Call of Duty: Ghosts Reveals "Squads"

[Andy Chalk]

Call of Duty: Ghosts Reveals "Squads"

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The Call of Duty: Ghosts "Squads" trailer introduces the game's new AI-based multiplayer component.

Tired of online teammates who suck? Call of Duty: Ghosts may have just the thing to turn that particular frown upside-down with Squads, a customizable team of AI-based compadres that will back you up when your flesh-and-blood buddies won't.

The squads themselves are essentially bots that gain experience and rank up as they're used. But they're not just meat-bag fill-ins for those nights when all your friends are out at a party you weren't invited to; Activision has also added a series of new Squads game modes, designed to take advantage of what they bring to the party.

You and your squad can challenge another player and his unit in head-to-head combat, for instance, or you and a group of friends can take on squads created by offline players - and your squad can likewise be challenged by others when you're not connected. That last bit is particularly interesting because experience earned in Squads play is "directly connected" to your multiplayer progress, meaning that you can pick up bonus XP even when you're not online.

More information about the new Call of Duty: Ghosts "Squads" mode is available from callofduty.com [http://www.callofduty.com/ghosts/features/squads]. Call of Duty: Ghosts comes out on November 5 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC, and as a launch title for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.


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[Matthi205]

Most of the modes sound incredibly similar, but at least they are trying to do things differently for once.

It could turn out to just be a you-with-AI-companions bot-em-up, and it could end up being very samey if the maps are too small and aren't varied enough. If they get this right, on the other hand, it could actually be something worth buying CoD for for once.

 

[Link XL1]

yeah it does sound kinda cool, but i feel like it'll be too little too late. no one cares about cod anymore

 

[anthony87]

So first it was fish that move out of the way


And now it's bots?

Damn Call of Duty, you need to slow it down. You're getting way too ahead of your time here.

 

[Nooners]

This actually sounds really cool. I like this idea....in theory, anyway.
it really all boils down to how well the squad AI is. If that doesn't work, then the whole idea is a wash.

 

[Spiritmaster]

Not gonna lie, at first I thought it said Call of Duty Ghosts Reveals Squids, and I was thinking they would be the aquatic versions of the dogs already announced. Sadly not. Would'a worked so well with that fish moving tech anthony87 mentioned.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Fuckin' finally. I hate playing CoD with real people. At least I get to create a game with my own set of rules without shitty killstreaks and other useless crap. Bots are actually far more welcome than real online gameplay. I grew up playing games with bots. Maybe I'll actually get this.

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Fuckin' finally. I hate playing CoD with real people. At least I get to create a game with my own set of rules without shitty killstreaks and other useless crap. Bots are actually far more welcome than real online gameplay. I grew up playing games with bots. Maybe I'll actually get this.

"And to truly simulate player behavior, at least one squadmate will randomly spurt out homophobic and racist remarks."

So... Bots... Probably really well designed bots, but still bots...

 

[RicoADF]

So what I'm taking away from this is that the game is so bad they had to make it play itself and reward you for doing nothing to give a good selling point?

Yeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh........... no.

Although if you can play vs just bots like much better games of old then I may be interested in getting it from the $10 bin in a few years.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

That soldier you equip with a sniper rifle will sit in a single spot overlooking a choke point the entire match. That guy you give a submachine gun will run into explosives and then start calling everyone [CENSORED]. That guy you give an assault rifle will chuck grenades at random and speak with the voice of my racist twelve year old son.

 

[TheRussian]

Fuckin' finally. I hate playing CoD with real people. At least I get to create a game with my own set of rules without shitty killstreaks and other useless crap. Bots are actually far more welcome than real online gameplay. I grew up playing games with bots. Maybe I'll actually get this.

I hear ya. I bought Counter Strike: Global Offensive for the sole purpose of playing against high-level bots. All the challenge that comes with playing against people with none of the garbage.
Call of Duty, you have my attention. Now don't mess this one up.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

....So AI Bots then?...Okay....

Also, I love how the dog is posed just in the thumbnail, they are STILL trying to sell us on that alone

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

...speak with the voice of my racist twelve year old son.

...You have a Racist Twelve Year Old Son?

 

[WanderingFool]

yeah it does sound kinda cool, but i feel like it'll be too little too late. no one cares about cod anymore

???

I think you might be underestimating just how devout COD players are to the series (in their own little, fucked up way).

