Dance Team Patrick

This post was transferred from the old site at WordPress...

Okay, I knew when walking out of Hastings the other day after purchasing the game that this new title wasn't going to be much different than it's predecessors. The Call of Duty franchise has really fallen into a slump, and I think they've been digging a deeper hole for themselves since Modern Warfare 2. Regardless of that, however, I'd still like to offer my own review for the game on DTP, so here goes nothing...

The one and only thing that the franchise seems to get right every time is the story itself. Sometimes I wish had a bowl of popcorn, in fact; and I thought that the Black Ops 2 story was going to be hard to beat. In the new subtitle, though, the writers push you back on the edge of your seat for another wild, over-the-top ride with higher stakes, even more ruthless enemies, and an unexpected new world power: "the Federation".

Who would ever expect South America to ban together and bring the U.S. to its knees? The set-up in the beginning of the game was brief, and it didn't exactly explain everything, but still, it's a nice change of pace. I don't think I would have tolerated it if the baddies were going to be Russia, China, or an Arabian terrorist faction again.

The single-player campaign also introduced a few cool new aspects that the CoD franchise isn't known for, like sneaking around as Riley the dog, for instance, or piloting an attack helicopter. There's also some (very Battlefield 3-like) tank driving near the end of the campaign. So it's a little more than just run-and-gun all the time... Now it's run-and-gun, then hop in a tank, then fly a chopper, then rip a dude's throat apart with dog teeth... and then rinse and repeat.

And just when I thought the franchise had redeemed itself with the overhaul of the perk and attachment systems... it failed miserably. Once again, the multiplayer portion of the game just proves that anyone can play the game, and I hate that crap. No teamwork, no effort, no planning, no skill- or level-matching. You might as well throw confetti inside of a blender.

One of the things that really annoys me in the MP is the spawning. In previous titles, you could spawn safely away from enemy players (or as safely away as possible given real-time player dispersion on the map). In Ghosts? Nah, fuck that shit, you can join the game right inside of a camper's cross hairs. When you're killed by the same guy in a six second period in the same immediate vicinity because you got spawn-fucked, then the entire multiplayer portion has failed. Randomized spawning has truly become randomized, and that only serves to bite you and your teammates in the ass.

One thing Infinity Ward did get right though... Squads. While the exact line between a Clan and Squad is still pretty fuzzy to me, the Squads mode is basically an overhauled version of private matching with bots. You can work as a team with other human players against incredibly skilled bots, or mix it up with some bot-and-human on bot-and-human action. In Black Ops 2, the bots were only difficult on Veteran, but in Ghosts, Regular bots can actually give you a run for your money. So if you don't want to deal with 14 year olds just hitting their stride in puberty and yelling the n-word and "faggot" over a mic, I would recommend playing with or against someone in Squads, where the concepts of decency and sportsmanship can find sanctuary.

If you're wanting some fast-paced action to enjoy with friends, and don't mind the same-old shit that's become one of the most popular and best selling video game titles of all-time, then by all means, buy Ghosts. If you're a die-hard fan, get it now; but if you're a recreational gamer that can wait, then I would recommend holding off until a price drop or getting it used. As far as my recommendation goes for next-gen consoles, your CoD account can now be transferred and used on the upgraded hardware platforms, so don't worry about buying it now and regretting it later.