Last week I was flown first class and wined and dined all week long in the hopes of getting a good review score for COD: Ghosts… actually that’s a total lie but some people are going to believe it so what can you do?

In reality I, along with a large group of eastern European journalists, congregated at a hotel near Heathrow airport for 3 days to give the game a thorough going over. There were consoles in my room for me to experience the single player at my leisure and then 4 large rooms downstairs to try out every version of multiplayer on every platform possible.

I honestly think this is the best way for multiplayer games to be reviewed as it gives us the opportunity to try out everything except international lag in time for the game’s release.

So how’d it go?

Yes you get to fight in space

Single Player

I’m a huge fan of the single player portions of the Call of Duty series. I always feel like I’m living a Michael Bay movie while playing; so I was in a great rush to get my hands on this new campaign especially since I’d been teased with the information that we’d now be fighting as the underdog against a big bad Federation.

The game opens up with that scene we’ve been shown before of the spaceship docking at a space station and then suddenly the Federation rushes the station and uses America’s most important weapon against them, thus turning the tide of war and turning America into the underdogs.

Oh wait I’ve got something better, here is the entire first mission as played by me on a PlayStation 4

So far so good but unfortunately as the game starts playing out it becomes pretty obvious that America isn’t really anything resembling an underdog here. At worst they are equals with the war against the Federation appearing to be a stalemate but in reality the Americans still seem to know more than the Federation and they are the ones on the attack during the entire game.

It was from this point on I struggled to really get into the story. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a great, bombastic roller-coaster ride as you’d expect from Call of Duty. We travelled the world trading huge battles with huge battles. I got to ride a tank and blow up everything in my wake, I also got to rip people apart using an Osprey – along with every other kind of machine gun and weapon you could conceive.

The gameplay is smooth, the action is intense and the graphics are good enough to enjoy the experience.

We’re not breaking new ground here and there are a fair few technical faults in the game. In the underwater section you can’t swim up to the surface without hitting a glass ceiling; there are invisible walls aplenty and quite a few places that you can get stuck in. But nothing compares to absolutely how terribly the foliage in the jungle scene reacts.

Now this is not looking for bugs for the sake of it; you get stranded in this thick jungle and simply can’t walk to where you need to be without noticing this visible clipping.

It really is unacceptable in this generation, nevermind the next one. The video above was taken directly from a PlayStation 4 console and as you can see the foliage moves naturally until you touch it.. at which point you just phase through it like a ghost.

I completed the campaign in around 6 hours which is standard for a Call of Duty single player campaign and if you pushed the difficulty up to veteran you would seriously struggle to get the campaign completed in under 15 hours.

Single player is but a small part of the Call of Duty experience, however. Next up we have Extinction

Shoot those alien bastards

Extinction

Extinction is Infinity Ward’s response to the massively successful Zombies and they may be onto a winner here.

The premise is simple; aliens have invaded the world and you need to fight them back and take out their hives until you can call in a nuke. Every wave brings with it a new group of aliens who are stronger, smarter and more determined to take you down than ever before.

I seriously doubt you would be able to handle each stage by yourself and the secret to victory is team work and a whole lot of skill.

As in multiplayer you get to rank up, which unlocks new opportunities and abilities which you will need to specialise in. You have your typical medic, support, assault and engineer and choosing the right team is a vital factor in your continued existence.

I only got to see one stage for Extinction but you can be sure more levels will be available either at launch or as future DLC.

But single player and extinction are both just side dishes, with the obvious main course being the multiplayer – and this is where Infinity Ward has come to the fore once again.

Before we get to that though, let’s have a quick chat about squads.

[button link=”https://www.criticalhit.net/xbox-360/call-of-duty-ghosts-review/2/”]On to page 2![/button]

Last Updated: November 5, 2013

Pages 1 2
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Call of Duty: Ghosts is a great new addition to the franchise but it is definitely showing its age now. Far too many invisible walls and glitches in the single player campaign show a lack of due care and attention which I didn't expect from Infinity Ward. The multiplayer experience more than makes up for it though.
8.3
Call of Duty: Ghosts was reviewed on PlayStation 4
78 / 100

125 Comments

  1. hairyknees

    November 5, 2013 at 10:02

    First!

