Zombies have had their time in the spotlight as Infinity Ward brings an end to their undisputed reign in Call of Duty, as they introduce a full blown alien invasion in Call of Duty: Ghosts with Extinction mode. It's a one-to-four player co-op campaign with base defence, resource scavenging and class levels. An official trailer has been aired by Activision. Call of Duty returns next week.
There are 35 total perks available in Call of Duty: Ghosts, reveals Infinity Ward. These enable soldiers and weapons to be customised with each attributed a weight in points which players must choose carefully. The chosen loadout will affect how many points are in their pool to spend on these perks. Reaching levels or spending squad points will unlock these perks from 7 categories.
War! The lines have been drawn with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Forget space station weaponry and dogs trained in downing helicopters, the real battle is the conflict between camp Xbox and PlayStation. Platform comparisons are inevitable and now Xbox One and PS4 are set to square off and already there's trouble as Call of Duty: Ghosts on Xbox One can't match PS4's 1080p.
Activision has released a new gameplay video for next week's Call of Duty: Ghosts which showcases Free Fall, a free downloadable bonus map for those who pre-order. Naturally there's some 'falling' involved. The map is confined to a precariously held section of building that's jammed between two skyscrapers. From the footage it appears to periodically plummet further to the ground altering the map.
Former Infinity Ward employees have spilled the redacted beans on the original Call of Duty's development back when the studio first formed. Medal of Honor was the first-person shooter King at the time. Apparently Call of Duty was codenamed 'MOH killer', even though its initial design was similar to MOH: Allied Assault, which followed the "super-spy in WWII story" formula.
Activision has released a new Call of Duty: Ghosts live action trailer which has James Mangold (Walk the Line, The Wolverine) directing and starring Megan Fox. The trailer "follows four buddies on the trip of a lifetime through Las Vegas and beyond."
Call of Duty: Ghosts is having its grand debut at midnight around the world, and the live stream for the UK launch at midnight GMT can be seen in the video below.
Users who have gotten copies of the PC version of Call of Duty: Ghosts have found that while the game refuses to run on systems with less than 6GB of RAM, the game uses less than 2GB of RAM, even with all settings on high.
Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Ghosts has generated revenue of over $1 billion worldwide for Activision, and that's just having sold the copies to retailers, who aren't worried fans will give this annual instalment a miss. They claim it's "too early to assess" sell-through to consumers, but it's undoubtedly very high as it's "never been more popular" than it is now. Over 15,000 stores held midnight launches.
Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Ghosts has launched at the highest echelons of the UK all format chart, which is no surprise. It has become the third biggest launch of 2013, behind Rockstar's GTA V and FIFA 14. Amazingly the PS4 versions on sale early for Ghosts made up 3% of launch week sales, beating Assassin's Creed IV and Battlefield 4 PS3 sales. Grand Theft Auto V is aptly fifth.
A playlist appeared for PC Call of Duty: Ghosts that appeared to name future multiplayer maps before being quickly taken down. Too late, the Internetz has it now. Modern Warfare 3's Dome was spotted. If accurate than Ghosts fans can also look forward to Swamp, Battery, Red River, Rumble, Gaza and Boneyard. Four map packs are expected to release from Infinity Ward, first on Xbox.
Activision's Call of Duty: Ghosts has kept the top UK chart spot for another week as Traveller's Tales' LEGO Marvel Super Heroes debuts second. FIFA 14 rises third, swapping with Assassin's Creed IV. Battlefield 4 has been knocked down fifth, followed by Grand Theft Auto V. The latest LEGO instalment has become the second biggest in week one sales, beaten only by LEGO Indiana Jones.
Infinity Ward have patched PC Call of Duty: Ghosts removing the 'proven false' requirement of 6GB RAM to run the first-person shooter. Now the game only requires you to have 4GB RAM to play. The 6GB demand turned out to be an arbitrary one, displeasing PC gamers. The studio confirms an "in-game stutter still exists" for now and that framerates remained capped at 91.
Activision apparently named the four add-ons for Call of Duty: Ghosts from Infinity Ward, and what do you know they spell ODIN with their initials. ODIN being the US space weapon featured within the game. Onslaught, Devastation, Invasion and Nemesis make up the Season Pass offerings which marketing tells us will "save $10*" if we grab it. The details spilled from an email to COD fans.
Beachhead's metagame of Clan Wars is now in the running for Call of Duty: Ghosts as multiplayer matches become the battleground for clans to bruise each other's egos. Game modes "match up" to Clan War nodes. In-game bonuses and other unlockables are achieved if a Clan holds these 'nodes' on the Clan Wars map. XP multipliers are the short-term rewards, with long-term in the form of customisation.
PhysX in Call of Duty: Ghosts has been beefed up by Nvidia and Infinity Ward as the latest PC patch includes the new next generation fur technology, giving Riley the dog a shiny new coat to dazzle us with. The fur tech was teased a while back with The Witcher used as an example where earlier versions of wolf fur looked ridiculously N64-era compared to the new simulated fur.
The metagame of Clan Wars for Call of Duty: Ghosts is explained some more in a recent blog by Infinity Ward who say the system of nodes was designed to "ensure no one Clan can dominate" every node. The important thing to remember is that wins are counted on a "per-player basis," and aren't dependent on using a Clan vs. Clan playlist. If you're in a Clan then you're already fighting the good fight.
The 8 year record held by PS Vita for fastest selling console in the UK is shattered by Sony's new shiny PlayStation 4. It helped propel Call of Duty: Ghosts back to the chart top, besting FIFA 14 by 6k copies. Battlefield 4 keeps 3rd place, with Killzone: Shadow Fall debuting 4th. Every title in the top 10 is on PS4 except for Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V which came 7th after a sales jump.
FIFA 14 almost had the UK chart crown last week but was 600 sales short of toppling Call of Duty: Ghosts which is enjoying its 3rd consecutive week on the throne, and its 5th since launch. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes rockets to 3rd place thanks to promotions, with Battlefield 4 pulling back 4th. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag plunders 5th with Just Dance 2014 boogying 6th.
Analyst Doug Creutz calls Ghosts' November sales numbers "more troubling than they first appeared."