6. Lack of Tonal Variation
Call of Duty: Ghosts campaign is like being inside a collapsing sandcastle as a particularly furious toddler batters their way through the walls. Theres barely a moment to catch your breath, let alone actually think for a second who youre supposed to be firing at. The story opens with a comic book-esque depiction of the titular Ghosts, the implication being that this team of super-badasses are a ragtag group of broed-up terrorist-botherers, their origin story involving essentially rising from the dead to thwart a group of enemies before leaving one alive to spread the word of their ruthless slaughter, Keyser Soze-style. Wow, this is awesome! you may think, Maybe Im going to be in for something other than taking part in an on-rails firework display! Youd be wrong though, as the levels rush by with barely a motivation in sight, instead content with throwing as many set-pieces your way as possible. An erupting volcano here, a falling skyscraper there, interspersed with comrade-changes that maintain the idea that a mute-protagonist is the fastest way to inject you into any given situation, providing enough people around you are shouting in your general direction. This thereby removes any context outside of Hey man, you should probably run away from the exploding dam thats randomly flooding the streets, and oh hey theres a missile launching in the distance, better stop that too!