History VideoGame / CallOfDutyGhosts

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The ODIN weapon is a clear violation of the Outer Space Treaty ("no WMDs in space"). It is used to bring the downfall of the US.

* SpaceMarines: The single player campaign trailer shows armed United States astronauts fighting (and presumably failing) to stop a kinetic weapons satellite from being taken over by hostile forces. [[spoiler: At the end of the game the Ghosts launch an assault against the Federation's own kinetic weapons satellite to turn it against the Federation]].

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: The Ghosts are made up of former United States Special Operations soldiers.

* CrapsackWorld: Well, with all those ruins, it certainly seems so.

** The Americans somehow managed to sail a submarine into Lake Titicaca, which would require submarines to be able to fly.

** The downtown district looks nothing like its real-world counterpart, either, up to and including the ersatz "Greenway Park", home of the "San Diego Tsunamis". The stadium also looks more like Wrigley Field than the ultra-modern Petco Park.

** Interestingly, the US's military strength is quite remarkable for a devastated country, as late in the game they still have the ability to [[spoiler: launch a full-out assault on Federation facilities in the Atacama Desert while also sending astronaut commandos into space to take over the Fed's own KillSat.]]

* WholePlotReference: Charismatic antagonist who gets captured, put on a plane, is mocking the protagonists attempts at doing a HighAltitudeInterrogation and breaks free with the help of his own place, wires and cuts the plane in half causing the pieces to fall? It's the dark knight rises intro scene, only with Rorke in the position of Bane.

* GenreSavvy: [[DynamicEntry Door breaching]] is nothing new for the "Modern Military Shooter" FPS sub-genre, and this game is no exception as you perform it a few times. Except for the one time when as soon as you place the charge on the door, Merrick shoves you away because the enemy ''immediately begins shooting through the door and disables the charge.''

* Foreshadowing: Throughout your confrontations with Rorke, he wants Logan alive for his own purposes [[spoiler: he gets him and begins subjecting him to the same torture methods Rorke was brainwashed with]]

* HeroKiller: Rorke, "The Ghost Killer", the main antagonist of the game. He's been tasked with wiping out the Ghosts, and he's pretty damn good at it. [[spoiler: After all, he used to be their most dangerous member.]]

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: San Diego's geography and topography are hilariously wrong.

* DayOfTheJackboot: Unlike most examples of InvadedStatesOfAmerica, an alliance of South American states establishing themselves a global superpower and invading United States is more realistic scenario than say [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld China]] or [[VideoGame/{{Homefront}} North Korea]] [[note]]China's relationship with United States is more of an EnemyMine relationship where they are economically too dependent on each other that makes it implausible for China to militarily invade United States *yet.* And North Korea is laughingly poor economically and militarily to actually invade United States; even China, North Korean's ally, is turning against them for their recent nuclear weapons program. This doesn't even factor in the logistical nightmare of transporting an invasion force large enough to threaten the US across the Pacific Ocean[[/note]]. This is because according to WordOfGod, South America is known to have a rich variety of natural resources and this isn't far from TruthInTelevision such as Brazil. [[note]]Venezuela, a country known to be politically hate United States thanks to Hugo Chavez would have been close to Brazil with their petroleum reserves, but poor government management prevented this country from being so[[/note]]

* FallenStatesOfAmerica: The United States is no longer a superpower, just another country in the world. Its economy is in tatters, its towns and cities in ruins, and its military has deteriorated to the point where its Special Forces are just the Ghosts.

* ForWantOfANail: If the U.S. astronauts managed to successfully fend off against the South American Federation SpaceMarines from using the kinetic weapons satellite against the United States, then United States's economy wouldn't be in shambles. Unfortunately, the Federation forces did succeed their objectives, and Hugo Chavez's dream of destroying America came true.

* TraumaCongaLine: The United States in whole spades. First, a kinetic weapons satellite is used against the United States by Federation forces, then the said Federation use their global superpower and military to invade United States. And it is highly implied they are trying to establish a puppet state in the said United States and make it an OppressiveStatesOfAmerica.

** [[''Film/ANewHope'' "The target is a small thermal exhaust port just below the main port."]]

** [[''Film/StarWars'' "The target is a small thermal exhaust port just below the main port"]]

* ShoutOut: The Ghost mask in the briefings look like [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Nihilus's]] mask.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The Federation are explicitly genocidal savages who, inexplicably, incorporate a number of resurrected YellowPeril tropes including "exotic Amazonian torture methods" and Manchurian Candidate agents. One of the first things we see Federation soldiers doing is executing civilians in the first level. Meanwhile, the Ghosts are, well, standard [=COD=] protagonists, even being less morally ambiguous than the SAS from ''ModernWarfare''.

* BlackAndWhiteMorality: The Federation are explicitly genocidal savages who, inexplicably, incorporate a number of resurrected YellowPeril tropes including "exotic Amazonian torture methods" and Manchurian Candidate agents. The Ghosts are, well, standard [=COD=] protagonists, even being less morally ambiguous than the SAS from ''ModernWarfare''.

* [[spoiler:SequelHook: The Federation is forced into full retreat, but Rorke is still alive and has managed to capture Logan, and plans to brainwash him the exact same way the Federation had done to him.]]

* ActionGirl: Female soldiers are playable for the first time in multiplayer, not counting VideoGame/NaziZombies. A female astronaut named Kyra Mosely also briefly serves as your combat partner in the prologue mission. After the prologue, though, there are no notable female characters in the story.

* ActionGirl: Female soldiers are playable for the first time in multiplayer, not counting VideoGame/NaziZombies. A female astronaut also briefly serves as your combat partner in the prologue mission. After the prologue, though, there are no notable female characters in the story.