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      November 11, 2013 at 15:50

      Really? We’re going do this reddit shit here? No dude.. NO! I like you hairyknees, but let’s not do this “first crap”, not on Lazygamer. Keep that shit for News24 or 4chan

      Reply

      • hairyknees

        November 11, 2013 at 17:02

        I INSTANTLY REGRET THIS COMMENT! 😛

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          November 11, 2013 at 17:08

          hehehe no worries man, I’ve made a couple of those as well… 😛

          Reply

  2. hairyknees

    November 5, 2013 at 10:02

    Lets see how many trolls come out ^_^

    Reply

  3. Spathi

    November 5, 2013 at 10:07

    Good and fair review. Thanks!

    Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    November 5, 2013 at 10:08

    You were assembled? Gavin is a bot!

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      November 5, 2013 at 10:19

      I saw that edit! Sneaky sneaky. TINFOIL HAT ENGAGE!

      Reply

      • Unalighned John (JJ)

        November 5, 2013 at 10:36

        You talking to yourself?

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          November 5, 2013 at 10:40

          Everyone else thinks I’m crazy. :/

          Reply

          • Unalighned John (JJ)

            November 5, 2013 at 10:42

            I have that same problem with my humor. Only one person always laughs at it.
            Me.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 5, 2013 at 10:43

            #foreverSPhumour

          • ToshZA

            November 5, 2013 at 10:47

            I seem to have that affliction myself.

          • Rincethisweekout!

            November 5, 2013 at 10:46

            Thinks? *Runs…

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 5, 2013 at 10:49

            Shut up! You’re not a real boy!

          • Rincethisweekout!

            November 5, 2013 at 10:56

            Yes I am!

          • Admiral Chief Ninja

            November 5, 2013 at 10:58

            Yes, you are a ginger boy. Not a man

            😛

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            November 5, 2013 at 11:04

            That looks like a ginger/carrot puppet 😉

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            November 5, 2013 at 13:29

            No you aren’t! You’re a wooden toy! You can’t trick me again Rinceonochio! I know you’re just a toy!

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 5, 2013 at 13:31

            Coming from someone who is only kept alive while electricity renders him that is CHEAP!

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            November 5, 2013 at 13:32

            Pfftt… I’m in the cloud, baby!

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 5, 2013 at 13:33

            Then you really had better bot meet OVG 0-O

          • FoxOneZA

            November 5, 2013 at 14:37

            If Polygon gives Ghosts a 9, you will have to review the game before you start on KZ:S Jimmy 😛

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            November 5, 2013 at 16:55

            I would love to review a COD game (but no one trusts me with it, they think I’m going to litter the review with crude penis drawings and other profanities), maybe I should do a legacy series of video reviews starting with COD1 all the way to COD Ghosts….

  5. Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

    November 5, 2013 at 10:12

    11/10! Where’s the money, Activision?

    Reply

    • Rincethisweekout!

      November 5, 2013 at 10:34

      Silence troll!

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      November 5, 2013 at 10:39

      Destructoid didn’t get theirs :/

      Reply

      • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

        November 5, 2013 at 13:30

        lol Sterling is an excellent commentator, but he’s a pretty pathetic reviewer.

        Reply

        • Kyou

          November 5, 2013 at 23:29

          HEY!!! DON’T USE THE M WORD HERE!!! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!!!

          Reply

        • Kyou

          November 5, 2013 at 23:31

          NOBODY SAYS THE M WORD THAT ENDS WITH “CRE” ASSHOLE!!! SO WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!!! WASH YOUR MOUTH THE SOAP ASSHOLE!!! PEOPLE NEED TO STOP SAYING THAT WORD!!! I HATE THAT WORD!!! IT’S 2013 DAMMIT!!!

          Reply

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            November 7, 2013 at 16:05

            You seem tense, here’s my balls suck on them.

  6. SaintsRowNigri

    November 5, 2013 at 10:14

    Nice review and all Gavin, but I am just a bit miffed that it wasn’t reviewed on current gen consoles…

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 10:19

      I played it on current gen consoles as well and it works perfectly.

      Reply

      • SaintsRowNigri

        November 5, 2013 at 10:22

        Ah… Good. Now, do you have R700.00 I can borrow on a permanent basis?

        Reply

      • Biza-B

        November 5, 2013 at 10:57

        Do my eyes deceive me? Did i read that correctly?? reviewed on PS4? How does she handle? How does she make the game look?

        Reply

  7. Otto_ki

    November 5, 2013 at 10:17

    Got to get too BT games today!

