Call of Duty: Ghosts is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward, with assistance from Raven Software , Neversoft and Certain Affinity. Published by Activision, it is the tenth primary installment in the Call of Duty series and the sixth developed by Infinity Ward. The video game was released for Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii U on November 5, 2013, with Treyarch handling the port for the Wii U. The game was released with the launch of next-generation consoles Playstation 4 and Xbox One.
According to review score aggregator Metacritic, Ghosts received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, with most praising its multiplayer gameplay and introduction of the new game mode Extinction. It was criticized, however, for its single-player campaign, rehashing of familiar concepts, and general lack of innovation
CAMPAIGN
The game begins in the year 2017 with U.S. Army Captain Elias Walker telling his two sons, Logan and David "Hesh" Walker the legend of how the Ghosts, an elite coalition of all US Special Operations units, first appeared. Meanwhile in space, Federation soldiers hijack the controlling space station of the Orbital Defense Initiative (ODIN), an orbital super weapon that utilizes kinetic bombardment, and use it to destroy several cities in the southwestern United States. The surviving American astronauts, Baker and Mosley, sacrifice themselves to self-destruct the space station and prevent the other ODIN satellites from launching their payloads further inland. Elias and the teenage Logan and David narrowly escape the destruction of San Diego.
Ten years later, the US has fought the Federation to a bloody stalemate along a front that comprises the destroyed cities, also known as "No Man's Land", but it has become a War of attrition as more Federation invasion forces attempt to break the frontlines. However, the Americans stand their ground, fighting near the former US-Mexico border. Logan and Hesh are part of a U.S special unit under the command of Elias and are accompanied by their loyal military-trained German Shepherd, Riley. During a patrol, they spot an American is working with the Federation, Gabriel Rorke. Soon after, the brothers are ambushed by wolves and rescued by members of the Ghosts who are seeking their companion Ajax, who was captured by Rorke. Logan and Hesh join the mission to rescue Ajax but arrive too late to rescue him as he is killed by the Federation. The brothers return to Santa Monica, California where the Federation forces invade the city as U.S forces holdout against their assault. As the Americans counterattack, Hesh and Logan reunite with their father who reveals himself as the leader of Ghosts. Knowing that his sons are qualified to join his special unit, Elias recruits them into the Ghosts and they learn from him that Rorke was once their leader and Elias' best friend. However, during a successful mission to assassinate General Diego Almagro, then president of the Federation in the capital Caracas, Elias is forced to abandon Rorke, who was presumed dead, but instead turned traitor after being captured and brain washed by the Federation and is now hunting down members of the Ghosts.
The Ghosts track down and capture Rorke, but while flying back home, Rorke's men attack their plane and rescue him. The team then is forced to land deep into the Amazon Jungle where they witness a rocket being launched for an unknown purpose. Once reunited and rescued, the Ghosts raid a Federation laboratory in the Andes and obtain data regarding a classified information in a factory at Rio De Janeiro. To secure a path to the factory, the Ghosts destroy the Federation's Atlas oil platform located in Antarctica to lure the enemy fleet away from their objective and sink a destroyer guarding the Brazilian coast. Once inside the factory, the team discovers that the Federation had scuffled and reverse engineered ODIN's technology and developed their own orbital bombardment system codenamed "LOKI". After destroying the factory, Elias and his sons regroup at a safehouse in Las Vegas but are captured by Rorke. After Hesh and Logan are forced to watch Rorke killing Elias, the brothers manage to escape along with Merrick, Keegan and Riley.
In response to realizing that once the Federation's LOKI becomes operational, their defeat will be inevitable, the United States decides to pool all their remaining forces including the last aircraft carrier, USS Liberator in a synchronized all-out assault to take down an enemy space center in Chile while a small team of soldiers boards a shuttle to take over the Federation satellites in space. Once both objectives are completed, Hesh and Logan pursue Rorke to avenge their father and are seemingly successful, only to find out during the aftermath that Rorke survived their battle. Logan attempts to defend his wounded brother, but has his arm broken by Rorke, who announces his plans to brainwash Logan into killing the rest of the team before dragging Logan away.
In a post-credits scenes, Logan is seen being kept inside a pit in the jungle, presumably going through the same torture methods that Rorke went through.
Extinction
Extinction is a new 4-player co-op mode, which pits the player(s) against various types of aliens (known altogether as Cryptid) in a base-defending survival style map. The main goal is usually to destroy all of the Cryptid hives scattered across the map. Players choose from four different class types, with unique traits and customizable loadouts. The player(s) can level up their classes, unlocking more weapons and equipment for their loadouts. This mode is unlocked by finishing the first level of the Campaign.
The first map, "Point of Contact", is included within the base game, and serves as an introduction to the game mode. The map takes place in an abandoned city in Colorado, two weeks after the events of the campaign mission "Ghost Stories".
The second map, "Nightfall", is released as part of the Onslaught DLC pack, and is advertised as the first of the four episodic contents for Extinction. The map takes place in an Alaskan research facility, 14 weeks after "Point of Contact", and introduces two characters central to the story: Dr. Samantha Cross and Cpt. David Archer. The map also introduces two new types of Cryptid aliens, one of which (the Breeder) serves as a boss-type enemy. Players are also given access to a mysterious and powerful weapon: The Venom X. Players can unlock several pieces of intel, revealing details about the story revolving around Cross and Archer.
The third map, "Mayday", is released as part of the Devastation DLC pack, and is the second of four episodes of Extinction. The map takes place onboard a Naval ship, 26 days after the events in "Nightfall", and introduces two more new types of Cryptids: The Seeder (Which looks like the red seekers) but is bright orange and spawns plantlike turrets that shoot projectiles at the players, and the Kraken, the large, multi-tentacled boss at the end of the chapter. In addition to weapons scattered throughout the ship, players can access schematics to build powerful offensive and defensive weapons, including 4 variations of the Venom X from the previous chapter. Players can also find intel as well to learn more about the story of Extinction.
