By Jennifer Tan AKA Mrs Fett
Ghosts has finally dropped, selling over $1 billion dollars in copies to retailers worldwide. First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone who came out to the midnight launch in La Quinta, GAEMS, GameStop, Bawls, Rocket Fizz and T-Mobile for your amazing contributions, and a HUGE congratulations to Enrique, who took home his very own GAEMS Vanguard PGE!
So were the hype and the wait worth it? Ehhhhh kinda? As groundbreaking as it was to finally see female characters, and a new K-9 companion, the feeling of repetitive, and spawn trapped maps drowned out the sounds of any fat lady that might have been singing.
The game was not a complete fail though! Not by a longshot. Extinction is an additional game mode that replaced Zombies. In this four person co-op mission style game, you play against hordes of aliens, big, small, and ugly. It was a pleasant surprise to the game, and has become one of my favorite ways to release Honey Badger built rage. There is no hero in this mode. No matter what your role, you will always be an asset, which is a great team building skill.
Multiplayer got a few new tricks, but putting a bow on an old dog, still makes it an old dog… just cuter. New guns, including an OP Honey Badger, leaning, which allows you to take cover AND fire around objects was a great idea, but staring at a wall trying to trigger the ability lands you dead 60% of the time. There is also the new, and very entertaining, slide, which allows you to drop, slide, and land crouched or prone, for extra stealth. Ooooooorrr, you can just play slip and slide in the snow. Now lets look at the ugly. Spawns are horrible, impossible to lock, and usually get you spawned in front of your favorite enemy. The environments are almost TOO busy, and distract you from that dude camping in a bush.
Campaign hit some high notes, the story was well thought and executed with emotion and poise intact. If you pay attention, and I’m not going to tell you where, but you can score some easter eggs, including a Rupee from Legend of Zelda, a Tardis patch from Dr. Who, and my favorite, the Saving Private Ryan challenge.
When everything was played and investigated, I gave the game a 7/10. Graphics and story were not enough to save this veteran franchise, or earn them anything above a 7. That does not mean I won’t completely restart, and reassess the game on the PS4, and Xbox One, when they release this week and next. Maybe this was the bandaid to a much bigger, and better experience to be had.
