meh, Ghosts is the best Cod game since first black ops. Fantastic singleplayer campaign and amazing multiplayer.
This. Except that I consider Ghosts to be the best one since MW2.
I consider the multiplayer to be a return to form, recovering a lot of things that made COD4 multiplayer special for me. While I agree with the notion that the maps are badly designed, having lots of entrances into every goddamn area, this actually plays into one of my favorite things about the game: Situational awareness. MW3 and all of Treyarch's games have revolved too much around twitch shooting alone. Things such as the volume of footsteps, which were optimally tuned in both COD4 and MW2, making them an integral part of these games, were horribly neglected in every other COD since then, turning the games into a ridiculously braindead run and gun kind of experience. There's nothing wrong with twitch gameplay per se, COD still obviously relies on it. But to rely
solely on that as MW3 and Treyarch's games have is, I'd dare say, an impossibility in an online game. You cannot rely solely on twitch gameplay in an online environment and expect things to work fairly for everyone. You just can't. BO2 was proof of this, with its horrid netcode and online experience.
Ghosts, though, like I said, is a return to form. Footsteps are finally properly balanced, making them an integral component of the gameplay. The fix in sound doesn't just extend to footsteps themselves, but also to the Dead Silence and Amplify perks, which, despite of having being a complete waste of space in the franchise for four years now, are invaluable in Ghosts. The maps take a lot getting used to, but if you keep playing you eventually learn the danger zones and the safer spots for moving.
There is a notion that you have to camp in Ghosts to do good. This is simply not true. This is the best I've ever done in any COD (I've played them all), and despite of what my post here implies, I actually play in a very run&gun kind of way; one of the classes I play the most with has all of the speed perks, and I play sprinting like mad all over the maps. Except that, unlike in the other recent CODs, I don't just do that; I also try to have situational awareness, because this time around, the game actually allows me to integrate that into my style of play. And it's glorious.
To top it all off, the perk and weapon balance is the best the series has ever seen. While Treyarch's pick ten system was a move in the right direction, having to spend extra points to pick perks of the same category was a very questionable balance decision. Simply put, there was no big advantage whatsoever to having two perks of the same category as opposed to two perks of different categories, so forcing you to spend extra points if you went with the former option didn't make any sense. With Ghosts, the developers have finally understood that. Not only does Ghosts have the most perks, but it also has the most balanced ones. Almost every single perk is extremely useful, if not for one style of play, then for another. I don't get tired of playing and experimenting with different classes, and additions such as the unique Dead Eye perk make Ghosts just great (with Treyarch's seeming inability to come up with new perks, this is very welcome indeed). Killstreaks too, are finally properly balanced, a first in the series. With the way radar works now, UAV spamming is no longer a possibility. And while the dog can be annoying at times, the fact that most killstreaks are limited to the ground now makes everything so much more balanced. No longer is the sole guy with the stinger forced to save his team from the asshole who is calling in all the helicopters and harriers.
Something that I've always hated about Treyarch's games is that every weapon of the same weapon category feels the same. It's one of the reasons why I never return to any of Treyarch's games after some hours of gameplay, but Infinity Ward's always keep me coming back. Not only is this true for Ghosts as well, but there's lots of awesome new additions here to mess around with. Snipers are finally balanced, with quick-scoping being less prevalent but at the same time making these weapons more efficient when used for what they are meant to; the marksman rifles category is an awesome new addition, pistols have gone back to being useful, and overall there are tons of new and unique attachments and weapons to play, experiment and have fun with, from the hip-fire only Chain SAW LMG to the powerful yet slow high caliber revolver.
I only started the campaign yesterday, but I've been impressed. I gave up on COD campaigns having good gameplay aeons ago, and sure enough, Ghosts is no different in that regard. But the situations the game puts you in are just the best I've seen in any recent COD's; the "coolest" ones, if you will (</dudebro>). I wasn't sure I was going to even finish the campaign this time around, but now I can't wait to go back to it. Also, the 1080p and 60fps experience (on PS4, that is) is glorious. For all the bitching and moaning about the lack of the 1080p-60fps standard for the next-gen systems, Ghosts is, to my knowledge, the only retail non-sports game that achieves that. Make all the jokes you want about how they are still using the Quake 3 engine; the resolution and framerate alone make this game a pleasure to look at.
I've been baffled by the insane amounts of hatred that this game has gotten, a lot of it caused by the negative feelings that the mere COD name alone produces, no doubt. Ghosts is definitely not innovative, it's definitely not fresh, or new, or original, and the game could have certainly used some extra effort in some parts. Plus, the campaign has as shit of a gameplay as ever. But that still doesn't justify the amount of crap that Ghosts has gotten, especially around places like NeoGAF. It's a great COD; arguably one of the greatest CODs. It may not be for everyone, but despite all of the milking of a franchise that this title is supposed to entail, it's still funner and has more replay value than most other games that come out. Just that alone makes me not give a crap about how much Activision is milking the franchise (which they are, admittedly).