    Reply

  8. Alex Hicks

    November 5, 2013 at 10:20

    Gav, did you play on PC too? Or just the console versions?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 10:25

      only on all the consoles… embargoed on the Xbox one views until later this month

      Reply

  9. Captain GUZ

    November 5, 2013 at 10:24

    I will play this on my friends PC, it looks cool but I cant justify paying so much just for the SP(as its probably gonna take me a day or 2 to finish), not interested in the MP (thats what BF4 is for)

    Reply

  10. Rincethisweekout!

    November 5, 2013 at 10:25

    Nice one Gav. Good to see you not swooning over it, but being realistic in the pros and negatives. Speaking of pros, I am assuming they weren’t included…

    Reply

  11. Anon A Mouse

    November 5, 2013 at 10:27

    But do the fish also swim into the glass walls? Too soon?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 10:28

      no they don’t.. they are clever fish

      Reply

      • ToshZA

        November 5, 2013 at 10:45

        Or just ghost fish. Walls do not hinder their swimming.

        Reply

  12. Admiral Chief Ninja

    November 5, 2013 at 10:28

    LOOOOOOONG load times

    Reply

    • Unalighned John (JJ)

      November 5, 2013 at 10:35

      consoles

      Reply

      • Gavin Mannion

        November 5, 2013 at 10:37

        next gen consoles.. most of these videos are PS4

        Reply

        • Unalighned John (JJ)

          November 5, 2013 at 10:38

          Looks pretty sharp, I must admit. I used to love COD back in the day and this looks like a smallish return to from. Small being the operative word there.

          Reply

        • Admiral Chief Ninja

          November 5, 2013 at 10:44

          Still a massive load time for a single map

          Reply

          • Gavin Mannion

            November 5, 2013 at 10:55

            not defending it.. it really is a little silly

          • Admiral Chief Ninja

            November 5, 2013 at 10:58

            I get the appeal for a “quick CoD session”, but my PC starts up, connects to 3G, starts up Steam, Loads up Planetside 2, connects to server, connects to continent and warp to action faster than this.

          • Unalighned John (JJ)

            November 5, 2013 at 11:13

            I think it’s the number one reason why my PS3 is gathering dust.

    • Matthew Holliday

      November 5, 2013 at 11:34

      try playing bf4
      i have time to make coffee between during load times.

      Reply

    • NostalgicMossel

      November 5, 2013 at 11:55

      Not with my SSD…hehe.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Ninja

        November 5, 2013 at 11:57

        Heheh, was trollin the ps4…

        Reply

      • Uberutang

        November 5, 2013 at 13:43

        Was About to ask what load times?

        Reply

  13. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    November 5, 2013 at 10:37

    Clipping and invisi walls?

    Well that’s easy to explain!

    Clipping through the leaves? Well you are a Ghost duh.

    Invisi walls? Well since you are a ghost you can only traverse certain specific areas. Like most ghosts you can’t go beyond a certain point.

    Boom. Faults and bugs explained.

    #trollol

    Reply

    • Rincethisweekout!

      November 5, 2013 at 10:40

      Heheheh. And the dog? 0-O

      Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        November 5, 2013 at 10:44

        Spirit guide

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief Ninja

          November 5, 2013 at 10:45

          hehe

          Reply

        • Otto_ki

          November 5, 2013 at 10:46

          nice save XD

          Reply

        • Rincethisweekout!

          November 5, 2013 at 10:46

          Good boy. Fish?

          Reply

          • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

            November 5, 2013 at 10:47

            In the mortal realm. Hence why they can swim away and past the invisi walls

          • Rincethisweekout!

            November 5, 2013 at 10:50

          • Vampyre Squirrel

            November 5, 2013 at 11:55

            I’d apologize for throwing the bottle, but it wasn’t me and I wouldn’t be sorry if it had been me.

          • RinceandRepeat

            November 5, 2013 at 11:58

            Hahaha! Man, this made me giggle 🙂

  14. Scruff304

    November 5, 2013 at 10:39

    I won’t lie, as a BF player, Ghosts sounds like it could be a pretty good time… For the next year…
    I wonder how many of the people who took the day off to play today have already finished the single player?

