E3 2013: Call of Duty: Ghosts - Diving Into the Campaign

An early look at the game's new story, characters, and canine companion.

Last month, Activision provided just a brief glimpse of what to expect from Call of Duty: Ghosts, setting the stage for the next-generation of the franchise by introducing a new and improved engine and dropping choice cryptic details about its new characters and story. Now, as E3 approaches, I visited developer Infinity Ward to pull back the curtain on the new singleplayer campaign, the universe of Ghosts, and perhaps most pertinent of all: the role of the player's new canine companion.

Check out exclusive new gameplay footage above.

Instead of the frenetic, occasionally tough to follow multi-character stories of the previous games, Call of Duty: Ghosts instead focuses on one playable character and his brother — soldiers that have survived and grown up in a United States ravaged by an unspecified "mass event." While Infinity Ward is keeping the exact circumstances of the disaster close to their chest, I was able to glean a few details from the levels I was shown and comments made by the developers.

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All ties to the Modern Warfare universe have been severed.

Despite what fans may have theorized, the cataclysmic event is not based on the nuclear fallout of World War III featured in Modern Warfare 3. Not only is it a completely new conflict, all ties to the Modern Warfare universe have been severed. 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.
But the studio is also taking this opportunity to explore new enemies based on a more modern geopolitical climate. 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.

The Ghosts descend.

The U.S.'s fight with its enemies in the south takes center stage in No Man's Land — the first level of a multi-segment gameplay demo I was shown. In it, our protagonist and his brother are making their way through an area 10 miles north of San Diego, now a desolate wasteland with the remnants of houses and collapsed freeways. If the level's title wasn't enough of an indication, the emphasis on stealth as the player navigated the terrain made it clear that this was now contested territory between the U.S. and an unspecified faction. Progressing through the level, players come upon a massive, several mile-wide crater and are tasked with silently dispatching small squads of scouts, who were adorned with gas masks and accompanied by characters in hazmat suits surveying the area.
The mysterious radiological or biological threat, paired with the devastated environment and covert combat felt distinctly reminiscent of "All Ghillied Up," one of the most popular levels from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
But instead of a Ghillie suit, players are presented with a new tool — the now infamous military service dog. After the curious amount of attention given to the dog in the studio's original reveal, the community has been wondering how the Ghosts' four legged friend would fit into the game. 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. On paper, the idea might sound ludicrous, but according to Infinity Ward, it's based entirely on the real-life use of service dogs by elite Navy SEAL teams.

In the field, SEALs outfit the highly-trained dogs with a periscope-like camera and a specialized earpiece, which allows the team to monitor everything the dog sees and issue audible commands remotely. When stealth is critical, the dogs are outfitted with collars that feature vibrating motors on each side, allowing the SEALs to give directional commands silently.

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The dog is to Ghosts what a drone is to Black Ops.

While anchored in reality, the in-game version offers more direct control, allowing players to steer the dog just like they would a soldier. But instead of aiming down your sights and pulling the trigger, you target an enemy and tap the shoulder button to lunge for their throats.  After taking down a few enemies, Infinity Ward showcased the dog's other functions: recon and distraction. While controlling the dog, the player was able to let out a bark, luring a nearby enemy into view, allowing your AI ally to quickly take him out with a silenced rifle.
In short, the dog is to Ghosts what a drone is to Black Ops — at least, within the confines of the campaign.
In the second half of the demo, I was shown an underwater level. 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. While swimming toward an unknown objective amidst a beautiful reef, enemy divers submerge from a boat above. As the player approached, his AI companion reminds him that his underwater assault rifle — a Russian-made APS, which is a weapon that actually exists — is weak and would require several hits to quell their foes. Expectedly, our heroes are discovered and rifle combat ensues.

Charlie don't surf. Charlie scuba.

What's most interesting is how Infinity Ward has made creative use of the environment to plausibly recreate the experience of its tight-quarters ground combat underwater. Enemies and the player take cover behind rocks and reefs, but also use the unique verticality to get an elevated shot or dodge fire. In order to disrupt the monotony of a series of gunfights, Ghosts presents a new threat: sonar. With the larger enemy force now aware of the player, a nearby submarine begins powerful sonar blasts, which cause damage to the player and even sends tremors through the environment.
To stay alive, the player must swim from cover to cover to shield themselves from the blasts, much like you would avoid an attack chopper in a ground level. The stage concludes with the player destroying the vessel with a portable torpedo-like explosive, which sends a helicopter and other debris hurtling through the water, pinning the player under the rubble, watching as his air tube comes loose and his vision blurs. Of course, his partner rescues him in the nick of time and just as they make for their escape, find themselves greeted by a new swarm of descending enemies. Flash-cut to black.

Call of Duty: Ghosts looks and feels like Call of Duty. And despite being the subject of the franchise's most frequent criticism, that consistency is also the source of its popularity. 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.

There's still much to see and learn, including the game's new multiplayer modes, but with months to go before its launch on November 5th, Call of Duty: Ghosts is looking promising.