Call of Duty: Ghosts – Multiplayer Event Recap

The Call of Duty franchise is a big deal. As this week’s Call of Duty Ghosts keynote event was quick to remind us, the shooter franchise has a long standing history of being immensely popular and permeating all areas of popular culture. It’s the go to shooter for many of the world’s gamers, and continuing that momentum is no easy feat. Activision held a presentation, streamed worldwide, to showcase the multiplayer aspect of the forthcoming Ghosts entry and offer a first glimpse at how the developers at Infinity Ward plan to carry on the series legacy.

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg hosted the event, which kicked things off with a trailer reminding everyone just how popular this gaming franchise has become over the years. From TV and movie references, the Call of Duty has become engraved in today’s culture. And one of the biggest reasons why is the ever-popular multiplayer. Without further delay, the first trailer of Ghosts multiplayer was shown, debuting for the first time a brand new song from Eminem, who is said to be a collaborator on the game and we will likely see more of him in the future of Ghosts promotions. As Eric Hirshberg returned to the stage, we spoke of the three mail pillars of Ghosts design – your soldier, the game world, and mobile.

Central to Call of Duty: Ghosts’ customization will be the new Create-a-Soldier system, in which players can customize their various weapon loadouts, and for the first time in the series, the physical appearance of their soldier. There are said to be over 20,000 possible combinations, including heads, body types, equipment, and more. Not to be outdone by other shooter franchises, Ghosts will finally include a series-first female soldiers. There will also be 7 new game modes, new class of weapons that falls between sniper and assault, with over 30 new guns in all categories, and a new cooperative mode.

Mark Ruben then took the stage to talk more about these gameplay changes. According to him, this is the biggest reinvention of the Call of Duty multiplayer since Modern Warfare. Nothing was left untouched as the developers went through all aspects of the shooter. First off, the game will run at 60 fps on all platforms. There will be more perks with a new system that limits players based on points, with each perk costing a certain amount and thus requiring players to balance how they spend the allotted point amount. Players could use 8 perks that cost 1 point, or 4 perks that cost 2 points, etc.

Over 20 new streaks will make their debut, and a focus has been made to reward players who play the objective rather than just kill. Strike packages wll return, but wll be rebalanced and awarded more for personal encounters rather than airstrikes. Finally, the new weapon unlock system also uses points, so players can choose to unlock weapons in any order as long as they have enough points. There will be no death streaks.

The new modes mentioned earlier tie into the new Squad system. Players will create an entire squad of up to 10 unique soldiers which can be customized down to their appearance, perks, loadouts, and style of play. Essentially, these are ten profiles for the players to use in the game. Each custom squad member earns XP toward Prestige and can also be modified to specialize in various combat classes and across multiple game modes, becoming your personal army of customized AI.

This new system ties into its own game mode, where players can participate solo, cooperatively up to 6-players, or competitively for one vs. one, head-on matches pitting players and their squads against others and their squads. Squads features a variety of play-types, allowing fans at any time to swap-out their custom A.I. soldiers with real friends for quick-action co-op. Squad soldiers are said to be an advanced AI with behaviors like side-strafing, corner-camping, jump-shooting and more. Depending on how you’ve customized your squad, the AI will play depending on their equipment – snipers will hang back while assault-wielding soldiers will rush forward. Players and their squads will earn XP, and if you’re offline, others may challenge your team to play without you.

The aspect of the game world in Ghosts will be illustrated by a focus on a new feature called Dynamic Maps, where the field of battle can change dramatically as the round progresses. Players will need to not only know the map layout, but also what the map and the environment can do, and use it to their advantage. The game runs on a new engine that helps bring all these technological elements to life. A re-worked audio system adds dynamism to the experience, with improved chatter and location-based sound effects that differentiate how a weapon might sound when fired indoors vs outdoors. Player movement and animation systems have been updated for better mantling over objects without a reduction of speed. Knee slides, contextual lean, and more will affect how the game feels and controls.

Players can now take Call of Duty: Ghosts on the go, utilizing their Call of Duty account, gained through the registration to Call of Duty Elite. The new Call of Duty App will give players a second screen mobile and tablet function. Created by Beachhead Studio in collaboration with Infinity Ward, the app offers popular features from Call of Duty Elite, plus grants the ability to edit your entire squad pre-match, and have one touch access to change loadouts for their next spawn while in match, as well as view and share after-action results on social media. The account will also be instrumental for brining your stats into the next generation –as players who buy Ghosts on Xbox One or PlayStation 4 will be able to start where they left off on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

The game will also heavily invest into the eSports scene. The Call of Duty Championship sponsored by Xbox will return in 2014. Additionally, Call of Duty: Ghosts will be the exclusive first person action and flagship title on the Major League Gaming (MLG) Pro Circuit in 2014. To that end, Call of Duty: Ghosts features a deeper level of Clan support and in-game integration. Players will be able to join, create, and manage a Clan from in-game or from the Call of Duty App. There will be in-game Clan rewards, as well as Clan vs. Clan playlists. Clan Wars will be a large ongoing experience on the app that is tied directly to Call of Duty: Ghosts multiplayer. In this metagame, players can contribute to the Clan War mission and compete against other Clans for additional XP and exclusive in-game content. Clans will also be able to exist cross-generation, so players on Xbox 360 and Xbox One will be able to be in the same clan, and the same can be said for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

Also revealed was the Ghosts DLC Season Pass. Four map packs will be released over time, and a season pass will be available for $49.99/4000 MSp, or individually for $14.99/1200 MSp. Included in the Season Pass is the Ghosts Team Leader Pack with a multiplayer character modeled from one of the characters from Ghosts’ single player campaign, along with additional bonus digital content. While the DLC Map Packs will be available starting in 2014, the Ghosts Team Leader Pack and other Season Pass bonus content activates immediately upon game release. As announced, the Season Pass will be valid for both current and next-gen versions of the game, should the players upgrade.

The event concluded with several professional Call of Duty players and a collection of U.S. Marines taking the stage for a live exhibition match with commentary. Activision also revealed that fans can continue to support the Call of Duty Endowment, a non-profit organization that funds efforts to place veterans into high quality jobs, with the purchase of limited edition dog tags for $4.99; 100% of the profits will go toward the Endowment and its mission.

Going into the next generation, it is obvious that Activision wants to keep momentum for its huge shooter franchise going. It was really with the Xbox 360 generation that the series took off, but with the new consoles on the horizon, Activision must fend off the competition as it looks to establish a strong foothold in the shooter niche once again. Look for Call of Duty: Ghosts to launch on November 5, 2013 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Versions of the game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 will hit alongside the launch of those consoles.

*Disclaimer: Activision has covered travel costs for New Game Network to attend this event*