    Reply

    • Captain GUZ

      November 5, 2013 at 10:44

      All of them? trololol

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief Ninja

        November 5, 2013 at 10:45

        HAHAHA, lol

        Reply

      • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

        November 5, 2013 at 10:45

        hehehe

        Reply

      • Scruff304

        November 5, 2013 at 10:47

        Oh stop it you :-þ

        Reply

    • Tarisma

      November 5, 2013 at 10:46

      I’m gonna get Ghosts just to make you jealous

      Reply

      • Scruff304

        November 5, 2013 at 10:48

        I bet you won’t…

        Reply

  15. Hammersteyn

    November 5, 2013 at 10:40

    Meh

    Reply

  16. Bad @ss

    November 5, 2013 at 10:47

    How do you register this bloody game as there is no SA option?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 10:49

      Register? I didn’t need to at the event… normally if I can’t find SA I choose UK…

      Reply

      • Bad @ss

        November 5, 2013 at 10:58

        Well hell yeah you have to register and it seems to be quite a difficult thing to do that should be so simple

        Reply

      • Bad @ss

        November 5, 2013 at 11:20

        Seems to be the only option

        Reply

  17. oVg

    November 5, 2013 at 10:50

    What do you do in COD? Besides press forward and reload every 2 rounds.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 10:51

      Speaking of which, there is a new launcher that launches double semtex grenades… so so so much fun

      Reply

      • oVg

        November 5, 2013 at 11:31

        When one reloads before the magazine is empty do those rounds get lost?

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          November 5, 2013 at 13:37

          I kind of hope so, far too many games ignore that simple fact…

          Reply

  18. TiMsTeR1033

    November 5, 2013 at 11:03

    Next gen se gat! Leaves and foliage should move! Hell! current gen games can already do better!

    Reply

  19. Sarelseemonster

    November 5, 2013 at 11:09

    As a noob to COD, how will the Servers work? On PC? I registered as UK so no SA option online.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 11:12

      They have promised smart matching and I have heard mweb will be hosting local servers so it should pick up your region and tag you to that

      Reply

      • Sarelseemonster

        November 5, 2013 at 11:47

        Really hope so…it will by really bad if we can’t get good lagfree matches.

        Reply

      • Alex Hicks

        November 5, 2013 at 13:30

        I cannot express the rage I feel with this console-like matching crap. It really cannot be that difficult to cater for PC users like we used to have – you know, back when FPS’s were new and shiny and pushing boundaries – like a server browser; locally hosted ranked servers, etc.

        Reply

    • Matthew Holliday

      November 5, 2013 at 11:32

      you dont get to choose servers, will be the same as the searching options for mw2+
      hit find game, game find the “best” server for you based on ping,location and available players.

      Reply

      • Mark Treloar

        November 6, 2013 at 11:31

        Well that explains why I kept getting connected to Russians and Germans or maybe not?

        Reply

  20. LAblak22

    November 5, 2013 at 11:15

    I chose LEGO Marvel Superheroes over this because I am super, super hardcore.

    Reply

    • Unalighned John (JJ)

      November 5, 2013 at 11:21

      Respect yo

      Reply

      • LAblak22

        November 5, 2013 at 12:06

        Thug life ain’t easy, but it’s gots to be done.

        Reply

        • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

          November 5, 2013 at 13:38

          For realz!

          Reply

  21. Matthew Holliday

    November 5, 2013 at 11:36

    just picked my copy up from takealot.
    currently installing.

    Reply

    • Alex Hicks

      November 5, 2013 at 13:07

      Matthew, when you’re done can you let me know how the local multiplayer works? As I understand it the local ranked servers and server browser portions are not part of the game yet …

      That is literally a make or break for me

      Reply

    • Uberutang

      November 5, 2013 at 13:45

      Let us know what the Servers are like for PC please. Disks are sitting on my desk.

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        November 5, 2013 at 14:11

        will when the 1.5gb of updates eventually finishes

        Reply

        • Uberutang

          November 5, 2013 at 14:12

          Thanks Matthew. 1.5 gig… sigh.

          Reply

          • Matthew Holliday

            November 6, 2013 at 11:03

            Servers are fine, exactly the same as MW3.
            soldier setups are different
            and theyv changed up the balance/mechanics, changing the gamestyle slightly.

            my biggest complaint is that it hits my pc like a truck, almost unplayable, that is my biggest dissappointment…

          • Uberutang

            November 6, 2013 at 11:05

            Yeah played last night. Shockingly bad game for this late in 2013.
            They took the good stuff from BLOPS2 away and went back to MW3. Actually this is just MW3 with a new skin and few tweaks.

            Worse R399 ever spend on a game.

  22. rekof

    November 5, 2013 at 11:38

    How many maps are there in MP?