*Edit*

...speak with the voice of my racist twelve year old son.

...You have a Racist Twelve Year Old Son?

Come now, all 12 year old boys are racist. you just only see it when they are playing "mature" games online.

 

[MysticSlayer]

yeah it does sound kinda cool, but i feel like it'll be too little too late. no one cares about cod anymore

Yeah, no one cares. That's why Black Ops 2 sold almost 13 million copies on the 360 alone [http://www.vgchartz.com/platform/7/xbox-360/], placing as the fifth best selling game on the system. Not to mention it is the third best selling PS3 game with close to 11 million copies sold [http://www.vgchartz.com/platform/3/playstation-3/]. Oh yeah, and regardless of it slowing down in pre-order rates, Ghosts still was on track to be the most pre-ordered game of 2013 as of September 9 [http://www.joystiq.com/2013/09/09/call-of-duty-ghosts-tracking-to-be-most-pre-ordered-game-of-y/].

You may not like Call of Duty, and its success might be dwindling,[footnote]Keep in mind, Activision predicted these last couple releases to not be record setting, in part because of added competition and uncertainty in the market as a whole. Not to mention, Call of Duty can lose a lot of steam before it is actually considered in danger of completely fading away.[/footnote] but it is hardly one "nobody" cares about. Well, unless you want to declare millions of people as being "nobody".

So what I'm taking away from this is that the game is so bad they had to make it play itself and reward you for doing nothing to give a good selling point?

Call of Duty has been trying to bring together single player and multiplayer since Black Ops, which added the Boot Camp mode. Infinity Ward has traditionally strayed from Treyarch's more traditional approach to placing bots in this type of multiplayer game, as indicated by Survival mode in Modern Warfare 3. This is really just the next logical step, and I was surprised to not see it in Modern Warfare 3 since it seemed like such an obvious inclusion.

As for why they are doing this: It's common knowledge at this point that Call of Duty is nowhere near as fun to play with randoms as it is with friends. You're basically lone-wolfing a team-based game, and I can't think of a single team-based game that is more fun to play on your own than it is with a group of friends. By giving you a whole squad to customize yourself and play with in certain multiplayer game types, it seems like they are trying to get those playing by themselves to be more invested in their team and what goes on. Again, though, it isn't a sign of the game being bad, but that the general nature of team-based games as a whole, even the highest quality ones, makes them less enjoyable to play by yourself than with friends.

OT: I'm cautiously optimistic about this. I think it is a great idea that could add a lot of enjoyment to the game when your friends aren't online. On the other hand, Call of Duty's AI in their past attempts at merging single player and multiplayer into one game mode has ranged from barely adequate to just downright unfair. If the AI is good, this will be great. But if it isn't that great...yeah, for the sake of the safety of the developers and their families, this better not be a failure.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I find it slightly insulting that they think they can replace real players with AI bots. Isn't that why people play multiplayer with/against complete strangers, because no machine can beat the responses of a human? Is that not also why FPS campaigns these days throw dozens of enemies at you, because the AI isn't good enough to beat you one-on one?
Hell, Titanfall uses AI bots in their games, and they're SUPPOSED to be less deadly than regular players, to make you feel like you're doing a good job. It seems very odd to me that these 'squads' are meant to work as a successful fighting force without a human to direct/defend them.

But I guess Call of Duty never took much intelligence anyway.

 

[Xdeser2]

I could be a pretentious dick who looks down on people who play CoD

but I know I'll play it anyway, and this sounds pretty cool, doing something that other multiplayer FPS don't.

But hey, the CoD hate bandwagon rolls onward into the future. Everyone hates CoD for endless sequels, then squeals like schoolchildren at the thought of a sequel for Half Life 2 -_-

 

[Amakusa]

Hmm i might actually get this one, the mode sounds promising.

 

[Something Amyss]

But hey, the CoD hate bandwagon rolls onward into the future. Everyone hates CoD for endless sequels, then squeals like schoolchildren at the thought of a sequel for Half Life 2 -_-

And if COD wasn't a game of annual iterations with slight differences, that comparison might be a reasonable one.

I mean, I'm not squealing for the thought of a new HL game, but still.

Anyway, more to the point, what gets me about these games is more that my friends will ***** about them incessantly and buy them anyway. I see this a lot on the internet. People who rage and hate at the new game, then buy it because what else are they going to do?

Honestly, I think my brief affair with these games is over, but that's not really here nor there.