Call of Duty Ghosts Multiplayer News: Live Stream Shows Off Variety of New Features

Call of Duty: Ghosts is one of the hottest games that gamers have been waiting for on current and next-gen platforms, and today developer Infinity Ward and publisher Activision have revealed new details about the game's multiplayer mode.

The livestream begins with a montage of footage mixing past Call of Duty games and commercials with footage from Call of Duty: Ghosts. Activision's CEO comes out first to a cheering crowd. He glad-hands the crowd, hyping the loyalty of Call of Duty fans and the popularity of the series overall. He then addresses the coming changeover from current consoles to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. He discusses the changed cultural landscape that has come since Call of Duty first appeared. He then brings out what we have all been waiting for, Ghosts multiplayer.

A new montage played, featuring a new Eminem single called "Survival".  The footage shows a variety of new weapons, maps, and modes that will be included in the game, as well as a variety of scenarios that players can find themselves in. A more in depth look at the multiplayer then follows, based on the three pillars of the game. One is the solider, in which the player can fully customize their character aesthetically, as well as their skill set. The world is the second pillar, as the maps will be more detailed and varied. Finally, the third pillar is mobility. A player's profile can follow them anywhere, from going to a friend's house to upgrading to next-gen console, a player's profile can go with them anywhere.

Mark Rubin is up next, and he reveals that the multiplayer in Ghosts has the most modifications to the mode since the original Modern Warfare. He then goes into character customization, and reveals that players are building individual soldiers, rather than classes. Female soldiers will be included, as well as an 80% overhaul of weapons. A new class, the Marksman, will be included in the game, which is a combination of sniper and assault class. Rubin reveals that there will be more perks than ever, and players get a set amount of perk points per game, and can distribute them to whatever perks they want in various degrees. 20 new streaks will be in the game, including an ability to call in Riley the dog. Strike packages have returned as well. Players can form squads of up to ten soldiers, each with their own prestige levels and unlocks for a single player.

A new mode called Cranked is shown, where players rack up kills, which cause a boost of a variety of stats, but if the cranked clock runs out they will explode. Search and Rescue has players get the chance to respawn fallen teammates if they grab their dog tags, but if the enemy gets their first then the player is out for the game.

Squads is the biggest new mode, however, and it features several game types. Players form A.I squads that they can compete with other A.I enemies or other players. Squad modes have a variety of different online and offline modes that players can explore. Experience can be gained from these different squad modes and used for

The new dynamic maps are shown, where players can cause different effects on the map through a variety of means. They can set traps for enemies, or demolish areas to improve line of sights of get rid of cover. New controls are revealed, such as contextual leaning, which will cause players to lean around cover without having to use button inputs. Another new feature is knee sliding. The sound of the game has been upgraded, where the sounds of the game will change based on the environment. For example, shots fired in an open space will sound different than those in indoor areas.

Live gameplay is then shown, which had real US marines and pro Call of Duty players come together to play the cranked game mode on the map Strikezone, which is a baseball stadium. Cranked is a very kinectic game mode, which has players scrambling to continue their killstreaks once they start the clock counting down.

Yule Miller is out next detailing the free Call of Duty account features, which is already available to Elite players. As mentioned before, this allows the game to be more mobile, both as a way to import a players profile as well as giving access to the mobile app for the game. The mobile app can help players share their stats with friends and check in with their clan. Clan xp is available in every multiplayer mode, which can be used to unlock new features for the clan. Clan Wars is also introduced, in which clans face off against each other to try to take over territories on the mobile app through the Ghost multiplayer. New clan wars will take place every two weeks.

DLC is addressed, with a season pass coming to the game, which can transfer from current to next gen consoles.  The livestream concludes with the announcement that Activision will be bringing the game to various cities around the world, including Cologne for Gamescom August 21-25, as well as news about the Call of Duty Endowment program.

Overall, the variety of improvements to the game should help Call of Duty: Ghosts stand out among current and next-gen consoles, and the new modes look impressive as well.