Call of Duty: Ghosts

After loving the campaign in Black Ops 2, the single player in Ghosts feels like a step back for the series. The campaign felt tiresome, familiar, predictable and linear. The multiplayer on the other hand, saves the day as the tweaks to the gameplay and the new games modes make this the best multiplayer COD experience to date.

There is still a ton of depth for vets, with a new expanded perk system that lets you mix and match perks from all categories, tons of new game modes such as the fast-paced Cranked and Blitz, and the ability to build a near invincible squad and watch it climb the leaderboards without you even playing.

Despite an overriding feeling of familiarity, Ghosts is another excellent entry in the Call of Duty series.

We have to realize that even the most successful packages reach a point where only minor tweaks and additions attempt to masquerade as innovation. That doesn’t work and hopefully, Activision will realize that CoD is on the downward slope and it’s once again time to reinvent. It must be done in the next generation.

Ghosts will disappoint those only in it for the singleplayer, although – Extinction aside – the multiplayer feels like just more of the same. Those who play online will still get their money’s worth, but a proper evolution of the series’ mechanics is now desperately needed.

COD players, myself included, will still play Ghosts for the sake of having 20 or so new maps to play on over the course of the year, but in a franchise that’s the same year after year with slight changes, it’s reasonable to expect things to materially improve, not to take even a small step backwards.

It's a generally by-the-numbers excursion through big-budget wartime set pieces that, due to an unavoidable air of familiarity, wares out its welcome much quicker than it should.

An aging engine takes one last shot at an aging console before Infinity Ward turns its full focus towards the next generation. The developer does a great job with the some of the set pieces, but most of the campaign is still basic, refined cover shooting. A decent last hurrah on the PlayStation 3, but you may want to invest in the PlayStation 4, PC, or Xbox One versions if you're looking for the full effect.