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      November 5, 2013 at 11:43

      I don’t know for sure.. didn’t write it down.. but I think around 8

      Reply

  23. Uberutang

    November 5, 2013 at 11:42

    Local servers not up yet?

    Reply

  24. Xelus

    November 5, 2013 at 12:18

    Call of Duty Ghosts? Is this Ghost Recon or Call of Duty now? Saw a review on Kotaku and the first sentence was.

    “Three men huddle around a campfire, eager to hear the story of an elite force of highly-feared soldiers. Ghosts, they’re called”

    So ask again here too, is this Ghost Recon or call of booty, I mean duty. My bad, my bad. XD Lol

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      November 5, 2013 at 13:35

      I’m currently playing Ghost Recon Future Soldier… HOLY FREAKING COW, it’s awesome. I wish I had gotten it before I played Splinter Cell Blacklist, because they share so much in terms of controls. The weapon customisation in Future Soldier is brilliant. I really wish that other games would do something similar.

      Reply

      • Xelus

        November 5, 2013 at 13:51

        I agree, I played Ghost Recon Future Soldier was epic, enjoyed every bit of the game.

        Reply

  25. Ultimo_Cleric N7

    November 5, 2013 at 12:49

    I will get it ^^

    Reply

  26. Milesh Bhana

    November 5, 2013 at 12:52

    you have a PS4???

    Reply

  27. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    November 5, 2013 at 13:28

    No thanks, I’ll pass through Go and collect my $200.

    Reply

    • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

      November 5, 2013 at 13:40

      Good review though, but this game… argh! It just makes me want to shake my fist, and punch through walls!

      Reply

  28. RobertjG60

    November 5, 2013 at 15:29

    wasted $60, they lied about the dedicated servers. the mouse is sluggish. Low frame rate even with graphics set low

    Reply

  29. Nintendo Fan 4 Lif3

    November 5, 2013 at 17:04

    is extinction mode online only because it looks like fun?

    Reply

  30. Danny Friday

    November 5, 2013 at 20:14

    not really good news for next gen…hopefully someone else will come in a step these kind of games up to the next level and finally leave COD to R.I.P

    Reply

    • shanbuscus

      November 5, 2013 at 23:59

      im hoping thats what killzone shadow fall will do

      Reply

  31. CRAZY

    November 5, 2013 at 23:25

    PEOPLE STILL PLAY COD!? BITCH PLASE!! DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS GAME!! BATTLEFIELD 4 SUCKS AS WELL!! FPS GAMES SUCK!!

    Reply

  32. Rockstar

    November 5, 2013 at 23:26

    Nice review Gavin!

    Reply

  33. Panga

    November 6, 2013 at 15:35

    Not happy with this game Graphics on PC looks dated and the match making system is terrible again just like MW3… Unfortunately not money well spent

    Reply

  34. qd22vcc

    November 6, 2013 at 23:33

    black ops 2 is excellent? For those who played from the beginning….black ops is only for the ADd gamer style…..COD lost the openness to their maps and you can’t really play many other ways than run and gun……im a long time lover of cod but after black ops, they are losing me

    Reply

  35. sad

    November 7, 2013 at 02:44

    The worst call of duty I have played to this point. I would like to know who is reviewing these games seriously if you can’t tell what a good game is then you have no right to be rating games in the first place. This version of cod is just like black ops 2 just throw some new maps on it and call it ghost. The weapons are prettt much the same, hit system is shitty along with alot of lucky one shot kills the graphics do not look impressive at all to me. I’m tired of people rating these games when all you do is hype these type of games up to such a level that is bull shit! So you can make a quick dollar off your lies. I’m so close to being done with the cod series the only reason I still have alittle faith is because I hope that you will be smart enough to make a cod similar to mw3. Overall I wouldn’t even rate this game a 4.

    Reply

    • JHN

      November 7, 2013 at 10:48

      yoh

      Reply

  36. JHN

    November 7, 2013 at 10:52

    Playing it at the moment really enjoying the single player, its not going to revolutionize gaming as we know it but it is good fun.

    Reply

  37. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    November 11, 2013 at 15:49

    Apparently…. http://www.spawnfirst.com/news/cboat-hints-drm-functionality-still-present-games/ (COD Xbone single player requires Xbox Live)

    Reply

  38. allfish images

    July 30, 2017 at 18:29

    Whats up with all those fake accounts that upvotes you? These accounts
    are the very definition of damage controlling. Sony must pay well this
    person lmao
    http://rcartoons.com/

    Reply

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