Summary
As should be expected of any video game franchise that’s been around for two decades now, theCall of Dutyseries has had its fair share very high highs, and some pretty low lows. While the two bigCall of Dutyseries,Modern WarfareandBlack Opshave practically knocked it out of the park almost every time, the entries that come in between don’t often live up to fans' expectations, and never has that been more true than with 2013’sCall of Duty: Ghosts.
The 10th mainlineCall of Dutygame, and the sixth developed primarily by Infinity Ward,Call of Duty: Ghostswas marketed as the next big step forward for the franchise, marking the first break intheModern Warfare/Black Opscyclein five years. With a lackluster campaign, too few game modes, boring visuals, and a multiplayer component that felt more like a downgrade than the huge leap forward it was supposed to be,Call of Duty: Ghostswas a pretty big disappointment on launch. Still,Call of Duty: Ghostswasn’t completely devoid of good ideas, and there’s one feature that should definitely make a return in the near future: maps being altered by Nukes.
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Call of Duty: Ghosts' K.E.M. Strike Destruction Should Make a Return
Killstreaks - also known as Pointstreaks in some entries - have always been a major selling point of theCall of Dutyfranchise, and one of the primary ways that its own multiplayer mode stands out from its endless sea of competitors. Introduced all the way back in 2007’sCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Killstreaks are the perfect way to reward players consistently during the course of a match, giving them a constant incentive to put in their all to each fight. Killstreaks also introduced an element of risk/reward to theCall of Dutyexperience, offering skilled players some of the most satisfying abilities in all of multiplayer gaming if they take the risk, aim for a more expensive option, and then manage to meet the lofty requirements. There’s never been a better example of this thanCall of Duty’s nuke Killstreak.
First introduced in2009’sCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the nuke Killstreak has had many different forms over the years, and the vast majority of those are incredibly rewarding to use. Called the Tactical Nuke,MW2’s version of this Killstreak immediately kills everyone in the lobby and ends the game early, giving the user and their team an instant win regardless of the score. 2011’sModern Warfare 3had its own version of this Killstreak called the M.O.A.B., which didn’t end the game but still killed the entire lobby, destroyed all the remaining gadgets and Killstreaks on the map, and stopped the enemy team from using their Killstreaks for 60 seconds.
Call of Duty: Ghoststook this just one step further. Called the K.E.M. (Kinetic Energy Missile),Call of Duty: Ghosts' version of this iconic Killstreak essentially functioned exactly as the M.O.A.B. did, but had an incredibly unique feature on two maps. If players launched the K.E.M. on either Ignition or Strikezone, players would respawn on a completely decimated map, featuring completely new terrain, destroyed structures, and some major visual differences including the appearance of kicked-up dust.
It would be amazing to see this feature return inCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, or the next entry in the franchise. Of course, it would probably be incredibly difficult to essentially double the number of maps in the game just for the sake of a fairly rare Killstreak that the vast majority of players might never see, but having at least one or two maps that get affected from the nuke Killstreak would be pretty special to see.
Call of Duty: Ghostsis available for PC, PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
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