During yesterday’s reveal of the new Xbox One console, Activision and Infinity Ward were on hand to unveil the next iteration of the Call of Duty franchise, Call of Duty: Ghosts. The game has been built on a brand new engine capable of pushing out next-gen graphics that are commensurate with the series’ biggest competition, EA’s Battlefield and Frostbite engine.

In Call of Duty: Ghosts, the US army has been shattered and the world’s most powerful military force has been reduced to almost nothing. Players will take on the role of a member of what’s left of the world’s Special Forces units. From the sounds of it, these leftover Special Forces units are the only ones left fighting and they’re horribly outnumbered. As such, they use every type of Special Forces training from all nations across the globe.

The game starts with an as yet unrevealed global event that decimates the USA, sending it into a sort of post-apocalypse state. Actual gameplay kicks off about 10-15 years after this catastrophic event. Infinity Ward is placing a lot of emphasis on the world being a character rather than just an area in which the game takes place.

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Endless rumours regarding Call of Duty: Ghosts have been flying for weeks; kind of like those endless waves of enemies you have to keep shooting until you’ve reached certain checkpoints in COD games. Today, however, those rumours have taken head-shots and been put out of their misery. Activision and developer Infinity Ward have lifted the lid (just a crack) on Ghosts.

The game is out on 05 November for PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and “next generation platforms” – no mention of the Wii U for some reason. The game will be revealed at Microsoft’s upcoming Next Xbox event on 21 May. There’s a good chance that we’ll see some gameplay at this event as a new Call of Duty built on a new engine is an ideal way to show off your new console’s fancy technology.

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But wait! Before you start convulsing and frothing at the mouth, know that Activision is calling them “Micro Items”. It’s a different name so it’s totally not the same thing as microtransactions – it’s just you’re conducting little transactions for tiny, additional features. See? Totally not the same thing.

Starting from tomorrow 13 March (and on Xbox 360 at first because timed exclusivity) Black Ops 2 junkies will be able to customise their experience a little bit more. And that’s pretty much all there is to these microtransactions “Micro Items” – greater levels of customisation.

For 160 MS Points you’ll be able to pick up a Personalisation Pack, which will allow you to “dress-up for your favourite weapon” in, say, bacon if you wanted to. Another Micro Item is the Extra Slots Pack, which will add a further 10 Create a Class slots for you to save custom loadouts. The Extra Slots Pack will also allow you to store another 40 screenshots, 32 films and 20 more emblems.

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