With the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 map pack coming this week, Activision is now turning its attention to enticing Call of Duty fans to pre-order the upcoming Call of Duty: Ghosts. The publisher today announced the first of what are sure to be several pre-order-related bonus offers.
Gamers who pre-order Ghosts will receive a free bonus map called “Free Fall.” The map is set in a ruined skyscraper and features what Activision is calling “dynamic” map events. For example, “shockwaves” from the crumbling building will change the layout of the map during a match.
“Dynamic map events change the way players approach the game, and Free Fall does a great job illustrating this new mechanic,” said Mark Rubin, executive producer at Infinity Ward. “As the match progresses, the geometry of the world continues to change and players need to adjust on the fly or else. It’s a really fun new feature that adds layers of strategy and constantly evolving gameplay options for players. And this is just one of the many new approaches we’re putting into Ghosts’ multiplayer across the board. There’s so much more that we look forward to sharing in the weeks to come.”
Though Infinity Ward must have been developing Free Fall for quite some time now, it feels a bit like the developer is trying to provide a counterpoint to Battlefield 4‘s impressive E3 showing. The Battlefield 4 game footage shown at the game conference showed off an action-packed sequence aboard a sinking aircraft carrier, while E3 gameplay footage of Ghosts (seen below) showed a relatively straightforward shooter experience with the added bonus of a dog companion. In addition, EA and DICE are now touting what they call “levolution,” which just means that some multiplayer maps will change as certain conditions are met (lights going out when the power is cut, for example) or when objects are destroyed (such as an entire skyscraper, with players inside)