Call Of Duty: Ghosts Review - Same Old Set-Pieces

4. Same Old S***, Just New Set-Pieces

The actual gameplay of the game isn€™t going to make waves or surprise anyone either. You€™re still going to be following around your teammates, mowing down any enemies in the area, and awaiting the next big bombastic interactive moment. I don€™t believe that every sequel should emphatically reinvent the mechanics or anything so I€™m not going to berate Ghosts too much here, but I was disappointed in one area. Why is the entire middle of the campaign devoid of anything exciting? I previously touched on this but it€™s again worth mentioning that a majority of the campaign feels like a string of levels constructed without any prior knowledge on how it would actually fit into the grander scheme of things. It€™s even more apparent when you reflect on how intense and cinematically packed both the beginning and ending string of levels are. The beginning of the campaign involves you entering space, sprinting through a city crumbling away beneath your feet, messing around with your tactically equipped canine companion Riley, and intriguing flashbacks. During the ending sequences you have a full blown shootout in space, control tanks, storm through a train, and more. In both cases you€™re actually doing things pertinent to the story too which really accentuates your adrenaline. Before moving on, I realize I only briefly mentioned Riley, but that€™s because despite Infinity Ward pimping the hell out of his involvement throughout E3 and various promotional avenues, he€™s only in like 5/18 of the game€™s missions. I€™m not advocating that early on Riley was a game changer, but it€™s disheartening that the one refreshing aspect of the game randomly dissipates not even 1/4th of the way through the game.