Call of Duty: Ghosts is a dark, grim reboot of the franchise. The bulk of the story takes place in an unknown future where the United States is under siege by the combined forces of the world. A faceless entity named “the Federation” has laid waste to the world economy and infrastructure. Now, the United States is all that stands between The Federation and world domination. Heady stuff, to be sure.

The user takes on the role of Logan Walker, and occasionally as Logan’s dog Riley. Logan has grown up hearing tales of a legendary fighting unit called Ghosts and is shocked to find out that his father is actually the leader of the Ghosts. From that moment on, Logan is tasked, along with his brother and trusty German Shepherd Riley, with helping his dad get even with an old nemesis as well as defeat the forces of the Federation.

The story itself is intricate and twisting. There are time-tested betrayals, surprises and strong characters that have helped make previous versions of Call of Duty enjoyable.

The graphics are stunning, particularly on the PS4 (although the newer PS4 controller feels a bit different in the hands of experienced console gamers and thus may take some getting used to.)  There were a few bugs early in the game that were highly noticeable but will probably be fixed when the first game update patch is released.

The map itself is phenomenal and conjures up images of a post-apocalyptic world that feels dark even in the daytime. One of the opening sequences takes place on an Air Force space station and was awesome.

Overall, Call of Duty: Ghosts is good, if not great. A few select games of a similar genre have been released recently that are clearly better. It is possible that Battlefield 4, particularly the premium edition, has eclipsed Call of Duty as the best first person shooter. But Ghosts is a welcome edition to the COD family and is ultimately rewarding.