Call of Duty: Ghosts

A first‑person shooter set in a near‑future scenario, introducing a new narrative universe within the Call of Duty franchise and combining traditional military action with experimental features such as playable animal companions and alien survival modes.

Call of Duty: Ghosts was released in 2013 as a standalone entry distinct from the Modern Warfare and Black Ops subseries. The campaign depicts a United States crippled by a devastating orbital strike, with players joining the covert “Ghosts” unit to resist a technologically superior enemy. The narrative alternates perspectives, including sequences as an astronaut and as Riley, a trained military dog whose inclusion marked a notable innovation in the series.

Multiplayer introduced customisable soldiers, dynamic maps with destructible elements, and new killstreak rewards, alongside the “Squads” mode that blended AI companions with competitive play. A major addition was Extinction mode, a cooperative survival experience where players fought waves of alien creatures, offering an alternative to the Zombies modes popularised in other entries.

Reception was mixed: critics praised the breadth of multiplayer options and the novelty of Extinction, but the campaign was criticised for familiar tropes and limited innovation. Commercially, the game underperformed compared to its predecessors, partly due to its release during the transition to new console hardware. Despite this, Ghosts remains notable for its experimental features and its attempt to establish a fresh narrative identity within the franchise.