infinity Ward are once again setting the bar for what a first-person shooter title can be on a next generation console at launch, and we can't wait to revisit the game starting on November 5, 2013!

Call of Duty: Ghosts is now available for preorder for the MSRP of $59.99 and is scheduled to release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and next generation consoles on November 5, 2013. Call of Duty: Ghosts is rated M by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence & Strong Language. For more information on the game, check out the official Call of Duty: Ghosts website.




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Disclosure: Activision paid my travel expenses so I could attend their event and get my hands on the new Call of Duty game.