IGN's Pre-E3 Call of Duty: Ghosts Exclusive Sneak Peak

Earlier today IGN released an article on their exclusive sneak peak at what Activision is planning to show the rest of the world tomorrow, regarding their new game, Call of Duty: Ghosts. There's not a great deal of information to be had, not entirely surprising given it was only meant to be a brief glimpse into the full reveal but I still think the article is worth reading. There are two short video clips to go with the article but these don't really show us anything that we haven't already seen from the reveal trailer and behind the scenes footage. But again if you're interested in hearing what Mark Rubin (first video) and Zach Volker (second video, title image above) have to say, then these will be worth watching to learn a very small amount about the direction they wanted to take the game and some of the new features they've implemented.

I'll link the IGN article below, so jump to that if you want to read and watch all the material from the original source yourself but for those that just want the bare bones of what was discussed without having to trawl through the entire article, I've quoted a few lines that I think were the main points. To go along with each quote, as always, are my own added thoughts on the matter, enjoy.

The events of Modern Warfare never happened and the characters never existed — including Simon "Ghost" Riley. The use of his iconic mask, Infinity Ward says, is pure fan service. Nothing more.

This point has already been made several times before but there are still some fans who are slightly confused unsure over the matter, so to re-iterate, the Ghosts storyline has nothing to do what-so-ever with the Modern Warfare storyline. There's no overlapping, no re-emerging characters, no links via past/future events, they are completely separate universes where characters from either storyline don't exist in the other.

In Call of Duty: Ghosts, the oft used but painfully dated Russian threat has been thrown out, and players are now facing "resource rich" states, most notably certain oil-abundant nations of South America.

It's true that in the past the Russians have commonly taken the role of America's opposition force (not just with Call of Duty titles) but with Ghosts this will no longer be the case, IGN mentioned the countries of South America, which actually ties in with some of the scenery displayed in the reveal trailer. But it's worth saying that these aren't the only up and coming economies with a lot of natural resources, when I was analysing the reveal trailer I actually thought some of the locals (namely the night city) might have been in the Middle East.

As fate would have it, the dog is more than just an AI companion — it's a remote recon scout and deadly weapon controlled by the player via a tablet-like viewfinder.

As the quote says the dog is more than just a character along for the ride, in the campaign s/he's an active and playable member of the team, we haven't yet been shown how exactly it operates but one thing we are told is that it's area of expertise is infiltrating enemy territory and actually has the ability to kill enemies via a lethal bite to the throat!

Missions set under the sea are nothing new for the franchise, but in Ghosts, the environment isn't just used as vessel for covert infiltration or a stunning setpiece — it's a battleground all its own, complete with gunfights, environmental dangers, and more.

In previous Call of Duty titles we've experienced sections of the game where we need to swim through submerged locations to reach our destination and/or carry out a stealth assault. In Ghosts, water is no longer just a bit of scenery before we continue with/start a mission but one or more operations will be based entirely underwater including sections where there will be engagements with enemy forces. I wonder if this might make an appearance in multiplayer?!

With the latest installment, Infinity Ward doesn't seem interested in breaking the formula, but it's leveraging next-gen capabilities and the chance for a fresh start with a new story and characters to make significant advancements.

IGN rounds up their article with this remark and I think it speaks volumes about what we can expect to see from Activisions reveal about Call of Duty:Ghosts over the coming weeks. First and foremost don't expect too much in the way of new features and in game mechanics, yes there are a couple new additions but I have a feeling they might be the only ones we'll see. Call of Duty seems to fit nicely into the time old saying of 'If it isn't broke, don't fix it' and Activision clearly don't think they need to deviate too far from what they've done with previous CoD titles. To be quite honest, I don't blame them because every year that goes by, they still sell copies by the lorry load and in my humble opinion I think having a franchise that specialises in one thing only isn't always a bad thing. I mean sure I'd love it if they totally mixed things up with a new IP but generally I like CoD for what it does best and while people might complain about every new title for being too similar to the last one, I'm pretty sure you'll still find them playing it at one point or another. With the new consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) due to hit stores later this year and bringing with them some new technology, I imagine we're in for some advancement for the game franchises we've come to love but I'd be incredibly surprised if they're changed massively. So in summary, I think we can expect to see the same fast paced multiplayer packed with new weapons and score/killstreaks as well as a (probably) short but heavily action packed and very cinematic campaign.

I'll be sure sure to keep you up to speed with any new information that is released, namely tomorrows reveal and any events during/after E3 2013 but in the mean time if you've got any thoughts you'd like to share on this sneak peak, drop me a comment below :)

Source: IGN's Pre-E3 CoD: Ghosts Sneak Peak Article (quotes and title image)