Much has been said about the Call of Duty franchise over the years, and with two separate development studios working on the game independently, there’s always been some slight differences, and for some, a preference. The games developed at Treyarch, and those at Infinity Ward both paint a similar picture from a visual perspective, where the same game engine is used to bring the Hollywood inspired action to fruition. With the latest release of Call of Duty Ghosts, the same arguments reprise their roles once more, among talk of an outdated game engine, rehashed gameplay, and a throng of frothing at the mouth rabid fans. However, having sampled the PC version running stably using a fairly competent set up, there’s much to be lauded at the game this time in terms of its graphical effects. It’s clear Ghosts isn’t the best looking PC game out there, made apparent by simply looking at the texture quality of objects up-close – which aren’t a patch on those seen in games such as Crysis 2 even. That said, Infinity Ward has attempted to add more to their game in terms of visual flourishes which can’t be scoffed at when looking at the overall picture.
Without going into garbled technical terms, simply looking at the game provides an insight into the attention to detail afforded to such a big budget release. The video highlights a number of effects including neat light shafts through the canopy of trees, advanced physics, real time light reflecting off foliage, air and water effects that add a bit more life to inanimate objects and help drawn in the player. It’s a real looker in terms of how dynamic the game world is and quite interesting why these features are often overlooked or played down. Whilst it’s easy to condemn or even praise Call of Duty for its gameplay, it’s perhaps lost on some through too much exposure to the same content that all the scripted moments in the game are probably not the easiest accomplishment to get looking and playing right. It seems the shared knowledge from both studios has meant they have perfected the art of providing large scale scripted moments, and when things do calm down during the campaign, there’s a lot of subtle effects which exemplify a game series that is constantly and successfully pushing for visual variety on a grand scale.
